We are settled into our villa in Cavelossim, South Goa. It is the low season until the end of Sept. 1st Oct prices double! We found this villa on AirBnB. $60/night (things are dearer down here than the rest of India) Our money gets us into a gated community, villa with kitchen and balcony. A small supermarket at the gate - so have purchased cereal etc. We ‘cooked’ breakfast for the first time since our trip started yesterday. We did think we would cook dinner too - but it is still easier and cheaper to visit local restaurants. Most of Goa is shut down - so only 1/5th of the usual shops and restaurants are open. Actually it might be closer to 1/10th. The locals are renovating, cleaning and preparing for the onslaught to come in Oct. We love it as they are not pushy or annoying - they are not in ‘hard sell’ mode. I imagine it is a tad more extreme come the busy season.
I have been thinking about how off-hand we as NZ’ers can be to tourists, who we often think of as an intrusion to our lives, and interlopers to NZ. We have been welcomed so openly by everyone we’ve met. We were out and about on our scooties yesterday and had to stop on the side of the road during a monsoon downpour. We were soaked and trying to put on ponchos. The local shopkeeper had a wee chat and as we left to hit the road again called out - “take care, be safe” . So simple but so nice.
Goa is one coastline of stunning beaches, dense groves or forests of coconut palms, rice paddies and other crops. You can literally see the weeds and foliage growing in this humid climate. The gardeners and builders have a non-stop job keeping on top of maintenance. Black mould is on a lot of the houses in the villages. I don’t know how they would ever get rid of it.
We biked to Palolem Beach yesterday. A beautiful, horse-shoe shaped beach. The village road leading up to the beach was really busy. It must get super crowded in the high season. The beach is lined with beach huts which I guess are guesthouses and restaurants. They were all shut up. We just had to share the beach with local tourists, street/beach dogs and some cows! The water looked clear and clean ....unlike Kerala beaches a few years ago.
Our wee villa
Monsoon rain on palm
The non-stop working gardener clearing up after rain last night
I have been thinking about how off-hand we as NZ’ers can be to tourists, who we often think of as an intrusion to our lives, and interlopers to NZ. We have been welcomed so openly by everyone we’ve met. We were out and about on our scooties yesterday and had to stop on the side of the road during a monsoon downpour. We were soaked and trying to put on ponchos. The local shopkeeper had a wee chat and as we left to hit the road again called out - “take care, be safe” . So simple but so nice.
Goa is one coastline of stunning beaches, dense groves or forests of coconut palms, rice paddies and other crops. You can literally see the weeds and foliage growing in this humid climate. The gardeners and builders have a non-stop job keeping on top of maintenance. Black mould is on a lot of the houses in the villages. I don’t know how they would ever get rid of it.
We biked to Palolem Beach yesterday. A beautiful, horse-shoe shaped beach. The village road leading up to the beach was really busy. It must get super crowded in the high season. The beach is lined with beach huts which I guess are guesthouses and restaurants. They were all shut up. We just had to share the beach with local tourists, street/beach dogs and some cows! The water looked clear and clean ....unlike Kerala beaches a few years ago.
Our wee villa
Monsoon rain on palm
The non-stop working gardener clearing up after rain last night
Palolem beach...with cows!
Palolem Bech with beach huts in the distance ...and cow
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