The Lotus Beach Eco Resort, Murud-Harnai - Wish We'd Stayed Longer

We chose to stay at this resort for only one night, and felt very bad leaving the next morning.

The deluxe AC room where we stayed had a fabulous sea view. The room was spacious but cozy and very well maintained. The important part (very important for me) was that it was absolutely free from lizards and other insects which is inevitable in Konkan. The clean, beautiful beach is hardly 2 min walking distance from the resort.

The staff was courteous and worked hard to make us comfortable. The restaurant is reasonably good. There was no buffet due to low occupancy on the weekday, but we got whatever we ordered. The fried fish and chicken was especially worth a mention.

We took a boat ride to see dolphins early the next morning (again this was arranged by the resort), which was an unforgettable experience.

All in all, it was a hassle-free, peaceful stay - with no arguments, no reminders to the staff and no complaints.

I would definitely recommend this resort for at least a 2-3 night stay. The standard rooms do not have much of a view though, and the deluxe rooms come with a higher price tag. However, the view makes the incremental spend worthwhile.

The Bindi effect

Bobo is just fascinated with Bindis. Ajji's bright red bindi makes her unique and a lot more interesting than other members of the house who don't care to wear one! Every day when Ajji wears a fresh bindi after her bath, Bobo will make Ajji carry her, then she will point at her bindi, touch and feel it, try (in vain) to remove it, make all sorts of noises and sounds to indicate how interesting it all is, and this goes on for quite some time.

Ask Bobo where a bindi is worn and she will painstakingly point to somewhere between her right eye and nose. Perhaps it is still beyond her capability to point to a precise position on her own face! She even tries to convince me and Ajoba how it would be great if we wore bindis too, by pointing to the "bindi spot" on our noses!

Imagine Bobo's excitement when Ajji made her wear a bindi of her own last morning. She stood in the mirror admiring it for the longest of times. It all seemed very cute at that time. But somehow, co-incidentally (or not), she indulged in so much masti and mischief for the rest of the day that I am convinced the bindi triggered off some accupressure point on her forehead and brought out some hidden energy within her. I've literally begged my mother not to do it again :)