Malvan – Arambol - 80 km
In 2008, I pedalled this route accompanied by my sister, Amanda. She, at the time,
claimed she had to walk her bike up six hills in the space of 25 kilometres. Although
not quite that bad, the route crossed nearly that number of valleys where the road
descended sharply to the river and climbed steeply out of it. Foreseeing a gentler
descent to the beach, the equally hilly approach road to Arambol was an unpleasant
surprise.
Arambol, a favourite amongst Europeans since the early ’60s, remains a laidback
hippy town. Pulling into Arambol was thus a tad of a culture shock as there was white
people everywhere. The place swarmed with scooter-driving Europeans, decked out in
their feathery earrings, flowy Indian cotton dresses, and bandanas—it was time to
don the feathery earrings and flowy dress and hang out in Arambol for a while.
Arambol
Life in Arambol was easy; most days were spent on the beach or walking along the
cliffs. In the evenings, I sipped coffee or beer at one of the beach restaurants.
In the process, I overheard a conversation where people were swapping travel stories
and I giggled at the comment, “...and at one time there wasn’t even any internet.”
Adventure travel has taken on a whole new meaning! More remarkable was people-
watching; Indian women customarily swim fully clothed, in stark contrast to the
Europeans in skimpy swimwear.
Arambol
Hanging about made me enrol in a five-day Iyengar Yoga course, and I was excited to
do something different. The course was far pricier than anticipated, but I liked this
type of yoga. The core purpose is to align the body, allowing it to heal. I was shocked
at how inflexible I had become. Especially the upper thighs, back, and shoulders but
blamed it on the years of cycling and the lack of any other form of exercise.