Going, Going... Gone to Goa

Finally I got to share the experience of what it feels like to be on an Indian train for thirty hours with my friends as we went overnight from the state of Rajastan to Goa. We took the cheap and cheerful option by going in sleeper class which is my favourite way of travelling the rails as it costs so little money, passengers are friendly, you have some great views out of the window and of course there is a constant stream of men selling chai for 5R a cup, each with their own distinctive call - 'CHAI chai CHAI chai' or 'chai, chai, chaaiiiiiiiiii' or 'Chhhhaiiiiiiiii, Chaiiiiiiiii'.

On the sleeper train to Goa -

Lucy resting in the upper berth and James and Paul enjoying some chess

We headed to the town of Arambol, infamous among people on the traveller circuit. I was very dubious about the place because I just wanted to spend time with my friends and wasn't after the hedonistic beach life that I had heard about where people party all night and recover on the beach in the day. I am sure it is a fun life - for a while, but knowing myself and my personality, this wouldn't be fulfilling for me or make very content. However by chance we went at the perfect time of year to get what I was looking for. Monsoon was literally just ending and the weather had just begun to brighten up meaning the beach was practically empty aside from at the weekends when the crowd was mainly middle class Indians coming from Mumbai to unwind.

Fun times with Friends on the beach (Lawrence, me, James, Zoe and Lucy)

As we were completely off season we got the best ever bargain paying 400R (just 5 pounds) for an apartment for four people, only 2 minutes from the beach with TV, AC, a fridge and last but not least - a kitchen! This was so exciting to me having not cooked my own food for nearly a year and this is why I ended up staying on in Goa for another 2 weeks with Lucy and Paul (my other fellow Hertfordian India travellers) after the others had left. We had such a chilled out week hiring mopeds to explore the back roads and discovering other beaches close by. Each night we would take it in turn to cook in pairs and try to beat the people that cooked the night before.

There is nothing quite like watching the sunset everyday

Having access to the mopeds was incredible for giving us more freedom. We discovered the local fish market which sold a huge variety of fish and from then on we started experimenting in the kitchen. My favourite meal has to be the calamari rings that Lawrence and Paul made from scratch - good effort! I have to also admit that Lucy, Paul and I got quite addicted to watching Masterchef Australia each morning with our breakfast as it was also quite a novelty having access to a TV again.

Fresh fish at the local fish market (including shark - bottom right!)

We were excited as we had seen posters when we arrived in Goa for a huge concert in the capital of Panajim, not too far from us, for the famous Indian sitar player called Ravi Shankar who is known in particular for playing with the Beatles in the era that they came to India. We booked a taxi to take us there and treated ourselves to a nice meal in a Goan restaurant. We arrived just in time to get a space on the sand behind the main crowd and waited anxiously for the music to start..................

The crowd anticipating the appearance of Ravi Shankar

Ravi came on stage and started to speak only in Hindi so another Western man dressed in a long white robe kindly started to translate for us. Ravi asked whether the audience would like to talk or sing. We found it quite strange and it took us a good half hour to realise that we certainly had our wires crossed because this was not at all the right Ravi Shankar. The one we intended to see must be about eighty now and no longer appears in public, whereas this guy is a famous India guru that gives advice on the 'Art of Living' which is why we had to listen to two hours of questions be asked to him as he occasionally walked down the stage sprinkling rose petals over the crowd. It was an amusing mix up and slightly embarrassing!

Paul and Lucy on Arambol beach

Goa is a very strange state. The reason it is so much more 'liberal' than the rest of India is that it was previously in the hands of the Portugese who spread the religion of Christianity. It is a huge relief to be able to be on the beach and have your shoulders uncovered, for me it felt like a privilege having had to dress conservatively for nearly a year even in the hottest of weathers. But sadly, Arambol beach did have a great deal of litter and I think that it does just become over run by foreigners, especially at Christmas. It is a nice place to go for a beach holiday, but it is only thanks to the scooters that we got to experience more of 'real' Goan life, driving through the small villages. I think inland Goa is beautiful, the green forests and lines of palm trees around the crops. It's very endearing and it looks like, compared to other villages, the standard of living is fairly high as everyone has their own livestock, water supply and the houses are made of stronger building materials than I have seen anywhere else. I enjoyed seeing these bits of Goa, if not more, than I enjoyed being on the beach as it has a really nice atmosphere to it.

The lovely view from our brilliant apartment

My Goa days were incredibly relaxed and I spent a great deal of time swimming in the sea, on the scooters, practicing my singing and guitar, doing yoga and enjoying cooking (and then eating) delicious food. It was a great time but the phrase 'you can have too much of a good thing' also rings true. It was incredible to reunited with old friends and share experiences, but something was missing as I wasn't feeling as productive as at other points in the trip. Had it not been for the fact I knew that the next part of my trip I would have to be committed and work hard at something, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the beach life so much. However I had a new challenge and a purpose to look forward to. The next part of my journey saw me take two over night trains totalling 40 hours to get back to Varanasi, a city I had never envisioned I would ever see again, but that is the beauty of travelling, you literally can't even begin to guess where it will take you if you have a completely open mind.............

Racing Round Rajastan

Hesitantly I said goodbye to Bagsu where I had experienced such good times in the nature of the mountains and learning about music. But I was comforted by the idea that I was moving on for a good reason - to go and meet some close friends from home who were coming to India for a three week holiday and adventure. Had it not been for this, who knows how long I would have stayed there. I headed to Pushkar, in the state of Rajastan, the site of a holy lake where Brahmins (the highest caste of people) come to perform pujas and be blessed by the sacred waters.

The lake in Pushkar

Pushkar has a great atmosphere as it has a small backpacker community but is mainly full of Indians visiting the lake. The bustling streets around the square lake are a blur of colour with the sounds of horns, chanting and touting for business ringing in your ears. Here I ate some of my favourite street food and enjoyed wandering around the ghats to take in the feeling of the place, the lake itself feels very calm and my guesthouse had a great view for people watching.

Cheesy shot of Lawrence and I playing guitar at our guesthouse overlooking the Holy lake

When I arrived I wasn't quite sure how I would find James and Lawrence, in my head I had an image of me spotting them and sneaking up on them. But it happened the other way round as they caught me off guard wandering around looking for an internet cafe to send them a message. After 11 months of not seeing them, I had a huge moment of excitement as I heard my name shouted from afar and then suddenly being in the middle of a hug, which I was quite enjoying, until my sensible side reminded the group that it wasn't a good idea in the middle of the Indian street as it is very disrespectful. Things like this are frustrating however they are part of the package if you come to India. Having said that, I have met plenty of Westeners who have no concept of respect and walk around in the most ridiculous clothes exposing their bodies... but that's a separate rant.

Being persuaded to come and play drums at sunset was alot of fun

The next week in Rajastan flew by and was more about relaxing and catching up with old friends than sightseeing for me. The feeling of being reunited with people you really care about is very special. Having been away from home for so long, I felt in my element and it was great to share everything I had learnt and be a useful tour guide and barterer with my continuously improving Hindi. We had fun hiring mopeds to drive around the surrounding countryside. I'd never driven one before but had been desperate to attempt it ever since my last India trip when I was seemingly the only backpacker in Goa who had to use a bicycle in the intense heat to get around. It completely lived up to my expectations as it gave us so much freedom to go anywhere, right off the tourist trail and India being the incredible country that it is, we paid just 2 pounds, gave no passports, needed no insurance, and not even a deposit. It's crazy, but brilliant in my eyes!

Aghhhhhhhhhhh - the first time on the back of the moped with James

Soon another very close friend, Paul, joined us in Pushkar and then a few days later, in a strange town called Chittogarh, I was reunited with my darling Lucy, who I had spent 6 months with before and had been seperated from for 2 months. It was brilliant to see her but very surreal as it was like seeing and hearing myself as I guess we are so similar. We went to Chittogarh as it is the site of India's largest fort but it turns out that most tourists only go there for day trips as the town itself has little to offer. It ended up being hilarious because our time there coincided with the local Ganesha festival which, in my opinion just seemed like an excuse for a huge party. Had it not been for that it wouldn't have been much fun there.

Group picture of us at the Fort in Chittogarh

You'd expect the locals in Chittogarh to be used to tourists but I have never experienced such a reception. In India it is quite normal for people to come and ask to have a photo with you You can imagine that this is becoming tiresome by now! But in Chittogarh it was even more surreal, as if being white automatically made you famous and gave you some kind of elevated status. Walking through the streets both in the daytime and at night during the festival, was like attending a carnival. There was a long procession of floats blaring out loud, dance music to which men were enthusiastically raving to all the way down the main road as the women watched at the side. The streets were packed full and every time we passed a float with huge blaring speakers, there was an uproar of shouts and screams as we were spotted and people came to drag us to dance. All children wanted to shake our hands and ask where we were from, photos were being taken of us from all sides on people's phones. Dancing would have been fun but given that other women weren't, Lucy and I decided to also watch from the side line which was hilarious to watch the boys get sweaty and be mounted by Indian men doing there hip jiggling dances.

Mad crowds dancing to the pumping music at the Ganesh Festival

Other highlights included the many friendly cows, laughing at Lawrence for being pushed into buying a pair of shoes, assured that they are 'excellent quality' and 'very good price sir' and then later finding the same shoes being offered for a quarter of the price in the shop next door. I also really enjoyed having Lawrence around to play music with, having been practising my guitar skills since buying a guitar in Kathmandu. But most of all it was just nice to spend some quality time with good friends, regardless of what situation we found ourselves in. In Rajastan we travelled very quickly, not my usual way, as you may have noticed by how long I have been away, as it is too tiring and you don't get a good feel for the place. Rajastan was alot of fun but after the craziness of the festival and the travelling from place to place, I think my friends wanted some time to unwind which is understandable.........so off we headed to Goa.

Me in Chittogarh outside the most brightly decorated mosque I have ever seen (only in India!)