My last day in an Indian beach town for the foreseeable future. So I decided to make it a relaxed one: A sunrise swim in the big waves, a dosa masala breakfast with chai, a lot of writing on a rocky outcrop over the sea in the early morning sun, momos for lunch, a siesta and a tandoori meal for dinner. Did I say it was a relaxed day?

All over the town there are more and more colorful and musical things going on. Even the animals can’t escape.

Back over the mountain in tomorrow’s early hours before the heat…

Today I was invited for a visit to some ´locals´ from Mumbai in Palolem, a town 8 kilometers from Agonda, some food and a look into the Indian way of doing things. This involved some nice food, a drive further South and a visit to the festivities at some home, where there was music, dance and food (lots of very tasty fish) in the build-up for the Holi festival that I will see on Friday. It was a very interesting day during which I learned so many things again.

I climbed some real mountains today, on the way to Agonda, my Southern-most destination. After 3 days relaxing in this small town on an amazing beach, it will be one day back to the North, and then the train back to Mumbai.

Every time I go further South, I think it cannot get more tropical, but it can. The photo shows some beautiful rice paddies that I passed along the way, just before the big climb.

Yesterday evening, a big part of India was hit by a cyclone. Thunder, lightning, a lot of wind and horizontal rain (15 mm here in Goa). Normally, at this time of the year there is no rain at all, so this was something very special. Of course the electricity grid went out a few times, and the roads were pretty muddy in the morning when I started riding.

Because of all the water that came down, humidity is very high now, making it feel really tropical (that means: a lot of sweating). Even the dogs took it very slowly today (although I have to say that they behave pretty relaxed most of the time).

There are some things that define the things as they are in India. Here two examples that made me laugh in the last few days.

As soon as I left the coast in North Goa, I found myself among only Indians again. Here on a ferry to the state capital of Goa: Panjim.

Panjim is a lovely city, and I am very happy that a taxi driver whom I was asking directions from, suggested to me to stay in the city instead of the coast. Of coarse his friend had a hotel and he would guide me there and so and so, but it was a good hotel and even the price was right. In a non-touristy area this way of touting is not always so bad.
Anyway, Panjim shows a lot of its Portuguese history, especially in the buildings high on the hill that are often even maintained in a reasonable way, on wide lanes lined with trees and flowers no hooting rickshaws and churches instead of temples. Very non-Indian really.
Of course the down-town area is very Indian, and so there was awesome food to be found again. Really good!

The view from Arambolś main street (on a quiet moment by the way): A little too much tourist-oriented stalls for my liking, but on the other hand: very nice to have some conveniences like a small supermarket and a bakery again.

This morning, I made my way into the state of Goa, where I was greeted with the sight of more and more Westeners. Actually, the first real number of non-Indians that I have seen in 2.5 weeks. Less ¨interesting¨ than the real India I have seen so far, but a very welcome break from the poverty. Also very good to be able to properly communicate with people again. Good stories to be heard everywhere…

The place comes to life on mondays, when everyone can stock up on food, clothing and more, in almost artisan displays.

As I walked past this food stall in the evening, en-route to a restaurant, I spotted this cow at a food stall. It looked fairly content along the other locals. Also, this is quite in contrast with the normal habitat of the cows in the street: in the midst of  the many rubbish piles that can be found anywhere:

Kunkeshwar, home of the Konkan Kashi temple, a simple hotel and a few stalls and not much more. This is the quiet place that I arrived to this day. Or so I thought…

After dark, the soft religious music that had been flowing from the temple all day was increased in volume and kept on playing until 6 the next morning. Closing the flimsy windows did not bring relief and only reduced the much-needed inflow of cool night-air. As I learned later, the temple had a festival this weekend and this is how they do it. Next time, I will seek out a hotel as far away from a temple as possible to decrease my chances for a night like this.

After getting up early for a visit to the Swami Swaroopanand temple before sunrise, this was the view that I was gifted with just after I left in the first daylight. Quite nice.

Then, the searching for and finding the guesthouse that I had got a telephone number of, off a guest in yesterday’s guesthouse was interesting. After my arrival in the town Nate, I called the number but it was not answered. After some asking around and cycling up and down the town twice, I was about to give up and cycle further, when one last try of asking for directions stirred some things up: an English speaker was called for me from the crowd. When I mentioned the name of the owners, he borrowed someones phone and started calling several numbers. Then he told me to ride out of town to the ice factory (recognizable by parked pickups with crates in the back), to wait there and that I would be picked up in a few minutes.
And yes, after a few minutes a young man appeared on a motorbike, with his wife on the back and he showed me the way to their property, some kilometers out of town (that cost me some energy, keeping up with the motorbike). It turned out to be the most magnificent place, on top of a hill with coastal view and a dining-deck on top. I could not be happier for such a quiet and remote place to stay for a night.
By the way, the number I had was of the owner’s mother, who was not at home at the time of my call…

Here the view, just before sunset:

The small guesthouse in Paawas felt like the perfect place to spend an extra day, away from the bustle of a beach-side town. For the first time on the trip there was no need to get out of bed at 6.30 (this is very much needed on cycling days, as the heat gets a bit too much after 10). I just took a short walk around town and enjoyed the home-made lunch and dinner, perfecting my skills for eating with my right-hand (and without utensils) through the comments of the whole family as they made sure I had everything I wished for.

A tour of their mango-product factory and a lot of picture-showing and letting the kids ride the bike made the day fly past.

On a visit to India, there is no possibility to escape the game of cricket. Especially the kids play it everywhere and are all too eager to learn it to the stranger. One of the daughters at the Paawas guesthouse learned me the basics, which did not take me too long.  Luckily there were no windows to break, I only shot the ball into the neighbors garden twice (which of course was not a problem at all).

The climbing is not always easy, especially on my bike without gears that was never made for a trip like this, so I have to resort to walking up the hills quite often. Many times, the views from up-high are breathtakingly good. Seeing all this is certainly worth going through all the trouble.

The plan was to ride to Dapoli today and to stay there for the night. Unfortunately, they had just built a new hotel next to the old one and were now asking ridiculous prices for a room. That, combined with the thick cloud of smoke that Dapoli was in, was enough reason for me to get down to the coast again, to Dabhol. Why they burn the waste at the side of the road in such big quantities puzzles me every morning. Dapoli was particularly bad, with many fires in sight at every moment. It was even painful for the eyes…

Dabhol turned out to be a fantastic little place with lots of helpful and interesting people, where I found a guesthouse that made me fresh fried fish and curry for lunch, and prawns for dinner.

The children were also very happy: they could practice their English with me, right before their exams.