 A unique beach in the North Goa,
it is both rocky and sandy, beach and much sought after by foreign tourists. It
has a sweet water tank right on the shore. Along the Goa border is Arambol with
its fresh water lagoon. Due to its isolation, not many tourists have been able
to reach this beach.
The 16-km-long sea beach along with the
Goa border is Arambol with its fresh water lagoon. The main beach has
adequate bodysurfing and there are several attractive bays a short walk
to the north. Beyond an idyllic, rocky-bottomed cove, the trail emerges
to a board strip of soft white sand hemmed in on both sides by steep
cliffs. Behind it, a small freshwater lake extends along the
bottom of the valley into a thick jungle. Fed by boiling hot springs, the lake is lined with sulphurous mud,
which, smeared over the body, dries to form a surreal, butter-coloured
shell. The resident hippies swear it's good for you and spend much of
the day tiptoeing naked around the shallow like refugees from some
obscure tribal initiation ceremony - much to the amusement of Arambol's
Indian visitors.
Some years ago, when the
screws were tightened at Anjuna in an attempt to control what local
people regarded as the more outrageous activities (nudism and drug use)
of a certain section of the traveling community, the die-hards cast
around for a more sympathetic' beach. Arambol, north of Chapora, was one
of those which they choose. Initially, only those willing to put up with
very primitive conditions came here. Things are a little more
comfortable these days, but development has, so far, been minimal.
The village remains tranquil and friendly - just a few hundred locals,
mostly fishing people, and a couple of hundred Western residents in the
November to February high season. The coastline lacks the palm-fringed
exotic clinches of the southern Goa beaches but it has plenty of
character and is pretty in its own kind of way.
At one time, Arambol was the most backward village economically, with
farming and horticulture as its backbone, but today, it has captured a place on
the international map of tourism. Believe it or not, the local barbers have
disappeared from this village, but one finds a barber who has come all the way
from Kerala or Andhra Pradesh to settle down in this village. Kashmiris have set
up their shops, Punjabis run restaurants and fast-food joints, Maharashtrians
operate regular tours, while half-a-dozen hotels are under construction by
entrepreneurs from Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, realising that the sea beach
has assumed great importance in the global village.
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