Don Curry hears the sea

Don Curry has reached his destination. After five weeks of being on the road, from the noisy streets of Delhi to the magnificent palaces of Rajasthan, the magic of the Taj Mahal in the early morning light, the mountain and coastal regions of Kerala, the mighty temple towers of Tamil Nadu, to the grand ruins and ancient sites of Karnataka, he finally reached the end of his first trip to India: Goa - a tropical paradise on the Arabian Sea.

After breakfast, there was only a long six-hour drive ahead, interrupted only by a pit stop and paying the toll for Prince's car. Originally, Don Curry had a few Chalukya temples in his day's itinerary, but yesterday's excess showed clear consequences. He didn't want to see any more temples, he just wanted to go to Goa. This destination was easily reached by late afternoon.

However, finding the accommodation was more difficult, as the relatively untouched Cola Beach is not connected to the road network. Once again, Google Maps failed to provide reliable and helpful service. Prince carefully made his way down to the coast on an extremely bad dirt road, asking everyone he passed along the way. Some confirmed that the road would lead to the Blue Lagoon Resort, while others had never heard of it. Finally, the road ended at a makeshift parking lot. Don Curry walked down the stairs to the beach, passing primitive huts and a very alternative-looking beach bar. Here, too, Don Curry asked about the Blue Lagoon Resort and received the shocking answer: he was already there.

However, when they showed him the Sea View Cottages, Don Curry no longer had any complaints about his fate. Eight larger huts with their own verandas facing the sea had been built just above the beach, simply but comfortably furnished and with private bathrooms. This was a place where one could truly enjoy oneself! Satisfied, Don Curry enjoyed a crab sandwich and a mixed salad (with olive oil!!!) and even took a short swim in the wonderfully warm sea. He could easily spend a night here - his last night in India.

But before that, he enjoyed the rest of the day in peace and quiet. The whole resort can be summed up in one word: relaxed. This applied not only to the guests, but especially to the staff, although with the many figures constantly hanging around the bar, Don Curry was never sure who was serving and who was being served. In any case, the service was extremely relaxed: Don Curry waited about 50 minutes for his crab sandwich for lunch, and while it wasn't beautifully presented, it was truly delicious.

With this experience in mind, he didn't leave too late for dinner. Most of the tables in front of the bar were set up in pairs so that two people could share the fantastic view of the beach and sea. To shorten the waiting time, Don Curry took one of the menus lying around at the bar to a table with a sea view and calmly chose his desired dishes. Being wise from experience, he then returned to the bar himself, because only there was he guaranteed that his order would actually be taken. At the tables, it happened only sporadically or after endless waiting - probably to test who could be more relaxed. Don Curry ordered grilled chicken in spicy tomato sauce, accompanied by cumin rice and cheese naan at very reasonable prices - and began to wait. At least the beer supply worked well if you got your drink directly from the bar. Finally, the ordered dishes were served as real giant portions. As often happens, the meat wasn't to Don Curry's taste - it had an extremely soft and squishy consistency - but the rest could only be described as delicious. Don Curry had wanted to try the Cashew liquor 'Fenni', which is only available in Goa, but it wasn't available at the moment - production would only start again in a few weeks.

Nevertheless, completely satisfied and full, he returned to his veranda, sat down in one of the comfortable chairs, and simply looked into the distance. Seeing wasn't of great importance in the natural darkness of an Indian beach, but hearing was. India is actually a loud country: not only the constant honking on the streets, but the people themselves are pretty loud with each other. But Don Curry didn't hear any of that now, Don Curry only heard the sea...