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Published: December 29th 2006
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Palolem Beach
Another beach sunset under a trademark coconut palm tree. Finally after all the hype I’ve finally made it to the state of Goa, a Mecca to travelers and according to L.P. an idyllic beach complemented with cocktails on the white sands and late night parties. Welcome Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
In the south of Goa, Palolem beach would be home for the next few days, lying on the beach and enjoying a Christmas on the sand with fresh seafood. The beach itself is picture postcard perfect, with bent swaying palm trees lining the crescent shaped white beach, closed in either side by rocky boundaries to the south and a small island to the northern tip providing the perfect enclosure. Although the area itself was far more developed than originally expected, the entire beach is lined with restaurant and bars all with hidden bamboo hut villages nestled behind. Although it could come across as a bit touristy it provides an interesting blend of lazy travelers, holiday makers and local tourists. By that I mean a blend of overweight Brits, European men sporting nothing but Speedo’s (someone please buy that fella some board shorts) and local Indian’s running along in their underpants and white singlet holding their mates hand. Interesting
to say the least. Please note though there are some normal people on the beach and I draw your attention to the lovely two ladies sporting bikini’s and Santa hats. Throw in half a dozen cows that roam the beach, the wild dogs that roam up and down morning, noon and night and local hawkers selling anything from fruit to jewelry to maps of India (I don’t know why) and you pretty much have your standard Indian beach environment.
Initially I thought it may be difficult to get accommodation here due to the large number of people, but it turns out the bamboo huts are everywhere and the tourists are not. Apparently Palolem and the rest of Goa has had a terrorist threat by Al Qaeda and the Israeli government has warned its foreign nationals to avoid Goa. (Now why would Bin Laden want to do anything in Goa I don’t know, but no one here seems to think there s any threat). And since the Israeli’s flock here in massive numbers for dance party’s on the beach, they have all buggered off north and south leaving a massive shortage of tourists. But in all honesty the numbers here
Cabo Da Rama Fort
The view from the fort after exploring the south on motorbike. are great, there’s enough going on to keep you entertained in the evening after a lazing day on the beach.
There’s pretty much only one way to explore Goa and that’s by motorbike. So after a couple of days on the beach it was time to get out and about to explore more……beaches. There’s not much else to see here, its pretty much beach after beach, throwing in a few forts and overload on churches, more churches and a few more white washed churches and you pretty much have Goa summed up. There’s a massive Christian influence here which was brought in from the Portuguese colonies. Throughout the state the influence is prominent from small village towns with Portuguese style villas and back laneways, old forts left in ruins scattered along the coast lines and churches dedicated to ‘our lady of (insert name here)’. So as you can imagine Goa is not short of Christmas decorations or the classic Christmas nativity scenes complete with mini Jesus, Mary and all those wise men. For the first time this year I’ve only just realized that its Christmas, though that it may have passed under the radar this year but apparently not.
Self Portrait.
The 150 cc engine is more like a lawn mower with wheels but still the best way to get about. Other than the day adventure zig-zagging in and out of traffic, avoiding buses and of course the occasional cow most of the time here has been spent endulging in food, a bit more food and a swim at the beach (trying to keep in shape and all). But seriously I’m going to have to start working this off sooner or later as I think that I am actually putting on weight in India. Now everyone warned me I’d lose 10kgs over here, not at the moment that’s for sure. Haha, well it is Christmas after all so I don’t think you can avoid all the food, booze and parties. (But I am I’m down to fruit salads and light meals at the moment).
The Guest House that I’m staying in at the moment threw a bit of a Christmas Eve party as most of the guests were Scandinavian and they celebrate Christmas a day early. So the party was in full swing complete with a Christmas tree, Father Christmas (Santa, Old Saint Nick, the fat bastard in the red Coke Cola jump suit) and presents. I scored some lovely incense sticks this year so obviously I’d been a
Palolem Beach
The beach by day covered in sunbathing tourists. good lad, not. Although it doesn’t feel like Christmas it was a nice reminder that it was and a good laugh as well. Now in Australia we boast about celebrating Christmas on the beach but this year I couldn’t have been any closer if I had tried, other than passing out on the beach at the Christmas party. I awoke in my beach hut to the sounds of crashing waves, crawled to the nearest sun bed to nurse the thumping head ache and spent the day roasting like turkey in the sun. Put a fork in me I’m done. A real easy, lazy and somewhat boring Christmas but a very different one at that won’t be forgotten. In the evening 4 of us got together for an extremely un-Christmas dinner on the beach after sunset. We treated ourselves to a range of seafood caught fresh including a giant Kingfish, jumbo prawns the size of your hand, king prawns all cooked on an open bbq with rice and naan bread. Quite the mix and well worth it.
So to everyone back home I hope that your Christmas was as relaxing as mine, until next year, Merry Christmas. (Ps. Mum, the
Christmas at Palolem Beach
Some of the better looking tourists enjoying the Christmas Vibe. I like Xmas. seafood was no substitute to the home cooked roast. Surely Missed).
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Steve Bore
non-member comment
Greetings from Braintree
Andrew, On behalf of the family here, just to wish you all the best for the new year and happy travelling. Hope you recover from the "Delhi belly" - I am following your journey with interest and have copied your journals to Pam and Bob. Keep safe and well. Look forward to seeing you eventually in the UK. Regards. Steve 1/1/07