Grand Tour 2009, Stage three - Gokarna to Goa

I spent a leisurely and relaxed ten days in Gokarna. Took a morning yoga class the last week of my stay. Spent a few afternoons at the beach, and drove to Om Beach one day.


There was quite a bit of rain in the middle of my stay, thanks to the cyclone in the Arabian Sea; it was nicer to be hunkered down watching it from my balcony than to be driving in it. I tried out several restaurants, and found that my favourite was Prema, right on the beach at the end of the road, opposite the Zero Kilometer marker.


The weather had mostly cleared by the time I was ready to move on, and I left early on Sunday afternoon. My intention was to cross into Goa and then find a place to stay, which I did at Palolem Beach. Although it's early in the season, Palolem was humming and busy. Many shops and restaurants, and lots of tourists without it feeling too overcrowded. If the global economic downturn is affecting tourism adversely, you wouldn't know it from the amount of activity here. Very heavy downpour in the evening, lasting nearly an hour.


Early start next morning, and took back roads via Agonda, Cabo de Rama, and Belim to Margao. It's a real pleasure to drive in Goa; the roads are generally very good, even the back roads. Stopped for lunch in Old Goa, and looked through the Cathedral, then headed for Vagator Beach, my next staging stop, where I'll spend the next four days at Royal Enfield's Rider Mania. Took a nice room in a guest house about a kilometer from the event venue, and spent the afternoon at Little Vagator Beach.