Goa - Diwali Vacation

Just got back from Goa this afternoon...I loaded the pics and gave some more Hampi info just now, but let me tell you my quick thoughts on Goa. It was alright. But I had somewhat mixed feelings about Goa...but it's a definite place I knew I wanted to go to and I'm glad I did. I suppose it's a place that I had heard quite a bit about -- and apparently so had everybody else -- and so there were some things that weren't quite as cool as some of the other places. Kerala I think may be the next beach stop, some people went there this long weekend and said it was awesome. Goa was awesome too, don't get me wrong, it is an extremely beautiful landscape and not at all what I'd imagined India to be like (India has an amazing array of terrain. Goa is like India's Hawaii, it looks a lot like Maui -- green green lush tropical vegitation all over, beaches, ocean, little roads...I really hadn't thought India could look like that but it does. Pretty eye opening getting out there and seeing all these places, lots to see in this world).

But back to Goa -- beautiful -- but at the same time, very run over by tourists. Goa is very well known by Europeans, for it's beaches, sunshine, warm weather, cheap accomodations, cheap living, and also the drug and party scene. Apparently Goa's drug and party scene is a small sliver of what it once was (the 80's and early 90's were the hey-day, I read), but it's still there. Lots of white people in Goa -- hippy-ish euros living the good life on the cheap. Lots of tourism. Lots of cheap places to stay. Also lots of resorts, but we didn't sample any of those -- we tried a couple, just to stay for one night, but they were all booked solid. I do think a lot of the Goa experience depends on where you stay -- if you bounce around like we did looking for available rooms, then you're mixed in w/ the hippy euro tourist element. If you're good at that planning-in-advance stuff, and pre-book an extended stay at a fancy beach resort, you're gonna have it a little easier, things might be a little prettier, cleaner, and more private, and of course more expensive. Which is better, I don't know. I think it's too bad though when people only stay in the fancy resorts -- yeah you're in India, but not really. You're in a fancy resort, in India. Granted when I'm staying in a hotel that has running water, I'm also not really 'in India' either (as many people don't have that luxury), but...you know what I'm saying. I think there's a time for both.

So, we did do some really cool stuff in Goa. Don't read what's above and get me wrong, and think Goa really sucked. It did not suck at all, it was an amazing place and I had a great time there. I'm glad I went.

We first arrived and took a cab to Palolem Beach. Palolem beach made me decide that those guidebooks like 'the rough guide to India' (well really only that guide book, it was the one we had, but probably also Lonely Planet and others) are no good. Basically, the guidebook said Palolem was a beautiful beach, not as touristy as some of the beaches up north, more relaxed. So we went. It was about an hour cab ride down there, which we shared with Rob and Fiona (our Dublin friends--who continued on from Palolem to a beach a little further south. In all honesty, I woulda just liked to continue on to their beach town, but I decided to let them have their fun in the sun as a couple and get some alone time (Fiona, Rob's GF, is visiting from Dublin for a couple weeks)). Selin, me, and my surfboard got out at Palolem. We didn't have reservation lined up, so we walked around a bit, and found a place to stay on the beach. In retrospect, probably could have looked a little longer, but we were a little frustrated and wanted somewhere to stay and it is SO HOT in India that carrying bags outside in full clothing is never recommended, you will sweat so much that no price is too much to pay for a room and place to set your bags and take a cold shower. So we found a place that was actually pretty nice, and had a ton of character, not sure if it really cost $2500 rupees (about $60) a night or not, but as I said above we were in no position to argue. That is one thing that is annoying though, when you get taken advantage of, but whatever. I liked this place actually quite a bit and $60 for a room on the beach, certainly not going to happen in California. This hotel was called Ciaran's, and it was something that they built themselves, no fancy construction here. It was tied together pieces of bamboo, spackle walls, tile floors, lots of netting, really it was a super cool place, like robinson crusoe just not in a tree. They also had a bar and a place to sit out front, and also a balcony on the roof of our little room. The bed was a big bed with a mosquito net, definitely very necessary as the room was full of holes all over the place, more or less equal to sleeping outside, at least from a bug's perspective. And with Selin's legendary sweet-blood, these mosquitos must have heard all about Selin and knew she was coming weeks before she actually arrived, getting their tastebuds ready for a once in a lifetime delicacy. I don't know what it is (well yeah I do: sweet-blood) but Selin gets bit like crazy by the skeeters. It's crazy, I mean back home I would get bit by mosquitos, it's not like I've never ever been bit, but when I hang out with Selin, she is my bug repellant...those bugs don't even know I'm there. I haven't been bit by a mosquito one time yet in India. I almost feel bad about it, if I could talk to those little buggers I'd tell them to come and get it while the gettin's good and leave that poor girl alone, but I can't talk to mosquitos. Sorry mandu! Back to Ciaran's though, it was a cool place, with a cool atmosphere. So, we were happy just to have a place to stay.We checked out the beach that night, ate some good food at a little restaurant shack on the beach (I had tandoori kingfish, tasty, but not as tasty as my meals at the next hotel we stayed at, I'll have to give more details on that later), went walking around the town, read our books a bit, and went to sleep.

Oh yes another important details about Goa: there wasn't really any surf there. I did manage to get in a few attempts at a surf at our second beach stay (Agonda beach), but it was pretty marginal at best. The sea was pretty calm. All the beaches did have some tiny waves which were fun to play in, but not much to surf. But ya never know, so I really sort of have to take the surfboard with me. Because I know that sometimes there IS surf in Goa, just not when I was there. And without a doubt, the time I don't take the board, there's going to be super-surf the most fun surf ever, and I'll be kicking myself, so I'm really sort of stuck here. Selin is pretty good at understanding that, and yes I do admit travelling w/ the board is a bit of a hassle, but it's sort of necessary. At least I didnt take it to Hampi (Hampi is inland).

The next morning we woke up, I woke up early to see if there was any surf in the AM (there wasn't, see above), and we had breakfast at the hotel, which was included in the $60 (good luck getting that in CA). We ate it out on the porch in front of the bar, relaxed, read our books some more (India has made us both rediscover the joy of reading). Around 10 AM we had to check out so we packed up and hit the road again, wandering, channeling the hippy vibe that was all over this ultra touristy "paradise" (thanks 'rough guide to India') beach.Walking along the beach, we were hassled (hassled for lack of a better word. It's not really hassling so much as it is people offering you stuff, taxi rides, rooms, whatever...wait I guess that is hassling. I could do w/o the hassling I guess, but you quickly get used to it, and people are friendly, you just have to learn how to say no) by a cabbie, who suggested to me that there was surf in Agonda Beach and Patnem Beach. No surf here in Palolem. Since Rob and Fiona were staying at Patnem beach, we decided to go to Agonda. I'm glad we did, Agonda ruled, and we found a great little clean, cheap, family run hotel there that we spent the next two nights at. I'll write all about that later. For now, let me put up some Goa pictures, and then GO TO SLEEP.Happy Diwali everybody! Back to work tomorrow, but it is nice to be back home in HYD. We've got it pretty nice here, that's for sure.

Selin, Rob, Fiona boarding our Air Deccan flight to Goa. Air Deccan is not known to be the best airline in India, but it is the only direct flight from HYD to Goa. So we took it. And we made it, no problems, no delays, no hassles -- Air Deccan, so far so good with me.
The front door of our room at Ciaran's.
Book, Breakfast, and the beach. Pretty tough livin'.
Goa Palm Trees. It's a very lush, tropical environment there, really beautiful. I can see why so many Europeans come over!
Goans, on the beach.
Local Palolem fishermen, bringing in their catch. Can't really tell that well, but the guy in the boat is holding a big kingfish. I ate a kingfish for dinner that night -- maybe that one!
darn hippies, they're everywhere!