Almost done

  Palolem, Goa, India
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

ˇ Palolem Beach, Goa, India
ˇ GMT +5:30hrs

 A request

01 Going fishing?

A request. Please don't think we're alcoholics - our parents wouldn't like that - but normal service has been resumed, meaning we've spent the last 3 to 4 days making up for lost time. Yep, Cuba Bar & Café, Paradise Bar & Café, San Francisco Bar & Café and Palolem beach resort have collectively been monopolizing our time over the last 4 days in much the same way that our cottage and its 'throne' did the 2 days previous. Yeah, life has been good and rest assured, the amount of books we'll read during the remainder of this trip will now never outnumber the amount of beers we've consumed during our time here in Palolem Beach; not even if we were to stop drinking now (not likely), turn into savants and spend the rest of the trip locked inside a library (also not very likely). We're kind of surprised how quickly Goan beach days slip by, days in which we've had positively nothing to do save for getting out of bed, eating, drinking, being merry and trying not to get cirrhosis of the liver, skin cancer, malaria or dengue fever.

02 A Kingfisher sunset

We've somehow managed to do all of that (we hope... only time will tell), but little else. Today is our last full day here on the beach and tomorrow afternoon we will retrace our steps of 5 days ago and hoof it back to the train station for the overnight sleeper train to Mumbai (Bombay), our final stop in India. Something tells me that on our return to Goa train station we won't be a bright eyed and bushy tailed as we were when we arrived. But let's not think about that just yet. We've just watched out last Palolem-Beach-in-April sunset and we still have one more sleep, one more hangover, one more beach café breakfast and probably at least one more Kingfisher beer to look forward to. Yep, probably at least one more Kingfisher beer to look forward to. But remember, we're not alcoholics, right? Our parents wouldn't like that.

Day 231 to 233 Observations (March 31st to April 2nd 2008)

ˇ My Mate

03 Sands of time

It doesn't take long to realize that Palolem, and Goa in general, is an Indian Benidorm or Costa Del Sol, minus the doggy cabarets. The English make up the majority of visitors to Goa and if they, the English who visit here, weren't the type to obnoxiously shout their "Al'right darling.. triff'ik day, in'it mate?" mouths off, you'd know they were here thanks to the union jack shorts, the Enger-land soccer shirts and the menus in The Dog & Duck beach café that boast of serving 'Heinz' baked beans and having HP sauce. I've taken advantage of some of the comforts on offer and as a result our daily breakfast of Marmite toast is easily the best meal of the day. Btw, I should point out that I actually like England and the English people (I have relatives in London, a city that has long been one of my favourite world cities and somewhere we hope to get to before all this madness comes to an end). But there is no denying that fact that the English who make their way to the beach resorts of Southern Spain, and now Goa, are not exactly what could be called good ambassadors for their country. Rant over.

ˇ Monster Tuna

04 Nets

Speaking of great meals. We had a whopper of a tuna fish cooked on the grill for us the other night. It was a big fish and even between the two of us we struggled to polish it off. We succeeded of course but it brought an end to our night of drinking; neither of us had room to consume much of anything, let alone beer, after that feast. We probably won't let that happen again.

ˇ Irish birds are better
We ended up drinking with 4 Irish girls the other night. Neither of us could, if our lives depended on it, tell you the names of any of them but they sure were good fun, proving that yes indeed, Irish birds are better.

ˇ April fool
Yesterday was April 1st, April fools day. We didn't pull any stunts on each other (to be honest most of the time we barely know the correct day of the week never mind the date) but Pat did pull out this cracker yesterday afternoon as we were sitting staring at the waves.

"Here Dave, if you were stranded on a desert island and the only thing you had to eat were two weevils (a beetle like bug), one big and juicy and the other small and... well, not juicy, which one would you choose to eat?"

I eyed him suspiciously, knowing the successful completion of the joke - I assumed it was a joke - demanded of me the correct answer.

"What are you talking about Lad?" I asked.

"Seriously, which one would you choose... the big juicy one or the other one?"

"The big juicy one I guess," I, not surprisingly, revealed.

"No, no Dave... you always choose the lesser of two weevils!" Pat proclaimed as he began to take immense enjoyment at his joke.

Boom boom. That had us in beer-fueled stitches.

ˇ The season

05 Benaulim

Even as we sit here recovering from Pats weevil joke the Indians are dismantling the beach shacks that nestle in the shade of the palm trees behind the beach. Why? Well, because the season is almost over and the monsoon rains will be here in a few weeks battering the beaches and driving all the English back to Blighty. They'll build them all back up again in early November, just in time for the start of the new season... and just in time for the return of all the English.

ˇ Thanks... no & no
Thank you to everyone who has commented favorably on my blog recently, both here on the site and by e-mailing me personally. I'm glad you're enjoying the trip as much as we are. I'll take this opportunity to answer the 2 questions I get asked most frequently. 1st up... No, I've never thought about writing a book (but thanks for your faith in my abilities anyway). 2nd... No, myself and Pat are not gay (but nor are we homophobic). We are just two presently jobless friends who have been friends long enough to have supported each other through our respective marriage breakups. Now there are an unenviable couple of things to have in common.

ˇ The Middle East

06 Goa, Goaing, Gone!

I've started reading my Middle East guidebook over the last few days in preparation for our upcoming 2-3 week jaunt through the region. In a few days we'll be in a part of the world that I've always wanted to visit. That in itself has me in particular chomping at the bit in anticipation for what lays ahead but what's even better is the fact that neither of us are quite sure what to expect beyond the usual Middle East stereotypes of sand, sea, sun, camels, Arabs, mosques, spice bazaars, water pipes (the ones you smoke, not the ones that carry water), oilfields, mud-brick buildings, ancient ruins, desert oasis and conservatism. Of course conservatism, we hear, means beer is hard to come by and you get your hand chopped off for stealing stuff (not that us good boys would ever do such a thing of course). We hope to get out of the region in one piece, hands and all.