Due to a rare and happy juxtaposition of Diwali, the weekend and Eid, we got five consecutive holidays from the 11th to the 15th of November. We put most of these days to good use by staying at The Paradise Isle Beach Resort on Malpe Beach 7 kilometres off the town of Udupi.
While the beach in Malpe is quite nice and largely unspoilt, it is St Mary's Island (or Tonse Par as the locals call it) near this beach which can justly be termed “Paradise Isle”!
The Beautiful St Mary's Island
This is supposedly the place where Vasco da Gama first set foot, but then for some reason continued South and touched mainland India only in Calicut instead of in Malpe. The island is volcanic in origin and has these amazing basalt rocks crystalised into a fantastic hexagonal mosaic reminding us of the Amateria age in Myst 3: Exile. I would not mind terribly if I were to be marooned on this island.