Palolem - The beauty of South Goa

The first time I had been to Goa I was expecting unbearable seaside heat, dry climate and people filled beaches, thronging with commercialized  hot spots. But to my pleasant surprise it was not as hot, it had a lot of greenery and vegetation  even though the north beaches were commercialized it wasn’t enough to wrinkle my nose. 

I remember three years ago being absolutely fascinated by the place, feeling that the reverence for the place from variety of people was neither over hyped nor misjudged due to less exposure to unknown beaches. I was ecstatic to find curving roads lined with trees and small Portuguese influenced colourful and quaint houses. Happy and friendly people walking by, though the restaurant owners at the beaches were more clichéd than the most popular Bollywood movie, with their fake accents and their poor imitation of what they thought of the west. Though the only disappointing part was that I was of the belief that this hippie heaven would have retained some of its classic rock and country music feel, I was heart broken to hear trance everywhere, except a very few shacks and restaurants playing a few Bob Marley numbers. 

Sunset at Palolem ...

This time we decided on south Goa , Palolem and its surrounding beaches. A good choice, if I say so myself. We left Bangalore on the Chennai Vasco Express, to be dropped at Margao station. Margao is 45 kilometers from Palolem, so we hired a bike at Margao for 150rs a day, a nice active, new and all. Then we started our ride, even though I expected good roads, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice these roads were, clean, new tar, without humps or cavities to mar our pleasure of riding. The 40 odd kilometers flew by without a glitch. We arrived at Palolem roughly around 3.30. Got a shack on the beach for 200rs per day, You can get for cheaper rates in off season. But this one had an attached bathroom and a small little sitting area in front. We unpacked and ate a lot, to satisfy a hunger that was caused by not eating in the night and morning. The sunset was just spell bounding. Very little people scattered around, mauve and pink painted skies, reflected immaculately on the surmounting waves. 

The next day we left to Agonda which was an easy 8 kilometers away. Agonda is even less populated than Palolem. It was more popular with the localites, than with tourists. That is always good, because you get to see local habits and behavior and probably even mingle with them. There were large families that had gathered around trees, with food supplies and Frisbee. We just laid down under a tree and spent the hot afternoon in the cool breeze reading and sleeping under it. After a good meal we sat down to experience another sunset. Here the sunset was more golden with a crisp silhouette of the hills. The way back was equally enthralling with non lit roads and a cool breeze.

sunset at Agonda ....

The next day we thought of going to Vasco, but that turned out to be about 65 kilometers, we started of late so that would be too late, so we thought of Old Goa. This a man told us would be 25 kilometers from when we reach a particular spot on the highway. We took the superb road again, the hot sun not bothering us with the thick vegetation providing a superb feel and a cool air. Then we reached a spot where we saw a board going to Cabo De Rama to our left. We asked how far Old Goa was from there, they said it would be another 25 kilometers, we had already traveled a cool 20 kilometers by then. So we made an impulsive turn to Cabo De Rama. The road was almost empty throughout. Whomever we asked for directions, dint know there was such a place at all near by, we had a feeling that we weren’t pronouncing it right. Because when we aksed for Palolem – they pronounced it as “Palll-o – llim” , we still headed on, then we found this large clearing, with a stench, my friend told me it must be the fish drying area, it turned out to be so too. There were hundreds of Cranes and Herons perched on the stone bricks, obviously attracted by the number of fishes available easily. The smell was over whelming. There was an old lady who explained it all to us, what they did , how they got the fish and how they dried it. Then we headed to Cabo De Rama. There the road just ended on to a church and fort, or so we thought. The Santo Antonio church was perched amidst the fort structure. The Glass covered shrine for Mary was beautiful with over hanging Bougainvillea. 

Mary's Shrine in Santo Antonio Church in Cabo De Rama ...

Then we went up the fort, the view is so splendid that everyone needs to go there to experience it. Then we did a little bit of exploration and found our own secret passage. The place has an amazing aura, a feel that is hard to describe. The green waters below lashing, huge eagles soaring above the rocks, the fort menacingly looking down. We spent quite a lot of time there and headed back. We had seen a board that said this way to Agonda, I guessed that would be a nearer route back and we took it. Now this road was immeasurably pleasurable even more than the roads we had already taken, some parts of the road were caved out of eart and green vegetation over hanging it, just pure beauty. And in parts of the route one can see the shimmering beach below, the view is exquisite. That was our last day at Goa so we ate to our hearts content, with a sunken heart that dint want to leave. 

Parinitha Konanur