Goa was a later addition to the trip – I thought it would be nice to have a beach element. The route to Goa was supposed to be from Chennai but because of the difficulties getting train tickets, we ended up in Jaipur and then having to fly to Goa. We arrived after 10pm and then got a crazy driver to take us to Art Resort Hotel on Palolem Beach. I had to keep asking him to keep to the left side of the road. He would overtake on blind corners and drive on the right to cut corners when he couldn’t see whether there was a car coming.
On arrival we were very excited that it was warm. Most of our party was less excited about the heat on day two when they couldn’t stop sweating. I can cope with hot temperatures quite well these days with the help of sweat rags after all my years living in hot climates.
The food has been really great and cheap and Goa is no different. We have enjoyed Thali and Dosa especially. I have been adventurous with food and have managed Indian breakfast, lunch and dinner really well.
The others have caved in at breakfast time mostly. They prefer avocado toast and peanut butter and scrambled eggs etc.
I took a tuktuk toa pharmacy in the local town to get some cough syrup. My runny nose has turned into a hacking cough but with the help of syrup and pills unknown, I have managed to pretty much shake it off.
Days in Goa are spent exploring the streets behind the beach, sampling food in the many little family restaurants, sitting on our balcony playing scrabble under a fan or lying on the bed in our room with the air-con on and curtains closed. That’s in fact where I am now. Later we will all meet up and go to a little place I found earlier and have dinner and possibly cocktails or beer.
It’s surprising that in this resort, they dismantle all these wooden huts at the end of May and build them again at the beginning of the new season. Most of the other resorts have concrete structures which don’t get damaged in the monsoon. Here, many coconut palms on this plot fall and could easily crush the huts.
In fact last night we were awoken by a very loud crashing and in the morning, when we stuck our heads out, there were broken roof tiles and a coconut lying nearby. There are nets strung from the palms, to catch the nuts and fronds that fall. Sadly they didn’t catch ours though and now our hut has smashed tiles.
It seems that the vast majority of the tourists here are British – not that we’ve spoken to any – that would be very unBritish – but they have British accents and are fat and very white. Goa and especially Palolem Beach is very pretty and not so busy now it’s a little hot.
The activities you can do here include swimming in the sea, boat trips to see dolphins, massages (all types), tattoos, pottery classes, art classes, shopping. I would soon get very bored here, especially at this time of year when you’re sheltering from the heat for most of the day.
I’m not a big lover of sitting on the beach – I find it too hot and uninteresting – I like to explore but it’s really not big enough to hold my interest for more than a couple of days.
Luckily we move on tomorrow to Kerala – the reason I wanted to come to India in the first place.