India 2013: Muzhappilangad, Kerala

Muzhappilangad. A very little place south of Kannur. A Hindu and Muslim area, where many people work in the Gulf states and live in the area. The place I stayed is a small guest house on the 'Drive-In' Beach. That is, back in 2005 - while the area was starting to develop a bit as a tourist (Indian and foreign) destination, as it has a 6 km, flat, white sand firm beach, next to small homes and coconut trees - the state goverment decided that it was the perfect beach to allow driving on. So....the end of the growing tourism industry. Locals come to drive up and down the beach, basically no rules except an oft-ignored 20kph limit. So...even though it's mainly the weekends when this happens, it's not a place you would just lay out a blanket and get some sun on.
However, because of that there are only a few places to stay and it is pretty much an incredibly quiet spot. The guest house provided excellent Keralan food (no menu though, just a discussion over 'what to eat tonight?'). Very nice staff and good value. Anyway, for the 'big city' you can get a bus for 7 rupees to the nearby town Thalassery and get all the Indian-city experience (as well as ice cream, Kadi shops, etc) you want.

The Palm Shores Guest House

Woman coming back from getting fish from the fishermen.

A couple of ladies having breakfast near the beach.

Defending his 'turf' - nobody else is getting any of this action!

Beach entrance sign.

A couple of Muslim women would sit at this entrance to the beach and charge admission to the beach for cars and 2-wheelers. The admission charge , a curfew and a speed limit (ignored generally) were implemented last year as these were considered the best solution to people killing themselves in driving accidents on the beach......huh, what? These women were also members of the beach cleaners, who would walk up and down the beach once a day and clean up any garbage (and did a good job of it, as the beach was cleaner than almost all the Goan beaches).