India Travel

AGONDA, 10km north of Chaudi, can only be reached along the sinuous coast road connecting Cabo da Rama with NH-14 at Chaudi. No signposts mark the turning and few of the tourists that whizz past en route to Palolem PUU off here, but the beach, fringed along its entire length by toddi trees, is superb. Its remote location is not the only reason this three-kilometre spread of white sand has been bypassed by the bulldozers. Villagers here are opposed to arty kind of tourist development. In 1982, when a group of absentee landlords sold offa chunk of the beach to a Delhi-based hotel chain, the locals refused to vacate the plot, insisting the proposed five-star hotel and golf course would ruin heif traditional livelihoods. Faced with threats of violent resistance, and procted legal battles, the developers eventually backed down, and the unfinished concrete hulk they left behind is today the only unsightly structure for miles. his acrimonious episode may in part explain the relative scarcity in Agonda facilities for visitors. At present, there are only two places to stay, both sit.