Chillin'Out in southern Goa- Agonda beach

Sunset on Agonda beach

yes, the brahmin cows roam the beach

what a scene....... they come out for sunset

After 4 days in harrowing Chennai I needed a place that didn't feel "indian"

That place is Goa.  Portuguese Vasco de Gama landed there in the 16th c. and it hasn't been Indian since!  Jesus Christ replaces Ganesha  in all the taxis.....churches abound.....as do names like D'Souza; people even look very differently.

Being a woman of  a certain age, I eschewed party - central - north  - Goa and headed for the south............a Pristine (CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) quiet tropical and calm sea beach called Agonda.  Sunrise walks on the beach, yoga each morning  

(avoiding all coconut trees), endless

swimming and walking......quietude and a relaxation so deep ........that I did something I have never done in over 40 years of solo travel.

Confession:        (even Jewish women do this)

after walking in the little town all afternoon, hot and tired i returned to my little beach hut on the beach and quaffed a kingfisher beer at the open air restaurant.  a few beers later, lots of talking with fellow travelers from denmark, eating nepali thali (yum yum) and perhaps a cocktail or two I ambled the 50 feet or so back to my hut and drifted into an early reverie of good sleep (not so easy for me..... in India)

at 4:45 am I sit straight-up in  bed, push the mosquito net aside and my one thought is, :Did I bring my baggallini (passport,credit cards, money etc) back to my hut???????

the long and winding stretch of clean and calm waters of Agonda Beach (sweet dogs too)

Satosh my nepali hero serving up powerful drinks and honesty

 No, I did not.  I grab my flashlight.....and meet the security guard outside and we look on the beach. no luck.
i will say i am quite calm.
(Note to self: maybe i am too relaxed)  we wake up the nepali sleeping in the bar area and he says that he will look in the safe places. no baggallini.  then we wake up satosh one of the sweet and amiable nepalis who work there and sure enough.......25 minutes after waking up he presents me with my baggallini, Everything is Present and Accounted for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UnFu&#$@#?"!@+*************king believable.  After apologizing for waking everyone up so early i take satosh aside and give him 1000rupees (20 dollars/a king's ransom), he looks confused and a bit insulted.  i tell him that I am eternally grateful , that without my passport and credit cards I am in BIG TROUBLE.......REALLY BIG TROUBLE.  He replies," This is my job"  and I reply," Yes, and you did it extremely well and I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart".  He accepted it (as did the other 3 nepalis who made sure i knew that it was they who had found it)  For me.......... they were so sweet and kind and made the best nepali food.................I was feeling very grateful INDEED.

town with ever present cows and goats

another relaxing evening comes to agonda beach

 Relaxation and making a new friend, Anne from Denmark.....a fellow rabblerouser  and traveler extraordinaire  made Goa just what i needed.   (she'll come to BALI later on)
If I had been in northern India I could have kissed that all away.

travelin' woman