Our Last Day! Patnem, India

Patnem, India

Our last full day in Patnem and the last entry in our Goan blog. Tomorrow we head off on part 2 of our winter adventure!These weeks here have gone so quickly although it seems ages ago we left Gatwick. We were quite tired when we arrived. December had been really busy, so it was great to be able to totally relax. Patnem is very good at making you relax! What can I say? It’s been a fantastic stay as it always is. We’ve really enjoyed the Tubki Resort. Very comfortable. Quiet. Can’t fault the place really. Our days at Salida are always enjoyable. The staff there are what makes it so good. Such sweet boys who cannot do enough for you and always with a wide beaming smile. I suppose the fact that we’ve already booked for next year says it all. No doubt we will be including extra adventures next year, not just staying here. I think perhaps Bob felt he would have preferred some side trips this year and that our stay has been maybe two weeks too long. I don’t feel like that but – hey – I’m always up for some side trips. We’ve already got a few under discussion with our Goan crew.
So…. today it was down to Salida for breakfast and not to break the habit of a holiday I went for black tea and soft boiled eggs on toast. I do a weird thing with boiled eggs and use a spoon to deshell them and then have them on toast as though they were poached eggs. The guys know exactly what I want now and they just bring it to the table right away. By the time I’ve set the beach lounger up with the towels etc, they are bringing me a cup of tea. Bob went for the Bhaji Puri, South Indian breakfast which he loves. It’s a little bowl of mild veg curry served with 3 large hot Indian fry breads – all puffed up with air. We caught up on some emails and then went to our favoured loungers for the last time
The beach is still really quiet. We had lots of swims. The sea was calmer today and incredibly warm. Almost like a bath really. In between swims, we read. Unusually, I had lunch today. I had momo soup, a Nepali classic. It’s soup (NO!!!) with about 4 momos in it. Momos are like steamed dim sum. God its good….. Bob had a lemon pancake which is a perennial lunch choice for him.
We left the beach about 230 and walked up it to the shop road. Said our farewells to all the Salida crew of course. Will see them next year.
Bob wanted a final haircut and trim at the barber and I had to print out a couple of documents for Hong Kong. I finished first and set off walking to the Tubki. Got about 50 yards and one of the local guys asked me if I wanted a taxi. No, I said, I’ve only got 30 rupees (about 30p). That’s fine, jump in, he said. He had his little boy with him and he gave me a much welcome ride back. Dumped my bag in the room and then jumped in the pool which was heaven. No one else is ever in it!
Tonight we went to Boomshankar for our last sunset cocktails. Saw loads of monkeys outside the Tubki while waiting for our Tuk.
Bob had a strawberry daiquiri, I had a Passage to India. The sunset was totally mediocre but it was just lovely to sit there and watch the light fade over the beautiful bay.
We walked around to Magic View for our dinner reservation and the waiter seated us next to the window. We were just enjoying our g&ts when an obnoxious old German man and his wife marched up. I saw Bob’s expression change as he looked over my shoulder. El Kommandant barked at us that he had reserved this very table. It was at this point I realised what a total saint my husband is. Instead of ignoring the total ass as I would have done (at least initially), Bob nicely explained that the restaurant staff had seated us there and that we too had a reservation. Herr Fritz barked again that Zis wast his table….. Now, at this point I was within a small sliver of speaking my very non pc mind. and then Bob said, well, we’re perfectly willing to move if you want….. Anyone normal…anyone English… would have just said, no thank you, that’s fine, but no…. Herr Total **** made us move. My only consolation was that the entire restaurant smirked disapprovingly at him and gave us sympathetic smiles, plus we were not sorry to move as the table adjacent were chain smokers and the wind was in our direction. Bob tells me that I am becoming more strident in my views as I get older. I am. It’s true. But I tend to agree with Helen Mirren who recently said that her only regret in life is that she didn’t say F You to more people more often at a younger age. LOL
Anyway it was a fabulous dinner with a sublime view from our table also by the window but not near the smokers. A beautiful view across Patnem Bay. I had spaghetti puttanesca and Bob had spaghetti gorgonzola. He then had pannacotta and I might have had a couple of spoonfuls. The perfect end to a perfect last day. Can’t wait to come back again next year.