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Published: February 10th 2014
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Eating dosa
AnnaLaxmi and Prenka having lunch in Chaudi The best thing about the Palolem beach is that they are not allowed to cut down any trees especially coconut trees. You might even have a tree trunk going right through your bedroom. This also means there is a dense forest of trees right down to the water. I have to say the tidal line is also incredibly clean and one I find remarkable as the rest of the beach, town and country is completely different where no one thinks twice about dropping their rubbish where they are. It might all change when the monsoon comes and all the rubbish from the fishing boats comes floating in and all the rubbish on the land gets washed into the sea. As I went to the shop with Annalaxmi she peeled open an ice-cream for her daughter and dropped the paper as each segment broke off. I was cringing but bided my time till an opportunity arose later where I could tell her that I loved India but hated the fact that people dropped their litter everywhere she said she agreed and that she did not litter – so she had no idea in my mind that is as to what I was
Annalaxmis impecably clean house
One room everything had it's place and was spotlessly clean on about.
I had bought Terry a new SD card for his camera when in Chaudi and then as luck would have it mine started giving me problems. I put it in my computer and it would not read it. So I took it out and put it in again and the same thing then I saw it was coming apart. So with advice from one of the boys working here was to quickly download my pictures via my camera so if anything else happened at least I had them on my computer. It was good advice and I followed it. So it meant I had to go back to Chaudi and get myself a new sd card. Even though there are lots of shops at the beach we could not find anyone selling sd cards until we had bought one in Chaudi typical!!!
There seem to be quite a few older British tourists who come here for a long while during the cold English winter months. I can really see why. It’s a very pleasant temperature at this time and if you eat at local restaurants not the tourist type you can really live very cheaply. I
Dogs playing on beach
amusing themselves with a sock must say I do like the local cuisine but can tire of curries all the time. Its good to be able to get a break now and then. I did try and do a cooking class but as it is the end of the season they could not guarantee anything and even though I left my number I did not hear from them. Oh cousin Warren where are you my friend and cooking companion when I need you!!!!!! We also met a very interesting chap called Jerry who was born in Calcutta and when I mentioned I was Jewish he immediately said so was he. This intrigued me no end and I loved hearing the story of his life. He now lives in London and has done for the majority of his life but still speaks Hindi fluently. He took us to a lovely restaurant called Kates Place which was made out of wood and reminded me of a Thai teak house. We went further along the road than we had ever been and it was in a part of the village I had not been to and never knew existed. I had a fish xacuti and rice which is
a local curry that was mild and delicious. For me everything is a type of curry. After dinner we walked back along the beach and ended up chatting for hours on his verandah. We could not resist a midnight drink so stopped in at the all night Star Café which was not as lively as we imagined. Its open 24 hours and we had gone there for breakfast a couple of times and seen some partygoers that that kept us amused they were so drunk could hardly stand but lots of fun to watch and we didn’t have to deal with the hangover.
It doesn’t matter how long you have at the beach it all goes pretty fast. I had walked every morning the length of the beach bar one. Swam at every opportunity as the water was warm and mostly flat and before I knew it we were back on the train making our way to Pune. This time we shared our cabin with a retired automotive manufacturer and his wife. They loved travelling and he showed me the best way to make my bed it was only a pity it was our last sleeper train. Oh well
Early morning find
a gruesome shot but one about nature - a dead turtle washed up on the beach overnight is breakfast for the crows it’s a lesson I will not forget. We had to get off at 4 am in the morning and it was the busiest train station we have been to. I could have hung around a little and was dying to take some pictures of the mayhem. People sleeping everywhere, restaurants crowded, trains coming and going. It was freezing on the rickshaw and I had to put a jumper on for the first time since travelling. We were slowing getting higher. We woke up the reception person who let us in and to our surprise we got a small apartment with nothing much in it. There was room marked pantry but no kettle or anything. He said hot water in 10 minutes but it was hot before that. I have been showering Indian style most of the time which is filling a large bucket and pouring it over you. I really like that idea as I don’t feel I am wasting any water a big bucket is ample. This city is famous for the Osho Centre and our hotel Suryia Villa and adjoining restaurant called the Yogi Tree was full of Osho devotees. The food was great there lots of healthy
Boys in home made boat
looks like the roof of a rickshaw cakes and brown rice, veggies and tempeh and tofu. We decided to walk to the Aga Khans Palace where Ghandi spent some years under house arrest which of course went via a market. How we love them. There is always something to see in every nook and cranny and I cannot believe the shops that are actually run out of crannies!!!! I think India must be the record for needing the smallest amount of space to run a business. When in Bhubaneshwar we talked about Walmart coming into this country and I hope they never allow it. Free enterprise – not sure how much these folks eek out in a day with what some of them sell but they are working for themselves.
The Ghandi Exhibition is in this palace which of course is set in a lovely garden with wrap around verandahs. His old room is set up as it was. His wife and secretary died here and there ashes are interned in the garden along with Ghandi’s. We must have walked miles and so took a rickshaw home thank goodness. Once I sat down it felt like I could not get up afterwards.
We found a
Mahatma Ghandi's room
while he was interned nice outside bar for dinner – the place was fairly busy but as time went by it got chockers – there must have been 100 people in there and I was the only woman. We had our favourite masala papads and then some mixed chicken kebabs with garlic nan. The chicken comes with a little salad and I made myself a what they call here a roll – you wrap a bit of meat and salad in the bread its very yummy.
The next day we went to the Rajah Dinkar Kalkar Museum which the Lonely Planet describes as one of Pune’s delights and it truly was. It started out as the private collection of Dr Dinkar Kalkar - I have never seen such an amazing collection of everything. Carved wooden doors, musical instruments jewelry and textiles along with many, many other things in a wonderful old house. If you ever get the chance to go to Pune you should not miss this. The streets around the museum were like being Khatmandu a bit with very old houses looking like some of them should be condemned but you know many people are living inside. As it was Saturday the
streets were heaving with people and stuff. Once again so much stuff you can’t even imagine. Our time flew by and once again it was time to pack our bags ready for the morning sitter train to Mumbai and coming to he end of our journey.
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