The overnight train trip from Udaipur down to Mumbai saw us sharing a compartment with a bunch of grumpy-grouches, so was a bit awkward at best :-/ We got into Mumbai in the late morning on Thursday 27 September and immediately caught a local train to our next departing station, where we found something to eat and then waited around for our next overnight train down to Goa. When it arrived we clambered aboard and, since our seats were in different cars :-/, randomly picked one to go and sit at. Turns out we picked right as we found ourselves sharing the compartment with this cool Indian family who were off to Goa on holiday and who kindly made space for us to join them.

It was early morning on Friday 28 September when our train finally pulled into Madgaon, the main railway station in Goa. The public busses weren't operaing yet, so we trudged into town with our heavy gear, stopping at a dodgy roadside shop on the way for a pick-me-up coffee. We eventually found a bus that took us to the main KTC bus station, where we didn't have long to wait to get a bus down to the tiny sea-side village of Agonda. As a welcome change, our bus came with English music (gasp!) which made the two hour trip much more bearable. After being unceremoniously dumped on the side of some jungle road, we gathered our things and walked through the village to our accomodation, where we immediately took a much needed shower. Afterwards we walked into town and found a place for a quick lunch, before heading down to the beach where we discovered that cows outumber people at least 3-1 ?! We hung out there for a while enjoying the quietness and the views and then went back to the room to chill for the rest of the evening.

Saturday we woke up late, still feeling tired and a bit achy from our journey South. We bumbled our way down the stairs to the road and stopped in at the only open restaurant in the village - it must have been the highest concentration of foreigners for miles! We waited patiently for a table to open up and enjoyed a late breakfast of porridge and eggs and coffee. After eating, we made our way back to our room for some relaxing reading time. That evening we took a walk along the beach all the way to the end and back, before heading into town for dinner. On the way we ran into a rowdy bunch dancing and singing in the street and lighting firecrackers - a festival! Turned out it was the last day of Ganesh's birthday celebrations and they were on their way to the beach to submerge the elephant-god in the sea. These processions take ages to wind their way through the town and we were hungry so we didn't stay too long. The restaurant was full again, so we ended up sharing a table with a cool German couple, who we discovered will be doing an internship in Cape Town next year. Back in the room we got ready for bed and settled down to a bit of admin.

Sunday we walked down the street to our usual spot for breakfast, although by the time our food arrived it might as well have been lunch :-/ We wolfed it down, picked up a few things from our room and walked down to the main intersection to rent a scooter. About fifteen minutes later we were at Palolem Beach, which is quite a bit busier than Agonda. We spent some time lying in the sun and then walked to the river end of the beach where we had a swim. We ate a big, delicious lunch at a restaurant right on the sand and afterwards, walked down to the sea to watch the local fishermen pulling in their nets laden with fish. By now the sun was beginning to set, so we hopped back on the scooter and headed back to our village for dinner. It was still drizzling a bit as we walked back to the room, and we were very thankful for a hot shower and a comfortable bed to get some rest.

Monday we ended up sleeping in a bit longer than what we meant to, so decided to head straight to the scooter-hire man and find a place out in the countryside to have brunch. We initially drove back towards Palolem, but the place we had in mind was closed :-/ so we turned around and went North. We rode for quite a while, through palm-tree jungles and tiny villages, past rivers and rice-paddy fields, dodging all kinds of different animals including plenty of cows and even a snake. Eventually we stopped in the village of Assolna for drinks and some ice-creams, before heading back down South. We had a late lunch in Palolem and, after a slight detour to explore a temple in Canacona, made our way back to Agonda for dinner. We made it back to the room just as some rain was strating to fall, where we showered and then settled down to some admin.

Tuesday was pretty much just a chill-out day with no real agenda. We slept in and then headed down to the main strip for a late breakfast. The weather was a bit cloudy so we grabbed a few snacks and made our way back to the room to read, getting inside just before the rain arrived. Later that evening we took a walk down the road to find an open internet shop, where we were able to do a bit of admin. On the way back through town we stopped by our favourite restaurant (ie. only restaurant) for dinner, and since the ice-cream shop was actually open, got some ice-creams for the walk back to the room. We settled in for some more reading/admin as the rain bucketed down outside.

Wednesday we woke up to the pouring rain and spent the morning just hanging out in the room and packing. During a gap in the rain, we made a dash down the road for our last breakfast in this sleepy little town, and then stopped by the beach on our way back to the room. Our chatting was cut short by another downpour though :-/ so we ran back to the guesthouse to collect our bags and then made our way down to the village's main intersection. We arrived just as the bus was leaving, but made it onboard and settled in for our long bus-train-bus journey down South. Our ride to the main Goa bus terminal went pretty smoothly and, after a welcome stop for some food at a dingy little restaurant, we made our way down to the railway station where we waited for our overnight train down towards our next destination - Munnar!