Lethargy Wins
Trip Start
Nov 21, 2007
1
17
18
Trip End
Dec 30, 2007
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Goa,
India
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The trip from Alleppey to Goa was pretty uneventful... HATED Fort Cochin, but saw what some might see in it early morning in the taxi to the airport, getting off the island. Quaint colonial town, pretty buildings, lots of history.. Just that the foreigners outnumbered the locals in Fort Cochin, and it was expensive, and... I hated it. I did meet another American- my first this tour- who was doing an Ayurvedic cleansing thing further south, lost his mind, and then came to Cochin to see what is called (and literally signposted) "Jew Town" in Ernakulum. Apparently the oldest synagogue of all of Asia is located there. I'd read about it, but as Cochin was a whistlestop for me, I didn't really make plans to do anything there, per se. He was a nice guy but was cutting his trip short by a month, just couldn't hack India. That's the fourth person I've met who "had to get out of here" since I've been here. Crazy!
Ok, so, flight from Cochin to Goa, picked up at the airport in Goa, and shuttled down via taxi to Patnem beach, which is an hour and a half south of the airport, and quite a ways from Madgoan, which is the main town around here (an hour by bus). Made it to Gotham's Mickey Huts in Patnem, I was shown my room, no attached bath but it's really easy now that I've gotten used to it. It's the beach. I spent the first three days here basically trying to figure out how to line up a trip to Hampi or whether I should go back to Delhi, as I've really taken a departure from India here (this is NOT India) and was kind of freaking out about wasting time here...
Huts on the Beach
I did book a ticket back to Delhi for two nights, but getting to Hampi just proved too difficult. Out of the whatever days that I have left here, I don't want to spend 48 hours on a bus, or prepping for the bus, or whatever. Also, it being peak season and tourists having started to flood the area, finding a seat on the bus (or train) was proving difficult. I still have pangs about skipping Hampi... But that's OK. I'm happy with coming back to the craziness of Delhi, which I now feel fairly familiar with, and running around for two nights before flying back to Mumbai to catch the flight home. Two more weeks, and I would have gotten Hampi in as well as giving the north one last shot (as much as I love the beach, and I do, there is no culture here. I mean some, but no. Not really.) and I really love the northern culture, compared to what I was exposed to in the south, anyway. Next time... I'll have a much better idea. So... Because a full day has now become getting tea, sitting and staring, finally making it to the water, laying out til I can't cool off with the ocean any more, getting a meal, sitting and staring, and walking with my new friend Andrew (England.. It's me and the Brits at the huts where I'm staying...) down the beach to find an evening place to sit and stare some more... And then finding a place to sit and stare and have a beer. Yep. I'm not making it to Hampi, much less the neighboring beach. I have been aiming to get at the internet and to shop to find a dress to wear on the beach for three days.
View from my porch
It's about 100 yards down from where I'm staying... And I haven't made it for three days.. Made it today! Perhaps I'll find something to wear for Christmas today too.. but I don't want to get too crazy ambitious. Andrew said he was going for a shave and to do some laundry today.. I said.. Don't go re-inventing the wheel, now, one step at a time. It took me three full days of scampering about to get to this ridiculous state, but I'm definitely here... Totally let it all go.Christmas dinner has been planned out of Gotham's kitchen.. Everyone staying at the huts where I am is sort of all hanging out together, much different from other beaches I've lost all ambition at in other countries. I was dropped out of the taxi and in to the big hut where everyone was sitting and staring together. There's a great group here, really nice.
I went to the Anjuna market on Wednesday last and picked up a bunch of stuff.. nothing to wear on the beach, but some stuff. As all my travel is by air now, I'm not worried about packing an extra bag around (which I also bought). Zoe, Collette and I went together... A tuk tuk to the bus station, an hour bus ride to another bus station, and as we were standing in a very long line to get the second bus, someone approached us and offered to take us there for 450 rs, which split in thirds is like less than $2, and hours less standing in line and figuring out buses... So getting there was a breeze. The market was super hectic, HUGE, tons of stuff.. Overwhelming. I got quite a bit of silver stuff and some textiles (one hanging, some lamps, etc)- oh, and the bag to put them in...
Sunbathing
God... It was fun but exhausting. I left them there (they wanted to explore Anjuna and a beach north from there for the next couple of days) and came back via taxi to Madgoan, and then bus, and then tuk tuk back to the beach.. Including the dusty and crazy market, it was a really, really long day. ...But worth it. Let's see... from there, the action has petered out. REALLY petered out. There have been some fun nights over beers and a crazy expat Englishman who's opened a bar down from where we are staying... He's nuts. A bit much. There was a "band" playing prior to a techno thing going on two nights ago in Palolem (Shiva something bar) that I went to but then left and just listened to on the shore for a couple of hours.. Uh... I did laundry the other day! It was a big day. Oh, one thing worth noting: The dogs here are all well-kept by people living here, fed, happy, they play, bark protectively, etc... and the people living here seem really happy and satisfied. There's one kid that works at the place where I get tea that talks about getting out and going to San Francisco... We've had good discussions about global warming, informative (to me) disussions about Indian/Pakistani hostility... Pretty cool. The family running the place where I'm staying numbers 25; there are 25 of them living there and working there (little, sparkly, pregnant Pinky's brother is Gotham; her husband drives the cab; grandmas and grandpas and aunts and nephews and nieces are all here...) It's sweet and nice.
...But it is not India!
Okay, I'm going to try to upload photos. So far, I've been trying while I'm doing this with total failure. I'll keep trying. Hope all's well on your end(s), and that your life is slightly more exciting than mine right now...
