The most memorable New Year ever ....

Trip Start Sep 03, 2006
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Trip End Jan 30, 2007


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Flag of India  ,
Monday, January 1, 2007

Well well well .... what can I say about Goa.  The beaches were not AS great as Kerala.  I am not sure if it was where we were staying or what - but I never had so many people openly ask me if I wanted drugs in my life.  Yikes!  What can I say about his place except there were tons of tourists - all rearing to get into scooter accidents and half-dressed - sometimes both!!  Wopppeee! 

We met up with a huge group ... and we all slept under a tarp on the roof of a hotel type building.  I tell you it was actually quite nice to sleep in the open air.  I wish I had taken a picture of the 30 or so mattresses strew about ... more people came with each day - but it never seemed like too much.  It was like a camping adventure ... minus the peace and quiet.  We spent one day sight seeing, one day beaching, and the final day eating to our hearts content at a fabby restaurant before boarding the bus Another flipping church!!!
Another flipping church!!!
 . 

The New Year was spectacular for the fireworks.  We spent the evening at a "club" on the beach where there was a buffet and free drinks for a cover.  Goa is well known for its club scene.  Food was good, drinks kept me happy, but the dancing was eh.  We snuck to the beach to watch the madness of the fireworks - it was intense.  SO MANY fireworks ... the Indians do everything in bulk.  It was a beautiful sight to see the ocean lit up by fireworks - people smiling - sparks everywhere - the sand in your toes - the air just right.  It was beautiful.

But then I think the New Year was most impressive in retrospect.  Maybe I didn't realize it in the moment but that was surely one of the most memorable experiences - capitulating an entire trip - through some of the most beautiful places on Earth ... with a great group of friends ... being through all sorts of crazy experiences.  We had a car break down, a blister on the foot, long backpack laden walks on the beach, falls out of hammocks, baseball size coackroaches, awesome waves for body boarding, pizza - beer - sunset on a cliff, missing trains,  fish and beer bus stops, 30-person-under-a-tarp-on-a-roof nights, late night beach hang out sessions, endless public bus trips, carrying-case-of-beer-down road moments, arguments with rickshaw drivers, and who could forget the 22 hours of pure bliss on a boat!  The best thing is that this list hardly covers the gammot of experiences - and it all added up to a smashing good New Year that I won't forget.

It is almost time to go home ... and I am getting real sad at the thought.  When we all departed ways upon our return in Hyderabad I felt a bit of sadness creep in - the begining of the end of a great experience in India.  I think back to November when I was really gearing up to leave - now I think ... I wish I had one more week - one more month.  But, then it seems I am always having to go back to something at sometime.  I can never stay in one place for too long ... maybe one day I will.
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