CHRISTMAS IN GOA

This entry would have just been about Christmas in Goa--in fact we were only planning on staying in Goa for Christmas and New years, but here we are, January 24th and we are still here--it's definitely the kind of place you can get happily stuck!

Christmas Eve

We took our flight from Udaipur to Mumbai on Air India--only a one hour flight but it saved us at least a day on the train and ensured we got down to our destination in time for Christmas! Air India beats Ryan Air by a long-shot. The air hostesses were dressed in their beautiful saris and served us complimentary spring rolls and brownies--an interesting flight mix! We arrived in Mumbai and as planned, left the very next morning--at this stage, big cities had lost any appeal and our introduction to Mumbai did not change that in any way!

We took a taxi from the airport to the area where our train was leaving the next day---ended up taking AT LEAST 3 hours in the manic traffic---meanwhile the windows had to be open due to the heat and the pollution was completely intrusive--I was blowing black dust out of my nose for the next 2 days! As we drove, the poverty gap was blatant, even from the road. On one side of the street was extreme wealth, beautiful skyscrapers, Mumbai's version of the twin towers etc. and on the other were slums with fires lit and many people swarmed around, trying to stay warm for the night without shelter, or for those who had shelter, it was like a patchwork quilt built with different materials such as tin and plywood.

 Finally, after the EXTREMELY long taxi ride across the city, we arrived and tried to find a guesthouse immediately. After searching intently, we ended up paying literally 4 times a much as usual for a shady room in the basement the size of a closet with 2 single beds without a  bathroom in a rich hotel. We nearly considered going and sleeping in the train station as our train left at 5 am but instead bit the bullet and paid for 7 hours of sleep in the biggest rip-off yet. To make ourselves feel better we went out and splurged on pizza-hut!

The next morning we made our way through the heaps of people sleeping on the ground at the train station and set off on another 12 hour journey to Goa--and GUESS WHAT?! No lies, the same transvestite was on board! This time he/she was hovering around an Indian family waiting for them to pay money to relieve themselves of the discomfort. (Apparently they do the same things at weddings here---they will crash a wedding and wait to be paid off which is always a sure thing to avoid embarrassment by the families). Anyway, on the train we ate surprisingly delicious vegetarian byriani and samosas and entertained ourselves by playing rummy Baba-style!

We arrived in Goa and made our way to Arambol in the North. A beautiful cliff-side beach that stretches on forever! It felt like a "holiday" from India (it must be why Goa is known as "India-light") but it was still very much India at the same time. Holy cows and stray dogs still roamed the beaches (kind of a funny sight) and ladies carrying different goods like jewelry and sarongs were constantly approaching us while we were on the beach trying to make a sale saying "Hello chicken-lollipop! Would you like some nice things? Oh please my sweet lollipop it has been such a slow day--just look at my things. How about henna? A massage? A manicure?" They were all very friendly and smiley. I did give in one time when a lovely 17 year old girl named Prima ( she liked to be called Primadonna) told me about her upcoming marriage which was arranged and she was very scared as the man was 29. She was being forced into it and they hadn't even spoken yet! Apparently, it is still very common here, especially in traditional families and sometimes lower-class families (the caste/class system is still very prominent here). A few different women have complained to me about their husbands that they were forced into marrying that drink too much or treat them badly. I have also heard that it can sometimes be the cause of suicides among women. Back to Prima--she was doing a beautiful job of giving me a manicure with little fake diamonds and everything when two police officers-one man, one woman--dressed in civilian clothing--sari etc. came and arrested her! She had warned us about this as it is illegal for the ladies to be working and selling things on the beach. It is so ridiculous in my opinion though, as all the police do is fine them (already poor people) and then the girls are just forced to work more in order to compensate for what they've lost. It doesn't stop them from doing it what-so-ever. In Prima's case, she got fined and supremely scolded by both the police and her mother (who all the money was going towards---again another reason not to support children selling things here, no matter how sweet and in need they seem---the money is bound to go straight to their parents and goodness only knows what happens to the money from there).

Anyway, Prima got her manicure set taken away and had to pay to get it back but she hid all her jewelry under the beach blanket we had with us at the time which we kept safely in our place for the next 3 days until we found her wandering the beach again. Poor thing really wanted to finish the manicure (I felt obliged to let her finish as she clearly needed the money after all the hassel) and so she did while Des and I kept a look out for the beach cops. Phew--never again!

Fishermen at sunset

Cows taking a stroll on the beach

A cow a little too close to me on the sun-lounger!

Other families try to make a living on the beach by turning their children into commodities and have them perform like circus animals. They literally set up a tightrope on the beach and then play the bongo to get everyone's attention. Then the little 3 or 4 year old will get up and walk the tightrope while holding a large 2 meter thick piece of wood and a tin plate on their foot---frontwards and backwards they go and then they get down, come around with a tin plate and beg for money after which they hand over to their parents. There are many beggars on the beaches, many who bring their new-born babies around with them in the hot sun to entice people to give money by feeling sorry for the mother and tiny baby. Des started to give-out to the mothers who have their heads carefully covered from the sun but yet expose their precious babies heads all day while walking in the hot heat.

Cows seeking shelter from the heat

Ladies walk the beaches selling fresh fruit out of baskets they carry on their heads---some of the best fresh pineapple I have ever tried! (Our favorite!) They sit there and peel it and cut it in about 10 seconds and it is absolutely sweet and delicious! I have also been drinking milk out of a straw from coconuts. The fresh fruit is unbeatable here---passion fruit, mangoes, figs, and little mini-pineapple things which are scrumptious!Other little lads walk the beach selling ice cream out of coolers on the back of their rickety bicycles.

Lady cutting us a fresh pineapple

Des helping lady put basket back on her head

Fresh coconut milk

Passion fruit

In Arambol we stayed in a coco-hut made on the beach surrounded by beautiful palm trees. We had 2  geckos that lived in our shared bathroom that became our new pets! :) The sand was soft and the water the nicest I've ever experienced for swimming--so warm and calm! It was wonderfully hot everyday (it has gone up to plus 37 here--with the exception of a couple days after New Years where it turned strangely windy--almost stormy) and the sunsets were unforgettable.

Sunset in Arambol

Noah's Arc--our home for 3 weeks

Our coco-hut on the right

Pet gecko!

The beach was covered with loungers and sun umbrellas as well as dozens of fishermen and their boats fixing their nets and bringing in fresh fish to the markets. Some of the local fishermen used bamboo stalks as fishing rods--very creative! Sea eagles soared above and dolphins could be seen around noon. We spent our days in Arambol drinking cervezas, reading, playing backgammon (I have a new-found love for the game!), playing cards, swimming, walking, running on the beach, playing soccer with the little kids and eating gorgeous sea-food! At night, the tables would be brought out right on the beach and candles would be lit on each one so the whole beach was lit up with lovely glowing candle-light! We would walk along it and choose from the plethora of whole fresh fish options which would then be taken to the kitchen and cooked to our taste (our favorite was the huge tuna steaks in a garlic-soy sauce and the whole red snapper we shared that was cooked in the tandoori oven--deliciously spicy!) It was then served to us while we listened to the waves crashing in the dark and watched the fabulous (adult) fire-throwers and hoola-hoopers on the beach!

Tandoori red snapper---scrumptious!

Fish kiss

Beautiful dinner--tomato rose candle

One thing I found very humbling was the little child I saw playing with an aluminum take-away container and using it as a play boat on a stream that went past one of the restaurants that was water from a laundry service. He was happy-out, but it re-affirmed how lucky we have been to grow up where we have and to hopefully be able to give our kids that same environment someday.

Little ones playing footie

Little one running with hoola-hoop made out of pipe

Beach restaurants in Arambol

Soccer at sunset

Fisherman getting net ready for evening fish

Cliff-side of beach

Other nights, there was great live music ranging from techno to bongos to acoustic guitar to buddhist mantras being sung along to a guitar and a strange tiny keybard attached to a rubber pipe that a man would blow in---beautiful sound! Everything was decorated for Christmas ( it was crazy seeing Catholic churches and Mary and Jesus/ Christmas decorations everywhere after being in such a predominately Hindu place for so long).

On Christmas eve-day Des and I rented a scooter and drove around the different surrounding beaches and across plush rice plantations--more illuminous green than Ireland! The views with the misty rivers and sea with Asian boats and tropical plants surrounding with gorgeous! We made our way around on the scooter singing Christmas carols the whole time---I didn't realize how LITTLE I actually know the words to the carols until we tried to sing them without music! We did nail one however, and that was the Irish "Fairy-tale of New York", thanks to our Irish friends we met! We spent Christmas eve and Christmas day with them, who we had met earlier in Rajisthan. Orla, Jennifer, Justin, Des and I were all on the scooters and met up in Anjuna for prawn-stuffed crab and kingfisher beer. We then shared a taxi to a booming techno party (techno seems to be the music of choice in Goa, by far) and played far too many drinking games and danced the night away.

Christmas eve crab lunch and kingfishers with the Irish!

Scooter journey

Orla and Jen

Christmas day we spent swimming, eating and having drinks in the sun--rum and freshly squeezed pineapple juice--yum! We then all met up for dinner at "Sats" (our Indian friend who works at a restaurant on the beach where we went all the time) and had lobster and king prawn over candle light a couple meters away from the sea. It was a wonderful evening and unforgettable Christmas although of course we missed all our family and friends!

Christmas Day lobster dinner with our Irish friends: Jen, Orla and Justin

Sat and Sunny

A few mornings later, I lost my camera---I say "lost" as in I left it at breakfast at a restaurant but by the time I went back it was gone--so technically stolen. I made posters and hung them all around the beach--to no avail...it's gone :( At least Des has his still. (And I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the copy I made on disc gets back to Canada safely!) On the bright side, it has been a great way of practicing my "non-attachment" to things which we focused so heavily upon in the Buddhist meditation retreat. It's only the memories I care about at the end of the day.

Dinner with our backgammon board we take everywhere!

On New Years eve we went to a bumping beach party at a local's bar. They had DJ's and turn-tables set up outside and fireworks were lit off constantly (They are every night here, but were especially spectacular on New Years). The majority of the crowd were Indian men and I was blatantly groped by one creep. I immediately retaliated by slapping the guy, (not ever something I would normally do but he kept walking and I felt completely violated). I couldn't act like nothing happened--and there certainly wasn't enough time to explain to Des what had just happened. Des told him to get out of here as he knew something had happened but not sure what...the guy just stood there acting like he did nothing wrong! The nice thing was that all the locals backed us up and surrounded him to ensure he got lost quickly. I think it is always better in those situations to cause a bit of a scene as it sets a precedent that hopefully stops it from happening to anyone again. Following this we sat down and made friends with a couple of very nice German guys and a group of lovely Indian guys from Mumbai. We stayed up until 8 am just chatting away with them--very interesting group of people! The Indian guys were artists who drew and worked on the film Tinkerbell.

New Years Eve

Fireworks galore

Our friends from Germany and Mumbai

 

We really loved Arambol but had to leave in order to make sure we didn't miss out on any other beauty in Goa or India! Next we headed for Calangute (sharing a taxi with a couple from the area) a very touristy beach which Des and I found had no real soul but was a special place to us as that's where we had my engagement ring designed and made! The majority of tourists there were British who are obviously on the pound and therefore everything seemed much more expensive. The beach was nice but a bit too noisy for my liking--there were tons of boats (some huge fishing boats in the distance that were beautifully lit up at night with massive cranes coming out the sides also illuminated with little lights). Other boats flew around the swimming area like banana boats, jet skis, and motorboats that people tubed and para-sailed off the back of. There was also a giant ship wreck that happened in the 90's but which they have left--it's close to the shore--a bit enchanting! Once again, the seafood was delicious, my favorite here being the swordfish steak in an Indian curry sauce! India has been a total dream to me as a vegetarian/pescetarian and Goa an even bigger dream for the seafood lover in me!  After eating the same meat-free diet as me for the majority of our time here, Des had his first "holy" steak. He thought it was tender, huge and delicious but refuses to eat it again--I don't think he likes the idea of eating an animal that is worshiped here and that we see constantly roaming the streets and beaches dipping their head into bins and eating everything including plastic!

Blue fishing nets on Calangute beach--getting repaired for morning fishing

  In Calangute, we took the first place we could find in our price range for accommodation which turned out to be nearly a barn and after an large mouse or rat sighting we fled to a slightly more expensive and lovely mouse-free place on the beach. It had a  Portuguese influence and was perfect for the remainder of our time there (not to mention a crawl away from the Arabian sea!) We had a brilliant soccer game on the beach with a group of locals and went to the dentist for very affordable cleanings and work while we waited for my magnificent ring to be finished which was made by a man named Haneef from Kashmir that we had met while we were in McLeod Ganj. I took an idea from a ring that I saw which I loved in Dublin and made it my own--we are unbelievably thrilled with how it turned out! Des calls me Gollum from lord of the rings--but how couldn't I be? It really is "MY PRECIOUS!" Des-you're the best! x

Haneef-my ring-maker!

The ring!

My gorgeous fiance!

Desi at the Desi shop

I also had a beautiful massage in the sun right on the beach and we went for some lovely walks up to the next half of the beach where more Indians seemed to vacation. The Indian men we saw were hilarious! Groups of them were all dressed the same on the beach in their white tighty-whitey underwear and white tank-tops---they started drinking kingfisher cans first thing in the morning and would turn into complete teenagers--giddily laughing and throwing big rocks and other things at each other for fun, chasing each other and seemingly having the time of their lives in the sea and taking photos in different goofy poses! A couple hours later we would see them passed out in the shade of the fishing boats on the beach surrounded by empty cans and covered from head to toe in sand.

One thing that really gets to me here is the careless littering that seems to be no big deal for locals. We constantly see them throw cans and bottles into the sea and empty bags and garbage out of car windows onto the streets....however; finding a garbage bin is also very challenging so I suppose this could be a reason.

I think eating street food is one of my favorite things to do here and we found the best yet in Calangute in the market! The corn on the cob stands were to die for where they cooked cobs on open coals and fanned them while they turned them. They then would cover the sweet corn in lime juice, chili and salt and I have honestly never tasted anything so perfect! Who knew you could eat corn without butter and it would taste even better?! The samosas here in the chili sauce were also to die for and a dish called "chandra" which was little chip-things covered in crunchy sweet noodles, diced tomatoes, onions, chili, lime, black beans, green chili sauce, and sweet red sauce---yum yum yum! We would order over the counter outside and then stand at the little tables and eat until we ordered again...and again! Also, always a favorite of mine is the bombay mix we get in newspaper cones and the little tube-crisps they sell on the beach.

Man fanning the best corn in the world--right off the street: Salt, chili and lime

Fish Thali

Chicken cashew nut (Des's fav!)

Indian saffron ice cream

After Calangute we went to Palolem, Goa in the South which is where we are now. It is the most beautiful beach either of us have ever been to--a crescent shaped beach with a river at the end of it where you can take gondola boat-rides, tons of palm trees, dolphins, and green hills. And it is very quiet which is allowing for some soul searching to be done once again after a month of fun! We are really getting into the Ashtanga yoga-- Des is brilliant at it and I have to say, it's becoming addictive! Our teacher is fantastic, a local here and we do it everyday at 4 outside in the hot heat with calming music in the background. It's really physical but great for our head space here--and we get to incorporate our meditation practice into it! I have also been running in the mornings and I start my 6 day Reiki course (the 2nd degree) on nearby Patnem beach in 2 days. I can't wait and I will write more about our experiences here soon!

Bye for now!
Love, Andrea x x