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to a sizable neohippie community (or, as one discerning Goan hotelier calls them, “the great unwashed”), as well as ever-increasing development. Once on the beach, you just need to walk far from the crowds, and you should find a slice of tranquillity, and Palolem has, mercifully, yet to be overwhelmed by day-trippers. Just 7km (4 miles) north of Palolem, Agonda is even more isolated and peaceful (again, not quite as much as it once was), while to the south, Galgibaga is another remote haven with eucalyptus trees and empty stretches of sand. This time, the beauty is forever protected because the beach is a designated Olive Ridley breeding area. And then, of course, there’s Om beach, south of the border, an hour or two into the neighboring state of Karnataka, considered by many to be the best beach in India. Om is still comparatively untouched save for a few seasonal shacks, and the extremely tranquil, very special yoga and Ayurvedic retreat, SwaSwara, where you’re ensconced in a gorgeous setting on a vast acreage with pathways leading directly from your beautiful villa to the beach (see “Discover the Universe within at Om Beach” box in the Karnataka chapter for the lowdown on one of the most special hideaways in India).

2 North Goa

Goa’s reputation as a hangout for hippies during the ’60s and ’70s was made on the northern beaches of Calangute, Baga, and Anjuna. Along with the relaxed lifestyle and good times came busloads of Indian men keen to observe free-spirited foreigners and, finally, a crackdown by local government. This forced fun-loving hippies to head to more remote tracts of coastline, leaving the door open for backpackers and package tourists. Thus were the north’s most famous beaches transformed into tanning lots for the masses—even Anjuna has become an Ibiza-like experience—and today no card-carrying hippie would deign to set foot on the beach that stretches between Calangute and Baga (defined by resort-centered Sinquerim in the south to Vagator in the north). That said, you can’t deny the beauty of the beaches (in south Vagator, Ozran Beach is peaceful and beautiful, with relaxed swimming in a bay at its southernmost end)—certainly this is where you’ll want to be if you’re here to party during the season. Baga is the smaller, slightly less-developed area of activity. Beach shacks-turned-establishment hangouts like Britto’s (Baga) and Fisherman’s Paradise (Calangute) are crowded with beer-quaffing visitors recovering from the previous night’s adventure at the legendary bar-cum-nightclub, Tito’s, now a veritable strip-mall of entertainment outlets. Still, beach shacks are very much a part of Goan culture, and if you can track down those that haven’t gone commercial (a la sponsorship by major drinks conglomerates), you may just sample some of the old life.

Mind-Altering Yogurt Drinks

Be warned that the “special lassis” served at some Goan beach shacks may dramatically increase your amusement at the cows ambling along the shore or apparently sunbathing alongside the snow-white tourists on Baga Beach. The “special” component is bang, or marijuana.

For a sense of Goa’s hippie origins, head for Arambol, Goa’s most northerly “discovered” beach (36km/22 miles northwest of Mapusa), before you hit the utterly remote and untouched beach at Keri. Arambol is no longer the undiscovered paradise it was just a few years back, but it offers better bodysurfing that Anjuna or Vagator—the water’s a little more turbulent. It draws quite a crowd during the season (you arrive through a lane crammed with stalls selling CDs and T-shirts, and laid-back restaurants playing competing brands of music), but the setting is nevertheless lovely, with a hill looming over a small freshwater lake fed by a spring. The farther north you walk, the more solitude you enjoy. Besides looking at beautiful bodies, you can spend hours watching the surf glide. Another option is to head a little farther south from Arambol for Asvem Beach; while the Russians may have set up camp here it’s still a great beach, and is where you’ll fall in love with a beautiful