Kovalam Day 1

Thanks for all the good wishes, it's great to be back here - in some ways it feels like no time since my last visit in 2023, in others like forever.
I was very warmly welcomed at the hotel although they very apologetically put me in a different room as the one planned hadn't been properly cleaned. They moved me first thing next morning, so that was no problem. The cleaner, Cynthia greeted me with great excitement which was very sweet. Things are quiet here though, the hotel is not what it was with reduced maintenance and different, younger staff. Having said that I'm quite happy and comfortable
The whole beach area is the same. It appears people are not travelling as much due to increased prices. I spoke to lots of the traders and they all had the same story. They don't think it is just COVID as they had a couple of good years after that, more a general reflection of people being more stretched. It's interesting as there is a whole industry built up here around tourism which is something completely outwith their own experience.
I spent the day being lazy, went for a swim in the pool a couple of times and a wander along the beach. I discovered that the old phone I brought with me to have a local SIM put into, was locked so that couldn't happen. Normally I buy a local SIM for calls in India and use it as a WiFi hotspot for my UK phone. Vodafone UK appear to be locking their phones to their network again though so that couldn't happen, which is a nuisance.
I bought a wi-fi dongle for £30 which came with 3.5gb data per day which is lots but it does make communicating with local people more difficult if they don't use WhatsApp. I existed without for years so I'm sure it will be fine just inconvenient.
At lunchtime today I went round to one of my favourite spots the Lonely Planet restaurant on the edge of the town, which has a small pond beside it . There's always lots of wildlife there although the tree the woodpecker used to sit on has gone. Today, as well as the eagles and kites I saw a hoopoe but failed to get a good picture. They are very distinctive and this one was making forays into a soya palm and tucking into the seeds.
I came across my blip as I walked along the beach before dinner, a very loud drummer band and lots of lights. The peacock dancers represent the goddess Lakshmi and the monkey Hanuman or at least I think so. Lots of noise and lights and afterwards a wonderful fireworks display which went on, with only occasional fireworks, for an hour or so. A nice backdrop for my Chicken 65 and veg noodles dinner. Early to bed to catch up on some of the 5½ hours of the day I lost yesterday!