picking up where we left off, sarah and i boarded an overnight train from bombay to goa and our adventures continued from there! this trip will cover songs 9-18 of the playlist 🙂

friday.

the people who were sharing our train berth got off a few stops before us, so we were able to enjoy the views for the last hour or so of our journey. once we arrived in madgaon it was a short walk to the local bus, a ride to the main bus stand, and a switch to an interstate bus heading toward palolem. this bus dropped us off on the main road, so we had about a 15-minute walk to the actual beach. i wish you could have heard the sighs we both emitted the moment our feet hit the sand.

it was still morning so we decided to get some breakfast before checking into our guest house. details are going to get murky from here because i don’t remember the names of all the places we ate, but i’ll do my best [this was the place with the i ❤ goa sign in front of it, that’s all i remember]. this is also where i introduced sarah to the wonder of fresh juices in india, and her mind was blown. she ordered a fruit punch after breakfast and is still talking about it a month later, if that tells you anything.

when i booked our cottage at pacific sunset view i had put in a request for an early check-in, so luckily by the time we showed up just after noon our room was ready for us. in no time we were both in our pajamas and tucked into bed for a truly exquisite nap.

once we felt human again we put on our swimsuits and made our way down to the beach. we caught some sun, i went for a quick dip, and we enjoyed an early dinner of goan sausage and kingfish curry with rice before calling it a night.

saturday.

we decided to have breakfast at big fish, the same place we had dinner the night before, since we liked the food and the view and the servers. for my money i think that was my favorite breakfast of the trip, especially those potatoes. from there it was time for a beach nap and a swim and to wait for the arrival of priyanka and deboo…that’s right, we convinced our friends to join us for the weekend, so they flew down on saturday morning!

once priyanka and deboo arrived and joined us [and saved sarah from being scammed by one of the ladies selling jewelry lol], we moseyed down to ciaran’s for a snack and some adult beverages. ciaran’s is usually where they stay when they’re in palolem, so they know the place well and everyone there knows them. this is where we discovered the existence of goan sausage naan, after which none of us were the same.

we decided to head back early to our place to rest and shower, after which we made the executive decision to stay there for dinner. they have a separate section that we had all to ourselves, so we jammed out to the super melancholy playlist and had ourselves a lovely dinner and an early evening.

sunday.

sunday breakfast was had at our guest house before heading over to the main beach. we relaxed for a bit before one by one getting into the sea for a swim. eventually we were ready for some shade and hydration, so back to ciaran’s we went. various snacks were procured, i eventually went back for another swim, and many more pieces of goan sausage naan were devoured.

we knew we wanted to have dinner at ciaran’s, so we went back early to shower and get dressed. it’s funny what a transformation a tablecloth and some candles makes, but dinner felt so much more upscale compared to our afternoon snacks. the food was great and the live acoustic guitar was the perfect background accompaniment, and we toasted to our final night at the beach.

sleep was delayed that night due to air conditioners being on the fritz, but everything was eventually worked out and we all slept like babies.

monday.

our final day at the beach initially we had talked about getting in a morning swim, but the logistics of doing that plus showering and packing and dealing with wet clothes was more than any of us had the energy for, so instead we slept in and took our time getting ready for the day. sarah and i chilled on our balcony and enjoyed the view for a while before rallying to finish gathering our things and check out of our cottage.

we had a late breakfast before wandering through the shops on the main street and enjoying some yummy gelato. we managed to say a quick hello to two of priyanka and deboo’s friends who were also in town before grabbing our bags and getting in our cab to head to da tita by magic italy, a very delicious italian restaurant in majorda. it is run by an italian grandmother and granddaughter, and the food is incredible. we shared a salad, two pastas, a pizza, and a dessert, and trust me when i say there was not a crumb left behind. and as a bonus, the restaurant was only a 15-minute cab ride to the margao bus stand where sarah and i caught our overnight bus to hampi.

and from here our adventures will continue in the next post…

xx