Not a lot to report right now. Other than that while you lot are sweating over a phone, or braving the winter chill and fierce winds on the way to work I’m lazing about on one of the nicest beaches you could hope for.

Now that you hate me, I’ll go into a little more detail. The beach we’re at is Palolem Beach in Goa, towards the south of the state. It’s two hours by public bus from Margao, which is the nearest main transport hub. Accomodation here is varied in quality, location and price. The first night, we stayed a very short walk from the beach and yesterday we switched to a concrete shack a spit from the waterfront. We could have got a cabin on stilts right at the front of the beach, but the increase in price simply wasn’t worth it.

Courtesy of Shauna, we opted for the La Alegra “resort” – a collection of both concrete and wooden abodes. Our shack has a cold shower, but frankly that’s fine in this weather. The beds are comfy and we’re away from all the main bars so it’s quiet at night. Snoozing with the only sound being waves crashing about 50m away is so relaxing.

Our neighbour is a lady called Caroline who, funnily enough, I spotted from the bus as soon as we arrived. She’s fairly distinctive with red hair and a walking stick and I think my first words to her when we moved in were “I’ve seen you everywhere!”. She’s from England, but currently on a green card in the US (has been for 10 years) living in San Francisco. We are living next door to a PhD who works with genetics and who has a very strange interest in cloning. So if two of me come home and one glows in the dark, it’s all her fault.

The aforementioned Shauna has been ill, though. We saw her very briefly yesterday morning as one of the staff was taking her to the doctor’s. We’ve not seen her since and I hope she’s not too bad.

Other than that, all we’ve been doing is reading and enjoying the beach and food. The restaurants around here are varied in what they sell and the quality of the food is good upwards. I had a delicious steak last night, followed by a chocolate pancake. And then we went to another restaurant where I had chocolate ice cream. Lunchtime involved another two-course meal so I could try the apple crumble, which was fantastic.

We’re aiming to eat three proper meals a day while we’re here. It’s cheap and varied enough that we may as well. To that end, I’m trying to get some exercise in as well, with a run up and down the beach in the morning and evening. My legs are the main part of me resenting this, but it’s helping me gain an appetite! The air’s pretty clean round here, so if I’m going to be taking in vast lungfuls while I run this is the one place in India I’ve been so far where I’d do it.

The sunsets are amazing. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures up sometime soon, but that depends on ‘net quality. Our plans are still hazy, though. I’m pushing Hans to stay here until we need to leave for the train, he’s still toying with moving to another beach a day beforehand. We shall see.

In the meantime, please excuse me while I sip a cool glass of Coke and get back to my book. Your phone’s ringing anyway. And that guy in accounts wants a word with you about your mileage claim.