Postcard from Diu

I am so glad that we came to Diu.

Knowing India and knowing how to read the Lonely Planet, I knew exactly what to expect and am totally happy with what we found.

Diu does not have the best beaches in the world, but they are pretty nice.

Diu does not have the cutest town, but it is charming in its own way.

Diu does not have the best food, but things are pretty good and cheap.

Take all these things that are not great, but pretty nice, and combine it with few people, not a lot of tourist activity, very little horn honking traffic and what may be the world's cheapest beer and you have the best place in India to recharge you batteries and your soul before heading back into the teeming masses.

Basically Diu is a 11km long island about 3km wide and about .5km off the coast. At one end is the main town where we are staying, that has a few hotels and some basic shops and restaurants. Along the south coast are a string of beaches, none of them spectacular, but most pretty deserted. The one exception to this is a beach called Negoa near the other end of the island that has a couple of hotels and bars, as well as a decent crowd of Indian beach goers. Incidentally, Indian woman go in the water fully clothed, so no girls in bikinis in these parts.

Because Diu was a Portugese colony until the '60s Diu is something called a Union Territory, which means that it is not part of any state of India. The state next door is dry, but here beer is not subject to state taxes. So the going rate for a 650ml Kingfisher is 45 rupees (about 1 dollar) in a restaurant, and I assume even lower in a store.

So, 2 more blissful days of riding our rental scooter (13 dollars for 4 days) to the beach and drinking cheap beer await. I am certainly in no rush to leave.