going going goan

Mumbai was a blur. Because of touts booking all train tickets to Goa in season (starting over the next few weeks), the only train I could take left early in the morning on the day after we arrived. So our tour of India's poshest hotels was cut short prematurely and i was whisked away from Will and Jonny, in their newly tailored suits, with barely a chance to say tata... Despite the overwhelming sarcasm of my last post, this was actually quite sad!



So the train was fun. Having woken up at 530, it was "rescheduled" by 3 hours, then lost a further 2 hours en route. So I arrived in Goa at half past midnight. But I did meet a very interesting septogenarian Goan called Vinay and a mid-twenties Keralan naval officer named Razzaq. They bought me Chai, we swapped stories, I learned a lot. It was nice.

It struck me that all my time in India up until then had been spent in cities, and even in England 2 weeks away from the countryside is about my limit.



So it was great to see lush lush lush foliage (eg Banyan tree above), wildlife (all sorts of amphibian/reptile life asleep in the roads at night etc), and also Goan people are incredibly friendly, on the whole. I've been staying in "God's Gift Guesthouse" (I don't think they're trying to be ostentatious), and speaking of friendly Indians, the hosts Costam and Ruby are 2 of the nicest people ever. Costam, despite being woken up by my taxi driver in the middle of the night, and not noticing the cockroach sauntering across his pants, didn't stop grinning as he showed me round 3 (identical) rooms. He drove me into Arambol (just along the beach), ran about half a mile to give me his flip-flops when he saw me sprinting between shadows to minimise the smoke smouldering from my feet, i could go on. here's the aforementioned Arambol, north Goa:



Life in Goa is pretty tough. At least twice a day I'm faced with impossible dilemmas such as: Shall I go for a swim in the Arabian sea, which is warmer than many baths I've had, or shall I go for a ride on Barley, my scooter, around some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen?



This is all well and good for now, but I'm not very good at being a beach bum. It feels like holiday (a very very good holiday), but not travelling. I think I'll zip down Goa over the next week or so and then head off... Still, I really would recommend it



oh yes, Happy Diwali! I didn't time it so well - Goa is probably the least interesting place in India to celebrate a Hindu festival. Lots of colourful decorations though, Indians throwing fireworks... don't think they've got those adverts here... and lots of westerners sipping cocktails over chilled-out trance. hmmm. Nice sunset though...