Today's also Anjali's birthday so I kept her in my mind as I walked.
The holiday crowd had started coming in because of the long weekend and I could see a lot of garbage, especially near the areas where the crowd walks into the beach area from the main road. There is a huge concentration of people there - no one ventures more than 100 metres away either side! Worse, I saw many broken bottles, glass pieces and started picking them up when I saw little kids running about close by. The glass pieces became a palm sized bunch soon and I started wondering how to get rid of them. Luckily there were garbage bins every here and there so I could dispose of them safely. Why do people have this need to break beer bottles I wonder - I knew a few during college days.
I walked for 50 mts and almost reached Baga. The sun was sharp so I headed back. The entire walk took me close to two hours and I sat back at our good old Pine Tree shack and ordered a nice fat coconut served in a jiffy by Gopal. Enjoyed the sweet refreshing drink and waited for Vidyuth to call. He came over for breakfast and after a nice breakfast we decided to head to the northern most beach of Goa, Keri or Querim beach. It was a beautiful 75 minute drive, especially as we moved towards the north.
We passed Morjim, Mandrem Arambol, and entered a really quiet Qwerim village - and found the beach after traversing some narrow roads. Small, new shacks were coming up, tall casuarina trees, very few people. In fact this was way more civilised than the other beaches - families out on picnic, kids playing ball and frisbee, even a couple exchanging sweet nothings inside the car. No reel making bunches!
On one side of the beach there were jagged rocks from where people were coming out and I went to explore it. I was told that there was this famous Querim cave there and I must see it. I hopped over some dangerous looking rocks towards the cave. There were a bunch of youngsters making reels, all queued up for their turn. Since I didn't have the time or patience I just clicked a picture of the cave and came away. The beach front has a long walkway which is unusual in Goa. Very nice.
From Querim we headed to Arambol beach which I've never been to. The entry to the village, the crowd, the shops, all reminded me of Baga of the olden days. There's a pay and park facility, and then a walk down to the beach. Vidyuth told me there was a sweet water lake on the other side of the hill and we decided to check it out.
We had to climb on to the side of the hill which was lined with shops, restaurants, etc. I was amazed at the number of people flocking to that place - seemed like they were on a pilgrimage. At the end, the path just dropped on to some rocks which are not the easiest to navigate. I went across while Vidyuth decided to hang back. The lake behind a small beach was made exclusive by the climb and walk. Maybe that's why everyone, mostly youngsters, were heading there. I clicked a picture and headed back.
Vidyuth had meanwhile found himself a nice little restaurant overlooking the sea. We sat there for a bit, ate some snacks, lime juice etc. We watched youngsters climbing some rocks at some risk to life and limb and making reels. We wondered what was wrong with them before heading back.
I was hoping to catch the sunset at Calangute but heavy traffic delayed us and we got there only by 740. We freshened up and headed to good old Pine Tree and spent the rest of the evening there. Today there was no crowd on the beach at all and the sky was dark with many stars. Enjoyed the quiet.
Rather hectic but completely worth it.
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