Palolem was our second beach stop in Goa, not all that far south from Vagator and Old Goa since it's such a small state. The picture postcard palm-fringed crescent-shaped beach at Palolem is deservedly popular and lined with restaurants and guesthouses. So it's a much busier spot than Vagator and very popular with foreigners with Russians in particular abundance. The seafood is good if not cheap and the sunsets from the beach bars over Singapore Slings sensational.

An early morning start towards Hampi then took us a short distance south along the lush tropical Malabar Coast and east across the Western Ghat mountains to India's drier interior plateau . our next few days in Hampi and Mysore are in Karnataka state, also home to Bangalore (India's most successful tech center) which we only skirted. Karnataka is thus one of India's most prosperous states overall but is still one with a much traditional countryside with subsistence farming and ox-pulled carts.