Settling into our normal Patnem pattern now….. the birds wake us up at about 7am…. it’s a cacophony. I don’t know if they’re being chased through the trees by monkeys or what’s going on…. but …. they wake me up. There follows bed tea or coffee. Bob has some shortbread… read the papers online – I read 4 every day, spread across all the gamut of views… there may be a kernel of truth in the mix but I long ago gave up expecting the news from any particular source to be strictly factual. All news is opinionated now. Maybe it always was…
Up by 9am and a nice walk down the lane to the beach where we have breakfast at Sea Front generally. Bob sometimes goes off for a masala dosa elsewhere…. Joseph and Janet like the egg in bread rolls from the chai shop. I have 2 eggs on one slice of toast with a french press of cardamon coffee… eat that looking down the beach to the sea…. It costs about £3 for the lot.
Vipin, our beach host at Sea front will already have come to greet us and he shows us to our lounger set up, shakes the towels, makes sure the umbrella is as we want it and he deals with our breakfast order. He’s a lovely man. After breakfast it’s down to the lounger to cover ourselves in sun cream, read a bit, swim and bob in the water A LOT, do some water exercises, read a bit more, drink about 2 litres of ice water, repeat…. About 1pm Bob goes up for lunch and then plays games with the rest of the gang till about 3. I keep reading/swimming/bit of a walk. Bob comes back about 3 and we have a last swim, dry off and leave the beach about 4. Back to Eve’s, shower off…. doze, cup of tea…… till about 630… down for a g&t…. out for dinner… maybe a nightcap about 10….. sleep…. repeat….
There are variations. Bob went into Chaudi, the nearby little town yesterday and got a local sim for the phone and some other supplies from the supermarket. A set of scales for me so I can keep my weight on track. Put on a few pounds over Christmas so they need to come off. 2 off already. He also went to the barber on the beach road and got a haircut and a shave, eyebrow trim, nose and ear trim, head massage. It cost a princely £3.50 for the lot.
Last night we ate at Tantra on the beach and lovely Mark and Kate Russell came and joined us. Mark plays in a number of local acoustic groups and he and Mandolin Dave are playing on Wednesday nights at Pahadi Roots, a really nice venue in Patnem. We will definitely go and see them there. The food is very good too. I had my first (but not my last) palak paneer at Tantra.
Tonight we ate at the Sai Family restaurant on the edge of Palolem. We’ve been going there for years having discovered it when we used to stay at Dinesh’s Pink House in Patnem. It’s a very unpretentious, local style restaurant. Not scenic. Not very atmospheric… BUT probably the best tandoori cooking in the area…. well…. it gives Dropadi a run for the money at a fraction of the price – and it’s a bit different….. I had chicken tikka which was succulent and juicy. Bob had mutton masala with a butter nan bread and a mutter(pea) pilau rice…. it was all lovely. The naan bread here is just indescribably better than anything you taste purporting to be it outside India. It’s nothing like pizza bread… it’s flaky and light… crisp yet succulent…. dripping in whatever flavour you’ve gone for…. I just dont bother eating it at home anymore.
Everyone enjoyed dinner.. Washed down with g&ts and Kingfishers. We tuk’d there and back. Cost £1.50 each way… The whole lot cost about £11 which was a total bargain for the food, 2 beers and 2 g&ts….
Sat in the bar area at Eve’s and chewed the fat over a honeybee brandy. It was very peaceful. Life is good here..