Monday, January 24, 2011

Southern Goa


After taking a 15 hour train ride from Mumbai to Goa, Jake and I headed down to the south to Palolem beach. From what we heard, the south is way more quiet and has fewer tourists than the popular areas of the north. We found a pair of British sisters also headed in the same direction and split a taxi from the train station to Palolem.

Palolem is pretty gorgeous, like most other tropical locations around the world. Restaurants, bars, small shacks and hotels line the coast with more things slightly inland. Up until now, the weather for me in all parts of India has been absolutely fantastic. It has yet to rain, and days have been clear with highs between 70 and 90 degrees, depending on how north I am. Goa, however, takes the cake. The evenings are cool and dry, perfect for either shorts or long pants depending on your preference, and days are sunny, warm, and breezy. The beaches are way cleaner than what I had expected given the amount of trash I've seen in the rest of India, and locals are friendly and helpful. Each restaurant on the beach seems to have a handful of resident dogs that will come sit next to you as you eat waiting for you to give then a bit. The dogs are pros when it comes to this. They either patiently look at you with their big doe eyes or will gently rest their head or paw against your thigh until you succumb to their cuteness or shoo them away. The food here is delicous, and reminds me a bit of Korean food in that a lot of it is very spicy, sweet, and salty. The fish and calamari curries have been my favorite local specialties while the fresh fish caught off the coast has also been spectacular. Most restaurants have "happy hour" specials, 2 for 1 cocktails running 6pm-midnight and you can enjoy your drink in the evening with a firework show launched off the beach every night.

After enjoying our first night in Palolem, Jake and I rented some bicycles the next day to check out another beach to the north. It took a good 30 mins of hill cycling, but it was worth it to reach Agonda beach. The beach at Agonda is barely populated, and the prices at the restaurants are even cheaper. A wonderful way to relax if you're not a fan of huge mobs of tourists or locals trying to sell you boatrides. Speaking of tourists, south Goa is pretty much frequented entirely by retired English couples which makes for some interesting people watching. After Agonda and another strenuous bike ride back to Palolem, we had another relaxing evening soaking in all that Goa has to offer.

Right now, I'm blogging on the shores of Anjuna beach, which I'll talk about later, along with my visit to a spice plantation.

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