Entry 6, Goan Beaches

Entry 6, The Goan Beaches
Mandarem
From Thivim train station I headed for the coast, Pernem was my choice of station and would have been a better move, but I had been given a bum steer by the train station guy. The section of main road wasnt that ideal but was quickly forgotten in the quiet leafy green descent to the sea passing old Portuguese villas. With a quick check of my guide book I decided on Mandarem over Arambol and found it quiet and fairly calm but the first couple of places I asked were full. I was offered a beach hut for Rs1000 but decided that was rather steep, however after another half hour of refusals it was sounding good, finally I settled in a grubby place where I paid Rs1200 but as the door had a lock and I decided it was moderately safer and choose it over the shack. The food at the beach was pretty good and I had a pleasant evening eating fish and drinking beer while listening to the conversations around me. The next day I headed off as I felt the prices were not that great value and after a couple of photographs of St. Anthony's church found my way to Calungute via Baga.


Calungute
All the recommended places were full and I was just thinking about heading further on to Candolim when a school boy asked if I needed accommodation and if so I should stay at his mothers place, so I followed him and found a great clean room with a warm shower. Despite the seriously elevated price I stayed two nights. The location amongst the locals is fabulous and when not HIGH HIGH season Rs500 would be a fair price, however my lodging was the best thing about Calungute, the beach was awash with Indians and I walked down to Candolim each day for a quieter spot. On the second day a group of young Indian men took up all the available accommodation including the room next to mine. They didnt have such a good time, with too much youthful exuberance, alcohol and whatever other substances managing to get themselves into no end of trouble and coming back at 3am, fighting about the whole thing they further got themselves further into trouble with me. One of them the previous night had a bad reaction to something and was covered in a rash, I had helped them get cucumber and squeeze the juice over the area to cool it a little so they were more embarrassed to have disturbed me. I left the next morning, they had seemed like good lads to me and it transpired there was one of them causing most/ all of the trouble, they were leaving anyway as the locals had told them to leave because of all the trouble.

Bogmalo
The cycle to Bogmalo was the first bit of exciting fun cycling I had in India. I stuck with my compass and the advice of locals and managed to get myself on the third class roads through the jungle and spotted my first groups of monkeys. The roadside was populated with all sorts of interesting creatures, banana plantations and palm trees. I really enjoyed the cycling, the last hill was about to deliver a surprise though as the road turned into something I cant imagine being traversed by any normal motorised vehicle including a Landrover, see the picture. Anyway the bike, bags and my skin survived the sharp rocks with only minor scrapes and after some more off-road adventures, to the surprise astonishment and amusement of some road workers, I made it to the dual carriageway/ highway, which passed fairly quickly and was soon on the descent to Bogmalo. Bogmalo is an odd little out of the way place, I quite liked it in some ways and there is some seriously expensive accommodation there, but I was lucky and happy to find a room at La Petite Hotel for Rs1000. I enjoyed my brief stay, there is a shop owner who's sister is married to a Scottish bloke! Dinner wasnt bad, seaside tourist prices but still reasonable. As I left in the morning I had a brief tour of the Naval Aviation museum and the lad in the photograph felt the need for speed, so test flew the bike. Personally I would have been much more interested in the Sea Harrier.


Colva
Touristville.
I stayed at Joem Tourist home, the family are delightful, the location fabulous, quiet secluded and well away from the main drag which is everything I dont want in a seaside location. I was stung a little on the price but it was miles cheaper than anything else and I had no idea what if anything would be available further down the beach as it was New Year. After my Calungute experience I decided to stay away from the beach, and had a very early night. I did go to the local English bar, enjoyed my G&T hated the awful atmosphere so headed home. The night before New Years eve I met a great couple, Cat who is Welsh, he was Irish lad named after one of mythical the giants, anyway we had a couple of good chats and I enjoyed their company immensely, especially the Davy Spillane fan club part. The best company so far on the trip, in fact they are the reason I left a day later than intended as I drank G&T's with them for hours and didnt realise how large the G part was.