and now....

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I’m sitting on the beach of this beautiful cove, looking at the sparkling blue water, waiting for my grilled red snapper dinner and listening to Janis Joplin belt out some killer songs. It doesn’t get any better than this. I rented a cabin at the end of the beach for somewhere between $14 and $18 a night, depending how long I stay. It’s a little more than I’ve been paying so far (sic), and it’s a little more primitive, but I love the Robinson Crusoe thing. The floor is tiled and the toilet is new and pink, but the water is cold. However I am adjusting to taking cold showers since it’s really warm. I’m not sure how warm, I don’t really care, as the sweat just runs off my forhead, I’m too busy marveling at it all.
So the train trip was pretty good. I had a small curtained compartment to hole up in and sleep. I actually slept 7 hours. My bag was under the bed and I tied a cord from it to my wrist, so I could sleep. I had a suitcase stolen from me on a train in Austria once, so I wasn’t taking any chances. From the train station I took a cab for an hour ($17) here to Palolem. There are no hotels, it is protected from development by law. All there really is, are beach huts, some fancier than others. But the law requires that they have to dismantle the whole thing every year before the monsoon season. So they just started setting everything up again. That’s good for me, cause that means there are no creepy crawelys around yet. At the end of the season I’m sure that may not be the case, not that that would deter me. After the early years in Yelapa, I’m pretty accepting of the annoyances of rough and tumble paradises.
The beach is lined with beach huts and beachfront restaurants. There are no sales people, which is awesome. I didn’t see any tourist shops coming in, but I’m sure they are around. Tonight is Divali (the festival of light and there will be fireworks.
I met a cute couple from Amsterdam on arrival and they look like they are going to be a lot of fun. In the cabin across from me there are a couple of intalian guys, nerds, who spent an hour setting up their little sound system on their patio. I hope I’m going to like their taste in music. They are Italian, so they should be cultured, right. More on that later.
There is an internet café next door, which will really come in handy. Yesterday I spent 3 hours catching up and getting organized. That was only necessary because of a day plus lapse in connecting.
So that’s the update, kids. Hope you don’t hate me for landing in paradise. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

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Comments

[brian]

paradise
Hate you ---NO---living vicariously through you ---YES

[Christopher L. Trahan]

Sweat
Sounds really hot over there. I'm sweating just reading the blog : ).