Getting to a new place in the dark is never brilliant, and I arrived in Palolem at 5.30am, so it was still dark. I took an Auto-Rickshaw to the beach in hopes of finding a lovely hut to rent. As it was still pitch black when I got there, I couldn’t really do much but wander about randomly in the sand with my backpack! Eventually I found another human being (as opposed to the gangs of dogs on the beach) and asked them where any good huts were, he vaguely pointed off into the distance and I didn’t really get much else from him…
So off I walked in search of some huts. The first place that I came to looked very basic but lovely and bright. I found it in the Lonely Planet: ‘Mickeys Huts’. It sounded perfect and it seemed like the perfect price too, all was not perfect thought, as they had hiked the price up, from around ₨400 to ₨2000 a night! Now if this had been a little concrete hut with hot and cold running water all day long and a little kitchenette too, then fair enough, but for an MDF shack painted pink with a bed and a cold tap in, well I’m not convinced!
I found another, much nicer, place right next door where I got a bricks and mortar hut with a nice little bathroom. It looks as though it has just been renovated, or even just been built. The lovely owner said ₨600 a night and I was perfectly happy with this.
As it was now getting on for 7.30am I needed breakfast. It was empty. I’m sure the tourists will come out of the woodwork once I’ve been here a few days, but it doesn’t have the ‘touristy’ vibe that some of the beaches so far have done, it’s quiet and green and very pleasant!
I poodled around for about an hour, taking myself off to the beach to catch some rays : )
That evening I took an Auto-Rickshaw into Palolem to see what it’s like. It seems just like most tourist beachy areas: lots of shops selling tourist tat, lots of restaurants and hundreds of people trying to get you to rent their motorbikes or scooters for the day.
The next morning I spent on the beach and then went into town to get a moped to see a little more of the state. I ended up spending the whole day on the beach and went into Palolem in the evening. Thus not really achieving a whole lot. It was a lovely day sat in the sun reading and talking and just generally relaxing.
I found a bar on the beach in Palolem called ‘Cocktails and Dreams’ where I decided that it would be a great idea to have two Blue Lagoons on an empty stomach.
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