For me, india’s West Coast offers the perfect travelling experience as the big city of Mumbai contrasts to the relaxing vibes of Goa and the stunning scenery of Kerala.
Goa is one of the places I had always wanted to visit. It’s no secret I love the beach. I love doing nothing but soak up the sunshine into my skin and listen to nothing but the waves crashing against the sand. The addition of swaying palm trees, fishing boats and crabs that you see in the exotic brochures are the things of my dreams but never affordable until now. I was definitely very, very, very excited to reach Goa.
Now I’m not saying Calangute and Baga beaches are not beautiful. They have all the essential exotic criteria listed above and lots of water sports available as well as many bars for a good old after sun booze up. Only I had peace, serenity and relaxation on my mind. Unfortunately all the beaches we visited in North Goa were very busy and not suitable for western beach attire. The requirement to cover up in the heat and humidity and persistent requests for selfies and stares were not what I had envisaged on my relaxing beach day so we decided to search for perfection in South Goa.
Did we find it? Oh yes! We arrived in Paleloma by taxi as could not see a viable public transport alternative, dumped our bags and headed straight to the hotel pool, the first we had been to since our trip began. The twinkling, cooling water against our tired, hot skin was like heaven. We had been trekking and travelling non stop for 7 weeks so I lay there on my back, kicking my feet and grinning ear to ear with the sunshine on my face loving this slice of luxury. Interrupted only by Gs splashing around and persistent calls to ‘watch this’ as he would perform a hand stand for the 110th time but I was expecting nothing else as he enjoyed this luxury too!
Hunger and wrinkly skin made us leave our sanctuary and venture out. The food in Goa is incredible and everything is so cheap we instantly decided that we would return to the UK for the summer months and then head straight back to Goa for the 6 month holiday season!
Before the sun went down we cut through the shacks by our hotel toward the sea. We turned a corner through the palm trees and it was there. Right infront of us. The most perfect beach I’ve seen so far. I was in love. I stepped into the warm sand bare footed and turned to goo inside. Stuff G, I just wanted to roll around and cover myself in it!
The white sandy beaches are lined with the most amazing shacks selling ice cold drinks and scrummy seafood. We found one on the equally stunning Patnim beach that allowed us to steal one of their front row tables for the whole day as long as we ate and drank there of course but it was shaded by palm trees and perfect for leaving our valuables at whilst playing in the sea 😀
We hired a scooter whilst we were there for $2 a day with the intention of sightseeing though we ended up taking advantage of our own transport and simply just beach and bar hopped during our stay instead!
We ended up extending our stay, and then extending again due to me being pretty sick (thought it was malaria as the mosquitos were relentless, but I survived the first 36 hours so guessed then that it must just be a cold) then again as the sleeper train to Kerala was full already. But we don’t mind at all ☺️
Coming next: Part 3 of my India west coast blog, Kerala
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