Anjengo Fort, about 12 km south of Varkala, is one of the earliest British trading posts in India. The East India Company established a factory here in 1695, and the small fort built to protect it still stands on a narrow sandbar between the sea and a lagoon. The setting is atmospheric — the fort is crumbling but largely intact, with old graves, a lighthouse, and views over the Arabian Sea.
The fort is rarely visited and has no tourist infrastructure, which is part of its appeal. A local auto-rickshaw driver can take you there and back in a couple of hours. The drive south along the coast is pleasant in itself, passing fishing villages and coconut groves. The fort tells the story of how coastal Kerala looked before it was absorbed into the colonial trading network — and it tells it without any interpretation boards, which is both frustrating and somehow appropriate.