Kingfish, Kingfisher and Rats The Size Of Cats!

We arrived in Goa after a short flight from Mumbai. We had planned to get a taxi to Panjim and then try to get a bus to Arambol and the all important beach the following day. However, on looking at the taxi prices we realised it wouldn't cost much more to go straight to Arambol from the airport so we jumped in a taxi and off we went, very excited that we would soon be walking over soft golden sands! We arrived just after 5pm and were surprised to find it a struggle to find a room. It was much busier than we had thought it would be! In the end we found a guest house that had some huts on the roof and we gratefully accepted one, relieved that we would not be sleeping on the beach with the cows! We dropped off our bags and went out to find the beach. We arrived on the sand just as the sun was setting, kicked off our flip flops and walked bare foot through the warm, splashing sea. It was just what I had been waiting for! We watched the sun set, along with people doing yoga, people playing instruments, baton twirlers and all sorts of unexpected things going on.

After we had taken it all in, we went off in search of food for our rumbling tums and happened upon a brilliant restaurant serving huge portions of delicious, well cooked food for very reasonable prices. This would become one of our regular haunts over the following week.

Arambol was by no means what we expected it to be. We had read of deserted beaches and thought it would be far less touristy than it actually was. Obviously it's reputation has spread and it has grown popular, especially among hippy, pot smoking, yoga types. Despite not meeting expectations, we had a fantastic time there, relaxing on the beach, taking the occasional swim and stroll and above all enjoying some mouthwatering seafood, delicious rock bottom priced thali's and probably more cake than we should have had! After we had been there for over a week we decided to move down the coast to Mandrem.

Mandrem, although not far from Arambol, was a completely different experience. The beach was very quiet, with just a few clusters of package holidayers and a lot of empty white sand. We took full advantage of this and having arrived lunchtime, we went out to spend a few hours soaking up the sun! Later we took a walk along the beach to see what we could see! Depending on the tide it is possible to cross a shallow creek to get to Aswem, the next town. We were able to do this and found that it was pretty similar to Mandrem with perhaps a few more decent looking restaurants and a few more tourists. We headed back to Mandrem in search of something to eat! There are only a smattering of restaurants along the stretch of beach including the one at our accommodation, and none had any distinguishing qualities so we opted for the first one we came to. It was fairly disappointing - overpriced tasteless food and we soon headed back to our accommodation for a coffee which was delicious! With no more money for the day we headed back to our very basic room. I must admit we have stayed in worse rooms during this trip but this one had two very large windows with no glass or even mosquito netting, only metal bars across them, along with a nice big hole in the roof above the toilet. We had an abundance of wildlife in and surrounding our room. Inside were colonies of ants, lizards, spiders, the occasional beetle, and worst of all MOSQUITOES!! Outside were pigs, chickens, goats, cockerels, kittens and possibly more! Having not had a mosquito net provided, we covered ourselves from head to toe in mosquito repellant!

Then just as we were starting to think about going to sleep, it started. A blaring beat of mindless dance music at a volume that made our room shake! This was pleasantly accompanied by one crazed man screaming at the top of his voice. His screams started with a "woo hoo" type fashion but quickly progressed to just very loud repeated screaming. Clearly he was out of his head! The music was coming from a party at the house behind our room and just to make it that bit more annoying people kept skipping from one song to the next, turning it off just long enough to make us think it was over, before starting it up again and of course continuing with the all important screaming! I tell you, I nearly lost it! After several hours of desperately trying to get to sleep I was about ready to kill someone and it would have been the screaming madman who was still going strong, screaming at least every 5 minutes with no sign of stopping. I developed a very strong hatred for him. Very strong indeed! So, both of us awake we decided we needed to find somewhere else to stay. The problem was that we were in the only place we could afford. Eventually we decided that we would head further down the coast to Morjim which we thought would be similar to Arambol, first thing the next day. Having been awake all night we had managed to avoid mosquito bites but somehow around 5am I managed to fall asleep and guess what? Yes, I woke up absolutely covered in them!! Great! And believe it or not the madman was STILL screaming! I'd had enough!

So we checked out, negotiated a taxi to Morjim and arrived not long after at supposedly a friendly family run guesthouse with a good restaurant. The guide book states that it is the best place for food in Morjim! Well I don't know what has happened in Morjim but it seemed to be a ghost town in the cheap backpacker accommodation places and our restaurant, the best in town, was never open! What we did find was a lot of very overpriced restaurants and more English tourists than you could shake a stick at! We ended up walking out of 3 restaurants who were serving the same food we got in Arambol for more than double the price! Once again we decided to move on, this time to Palolem in the south of Goa.

We left early the next morning not wanting to spend any longer in Morjim, and arrived in Palolem a few hours later, hopeful that we would have a better time! We got a nice room with windows and a door on the toilet(!!) along with our own private balcony for a reasonable price, then took a stroll down to the beach where we had to admit that despite being busy, it is absolutely gorgeous! The beach, lined with coconut trees curves around a bay with beautiful views. The edge of the beach is filled with tree houses and hut camps along with restaurants which all seem full to the brim. It is clearly a very popular place, but deservedly so. Having tested the restaurants we found some very reasonably priced ones serving delicious food so we are happy!

It is by no means paradise here though. The streets are lined with rubbish - huge amounts of it and along side our hotel, I was disgusted to find a rat the size of a fully grown fat cat (I am not kidding!) lying dead on its back. I went back a few days after this discovery to take a picture as I was sure we wouldn't be believed, but couldn't find it. On returning from the beach we spotted it, completely flat and deflated. As we have seen so many times before in India it had had all of it's insides eaten out and was now an empty shell. I couldn't look at it for long enough to take a picture so lucky for you, you wont have to see it! It's coming to the end of our time in India and I am doing a lot of reflecting on the experiences we have had already. We have seen a lot and although it hasn't all been good, part of me will be sad to say goodbye to India. Our Indian adventure is not over yet though!

Sam xxx

From Mumbai we took a 1 hour flight 500km down the coast with spice jet. Predominantly because we couldn’t get a train ticket but I think we were both pleased about that as the train journey would have taken at least 12 hours. We then jumped in one of the many white Maruti van taxis and headed straight from Goa airport up to Arambol.

Arambol is a nice alternative beach destination. Situated in the far north of Goa in an area known as Pernem. It is essentially a fishing village that has become a winter destination for residents of most European countries. Italians, Dutch and Israelis have all set up restaurants and bars. Palm trees, wooden huts and restaurants line the beach front along with fishing boats, people of all nationalities and the usual smattering of stray animals. We spent many relaxing days on the sandy waters edge soaking up the suns rays and striving for something Sam tells me is called a base tan. Our favourite past time has been sampling the delights of the numerous restaurants and cafes around the town. We have enjoyed fresh fish, fruit juices and lassi’s. Amazingly authentic Italian pizza and even delicious apple pie and ice cream.

It is a beautiful location but it is in no way an idyllic paradise. It is just a tourist destination filled with ageing hippies. Everything is catered for including marmite and fry ups. It is very easy to see why it has become popular though. The beach is nice and sandy, the sea warm and the sun always shining in a cloudless sky. The British pound goes a long way with beer around forty pence for a bottle bigger than a pint and a nice meal to be had for about ₤2 each. We are currently sticking to our budget of 600 Rupees a day each or approx. ₤7.50. That is good value when you consider it includes accommodation in a nice room with attached bathroom, our food for the day and any supplies such as sunscreen. In many ways it is the perfect holiday destination and seems a different world from the hustle and bustle of India’s northern states.

There is also a slightly pretentious feel to the place with yoga, alternative therapies and ayurvedic philosophies being practiced all around. I am all for these ideas and am sure they can have a very positive effect on your life but I can’t see the need for people to start doing yoga next to you in restaurants. Strolling along the beach at night you will see many strange things. Someone will be a hundred feet or so out to sea doing ‘moves’. Someone else will be photographing someone lying down in the dark. Off to one side a group of people will be huddled around mysterious inscriptions in the sand. Drum beats resonating in the background. In short, there are copious amounts of narcotics in Arambol.

I will also remember Arambol for some of the itchiest insect bites of my life. I am not entirely sure what ate me but it resulted in a couple of enormous and rash like patches across my leg. It took a full four days of madness inducing resistance before they began to improve.

We then made our way down the coast. First spending a night in Mandrem, around thirty minutes walk down the beach. Here the beaches were emptier but the only good value rooms were windowless and despite sleeping fully dressed and liberal application of mosquito repellent we came away with bites the size of ₤2 coins! (For some reason mosquitoes have a penchant for Sam’s temples, much to my amusement and her disdain) This coupled with a man relentlessly screaming at a neighbouring all night party didn’t make for a good nights sleep and the following morning we agreed to move on.

Morjim was the next stop, again only for one night. Another few miles down the coast it seems to be geared up for package holidays and people with more money than sense. All the restaurants are overpriced, even for Goa which is more expensive than elsewhere in India, and of inferior quality. It made me really appreciate the quality, price and choice on offer in Arambol. Although we found a room here for a cheap price it was a shoddy affair and we decided we didn’t want to spend any length of time here either.

So now we are in Palolem in the far south of Goa. In many ways it is like Arambol but with a less alternative atmopshere. We have been here several days already and will stay until Sunday. We have a nice clean room with everything we could need including a fan like a jet engine. As usual it has two settings: very fast or faster! The weather is scorching hot and I think the humidity is getting higher as an almost constant sweat pours down my back! The beach is a perfect arc of white sand and the sea is full of crashing waves which I am finding immense fun. Having a swim and diving through the almighty waves seems to have become the highlight of my day.

Palolem is undeniably beautiful but stray from the beach front and main road and you will see the bits they leave out of the holiday brochures. Enormous piles of litter, half rotten, being sifted through by chickens, cows and rats the size of cats! Basically the kind of thing ubiquitous throughout India but I suspect a nasty surprise to holiday makers who arrive after seeing pictures of the beach in off season.

There is also a calf with a broken leg often seen shuffling along the streets of Palolem. Occasionally you will see an Indian man take a swipe at him. I was under the impression that cows are revered in the Hindu faith but Indians have little respect for them or any other animal for that matter. I don’t think they have any kind of RSPCA type organizations in India and there is little we can do to help him. I did temporarily cheer him up with a chunk of my cornetto though!

So, on Sunday we take a train down to Kochi in Kerala and will take a trip on the famous backwaters before heading to Sri Lanka at the end of the month.

Jed

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Part of trip: Asia

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