Arrival at Patnem Beach in Goa

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It is 5:00 am when we stepped off the train in Goa. The morning is still dark and nobody is around.  We seem to be the only people getting off at this stop.

A guy approaches us to see if we need a rickshaw.

We need to get to Patnem beach 5 km away.
We follow him and he quotes an astronomical 150 Rupees.  No way, 50 Rs tops.  We settle on 80Rs and off we go with our packs shoved behind our heads and our day packs resting on our laps.
I always have a few nerves when entering a new town.  We are at the mercy of our taxi.  The driver could always pull off onto a road with some thugs laying in wait to rob us.  We wouldn’t know what hit us.  It is dark and nobody is around.  Nobody would see a thing and we would be left sitting on the side of the road without our belongings.

Yes, I am Paranoid.  I am working on trying to be less paranoid. Really.

We try to pay attention to signs and make sure that he goes the right way but there aren’t always signs pointing in the direction of our destination. Inevitably, we must give in and trust that our driver is a good guy.  They always are.  Most people in this world are good people. That is the truth.
This journey is a short one.  It is even less than 5km to the beach and before we know it, we are getting out of our rickshaw and I make Dave tip our driver 10Rs for the fact that he got us to our destination without turning down a back alley as my imagination led me to worry about.

Balance can be good

Dave is the opposite of me. He hasn’t a care in the world. He says that my paranoia can be a good thing though sometimes, because even he thinks he is far too laid back at times and could easily walk into a bad situation.  So our opposite personalities even each other out.  I step out of my comfort zone and he takes a few less risks.

The Beach

The beach is deserted.  Nobody is up meditating at the crack of dawn here.  So we pull up a chair at one of the empty beach bars and wait in the dark.
It is calm and tranquil.  Dogs are sleeping at our feet and we look out towards the sunrise to see large mounds in the sand.
Are those cows?
Yes, the cows own the beach in the morning and they are sleeping along with everyone else.

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The Hunt for a Hut

People slowly start to stir, so we decide to take a look for a place to stay.  A man offers to lead us to a hotel.
We walk down the beach, tired from the lack of restful sleep on the train, tired from the early morning (we awoke at 4:00 am) and tired from the weight of our packs.  He scurries ahead as we try to keep up.
The tired manager is caught off guard by our arrival.  He asks our names and if we have a reservation as he wipes the sleep from his eyes.
We say that we just arrived from Kerala and he says that they only take bookings from Europe at 50 Euros per night!

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We hightail it out of there.

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We don’t make it very far. Another man approaches us to see if we need a room.  It is right next door to the 50 Euro place.
These shacks don’t look all that great, but we will be polite and take a look.  He leads us to a little hut on the beach.
Inside is a clean bed, a mosquito net, tile floors, ceiling fan and our own bath with western toilet and shower.
Let’s see the price.  It is high season in Goa after all.
400 rupees and it is a deal.   We can’t believe our luck.  We are staying right on the beach beside a hotel that charges 50 Euro and all we have to do is fork out 10 bucks a night.
Yoga is right next door and we are thrilled to discover free wifi at a Pavarti Hut’s restaurant down the beach.
At night we hear the waves crash thunderously right outside front door.  Morning crows awake us and each day when we step our onto our veranda, the dogs that inhabit the beach run up to greet us and give us a friendly wag of their tail.
I think I’m gonna like it here!