Palolem 08.02.08

We were all up early and had had breakfast in anticipation of our taxi's arrival at 7:30. after 15 mins there was a little concern so Paul wandered off to where he had negotiated the deal the day before. a car resembling our taxi duly arrived in the hotel interior quadrangle and there sitting nonchalantly beside the driver was our Paul. We loaded up and got on our way 30mins late. The car was a 1500 diesel Morris Oxford look alike with no suspension to speak of and very little (like no) power. The going was slow. There was lots of traffic and the road (regarded as a Highway) was in worst condition than some 4wd farm tracks with huge potholes and at times single lanes. This does not deter drivers from crazy overtaking manoeuvres so we all went turn nabout in the suicide seat. as it happened we didnt get to Mangalore until 4pm (8hrs) but we did pass lots of buses so it was faster then the bus but we still managed to miss our 2:15 train connection. Our trip was quite scenic and downhill overall as we made our way back to the coast, passing lots of coffee and rubber plantations as well as the ever present coconuts, papaya and pineapple trees.

Our driver it appeared had never been to Mangalore before so after asking many people for directions left us at the wrong railway station but we rickshawed to the right one by 5pm only to find the next train wasnt til 10:20pm. We debated spending the night in a hotel but decided in the end to wait at the station for our train. We found a delightful cafe on the platform and the cook proudly showed us what he was up to in the kitchen including omelets and curries and some great chai. So we ate well in preparation for our train trip to Margao. Got normal tickets but found some empty sleepers so had a good rest for the 6 hour trip. We opted on arrival to take a tuk tuk the 40 odd k to the beach arriving abou 6am for 450R and were immediately snapped up by a tout for accommodation which we happily took. We were in bed by 6:30 although my room wasnt ready I happily fell into a deep sleep on the floor of paul and Julia's room. So a mammoth trip of more than 24hrs without much sleep bgut happy to be at the beach and once again chill out for a bit!