I have finally found the perfect opportunity to write this next entry on Goa. Flavia Paradise where I am staying on Palolem beach has become a death trap. All morning I watched men scale huge palm trees in the distance and knock the dry coconuts off the trees. Chris pointed out that this was dangerous and I laughed, saying that obviously the people in the huts below would be told to make themselves scarce. Surely there must be a big sign board saying "Danger, falling coconuts" right? The men kept scaling trees closer and closer to us but there was still no sign in our compound so I was sure they wouldn't be venturing into Flavia Paradise. At 2pm Big Mama (our nickname for Flavia, the woman who owns our beach hut) was walking past us and I decided to strike up a conversation. I mentioned that we'd be staying at Flavia Paradise for the week as we love the place. She seemed pleased with this news and as she was walking away she turned and casually said that in half an hour or so the men would be dropping the coconuts above our heads. "Little bit dangerous na?" Yes Big Mama, very dangerous. So I am at our local haunt, a lovely restaurant/bar called Cuba writing this whilst coconuts crash onto and around our hut.

The train journey to Goa was fantastic despite being at 6.55am. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't what I experienced on the Mandovi Express. The scenery outside was incredible and the food on board was delicious. Every 5 minutes someone would walk past shouting "dosa dosa masala dosa" or "samosa samosa samosa" and the chai wallah seemed to have a permanent presence in our carriage. After a few hours of admiring the scenery we decided to get some sleep in the bunk beds of our day time sleeper train. I'd just managed to doze off when I woke up sharply to the sounds of a man screaming in Hindi. The man in the seat across from me was shouting at someone who had sold him some food and given him the wrong change. The shouting was a mixture of Hindi and English. "You are thinking you are better than me isn't it?" "Oh no, do not use languages like that infront of me. How you are talking!" People in the carriage seemed to love the drama and gathered around unashamedly watching the pandemonium. The argument concluded with "Challo, get lost!" What a journey!

We arrived in Panaji, the capital of Goa, sometime in the evening. We took a taxi with a German couple we'd met on the train into the City centre to find a place to stay. We talked a lot about the contrast between the relaxed south and hectic Mumbai. The Portugese influence is very apparent in beautiful Panaji. Many of the roads have portugese names, the buildings are constructed in a portugese style and there are many churches around. We spent the next day sightseeing and had our first of many vegetarian thalis. In the evening, we opted out of paying 1400 rupees for a taxi to Palolem beach in south Goa and instead took two local buses and an autorickshaw for 92 rupees each. As our first choice accomodation was fully booked, we allowed our autorickshaw driver to take us to Flavia Paradise (where I'm sure he collected some kind of commission) and we checked into a beach hut. It is shoddily built and is like sleeping outside, but with a mosquito net. Our stay in this beach hut has been interesting to say the least and we have learnt to tolerate the insects that share our space. Recently I woke up in the middle of the night to find a cockroach sitting on my toothbrush. I didn't scream, just went back to sleep after making a mental note to buy a new toothbrush and keep it in a plastic bag! Homeless people and beggars seem to be few and far between in this part of Goa, however there are loads of stray dogs which look to be in less than good health. Yesterday Chris and I were swimming in the sea when I saw one such dog running down the beach towards the shore. I shouted over to Chris "Look at that poor dog! He must be so desperate for a drink he's coming into the sea" The dog came up to the shoreline, did that all too familiar squat that dogs do and started s***ting into the sea just metres from where we were swimming. More fool me for thinking the dog was stupid enough to drink sea water.

In general our time at Palolem beach has been great. Days consist of swimming in the sea, occasional sun bathing with a copy of Shantaram, a lot of walking around the village and laughing at the lazy little pigs and piglets that sleep all day, and ashtanga vinyasa with a yogi called Kranti. The food in this place is delicious - veg thali, seafood, and the traditional Goan dessert Bebinca, which is a kind of layer cake mmm! We will be heading down to Kerala in a few days time, but for now we're just enjoying what Goa has to offer.