Susegad...

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On Monday I scooted up to Ponda in an attempt to find the temples and Spice Farm. I failed miserably with the Spice farm and decided that after seeing 3 temples the others would be more of the same so headed back to Colva after just a few hours. Driving in Goa is not for the faint hearted but I just told myself to stick to the rules I was taught to drive with and not to try any Kamikaze overtaking as the locals do! I got stopped at a police checkpoint( another common occurrence here) was asked to show my license and after some disagreement as to whether I was licensed to ride a scooter I was shooed on my way.It's as well i was wearing my helmet ( only compulsory when driving on the highway) or else I would have been charged a few hundred Rupees for the pleasure! I decided on Tuesday that I'd had enough of Colva, so packed up yesterday morning and took a rickshaw to Margao bus stand. Figuring out which bus I was to get wasn't as stressful as I was expecting, got on a delightful looking purple bus and took my seat by the window in one of the seats reserved for ladies only. I noticed a couple of bugs scuttling about on the seat in front and then noticed to my horror that not only where they cockroaches but that there were loads of them coming out of the gaps in the bus! Granted they weren't very big but disgusting all the same. So I gave my seat to the next lady that got on and perched on the edge all the way to Palolem.At first I thought that there weren't going to be many people on the bus until the world and his wife got on!
Arrived at Palolem beach yesterday afternoon and was delighted to see that what I had heard from other people and what the guide books tell you was true, this place really is like paradise. It's a white sand curved beach lined with Coconut trees, beaches shacks and cocohuts. I got a room about 100m from the beach and everything you need is so close. Even though there is so much going on and so many bars and places to eat it still feels so relaxed. Last night there was a powercut while I was having dinner, and the whole beach would have been in complete darkness had it not been for the candles that were on all the tables. It really was beautiful and so peaceful.So I'm just going to kickback, relax and adopt the Goan attitude while I'm here- susegad- relax and enjoy life while you can...

Lxx

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