Sussegad: It means a way of life in Goa. Laid back and relaxed. Palolem seems to represent this feeling perfectly and gives you an idea what Goan beaches were like before the cacophony started. This is the beach to head towards when you want to laze in the sun and read a book, minus the crowd

After an uneventful overnight bus journey, we reached Canacona (pronounced as Kankon), also locally known as Chaudi, in southern Goa around 9.30 in the morning. Since we had to wait until noon to check into our eco-friendly hotel (never mind that the hotel was half-empty), we decided to get some pancakes for breakfast. We had a very forgettable fruit pancake at the German Bakery, but the lime and mint juice was thirst-quenching and the service at the bakery was friendly. With our bellies full, we headed towards the beach; itching to get our feet wet. Even at 10 in the morning, the sun was already making its presence known. 

The sun, the sand, the shacks, the people… wait a minute. Where are the people? Were we at a beach in Goa? There seemed to be more animals (cows and dogs mostly, and an occasional pig) than people, and no, contrary to popular notion, the two-legged variety does not fall under the animal category. Palolem was so unlike the other crowded Goan beaches, that for a second we were left wondering if it was Goan beach at all. With no pressing appointments at hand, and with this nearly empty beach before us, we decided to soak in the local flavour.

Palolem lets you absorb its natural movements effortlessly, so much so, that even the waves of the languid Arabian sea chased each other lazily, and quietly wash up to the shore with a gentle splash. Sitting in a beach shack with a refresher under the coconut trees, a vivid green against the brilliant sun, life seemed perfect.

From where we sat, we could see either end of the beach because of its unique crescent shape. Time to time we roused ourselves from the general mood of somnolence to wade in the water, shallow enough to let you walk quite a distance with the water coming only upto your chest.

At noon, we headed towards our hotel, checked in, and went up our room which we generously shared with a lizard of gigantic proportions and a frog.

Changing into something suitable for the midday sun, we headed off to explore the place where Bourne Supremacy was shot. Palolem can be explored leisurely in three hours time on foot. There are rows and rows of tiny shops fighting for space with restaurants on what appears to be the city’s only main road. Walking back towards the beach, we settled down to feed our hungry stomachs. In course of our conversation with the waiter, we found that they hire out boats for fishing and dolphin spotting.

Since it was too late in the day to head out immediately, we decided to come back early next morning. The best time to spot these gentle cetaceans is between 6.30 to 8.30 in the morning. Depending on the number of people, trips for dolphin spotting can cost anywhere between Rs150 to Rs500. More people, lesser the price. While on the dolphin spotting trip, you can ask the boatman to take you island hopping to Butterfly Island and Honeymoon Island, both uninhabited and fun to explore. You could even take a picnic hamper to Butterfly Island, and camp overnight under the bright star studded sky, asking the boatman to pick you up the next day.

After our small cruise the next day, we walked it down the length of the beach to explore a small fresh water stream we had heard about. We were told that traversing across the stream and over some rocks, we would find a small desolated island where we could make our own tracks and indulge in some snorkelling. Unfortunately for us, we were forced to abandon the idea as it was high tide, and crossing the stream to the island became tricky and dangerous. However, during low tide, you can swim or even wade across to the island.

Towards the southern end, you’ll see some large cup-shaped rocks, called Pandava’s drum. It is said that when you throw a rock at a particular spot, it reverberate. Rock after rock found its way to the top until we thought we had coaxed the ‘drum’ to sing. Further along the same path is a beach house built by the Figueiredo family. You can still see its beauty and fine architecture despite the house being turned into a hotel after vandals damaged it. Once called Figueiredo’s house, it is now a part of the Neptune Point hotel.

By evening, tired by our jaunting in the sun, we retired to a café on the beach. The night time beach at Palolem was beautiful with every café and shack wooing customers with candlelit tables and candlelit displays on the beach, and displaying their menu boards with special offerings. We chose a café playing live music, where anyone could participate.

The next day, we decided to hire a bike (Rs300 per day) to zip through Palolem’s curvy roads and explore nearby places. The first place we went to was Galgibaga beach. The highway past the Canacona bus stand, 17 km from Palolem, on curvy undulating roads strewn with riotous colours of summer dressed in bougainvillea pinks and whites, will take you to there. This beach is Goa’s famous Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting site. Since we went during the day, obviously we couldn’t spot turtles. We, however, did find two turtle nests, fenced and labelled for their protection, which would hatch in a few weeks time. We also saw a lot of Sunday picnic crowd from nearby places. Settling for one of the few hammocks under the shade of wispy fir trees and solid oak trees, we spent the time watching ships and playing in the water.

A word of caution. The sea here is quite rough, tattooing against your chest. So, it is advisable if you stick to designated swimming areas. 

If you are serious about turtle walking, then stroll along this pristine beach at night and you might be lucky enough to see a pretty amazing site during the nesting season (January to March) where hundreds of females come ashore to lay their eggs. Galgibaga, with its wonderful sand dunes, laterite rocks and beach vegetation, is a protected area. The village is unaffected by the rapid modernisation around it. It seems like you are caught in a time warp as you walk around its lush paddy fields, a serene river inlet, a quiet beach and quaint churches.It is disturbing, however, to see plastic and glass bottles and other kinds of litter strewn about the place. It would help if visitors take a little care and dump their own garbage into a bag, which can later be recycled.

On our way back from Galgibaga, we visited Lord Mallikarjuna’s temple. This temple is located amidst blue mountains and lush green scenery, refreshing us instantly. This temple, dedicated to Lord Mallikarjuna, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, is one of the oldest temples in Goa, and is famous for its colourful festivals which are celebrated with great pomp and show. Over 200 years old, it was constructed during the middle of the 16th century. At the time of our visit, renovation work was being carried out, so we had limited access. But the temples’ beautifully carved wooden pillars caught our eye as soon as we entered. These six pillars inside the temple were exquisitely carved depicting scenes from the Puranas and Mahabharat. Standing guard on either side of the door leading to the inner sanctorum were two carved profiles of the doorkeepers.

There are various legends that abound this temple. As one legend goes, the location of the temple was where Shiva united with Parvathi after a long period of separation. Another legend claims that the Pandavas installed idols of Shiva. 

Heading back to Palolem, we went to Dropadi, located at the corner where the road meets the beach, for some fabulous food, and spent the rest of the day lazing around.

All too soon, we had to head back, but Palolem managed to retain an aura of enchantment around us and is guaranteed to cling to you like a song of love.

What else can you do around Palolem?
Agonda beach
Savour the solitude and the sounds of silence on this beach. Riding 10km north of Chaudi along a beautiful coastal stretch is a three km long beach - Agonda. Being relatively lesser known, this beach is for people searching for solitude, seeking time to yourselves or for some soul-searching. No grass huts line this beach, but there are a handful of mid-range accommodations.

Cotigao wildlife sanctuary
This sanctuary was established in the year 1969 and covers an area of 87sq km. It is the second largest park in Goa and you can see a variety of flora and fauna: including gazelles, wild boars, panthers and two species of monkey’s. Two tribal communities, Velip and Kunbi, also live in the forest area of the park.

Rajbhag beach
Heading southwards of Palolem is the virginal Rajbhag beach, largely occupied by one of Goa’s most luxurious hotels, InterContinental Grand Resort (Tariff: Rs17,000 to Rs95,000; Contact: 0832 2667777), framed by the Talpone river with the Shahayadri slopes in the background .

Patnem and Colomb beach
Located between Palolem and Rajbhag lie two virginal beauties, Patnem and Colomb. While Patnem is a fine one kilometre long beach perfect for swimming, Colomb has a little cove, where swimming is not advisable. Both the beaches are uncluttered and peaceful.

For a good bite
At night, the restaurants arrange candle lit tables on the beach and some play live music to draw in the crowd, all in all making the place seem romantic and cosy. The San Francisco restaurant plays live music on Saturdays. Reasonably priced, but the food experience was nothing to write home about. Dropadi serves excellent tandoori (Rs600 per couple on the lower side). Walking away from Dropadi, you’ll find Magic Italy. Nice ambience, excellent wood-oven pizza’s, but a little pricey. They claim to import all their ingredients and the food is cooked by an Italian chef. Chaskaa, located next to Sea Sakshatkar, is a restaurant located on a cliff overlooking the entire crescent beach where you can see great sunsets. Bonus is their pricing and their food, pizzas especially.

Brown Bread is well known for their homemade bread and cakes. They also serve a good and healthy breakfast. Café Inn serves coffee from an authentic espresso coffee maker and Casa Fiesta serves good Mexican food. Sameer’s, Fern’s Bar and Restaurant and Palolem Beach Resort serve excellent sea food and if you want a taste of good Goan food, head towards Mamoo’s and Sea Land. Smugglers Inn has a pool table but is way overpriced.
 
Shopping
Palolem has little to offer in terms of shopping. Kashmiri handicrafts seem to have found their way amidst 50 other small shops selling curios and other assortments from Ayurvedic medicinal powders and tailam (medicinal oil), Tibetan artefacts to all kinds of riotous coloured clothes, sarongs, hats, sunglasses and flip flops to locally made shell curtains and other knickknacks.

You can buy your liquor from the wholesale shop at the end of the road.

All this sounds great, but how do we get to Palolem?
Palolem is located 70 kilometres from Panjim, in Goa’s southernmost taluka of Canacona. You could catch a flight, train or bus to Panjim.
To Palolem, you can either take a bus or a taxi from the airport, bus station or railway station.
Flights: Dabolim airport is about 65 km from Palolem, an hour and a half by road. The cost of a taxi from the airport is around Rs1000.
Trains: stop at Madgaon station, 45 minutes by road to Palolem. Taxis from here charge about Rs600. You could also catch the local bus plying between Canacona and Madgaon.
Buses: land at the Panaji bus station, about two and a half hours by road to Palolem. Taxis from Panaji cost about Rs1500. Again, here you also have an option of travelling by the local bus. If travelling by bus from Bangalore, ask the driver to stop near the Palolem turn off. From here you can take an auto rickshaw (Rs50) into Palolem proper or could even walk it up. It should take about 10 minutes to walk with luggage.