Advertisement
Published: February 25th 2007
We realised not long after leaving Mumbai why everyone was selling jumpers and hats. We were the only ones on the train without either of those and a heap of blankets and it was absolutely freezing! The icy wind which flowed freely through the open train doors was assisted by numerous stops at all hours where Chai Vendors noisily shouted their way through the carriages and made for a lousy night for us both. When we jumped down from our bunks in the morning to watch a landscape of palm covered hills and wide rivers slide by our fatigue subsided and we spent the remainder of the journey enjoying our first Indian rail experience. The journey to Canacona took much longer than we'd been led to believe but after spending time hanging out of the open door and ducking back in for tunnels several kilometers long we arrived and got our first Auto rickshaw to Agonda Beach. Wow what a beach. A 2 kilometers long stretch of deep and empty golden sand and our bungalow at Madhu Cocohuts was right on the sand. After a game of Frisbee in the glass flat water we watched the sun set over the water
as a school of Dolphins swam in front and knew at once we were going to have to most amazing time here.
Over dinner of Kingfish Masala and Tikka we spoke to the owners of Madhus and they told us that theirs was the first operation on the beach and that for 7 years they had been running their bungalows in between helping to look after the resident Turtles who nest on the beach each year. After dinner we also got chatting to a lovely couple Jamie and Helen and shared a Kingfisher under the bright moon. After a well deserved lay in we awoke for the first time to the amazing beach and the passing dolphins and having negotiated the day before moved into the nicest of Madhus huts complete with homely wall hangings and lanterns. Deciding to travel to nearby Palolem for the day we hired a scooter and drove through the beautiful sodden paddys and arching palms to find on arrival that Palolem was packed with stalls and bustling streets and its beach surprisingly crowded. The sand was cramped by fishing boats and the entire length of the 2 kilometer bay was lined with bungalow operations
all the way along. Granted, it was a beautiful bay but with nearly every bungalow possessing a blue tarpaulin for its roof it was impossible to agree with our guidebooks description of Palolem as "Idyllic". Having just come from Agonda, Palolem was far from Idyllic but it was a little livelier and we bought some jewelery, walked to the Southern end of the beach which was a little roomier and enquired about huts for New Years in case we fancied something a little more upbeat. A lovely lady named Geeta sat with us for a while and we bought some of her self proclaimed "cheap rubbish" necklaces before we returned to the hectic parade of stalls to try and get some Christmas presents for each other. Having had more than enough of Palolem for the moment we sped back under a rose pink sky to sit down for a meal with Jamie and Helen who we soon found out were from Brighton too and proceeded to have a fantastic evening together over dinner then on our veranda, getting on so well. Delighted to have met a lovely couple to share Christmas and New Years with I blew up one of
our Medium sized balloons to celebrate and it exploded on my nose at an embarrassing girth.
It was Christmas Eve when we rose in the morning and unlike any previous Christmas Eves the day was spent on the glorious empty beach, playing Frisbee, swimming, body surfing, playing Frisbee, body surfing... It was terrific. Helen and Jamie were fantastic company and having never spent Christmas away from home before, their company was a genuine pleasure. Sneakily throughout the day we wrapped our presents to each other, decorated the bungalow before sitting down to an enormous dinner with Helen and Jamie at Madhus Restaurant which was soon turning into one of the most amazing eateries we've been to anywhere. It simply didn't matter what you chose of the large menu, you didn't even have to ask what it was, it was all delicious. A final beer by candlelight on the beach underneath the slither of moon shaped like a big grin, we said goodnight to our friends and returned to our decorated hut and climbed into the mossie net.
Well you've read the Christmas blog already no doubt but the first sight as we opened our windows was a dolphin
and the second was the wide palm shaded beach in the morning sun. Sitting on the veranda we brought out the filled hiking socks and opened our presents which were wrapped in leaves and tied with string. Jewelery for Claire, some trousers and a bat and ball for me. We didn't expect it to but it felt like Christmas. After breakfast Claire and I and Helen and Jamie went for a walk through the village set just behind the beach and were amazed at its beauty and at how friendly everybody was. Every house we past we were wished Merry Christmas, kids running around our feet, cows lounging in the shade and lizards scampering over rocks. It was perfect. On the walk back Jamie hired two boogie boards and we spent the afternoon, surfing the waves, playing yet more Frisbee, a bit of bat and ball and drinking cocktails on the golden sand with hardly another soul in sight. Now this beach was idyllic. In the afternoon we delightedly managed to make webcam calls to our parents before sitting down at our seats in the sand for Christmas Dinner like no other. As the golden sun set our 5 Tandoori
Lobster arrived, bright red and striped on platters and we began to tuck into the most delicious dinner we can recall. Raising a toast to our good fortune in finding such good friends to share Christmas with and for Claire for eating a lobster when usually the sniff of fish produces a retch. It was a mammoth meal of multi side dishes and even a bottle of wine, but when we were completely stuffed we retired to our Veranda to watch fireworks light along the beach and Helen and Jamie had to run to their hut which was apparently flooding. All was ok thankfully so we headed over to a livelier bar with huge wicker hats as shelter for some strong cocktails. As we downed our Tequila chasers under the bright stars it suddenly dawned on the 4 of us that according to our plans, we still had 8 more days here! As we were overcome with Joy at the thought, I was overcome with crippling stomach pain and had to run down the beach to our hut. On the way I saw a wall of flames rising from our hut and a sudden jolt of fear sped me up
Turtle nest
Right outside our hut!until I realised the fire was someway behind our hut. Still shaking from the sight of it though, my stomach pain turned out to be a glorious bout of wind and what with the fire scare and the flooding we had a good chuckle when I returned about our evening of water wind and fire. Well it was a magical Christmas Day and we realised as we returned to sleep that we won't be forgetting it in a hurry.
Boxing Day. Usually spent with a steaming hangover and the prospect of endless piles of leftovers but not this year. We awoke to the most perfect lines of smooth waves which tubed left to right and created a constant surround sound rush in our heads. Helen and Jamies night was it turned out, disrupted by a lunatic who had been living in nearby huts for several months but on Christmas day she lost it totally, screamed and swore all night and even poured Honey all over another guests doorstep and tried to light it thinking it was petrol. Nice. Despite all the other guests packing up to leave unless she was evicted, the owners didn't evict her which made absolutely
Geeta
And her cheap rubbish jewellery no sense to us. Anyway, we were going to hire bikes to ride north to Cola beach but all the bikes were out so we had to settle for another day on the beach, riding the amazing waves and flinging a Frisbee across the sand. Such a shame! That evening we decided to drag ourselves away from Madhus reliable restaurant and walk along the beach to the Turtle lounge which was blessed with tree hung chandeliers. palm covered seating areas a thick solid wood furniture. The food and service were pretty impressive too.
Early the next morning a
fishing boat ground to shore and the four of us jumped aboard and traveled out to a notorious dolphin spotting area. We found out when we returned from other unlucky guests that we our luck was most definitely in. All around us circling the small boat were 20 or more dolphins playing and some flipping clean out of the water. After a spectacular show we sped north to drop anchor off Cola Beach and there, we were all handed a small chunk of polystyrene with a line and small hook prepped with bait which we all lowered to the sea floor.
Not knowing how successful we would be we were surprised to pull out one by one a series of small rockfish. Then each of us snagged something much larger but after sweating it out for at least 5 minutes the line always broke and we never caught sight of the big prize. I did manage to catch a horrible looking eel which scared our skipper so much he grimaced and smashed the eels head in with a knife! After a couple of hours at two different sites the bottom of our boat was alive with flapping rockfish and several larger Snapper. When we arrived back at the shore we bagged the fish and retired whilst it was prepared in the kitchen; 3 tandoori and 3 grilled with butter ginger garlic. They were delicious and all the more satisfying having caught them ourselves! After dinner we were joined by our new friends, two dogs who followed the 4 of us everywhere and who became known as La-aance and Dillip.
Awaking to another perfect morning where White bellied Sea Eagles swooped to the water to catch breakfast, we did the same before hiring two scooters and riding north through the amazing
sandy streets of Agonda Village and under the sharp shadows of palm fronds. Some way down a turn off we had to park the bikes and walk down a path on what appeared to be volcanic rock to a gorgeous river mouth and sparse luxury cabins of the Blue Lagoon resort. It wasn't quite blue, more of a soupy green but the beach, "Cola Beach" was breathtaking. Steep banks of dark volcanic sand with stubby hills behind covered in tall slanting palm trees like a pincushion. Nice as the setting was the sea felt extremely dangerous and the strong rip caused by the steep beach sucked us out of the shallows with alarming power. With the water rather off limits we sculpted some easy chairs out of the steep sand bank and spent the day enjoying the dramatic coastline before returning to Agondas sleepy streets and the ever busy restaurant at Madhus.
A morning jog to the southern end of the beach for Claire and I took us down to the lip of the bay where huge boulders fringed the shore and monkeys leapt from tree to tree. Well a beach blog is never going to have you riveted
with cultural information but we had another day of loafing in the sun, eating on our veranda and generally lapping up the relaxation. In the morning though, a bit of diary excitement. We hired scooters to go to Palolem and were stopped on the way by the Police for not wearing helmets and fined 100 rupees. It didn't matter that helmets didn't seem to exist anywhere in Goa nor did it matter that all Indians were allowed to scoot on past with their hair blowing in the wind. We got the fine and a little paper memento which took about 30 minutes to complete. In Palolem we begrudgingly walked among the packed stalls, bought our onward tickets to Hampi and plonked on the beach to ruminate on how overcrowded it all was. Back at the serene Agonda we noticed a tent construction being built at the southern end of the beach and in the evening wandered down to have a look. It was a wedding, but a wedding like no other we would witness. Well dressed guessed were queuing at a buffet table for their meal whilst the affluent family had their photos taken in an elaborately lit gazebo. The
Sleepy dog
Cola beach four of us sat down on the sidelines just having a little nose really but before long a man approached and asked us to queue up and get some food. We'd only just eaten and we would have felt completely out of place so we declined but soon after he brought a plate of chicken over for us! The food was pretty awful actually and we left the plate of bones on the sand and took up a different position behind the live band as they were setting up. With the wedding being so lavish with beautiful decorations we assumed the band would be good but when they started the first song we were in shock. They were absolutely dreadful. For some reason they had synthesized the drums making the whole thing sound like a cross between Depeche Mode and the Cheeky girls and after they'd played a few bizarre techno covers of "Hey Baby" (ooh aah) and "Obla di obla da" we left them and their twirling professional hired dancers and walked away apologising to our ears.
On New Years Eve the next morning a group of kids arrived at our veranda with a Guy Fawkes doll to
Now this is relaxing
On our lovely veranda be burnt on the fire and singing "Old MacDonald had a farm" in pursuit of money. The singing was hilarious so we gave them some rupees and spent the day sitting on the beach and I playing an immense game of long distance Frisbee with a German guy who we named elastic band man. That afternoon Dave, the ever reliable waiter at Madhus sorted us out with a scooter and Jamie and I rode into Palolem to pick up our bus tickets...it was mayhem. Thousands of Indians swarmed the roads having come to celebrate, horns honked, cows blocked the roads, touters called "hello come" and a man sprayed vomit out of a bus window onto the shoulder of an English girl who launched a tirade of abuse whilst he vacantly looked at the mess in his hands. Riding back to Agonda fairly swiftly through stunning farmland peppered with white plumes from burning crop we showered and adjourned at our pre-reserved beach front table for, you guessed it, more sundowners and more tandoori lobster. After another spectacular meal we strolled through the streets to the church with Dillip and Lance at our heels protectively barking at anything that moved. Although there
wasn't the promised party at the church we walked up its cool aisle under long ceiling fans before returning to the beach wishing shopkeepers happy new year on the way. At the turtle lounge again we sat on a smart sofa and drank shots of potent Feni, a quiveringly strong alcohol made locally by extracting and fermenting the juice from fresh buds of palm or cashew trees. After wobbling onto the beach we lit our fireworks to a round of applause and walked to Dropzone bar to see the new year in watching fireworks explode light onto the incredible beach. Well its hard to imagine a better year really what with everything we have seen but we raised a gigantic toast to 2006 and to our fortune in spending Christmas with such good friends.
That was our last night in Agonda (for now) and in the morning we packed our belongings and and spent the last day walking the sandy bay to the peaceful river estuary at the northern end. In the afternoon we strolled through the charming village meeting the friendly villages inhabitants, crossing the bridge where bowed palms framed the water and past sacred cows and croaking
Dillip!!!
Getting and clearly enjoying some tickles crows. Everywhere, women in Sari's carried impossible loads on their heads and in the fields again, mainly women toiled and hacked the dusty earth or gathered corn and vegetables. Back parallel to the beach the stony track turned to rippled sand and the palms dappled shade onto the peaceful village. A man named Big Daddy posed with his moustache and kids jumped and scuffed in the sand. Back on the beach near Madhus we saw a 10 metre wide vortex whip up a tornado of sand and sent two sunbathers scurrying as it swept across the bay. And so it was that our time in Agonda came to an end. The four of us sat down for a final meal and no sooner than we had slumped for a final sit on the starlit beach, our taxi arrived. Hugs photos and handshakes with the Madhu staff and we sped away to begin our journey to Hampi. Agonda is one of those places we are just itching to rave on about but having seen the difference with neighboring Palolem we are at pains to let everybody know; It would be an absolute tragedy for it to become spoiled by development. But
of course a blog would not be a blog if we lied. so its here for everybody to see. Agonda is idyllic and any time spent here will have you laid back to the near horizontal. If you're going to go there just please do it only a few at a time and show disapproval of anything new being built.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.259s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 25; qc: 127; dbt: 0.1487s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.6mb
Sanjay
non-member comment
Brings back memories
Hi, it was nice reading your blog on Agonda. I count myself lucky to have visited the place 9 years back, and it was pristine! There was no development on the beach, and just one shack on the side of the road opposite the beach, where we managed to find some beer. I had been there again 4 years ago, and saw at least one permanent structure on the beach. I haven't been there again since, and I shudder to think what awaits me when I finally venture there again.