Goa's Paradise Beach
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2011
1
40
88
Trip End
Ongoing
Palolem, Goa, India
Friday, October 21, 2011
We arrived on the beach was still dark and a few fisherman were already pulling their fishing nets with the catch of the day. Palolem beach is a massive bay with many small fishing boats, coconut palm trees, plenty of cows laying on the sand and many small resorts facing the beach on whole the extension of the bay. Even though many of the resorts were still not prepared and opened for the season, we had many options to choose from. Thessa stayed with our bags in some beach bar that was open 24 hrs and Fred went checking some of the resorts to find a place to stay. After checking half a dozen places, they all looked the same besides two really expensive hotels that provided more luxury. All the others had really basic huts made of wood and bamboo with private toilet, a cooling fan and a mosquito net over the bed. We end up taking a hut facing the sea that had a small balcony and was built on top of some unstable wood columns that vibrated the whole cabin on each step we would take. The hut could not have been more basic but the superb view was enough to compensate the lack of luxury. Once Thessa saw for the first time place that Fred picked up, she could not believe that was the shelter we were going to sleep on. Still, half a day after staying in that paradise beach we felt like living in luxury.
After moving into our luxurious beach resort we took an auto-rickshaw into the main village that was around 15 Kms away from our beach. We checked the local Saturday market and bought some stuff in the supermarket. Once back on the beach, we rented a scooter to gain some mobility and explore other beaches in Goa.
On our second day in Palolem, after a good breakfast in one of the bars by the beach, we packed some clothes and headed north on our scooter thinking on the possibility to stay one night somewhere further north.
Cruising along the seacoast up north on our cool scooter we visited Agonda beach, Cabo da Rama and the amazing desert beach of Mabor. The roads and small villages we passed on the way were quiet and resembled the colonial times with beautiful big wooden houses with tall windows and narrow balconies all around. Also on the way we crossed a river in some small rusty boat that carried passengers and motorbikes. Once on Mabor beach, and after a great relaxing meal, we decided to head back to Palolem and to our great primitive hut by the sea.
The 5 days we spent in Palolem were of pure relaxation, discovering on each meal a different restaurant by the beach with its delicious fish tandoori, olive and garlic nan and many delicious Goan dishes. When walking into the water or along the beach, inevitably we would step into dozens of shells, crabs and many other odd small creatures that seemed to live on a constant game of hide and seek under the sand on each wave that came back and forth.
We left Palolem once again by on a night train to Mumbai but sure we had to get back to that paradise some day.
