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Published: February 20th 2007
Fisher boat on Palolem beach
Locals use these boats for fishing and to take tourists around. They are not really catamarans - they only have this extension on one side. I was told that makes the boat go faster....Goa is a very nice starting and finishing point on an India trip. This former Portuguese colony caters for all types of tourists. I prefer the more basic places with bamboo huts on the beach. These places used to be hippie hangouts but these days just anybody looking for a relaxing time goes there. Prices and crowds get crazy over Christmas and New Year but by mid January I found very peaceful beaches with plenty of accomodation to choose from.
It's just really nice to have breakfast by the beach in the shade of a beach shack or a few palm trees, get some tuition from the local yogi and climb the view points for sunset. Not to forget the gorgious seafood! My favourite was red snapper prepared Tandoori style.
In Palolem I had a private sunrise yoga session on the beach. I stumbled there while it was still dark and saw the sun rise as a large red disk at the other end of the bay. On the way back the high tide caught up with me and I had to wade through water up to my waist.
In Arambol I learned a basic yoga program. The
Catch of the day
Fishermen (and women) sift through the catch of the day during sunset. In the beach restaurants you can pick your fish and have it prepared (preferably Tandoori style) yogi promised that if done regularly I would have a long and healthy life. That sounds alright and I try to keep it up now that I'm back home. Fortunately I learned as well to chant "Ooooom" to divert the mind from the pain of some asanas. After all Om is the cosmic energy which is divine and omnipresent. I liked this yogi. He was a serene old man with many stories to tell.
I considered as well to hire a motorbike. Goa's roads are quite good and traffic is not as manic as in the rest of India. They have these vintage Royal Enfields (English legacy) which come in 350ccm and 500ccm. But somehow these beaches in Goa are so nice that you don't want to go away after a while. And then I heard stories from corrupt policemen taking money from tourist bikers as they please. I didn't bring my licence (I thought I would never ride a motorbike in Asia) which was never a problem in other Asian countries. In India you don't need a licence to hire a bike either but you might get in trouble if you get stopped.
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