Today, John, Susan, John J, Bob, Joseph and I tuk’d to the Cozy Nook beach restaurant at Palolem Beach for the day. Something we do quite regularly most years. Joseph just came to escort John J and have breakfast. Janet had been ill all night – something she ate at dinner probably. A bit of a mystery as they all shared the same food at Magic View and she was the only one ill.
Cozy Nook is as charmingly ramshackle as ever and the breakfast is delicious. Everyone except me had poached eggs on potato rosti cakes, some with spinach, some without. I had a spinach and mushroom omelette. Fabulous. Their filter coffee is also delicious.
John, Susan and John J had arranged a bird watching boat trip in the backwaters behind the beach. We could have gone but we’ve done it a lot of times and we thought the boat would be more spacious with only 3 in it. They enjoyed it very much – the birds of prey are thrilling but they also saw kingfishers and a mongoose.
Palolem makes me a bit sad these days. It must have been absolute paradise once:a golden crescent of sand, backed by thick palm trees and a lovely promontory at either end of the bay. By the time we got there in 2010, there were shacks in the trees behind the beach but they were charming, the resort was still quite quiet and if you went to the far ends, like where Cozy Nook is, it was absolutely tranquil. The sea at Palolem is very calm and still always, shallow a long way out and the promontories shelter it.
Even in 2020 this still held true… but then covid came for 2 years and everything changed. To criticise the changes is quite unjustifiable of me in many ways. They are driven by the fact that in the absence of European tourists, quite understandably, the Goan tourist business owners began to heavily promote themselves to the domestic tourist as a place to come and party and have a bit of a crazy time at the seaside. And they did and do in very large numbers. Indian tourists are not keen on sunbathing or swimming in particular. They like to be taken out in boats. There are now so many tourist boats moored up along the length of the beach that it rivals what the Greek fleet must have looked like at the siege of Troy. A veritable wall of boats, blocking the sea from the shacks. The sand has turned grey, or streaked with grey and black from the oil used to launch and run the boats. Big gangs of young men crowd the beach, wandering along taking photos of women…. staring at western women in their swimwear….. even raddled old women like me……it’s uncomfortable. Bob has to come in the sea with me because quite often there’ll be starers there too, their hands disconcertingly moving under the water. Look. It’s their beach. It’s their country and it’s their culture. I have absolutely no right to complain as a visitor to these shores and if I don’t like it, I should just stay away…. and maybe spending the day at Palolem will not happen very often if at all anymore for me. I have been there on my own at night for dinner many times… I probably wouldn’t do that now and I certainly wouldn’t recommend my daughters did either…. it doesn’t feel quite safe anymore. I just pray Patnem will not go the same way.
Tonight we ate at Casa Fiesta on Patnem Beach. Janet was still not up to eating out and Joseph stayed home with her. So, it was Bob and I, John J, John and Susan. Had a lovely meal under the crescent moon and stars. I had Fish Pollichattu. A favourite. I often dream of it when not in Goa! A big boneless king fish steak, covered in a spicy aromatic paste, onions and tomato, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled. I had mine with grilled vegetables. It’s a big piece of delicious fish and a bargain dinner at around £5.50. Bob had prawn biriani which he said was the best he’d had so far this holiday. All yum. Very dismayed to find Vipin working there, having had some sort of separation from Sea Front. I would love that to be repaired but……
Came back to Eve’s and played Monopoly Go and drank honeybee. Great fun. Tomorrow should be another great day with Gloria and her friend arriving.