agonda and palolem

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hello everybody from arambol. since the last entry we have been to Agonda and palolem so ill update you now with what was happening there starting with Agonda.

The night before leaving Benaulim we went to far end of town and ate at this local place that a man we met took us to for dinner. we enjoyed it so much there we went for the 3 remaining nights that we had left in Benaulim. looking at it i wudnt have usually gone in, it was very local! but the chicken tikka (pieces of tender chicken marinated in a tasty sauce and then cooked in a tandoori) was INCREDIBLE and beyond cheap. it was so local that when you look directly over the road there was a cage of chickens and the tandoori man told us with pride that they got thier chickens came from over there so were the best and the most fresh in the town. our second night adam was facing this place and actually saw the chickens being killed with a little axe and everything, i was glad that i had my back turned to this as we had just recieved our chicken tikka and i was already digging in. on the last night, heading back to our hotel we stopped at the cash point so that adam could get some money out to pay for our room, but the card was rejected by the only place that we could get money out. we left the next morning after adam had trapsed around the town trying to find a place and in the end had to draw money from a place where he had to pay commision. so he was in bad mood before we even had to get on the local bus to Agonda. our bus ride there was particularly hairy going up in to the hills over taking lorries round bends and the likes. we got to arambol in one peace though, even with time for a walk around the rocks to a little cove to lie in the sun and have a swim before watching the sunset. we werent alone though, we felt quite bad as climbed over the rocks and saw a couple all alone in the sea and felt like we were intruding, and we definately were as when this old couple got out of the sea we noticed they had been skinny dipping. so that was a bit awkward as the cove was relatively small.
we had found a room at 'fatimas guest house' which was clean and nice. the owner seemed to like us as she didnt have a downstairs room, which were cheaper, so she let us have one night upstairs for 400rs, instead of 600rs, then we moved down stairs the next day when a room became available. she whispered to us through our first night and the next morning 'you tell nobody i give you low price, its no good'. fatimas was right next to the beach and we had a little balcony where we could sit out and drink our smuggled in bottle of honey bee as the restaurant at fatimas was expensive and not that good food. our last day in agonda we hired a moped and went to patnam beach which was a bit like majorda but with fewer russians. it had white sand and shacks but seemed queiter and more laid back than majorda. on the way back we called in at palolem to search out some accomodation but nothing really appealed so we left it till the next day. Agondas beach was still absolutely lovely and is still adams favourite and became mine before we left. but hardly any restaurants were open so there was little choice for places to eat. however we did treat ourselves to a pizza from a little italian place in the village. the other people staying in the guest house werent that friendly, verging on annoying. there was a big group of french people and it appeared that everyone knew each other, on our last morning we were woken by all the french crowded round our neighbours room and outside our door being very noisy and smoking weed, this was like 8 in the morning. we got up and left and walked to the bus stop to catch a bus to palolem. but finding that the bus wasnt going to come for another hour and a half we decided to take a tuk tuk which cost us 130rs.
getting out the tuk tuk in a place like palolem with backpacks strapped to you is like moths to a flame. we were surrounded in seconds by people offering rooms and huts. we opted for a guy that said he had a beach hut for 300rs which is very cheap as they are usually 500 minimum. so he took me on his moped to go have a look whilst adam walked to where he said and catch us up. so off i went to a shack, it defiantely was not a beach hut. it was surrounded by beach huts on stilts but this was set behind the beach huts and was literally a set of three shacks. i set my bags down on the bed and said i would wait for adam to make the decision for definate together. but it appeared adam had misunderstood the directions the man had given him and had got lost so me and this guy went looking for him, locking my bags in the room where they would be safe, he told me. we were joined by his wife and eventually found adam, his wife and i started back to the shack to show adam. when i tried unlocking the padlock it wouldnt budge and it looked like it was a bit rusty and that was probably the problem. so the little indian lady went off to get some trusty coconut oil saying 'this will make it good'. it didnt. after ten mintutes of fighting with the lock, even adam couldnt get anywhere with it, the woman said 'i going to saw' and off she went and came back with a hacksaw and began sawing at the padlock. we just looked at each other and laughed, all my baggage was in there and the sight of this little lady with this saw was just too funny. we finally got in and decided that as we were only staying for two nights we could put up with the ply wood front wall, the makeshift walls of big sheets or material and the slight pong of sewage when you sat out the front. at least the bathroom was semi clean. we could buy incense sticks. 'it would be fine' we said, famous last words! we had noticed in the bathroom there was a ledge and there were a few droppings that led to a hole out the back of the bathroom, so we kept the bathroom door closed and bolted the hole time we werent using it. "it would be fine'.
our first night, the reason we went to palolem, was the silent disco. it was set right in the cliffs and because of the noise restrictions this was thier way of getting round it. you paid 400rs for a head set that had 3 different channels of different music and you just danced with those on meanwhile the djs were up in the cliffs just like in any club in england, it was so surreal. hundreds of people with these headphones on dancing away until like 4 in the morning. one of the best night we had, especially as when you tured away from the dance floor which was sand, you could see the moon glistening off the sea. unforgettable. consequently the next day was spent recovering. adam suffering alot more than me in this case surprising i know. midafter noon adam just got up and said 'im going to ring mum for some sympathy'. bless. our last night we went for some food and came back to find that our room had been intruded by the thing that had left the droppings. it had gotten hold of my knickers, gnawed through them and dragged them into the toilet. this did not go dwn very well with me AT ALL. we seachred the room and couldnt find the little whatsit, we had obviously disturbed it. i wanted to change rooms but at 10 at night it was much hassle especialyl as we were leaving tomorrow. when sat out on the balcony having a few honey bee (cheap indian brandy) to help us get to sleep and forget about the possibilty of the mouse coming in again while we were asleep, adam spotted it dart out from under our neighbours door and make a dash for our door he scared it and it dashed back. but kept trying to get in to ours. we didnt sleep very well the night so much so that at 1;30 i turned the light to read and feel asleep with the light on. we were up at 7 and got the first bus out of there, very thankful to be leaving for Arambol.
it took 5 buses and 5 and a half hours to get to arambol the buses werent too bad and everything we surprisingly well, seeing as we were dreading this trip. in margoa we had to join an endless queue to get to panjim (capital of india) to get on a direct bus. everything was going well until we got to mapusa, the last stop we had to change before arambol. but with another massive bus station that had no order, buses strewn anywhere, barging through other buses trying to get out we struggled to find one that said arambol on it. we asked some one and he pointed to the most local bus ive seen. it had no english writing, only hindu, and very richly decorated in hindi gods and other decorations but this was the only one. there was no english people on it but the several people we did asked nodded and said 'yes yes arambol'. i tried to ignore the indian conductors grin as we got on and had a bad feeling bout this one. we soon found that this bus was stopping at every place possible and even took a long detour. it was local as hell. on what was meant to be a 16 seater bus and 9 standing they had easily crammed in way over 50 people. thank god we had got seats early in the journey. we got here in the end and found a nice room for 400rs a night. very clean and even a comfy bed! first thing i did was a wash, at first washing things by hand was a bit of a novelty but now its a chore and i dont enjoy it. when putting everything out to dry we found the other items of clothing that the mouse had gnawed through. the crotch of adams boxers! back in palolem i was a bit miffed as i had put my back pack at the end of my bed as i knew some sort or creepy crawly thing might pass through so i thought off the floor was probably a good idea. and when adams back pack on the the floor seemed to be untouched i was confused. so now adam has two pairs of holy boxers, he doesnt seem to have touched anything else after my through inspection of both bags. but its grossed me out enough to not stay in a place like that again. arambol is lovely, even though it seems to be quite clickey its very laid back. lots of hippies and wanna be hippes all talking about finding themselves and listening to your body but im enjoying it here. were here until friday when we will go back to majorda for christmas, weve been on the look out for Helen (adams cousin) but still havnt spotted her yet.

hope everything is good with the new house dad. i will update you all on the rest of arambol before we leave and have to get on the buses again back down to majorda. love to all. speak soon. x

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