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.............