Gourmet on the beach

Goa - wow. But I'll get to that.

Firstly, it turns out that we not only have wi-fi here too, but it actually works at a normal speed, hence we have added some photos to the previous post if you want to check them out.

The morning was a blow-out of good intentions. Mumbai, whilst awesome, cannot be done in two days and we had planned to get up early to visit Victoria Terminus and Chowpatty Beach. Alas, after a somewhat late (and, for one of us, quite boozy) night, *someone* set the alarm for 7:30am. I think there may have been a subconscious - or not so much - thought process that prioritised sleep over tourism. Anyhoo, we made it out of our fantabulous hotel room with no issue and settled for a more than adequate breakfast in our adjoining bar/cafe.

Our driver was pretty much spot-on time, and we found ourselves in peak hour Mumbai traffic which is an experience in itself. How this works without proverbial cluster f*cks on every corner is beyond me; everyone goes as fast as they can for as long as they can. Pushing for rank is standard, and everyone plays chicken, but eventually someone gives way. All that said we never saw an accident or anything resembling road rage. Adelaide drivers could learn a lot. The drive took us past this amazing feat of road engineering called the Sealink - quite literally an alternative main road built into the sea with a massive suspension bridge, simply to alleviate pressure on existing roads. The tourism operator who joined us for the drive pointed out that the project was only half done - the four lanes were to be expanded to 8. Incredible.

The same operator also insisted, albeit politely, that because we had allowed plenty of time to get to the airport, we should drop in on this amazing department store on the way through. I'm not sure what the kick-back arrangement was, but this place was somewhat frightening. Everything was heinously expensive and staff outnumbered customers 2:1. We were greeted on the first floor by a very exuberant young gentleman trying to sell Bec all kinds of cloth, including a Pashmina shawl costing R7700 (nearly $200.00). The guy was immaculately dressed and was wearing some extremely (deliberately?) obvious makeup. We only had 15 minutes in there, thankfully, which was our excuse for not inspecting every inch of the place, but we did stumble across a perfume counter which was selling these magnificent attar fragrances, pure essences of whatever it was you were after. Bec bought a jasmine one, and I got a blend that smells like a good-quality Western aftershave, minus the dodgy whale fat and beer adjuncts.

We finally got to the airport and the flight was largely uneventful. We were met with the usual precision timing by our guides, and the 1.5 hour drive to Palolem demonstrated the extreme differences in India's geography, starting with dry plains and ending with palm-covered hills. Our hotel, The Village, is nestled behind the main beach of Palolem, which is famed for Matt Damon's jovial little pre-assassination sprint in The Bourne Supremacy. Soon after arriving we met our very cordial host who handed me a beer, thus engendering him in my immediate favour. After finishing our drinks he showed us the 5-minute walk to the beach, on the way meeting a local Boxer dog called Pancho. He left us on the beach and after a few minutes marveling at the sand, sea and surrounding hills we settled at a bar only metres from the water. Not long after settling, one of the local cows started wandering towards us, and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity. She must have taken a liking to me because she followed me back to the bar and began nuzzling around the kitchen area. She was a local of some repute, clearly, because she was quickly handed all sorts of goodies, including lettuce and fruit.

At this same bar we also had our most sensational meal in India to date; almost at a whim I ordered Tandoori Pomfret, a fish indigenous to India. It was about 4 o'clock and had been hoping for a light meal, but instead we got this:

That's a vegetable swan I'm grimacing at, by the way.

This fish was unbelievable. It had been caught this morning and it was the freshest, sweetest, most tender fish either of us have had in a long while. The Tandoori flavouring was fairly typical but delicious and the chips were hand cut and cooked in oil which must have contained turmeric or something.

We had quite a few drinks and might have stayed drinking 2 for 1 cocktails for longer had it not been for the fact that the dunny was literally being installed while we ate and drank, and nature was beginning to call loudly. Also while at the bar we came across a flyer for a comedy night at a town near here, which is boasting a guy by the name of Eddie Izzard. He's kinda famous. I'm skeptical as to whether he'd actually be in such a remote joint doing a show for R100, but I'm willing to explore.

On our way back to our lodgings, one of the cows had to farewell Bec in a seemingly familiar way: