Our journey to Goa from Udaipur included a stop in Ahmedabad - capital city of Gujarat. It was a stop we could have all quite happily gone without! Our first Indian train ground to a halt at 4.25am and it was a long two hours later that we finally put our bags down in a hotel. A hotel, incidentally, that I didn't leave until 10am the following day... Once again the food and/or drink here had got the better of me, this time worse than ever. Happily, the others reported back from their walks around town that Ahmedabad was "horrible", "shit", 'the worst place they'd ever been to' (I may be paraphrasing there...) Delighted not to have missed anything, I scrambled once more for the bathroom.
Immeasurably better things were waiting for us at the other end of the short flight to Goa.
We were met out of the airport by handshakes all round from a beaming taxi driver set up for us by our next hostel. The smile was wiped off his face 10 minutes and a 600 rupee bribe later: he was caught by traffic police driving on the wrong side of the road. From that point on his driving was so cautious it was almost un-Indian. He barely touched the horn!
Anjuna Palms guest house provided our first stay in a dorm room (they are rare in Northern India), its fair to say we loved it. With a tatty tarpaulin for a roof and, frankly, nothing for walls it wasn't for the faint-hearted or the mosquito-bite-prone. But dorming is a great way of meeting people and in Anjuna we spent some time with another Brit, Mike, and his Australian travelling buddy, Kate. It proved a prime opportunity to let the as yet repressed, brutal, British sense of humour out for a run. I'll spare you the highlights. Our second evening in Anjuna consisted of drinks on the beach, which turned out to be decidedly quiet compared to the pounding techno raves promised in Shaan's last post. Sorry to disappoint, but the Exeter boys will be pleased to hear that at least 'G&T Club' made a long-awaited return to action.
For the first time since the UK of early January we all woke late, with thick heads. After a quiet hour eating and settling the tiny hostel bill, we set off on an intimidating bus journey: 80 kilometres south to Palolem Beach. The plan was to go and meet our North American friends, for the last time. Rhys was a huge proponent of this scheme, see pictures below for the 26 year old, Canadian reason why... 4 hours, 85 rupees (1 pound) and a consistently marked lack of personal space down the line and we made it. Palolem Beach got itself off to a glorious start with the revelation that for the same price as last night's dorm beds, the three of us could share a beach hut.
Both days at Palolem consisted of exactly the same breakfast - "sexy spicy omlette" - so good! Lunch was the same both days too. 50 rupees gets you a lot of noodles in Goa apparently. Aside from this short lived routine there was much lazing around, reading, swimming and, for Rhys and I, getting absolutely demolished by our new worst enemies: UVA and UVB. On our last day with Rob and the girls we had arranged a boat trip. We were up early and on the water by half 8. By 9 we had caught our fair share of dolphin sightings and shortly afterwards we were lying on a quiet little beach in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Look right and the views are stunning, look left and your eyes are met with an impossibly bronze cock and balls basking proudly in the rays. Think a chubby David Dickinson with no clothes on, or maybe don't? The 'fat naked guy' proved a top attraction with every boat of tourists that arrived throughout the morning.
On our last journey in India, we're currently headed for Mumbai. It'll be back to the city way of travelling - sights to see and crowds to negotiate. Goa has definitely been the break from that we were looking for. But, a fast-paced end to our time in this crazy country will be nothing if not appropriate.
Will
Immeasurably better things were waiting for us at the other end of the short flight to Goa.
We were met out of the airport by handshakes all round from a beaming taxi driver set up for us by our next hostel. The smile was wiped off his face 10 minutes and a 600 rupee bribe later: he was caught by traffic police driving on the wrong side of the road. From that point on his driving was so cautious it was almost un-Indian. He barely touched the horn!
Anjuna Palms guest house provided our first stay in a dorm room (they are rare in Northern India), its fair to say we loved it. With a tatty tarpaulin for a roof and, frankly, nothing for walls it wasn't for the faint-hearted or the mosquito-bite-prone. But dorming is a great way of meeting people and in Anjuna we spent some time with another Brit, Mike, and his Australian travelling buddy, Kate. It proved a prime opportunity to let the as yet repressed, brutal, British sense of humour out for a run. I'll spare you the highlights. Our second evening in Anjuna consisted of drinks on the beach, which turned out to be decidedly quiet compared to the pounding techno raves promised in Shaan's last post. Sorry to disappoint, but the Exeter boys will be pleased to hear that at least 'G&T Club' made a long-awaited return to action.
For the first time since the UK of early January we all woke late, with thick heads. After a quiet hour eating and settling the tiny hostel bill, we set off on an intimidating bus journey: 80 kilometres south to Palolem Beach. The plan was to go and meet our North American friends, for the last time. Rhys was a huge proponent of this scheme, see pictures below for the 26 year old, Canadian reason why... 4 hours, 85 rupees (1 pound) and a consistently marked lack of personal space down the line and we made it. Palolem Beach got itself off to a glorious start with the revelation that for the same price as last night's dorm beds, the three of us could share a beach hut.
Both days at Palolem consisted of exactly the same breakfast - "sexy spicy omlette" - so good! Lunch was the same both days too. 50 rupees gets you a lot of noodles in Goa apparently. Aside from this short lived routine there was much lazing around, reading, swimming and, for Rhys and I, getting absolutely demolished by our new worst enemies: UVA and UVB. On our last day with Rob and the girls we had arranged a boat trip. We were up early and on the water by half 8. By 9 we had caught our fair share of dolphin sightings and shortly afterwards we were lying on a quiet little beach in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Look right and the views are stunning, look left and your eyes are met with an impossibly bronze cock and balls basking proudly in the rays. Think a chubby David Dickinson with no clothes on, or maybe don't? The 'fat naked guy' proved a top attraction with every boat of tourists that arrived throughout the morning.
On our last journey in India, we're currently headed for Mumbai. It'll be back to the city way of travelling - sights to see and crowds to negotiate. Goa has definitely been the break from that we were looking for. But, a fast-paced end to our time in this crazy country will be nothing if not appropriate.
Will
This is my favourite blog yet! It all sounds amazing so far, can't wait to hear more :D xxx
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to talk to you earlier. Glad all is well, good to see you looking well too. Tell Rhys to look after those bites, however he got them !!!!!
ReplyDeleteLoving reading your blog! Everything sounds so fun and amazing, makes me wish I had done this back when I was younger! Though to be honest I don't think I could've managed the sleeping accommodations too well, lol!
ReplyDeleteI know your Mum misses you but I bet she's also loving all the great experiences you're having :)