palolem beach, goa
Palolem has the reputation of being the nicest beach in Goa
Whenever I go to Kollur, I take the train back via Palolem in Goa., and I usually stay there for a few days and make the most of the ayurvedic massages, delicious food and the wonderful sun, sea and sand.This time, I decided to reserve my train seat in advance, as anyone who has travelled on Indian trains knows, it can be very uncomfortable standing outside an indian train loo for hours on a packed train.
I had been sittting on my reserved seat in a sleeper carriage, for approximately 20 mns., when a group of rather hippyish westerners clambered aboard and sat right next to me, claiming there was a mix up over the seat nos. We started chatting and they told me they were going to Agonda, a village just next to Palolem. They were all very experienced at hatha yoga, and were going to do a course in ‘traditional tantra yoga.’ They were led by a young American with a pony tail, who seemed very centred and completely unruffled by all the typical commotion in the train and the usual haggling with the ticket inspector and other passengers about mistakes over tickets and seat nos. They gave me the website of the course they were about to attend. It is:
Here are a few excerpts from the website: http://www.shrikali.org:
“Tantric culture involves the practice of all aspects of yoga Asanas, Mantra, Yantra, Puja (rituals – including sexuality), Kundalini, Chakra, meditation……… from a traditional Tantric perspective…… The Tantra Yoga taught at Shri Kali is different from that taught in any other schools in India or the world…….. we teach asanas from a timeless Tantric formula based on the subtle energy system……. Our teachings build a thorough understanding of both the theoretical and practical aspects of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra and Yoga…..”
There is a lot more information on the website, for anyone interested …. it seems that you need to be pretty good at hatha yoga to be able to take part.