Sunday, January 9

Finally we get down to Lighthouse Beach and it feels as though we have arrived. Something about the place resonates inside us as we walk from the taxi rank and along the shore. We find much to notice.

The beach has become a destination for tourists from inside India. European or Russian tourists have all but disappeared. Irma remarks that it feels like walking in India in the eighties or early nineties.

We walk along the road parallel to the beach and find that it has almost all closed. The New Volga, The Village, the Lonely Planet restaurant, the shop where I used to have my fisherman’s trousers made: all closed and shuttered.

The chai man with his chai on his bicycle sees us and shouts for us to come and get something. We both have chai and a savoury spicy doughnut and he grins happily. We grin back. We timed our arrival at the beach perfectly.

On the beach maybe a third of the restaurants have also closed. We walk up and down and finally settle at Leo (of course) for some snacks and drinks. I take some photographs of people passing.

Later we will stop and chat with Lakpay.