Goa, sunset, off-season

Goa is a region of India which, unlike the rest of the country, gets more than it’s fair share of package tourists. Not wishing to join these at their high-rise resorts (although the season is young) we have selected a small fishing village called Arambol on the coast where we are hoping to stay for the last week of our holiday. After arranging a train ticket back to Bombay on the 28th, we board a local bus and prepare for all manner of difficulties in getting out to Arambol by public transport.
The bus station at Mapusa is over-crowded and extremely complicated. Eventually we end up on a bus we think is going near where we want to be. It turns out to be a good choice and uses a ferry to get over the wide-mouthed river estuary which most of the other buses circumnavigate. From there we make our own way the last 13km by auto-rickshaw through green and flat farmland.
Arambol is a quiet little village set by a palm-fringed beach. The weather is cloudy but otherwise idyllic. We install ourselves in a mad little beach hotel run by a Portugese/Indian woman who warns us about drug raids in the area. The fellow guests are uncommunicative.
There are a number of excellent bars and cafes and very few tourists around. Life in Arambol is all about enjoying food and drinks and watching the sun set. And fighting mosquitoes: we stock up on coils and sprays to rage war.
The next day we find a secluded beach along the headland and sun bathe there. Clear blue sky, crashing waves and hot, hot sun. We are just about alone until the peddler boys come through with coconuts, sarongs and henna tattoos for our purchasing pleasure. We decline but they insist on sitting with us for ten minutes incase we change our minds.
Later I’m forced to tend my sunburn over a cool beer in the “Lake Paradise” beachside restaurant while the sun sets on another peaceful day.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 31st, 1998 at 1:43 pm and is filed under India. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.