GOING, GOA, GONE!

Monday, November 24th at 15:15

Kevin

I am sitting on a cushion at a low table in the restaurant of the place we are staying in Goa overlooking the Arabian Sea. I was just approached by an Indian woman wishing to sell me some fresh flowers. Although I don't very much like saying no, I have gotten quite used to it as I have gotten a lot of practice. The town we are staying in now, Arambol, is far different than those we have visited thus far. It is a small fishing community, turned hippie quarters some time in the late 60's early 70's, with a long beach of fine sand, coconut palms and lots of cows. It still feels very sleepy considering the small army of hotels (beach huts), shops and restaurants that have opened up since the discovery of this beach by outsiders. There are tourists from all over the world, with a majority hailing from Italy and Russia. We have yet to meet any other Americans, which is okay.

We are staying in a place called Samsara and it is a series of five very simple, yet comfortable, beach huts with two regular rooms in a concrete building a bar, restaurant and a yoga studio which hosts two classes daily. The young couple that owns the place are from Italy and Russia. They are very accommodating and very hospitable as is all the staff that comes from various places around India to work for the season, which is from mid November to about March with December and January being the core and most popular amongst visitors. We are happy to be here at the early part of the season and expect to move on before the rush hits. Our stay here has been incredibly memorable and relaxing. Goa's pace is slow and steady. The days drift by with the assistance of a blazing sun and an ocean breeze. Sleep has been restful under the mosquito net with the fan providing a cool breeze and the ocean providing a soothing soundtrack.




We arrived in Goa on a train from Mumbai. A portion of the story is missing. Shortly after arriving in India and weathering Idalis' bout with “Delhi Belly”, we set out to locate the train station where we navigated the application process and eventually purchased three sets of train tickets. One ticket was on the second class sleeper from Mumbai to Aurangabad, a city east of Mumbai, a ticket on what is known as an air conditioned chair back to Mumbai from Aurangabad and last, another second class sleeper ticket from Mumbai to Goa. We had decided, quite at the last minute, to venture a bit out of the way to visit the city of Aurangabad before moving on to Goa. We assumed that it would be a respite from the Mumbai chaos and was in close proximity to a series of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples that were carved directly into the face of the basalt mountains (sound familiar?). The two sites we were most interested in were in the cities of Ajunta and Ellora. However, on our first morning's excursion, we were lucky enough to hail a tuk-tuk being piloted by a thirty-two year old Muslim man by the name of Aman. Originally it was our intention to have Aman simply drop us off at the bus station where we would then use the Indian public transportation system to navigate our way to these points of interest. However, after a rather convincing sales pitch and an extra investment of the equivalent of about three US dollars, we decided to take Aman up on his offer to drive us for the entire day to not only see the caves of Ellora, but also to see ancient tomb, an ancient fortress and a miniature, yet still quite grand, version of the Taj Mahal located right in his home town. We were also eventually treated to an authentic and delicious Indian lunch and a random sampling of some of the fruits available along the road side, which he procured for us at Indian prices, rather than the typical tourist price. Aman was kind enough to give explanations about each of the sites as well as answering a slew of questions about Indian culture, politics and history, which we had been harboring since our arrival. The day lasted about eight hours, covered a slew of kilometers and left Idalis and I both breathless and totally exhausted.

On our original attempt to purchase our series of three sets of train tickets, we were advised to check them and then check them again to insure all of the information was correct. We did so and accepted the tickets as adhering to the schedule that we desired. It was later that night that a small voice in my head said, “check the dates on the tickets one last time”. So, I did, and to my horror, discovered that we had only given ourselves one day in Aurangabad instead of the two we originally wanted. After advising Idalis of our error and losing a bit of sleep over it, we decided to try and remedy the situation the following day as there was nothing we could do about it right then and were not about to traverse the streets of Mumbai in the middle of the night. The next morning we set out to attempt to correct the tickets. On our way, we were stopped by touts, again wanting to provide any service imaginable. We repeatedly, yet politely, declined and advised that it was urgent that we make it to the train station to remedy our purchase at the booking office. It was one of the touts that advised us that the booking office is closed on Sunday. However, knowing by now that any excuse was used to just have you hang out a few minutes longer to get just a bit more description and one closer look, we decided to ignore the information and press on. I started thinking as we made our way to the train station that, in fact, the guide book only gave opening hours for the train station booking office for Monday through Saturday. Nonetheless, we still pressed on, and good that we did. We arrived at the train station, made our way to counter twenty-eight, the tourist counter that we had visited the day before, and were greeted by Dina, the incredibly friendly, bright and cheerful woman with a beautiful smile working the counter. She entertained the explanation of our plight, did some research and ended up correcting the dates of our tickets and somehow managed to give us money back despite the fact that we had to pay fines for the corrections and cancellations. We were delighted that our mistake was not permanent and that we would get three whole days away from Mumbai before having to return to catch the final train to Goa, where we currently sit.

Aurangabad was a much needed break, and in spite of being a rather large, and somewhat industrial city, we welcomed the change and felt an incredible sense of peace and spirit in the temples that were carved from solid rock. The interiors of each were incredibly ornate and contained statues and carvings of the various deities represented by the three groups of religious sects that inhabited the area and competed to have the most impressive temples. The competition fueled a level of creativity that was absolutely fascinating and we were the benefactors of their dedicated work where entire temples were created by hammer and chisel by starting from the front and working back and the top working down. You could not help but feel like you were within the presence of greatness. The balance of our trip was wonderful. We stayed at a hotel called Shree Maya, where the staff was incredibly friendly and courteous, the food delicious and the room rather large and comfortable. It made the impending thought of returning to Mumbai, even if for only ten hours, very unsettling. Another great thing to come out of our trip to Aurangabad was the opportunity of meeting Peter and Julia, a young German couple that too had shunned their domestic responsibilities in search of action and adventure. Their course had taken them on a slightly different track through India than ours. Nonetheless, we met in the middle and immediately hit it off. It was as if we had simply reunited with old friends.

Peter is very practical, soft spoken and witty and Julia is very sweet, energetic and vivacious. Both are a pleasure to be around and thus we have made every attempt to spend time together. In fact, we reunited once again here in Arumbol and went out to dinner where we dined on tuna, pomfret and prawns along with salad, chips (fries) and two bottles of Port wine. Port, you may ask. Yes, Port. The state of Goa was only vacated by the conquering and occupying Portuguese a mere forty-eight years ago, leaving an indelible mark on the region in the form of food, architecture and Christianity, Roman Catholic being the dominant religion of the area. A weird occurrence that sometimes allows the visitor to forget he is actually in India. Meat is prevalent, alcohol is tolerated and crosses are everywhere. Our dinner on the second night in Arambol was serenaded by the chants, in Hindi, of the Catholic mass going on in a church right next door.

Idalis and I had lunch at an Italian restaurant when we first arrived in Goa. I had gotten up at some point to use the restroom and discovered two slightly used surf boards lingering around the kitchen. I immediately inquired with the restaurant manager, George, as to the status of the boards. To my surprise, they were for rent at the meager price of one hundred rupees an hour, or the equivalent of two dollars. The next day, the surf had picked up a bit, to slightly ridable, so I grabbed the 5'10” NSP board and headed out for a bit. As I was paddling I came across a young Indian man. We struck up a conversation and filled each other in on the details of our lives. His name was Utkarsh and he was currently in the Indian Army stationed in Kashmir where he was performing his duty and attempting to manage the disturbances in that area between Muslims and Hindus. He was very well spoken and a pleasure to talk to. However, after listening to some of the horrors of religious wars, I decided it was time to teach Utkarsh how to surf. Much to my surprise, he was very much a natural. He laid on the board and managed to keep his balance. I pushed him into his first couple of waves, one of which he rode nearly all the way back to shore. Although he wasn't able to stand in the short time we surfed, I think he had a great time and I hope it helped to clear his mind from work for a little while and possibly even add a new fanatic to the world of surfing. After returning the board, I joined Uktarsh and two of his friends from University for a drink by the ocean. I was introduced to Komal (KK), who is very funny, and Himanshu, who will be getting married in April (good luck Humanshu! Don't forget to send my invitation!) We enjoyed a few cocktails as we watched the sun go down and resolved all the worlds problems. Thank you all for your hospitality and good company, It was a pleasure to meet you!

While in Goa, Peter celebrated his thirty-first birthday (Happy Birthday Peter!). So, we decided to celebrate with a surf. We enjoyed a morning session and an afternoon session of some decent surf. Although the surf in Goa is pretty small and not all that organized, we still had a great time and just enjoyed being in the water. Our celebrations continued the next day when at the behest of Peter and Julia we actually ended up renting motor scooters and covering a distance of approximately one hundred kilometers, all while driving on the “wrong” side of the street and dodging sacred cows and women walking along the road side balancing unusually large containers on their heads . We began our journey early in the morning and did not return to Arambol until the sun had gone down, making driving a scooter, in India, on the opposite side of the road, in the dark, a very challenging, yet unforgettable experience. We managed to visit the Wednesday market in Anjuna to take advantage of some cheap shopping, we then visited the city of Old Goa, a Portuguese settlement with basilicas and cathedrals, and then on to Panjim, another Portuguese settlement and the capital city of the state of Goa. We ended that evening by enjoying yet another meal of very fresh fish, calamari, prawns, crab and, to commemorate a day full of Portuguese explorations, another bottle of Port wine, and all for the equivalent of about twenty-five US dollars.





Our experiences here in Goa have been awesome. We have created a lot of memories and were lucky enough to meet some really wonderful people to spend time with and share experiences with. Goa has both captivated us as well as allowed us time to catch up on some much needed rest and to pursue the propagation of our tans in our attempt to acclimate into the local culture. Life here is incredibly slow and ridiculously affordable. On average, we are estimating that we spend between twenty and thirty US dollars a day, which includes transportation, food, drinks and lodging. You can procure anything that you could possibly need and at a fraction of the cost that you would expect to pay back home. The only draw back is the possibility of a mosquito bite that will introduce your body to Malaria, a potential bite or lick from a stray animal that could find you writhing from Rabies, a severe sun burn that will practically melt your skin off, a bout with the inside out disease that is only ever one sip of water away, careening your scooter off the side of a cliff and one caramel colored cow that the locals say is crazy.. A small price to pay for the slice of heaven that we have found known as Goa!