We were supposed to be heading to Panaji that morning, the capital of Goa. Jack, Amanda and I got a taxi, because it was a lot easier and since there were 3 we could share the cost. We got to Panaji, and discovered that it's really expensive and we couldn't be bothered to look around, so we went to the bus station and bought tickets to the beach in the south! The bus was fine, we changed once and it took about 2 hours to get to Palolem.

Palolem is more what i was expecting the beach to be like, it is beautiful and lined with palm trees, and the water is much clearer than in Arambol. Our friends Lucas, Hannah, Jess and Michaela are all here too, so we have people to go out with! We have been here for 2 days now, and we love it. The first day was very relaxed - at the beach again, and lots of swimming! We met up with everyone for dinner and drinks, and when the bars closed we bought some alcohol from the shop and drank on the beach, it was really nice.

Today we all hired scooters (there were 8 of us) and went for a cruise to some nearby beaches and to an old fort (we got a little lost, but found the way) its really annoying when you ask directions, because even if they don't know where you are going they point anyway, so you never really know if they are telling the truth! They also do that extremely irritating head shake from side to side which means, yes, no, don't know, maybe - so you never get a clear answer! We've started doing the head shake now too, we'll have to get out of that habit quickly! Riding around is a lot of fun, the roads are really quiet here, and it's nice to have freedom of going where you want when you want.

We are staying in Palolem until 5th November, and we have booked a train to Kochin in Kerala with Lucas and Hannah. It will be 15 hours on the train, but we want to get south so that we can start working our way back up to Mumbai slowly... only a month and a half left, oh my god!!

Hope everyone is well, will try to keep more updated.

Linsey and Jack xxx