So in search of a new place to live, we hired a 'dio' and went off. We looked in palolem and we did find some options but by the time I really wanted to go to patnem, a smaller beach to the south of palolem. We found a good cheap accommodation here. A house right on the beach, amid the tourist huts.It was owned by a lady called Vineeta. It had a nice small room, attached kitchen, with utensils and a burner to cook on AND a porch to sit and ponder :) (So much for just Rs 550 during christmas).
The lady was very nice and on asking once about the home made fish curry, made it for rupu for two days (I am a vegetarian). Now the cons of the place. The rooms are not separated from the main house i.e. these rooms are a part of big house where the rest of Vineeta's family lives. So you can hear them talk clearly and you might be afraid that you are too loud . Thats it , otherwise I loved the place. (and it had concrete unshared bathroom!).
Patnem was quieter, less crowded . I liked it here.This was the kind of place which provokes you to sit on the beach, stare at the horizon, feel how powerful the nature can be, think about how superficial life is and that nothing is forever.You feel like calling up your closed ones and telling that them how much they mean to you.We came in search of cheaper accommodation, we found a lot more.So, what more to do now that you have done all the 'podering over' , right ?Hmmm... this is what we did. We did yoga on the beach, tried some kick boxing, lit candles and ate home cooked maggie :)So ya the Christmas arrives!! The shacks at the beach are lighted up and nice music is in the air. Around this time you find more families than backpackers and friends. They are here to celebrate Christmas!So ya on the day we had a nice candle light dinner at the beach. Saw some really nice fireworks, saw young kids chasing each other,heard an indian family say a small prayer...
Pssstttt, on the southern end of Patnem , there is The Intercontinental.
Just our luck that a party was going on while we were there !
So we decided to sneak in, we kept on following the music and the lights i.e. keep on walking along the beach and the rocks at the end and boom you end up in the private trance party of The Intercontinental. Our luck no one saw us sneaking in , but if they do ... well just say something nice in hindi to the guards, they let you in (a tip from the fellow 'sneaked ins').
Ya so by the time you want to return to your beach, its around midnight, you are exhausted,the beach looks beautiful, waves are all violent, the tide is higher and when you reach the end of the beach ... the way you came by gets sort of disappeared...Oh Higher tides ! Not exactly rocket science ...
so had to pass a water passage sort of thing where a person was fishing ! (that WAS very funny even then too). I was like why is he busy fishing at night and WHy doesn't he help us cross this river thing !!!! Anyways then we had to climb the coral rocks at the end, where I could see crabs too, but somehow they were scared of us TOO.
So ya reached back safely (just had to let go off my slipper on the way ! You see thats why I sometimes miss a guy traveling with us , at least he could have saved my slipper! rupu can never do this !
Me ? You have to be kidding, If I was so smart why would I let the slipper go ?! )
Ya so Patnem was much more than the cheaper accommodation !
