As the midday sun comes out and the temperature becomes uncomfortable I thought I would hide away and update you all on a new blog entry, and our travels since my last writing.
We ended up staying twelve days in Gokarna, Kudle beach really is a dream and the beach is so pristine and idilic it just seemed silly to head elsewhere, with our basic hut and our adopted puppies we felt right at home and did nothing more then bask in the sun, eat, read and enjoy having the restaurants dogs around us. It felt nice to be based somewhere and not be on the move but also somewhere that doesn’t have that over the top traveler feel. Om beach seems to pull more of this crowd in and we did venture there for a day but soon left as was craving the quietness of Kudle and the comforts of our hut. We celebrated the Indian festival of colour, Holi festival when on Kudle and were covered like rainbows in vibrant colours, it was nice to enjoy the energy from others and smile and celebrate in the jovial way a festival of such beauty should.
We eventually packed our bags and moved from Gokarna, heading to Goa, we felt it was time to move on and experience another part of India rather then getting too settled at Sunset Café beach huts. We got the train up to Goa and decided our first stop would be Palolem, we arrived at Palolem and sadly it was totally different to what my view of this idyllic peaceful beach would be, I knew Goa was a tourist spot for package holidays but had been told Palolem was different to the more popular beaches, my first thought was the opposite to this, the beach was lined with bars and restaurants and everywhere was offers of buy one get one free and nasty music. We managed to find a coco hut in budget that was set back from the beach, the room was clean with a comfy bed and suited us both, we spent our first few days on the beach and tried to soak into the palm lined beach, sadly I started to really dislike the place though and the general vibe was just so different to what was in my head, we decided that the following day we take a trip to old Goa to get away from the beach and the general feeling of drinkdrinkdrink. That afternoon though we decided to take a stroll to the right side of the beach and came across a treat of a stay, the cozynook www.cozynookgoa.com, stood nestled in the corner at the very end of the beach, its general feel was of beauty and its rooms were gorgeous, it reminded me of Mango Bay in Vietnam mangobayphuquoc.com, the rooms were basic but stood strong and just looked a dream to stay in, we decided to enquire but on our budget we just felt we couldn’t splash out so agreed we would enjoy the rest of the afternoon there and come hang out here for the remainder of our Palolem stay. The rest of the afternoon was blissful with good sounds, cocktails and comfort. Whilst lazing we noticed across the tide a bar on the far corner, we couldn’t work out how to get across as the tide was high, we watched throughout the day as people took the venture across and then vanished, we decided at about 5pm to take our chances, like a magical night time Glastonbury stroll we ventured across and with water up to our waist we came across the Sundowner, it was amazing, one coconut tree bar selling beers and cocktails and the most serene sunset views. My vision of Palolem was suddenly coming into view and I was feeling very very happy.
The next day we still decided to head to old Goa, heading out on the bus we enjoyed the bangra music and windy streets on our journey there and a bus ride is India is always an experience you wont forget, when we reached old Goa it was a totally different atmosphere from the hustle and bustle of the left side of the beach, there was a relaxed sense with a real European vibe, we bumbled around the streets and basked in the midday sun, visiting the churches and really soaking in the bliss and beauty.
The following day we headed back to cozynook and after a delightful morning took the plunge and decided to move in, we booked three nights to start off with, but with the enjoyment of the place and the smiles on our faces we ended up staying four, it was a treat and a half, we ate good food, drank amazing drinks and just generally buzzed around totally chuffed at finding this dream haven. Were already planning our next trip and definitely staying in one of the deluxe rooms.
Our next stop was to Arambol where I was doing a five day yoga course with Himalayan Iyengor Yoga Centre www.hiyogacentre.com, the course was a real self journey and was 4hrs over 5 days, yoga started at 7.30am each morning and was a different yoga to the usual Ashtanga yoga I practice, it was a overwhelming experience and definitely allowed me to learn certain aspects of the yoga I would bring into my own practice. The group was really nice and my northern bonds brought me to a new friend from Glasgow, it always helps having someone you can talk over the class with and we enjoyed our daily discussion of what we had learnt and what we will take away. The course brought up a range of emotions as certain asanas were really moving and took me to a new place in my yoga practice, the inner quietness I felt was really powerful and something I defiantly a feeling I still felt after the course completed. Iynegor Yoga uses a lot of props which is something I sadly won’t use as much of but did enjoy learning more around grounding oneself and trying out something that challenged me to another level, I even managed a full wheel unassisted, which is something I have been practicing and unsuccessfully failing at, so yeah to me. I was really proud of being part of something like this and felt experiencing it in India just made the time more special.
Arambol itself was quite interesting, the same as Ajuna which is where we ventured after Arambol, because everything was starting to close down it really felt as if our time in South India was coming to an end, like there was no need to stay, as there wasn’t much to be staying for, with the closing of season soon approaching we enjoyed our last few days on the beach and prepared for our beast of a train journey up to North India.
We arrived in Rajasthan last night, sadly we didn’t plan this part of the trip as well as we hoped, its turning into Summer time in India meaning throughout the day its blazing and not the best for ambling around the dreamy streets and bazaars, we have managed to get an adorable room with lake view so have decided to use this as our hideaway and then spend the mornings and afternoons exploring, the city has such a beautiful feeling and I am so excited for the next three days here and the next few weeks in fairytale Rajasthan.
Link to photos - i have added more to the old album so scroll down to the new ones:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152079324491716.1073741835.513626715&type=1&l=5257e9689a
We ended up staying twelve days in Gokarna, Kudle beach really is a dream and the beach is so pristine and idilic it just seemed silly to head elsewhere, with our basic hut and our adopted puppies we felt right at home and did nothing more then bask in the sun, eat, read and enjoy having the restaurants dogs around us. It felt nice to be based somewhere and not be on the move but also somewhere that doesn’t have that over the top traveler feel. Om beach seems to pull more of this crowd in and we did venture there for a day but soon left as was craving the quietness of Kudle and the comforts of our hut. We celebrated the Indian festival of colour, Holi festival when on Kudle and were covered like rainbows in vibrant colours, it was nice to enjoy the energy from others and smile and celebrate in the jovial way a festival of such beauty should.
We eventually packed our bags and moved from Gokarna, heading to Goa, we felt it was time to move on and experience another part of India rather then getting too settled at Sunset Café beach huts. We got the train up to Goa and decided our first stop would be Palolem, we arrived at Palolem and sadly it was totally different to what my view of this idyllic peaceful beach would be, I knew Goa was a tourist spot for package holidays but had been told Palolem was different to the more popular beaches, my first thought was the opposite to this, the beach was lined with bars and restaurants and everywhere was offers of buy one get one free and nasty music. We managed to find a coco hut in budget that was set back from the beach, the room was clean with a comfy bed and suited us both, we spent our first few days on the beach and tried to soak into the palm lined beach, sadly I started to really dislike the place though and the general vibe was just so different to what was in my head, we decided that the following day we take a trip to old Goa to get away from the beach and the general feeling of drinkdrinkdrink. That afternoon though we decided to take a stroll to the right side of the beach and came across a treat of a stay, the cozynook www.cozynookgoa.com, stood nestled in the corner at the very end of the beach, its general feel was of beauty and its rooms were gorgeous, it reminded me of Mango Bay in Vietnam mangobayphuquoc.com, the rooms were basic but stood strong and just looked a dream to stay in, we decided to enquire but on our budget we just felt we couldn’t splash out so agreed we would enjoy the rest of the afternoon there and come hang out here for the remainder of our Palolem stay. The rest of the afternoon was blissful with good sounds, cocktails and comfort. Whilst lazing we noticed across the tide a bar on the far corner, we couldn’t work out how to get across as the tide was high, we watched throughout the day as people took the venture across and then vanished, we decided at about 5pm to take our chances, like a magical night time Glastonbury stroll we ventured across and with water up to our waist we came across the Sundowner, it was amazing, one coconut tree bar selling beers and cocktails and the most serene sunset views. My vision of Palolem was suddenly coming into view and I was feeling very very happy.
The next day we still decided to head to old Goa, heading out on the bus we enjoyed the bangra music and windy streets on our journey there and a bus ride is India is always an experience you wont forget, when we reached old Goa it was a totally different atmosphere from the hustle and bustle of the left side of the beach, there was a relaxed sense with a real European vibe, we bumbled around the streets and basked in the midday sun, visiting the churches and really soaking in the bliss and beauty.
The following day we headed back to cozynook and after a delightful morning took the plunge and decided to move in, we booked three nights to start off with, but with the enjoyment of the place and the smiles on our faces we ended up staying four, it was a treat and a half, we ate good food, drank amazing drinks and just generally buzzed around totally chuffed at finding this dream haven. Were already planning our next trip and definitely staying in one of the deluxe rooms.
Our next stop was to Arambol where I was doing a five day yoga course with Himalayan Iyengor Yoga Centre www.hiyogacentre.com, the course was a real self journey and was 4hrs over 5 days, yoga started at 7.30am each morning and was a different yoga to the usual Ashtanga yoga I practice, it was a overwhelming experience and definitely allowed me to learn certain aspects of the yoga I would bring into my own practice. The group was really nice and my northern bonds brought me to a new friend from Glasgow, it always helps having someone you can talk over the class with and we enjoyed our daily discussion of what we had learnt and what we will take away. The course brought up a range of emotions as certain asanas were really moving and took me to a new place in my yoga practice, the inner quietness I felt was really powerful and something I defiantly a feeling I still felt after the course completed. Iynegor Yoga uses a lot of props which is something I sadly won’t use as much of but did enjoy learning more around grounding oneself and trying out something that challenged me to another level, I even managed a full wheel unassisted, which is something I have been practicing and unsuccessfully failing at, so yeah to me. I was really proud of being part of something like this and felt experiencing it in India just made the time more special.
Arambol itself was quite interesting, the same as Ajuna which is where we ventured after Arambol, because everything was starting to close down it really felt as if our time in South India was coming to an end, like there was no need to stay, as there wasn’t much to be staying for, with the closing of season soon approaching we enjoyed our last few days on the beach and prepared for our beast of a train journey up to North India.
We arrived in Rajasthan last night, sadly we didn’t plan this part of the trip as well as we hoped, its turning into Summer time in India meaning throughout the day its blazing and not the best for ambling around the dreamy streets and bazaars, we have managed to get an adorable room with lake view so have decided to use this as our hideaway and then spend the mornings and afternoons exploring, the city has such a beautiful feeling and I am so excited for the next three days here and the next few weeks in fairytale Rajasthan.
Link to photos - i have added more to the old album so scroll down to the new ones:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152079324491716.1073741835.513626715&type=1&l=5257e9689a
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