The trip to Palolem was not as bad as I expected. There were 6 of us in total - Gavin our most knowledgeable leader, Alan, Ian, Dave, Lucia and myself. I had the rucksack sorted - I hadnt left too much and the weight wasnt too bad - dont get me wrong it was heavy and I was most certainly suffering in the heat but I managed with not a whinge! First bus was pretty short from Baga to Calangute - 10 min max, the next was from Calangute to Panjim about half an hour or so. We got into Panjim and it was mad busy, everyone shouting for us to go with them - we just followed our leader straight throught the lot to a counter to get our tickets from Panjim to Margoa. It was jam packed already and myself Ian and Gavin fought our way to the front and I plopped myself down next to a long haired guy, i thought of how jesus may have looked, although the stink of alcohol from him made me think otherwise! He had good english and was polite and moved up so I could fit in. Ian perched on the edge of the seat opposite and Gav behind. The other 3 were stuck towards the back of the bus but in seats so it wasnt too bad....this leg of the journey was probably the longest, about an hour or so, but I just sat and soaked up my surroundings and listened to my iPod - with a few interruptions from Jesus telling me a couple of interesting facts - or not as the case may be! He was harmless though! We arrived at the bus station in Margoa and had a guy shouting out us to follow him for Palolem - Gavin was insistant that we shouldnt and we found an empty bus leaving in 5 mins fro Palolem - although there was a second we thought we were leavin Gav behind - the bus started to pull off without him on board! haha Another european couple were on board and an Indian women so it was quite nice to have the space to spread out - within 10 minutes it was jam packed - but again it was a pleasant ride and prob lasted around half and hour. Our total journey had cost amazingly under 65RP which is less than a pound! Madness....

We arrive in Palolem dropped off on the main road leading down to the beach, we head to the end and sit in a beach cafe and just have a nice cold beer - yes Im actually drinking lager - Kingfisher - its damn refreshing after a nearly 4 hour journey on sweltering buses - and because of the lack of ice in India its probably the coldest drink you'll get! The view is stunning - its a huge bay with an island at one end (Monkey Island) and cliffs at the other leading round to another smaller beach. I sit let out a long sigh and relax! Its so nice to be here!

Lucia rings Sarah, her friend from IOM - she set out on her travels in November and she'd just returned from Kerala a couple of days earlier and booked us a shack where she was staying. Once introductions were over and the beers finished we headed in opposite directions from the guys to find our new home for the next week or two, we arranged to meet up for drinks later.

We were staying at a place called 'Brown Bread' - healthy in every way foodwise! No meat on the menu and all food prepared fresh and clean water used for cooking - just what we needed. Our shacks were on a small compound fenced off and with one large gate - there were 6 shacks in total and all taken. The beach was a 2 minute walk ( im getting used to this!), shops 5 minutes walk we were more or less in the middle of the beach. Great position! We had 2 beds, the place seemed clean, bathroom with cold water of course(Kinda getting used to them now!), fan on the wall, a table and them 2 chairs on our patio area. Photos will follow!

Today is Friday and since being in Palolem all we've done is sunbathe, eat, drink and relax - although I havent been too well - I wont go into detail but I'd say Delhi belly would describe it to a 'T'.

One day here does stand out in my mind though and that would be our tour of Monkey Island by our leader Gavin. Well he was bragging how everytime he's taken people across theyve seen loads of monkeys so we enlisted him to be our very own Monkey Island tour guide! I now, after having experienced this, do not recommend him to anybody! There was not a pre expedition pack explaining that we would be best dressing as if we were going jungle trekking....no he let us do the tour in our beachware and flip flops!!! Big mistake! I felt like I was in the middle of a Jurassic Park movie! I could hear the animals screeching but no sightings - our guide was taking us round in circles through the undergrowth off the beaten track trying to catch a glimpse of where the noise was coming from - I cannot decide if it was the scratches and stab wounds from the sharp twigs/bits of broken bark in the undergrowth or the bites from whatever creepy crawlies were amongst them or even the fact I didnt see one damn monkey, that made the day special and unforgettable. But to be fair and what saved Gavins butt from being kicked, once we got to the other side of the island the views from the cliffs were amazing and the sun was just starting to go down.

Now Ive caught up on what Ive been doing for the last 10 days, I can finally relax. We plan to stay in Palolem for probably another 5-6 nights and then head back up North and visit Anjuna, Candolim and of course Baga to pick up my stuff! We will be heading up to Mombai around 8th and fly onto Hong Kong on 10th February so we have another 16 days to fill in India - lots of time to get my tan perfected!

Look out for the next blog in a couple of weeks!