Psychedelic Trance and Sun Burns
Trip Start
May 11, 2005
1
222
259
Trip End
Ongoing
Vagator,
Goa,
India
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I chose a beach based upon (you guessed it) Psychedelic Trance. I also chose this beach because another friend of Jamie's just so happened to be staying there. The first day I got to Vagator beach I was surrounded by Russians
View from my beach chair in Vagator
. It turns out that this is a major destination of the Ruskis' and they are everywhere! Russians are just as white as me so I fit right in. I spent my first day here getting wicked sunburned, watching cows roam the beach and talking to the girls that sell beach shwag. These little girls have learned English by simply talking to tourist their whole lives. In order to make a sale they must be-friend you and to do this they must speak English. Their accent was a bizarre twist of British, Aussie and a little Indian thrown in. Since I was alone and Sirongless (white and in need of beach shwag) I was more of target than normal. Talking to them, I learned that most of them were early 20's and in arranged marriages. The one that was married did not really like her husbands ("he beats me") while the other was to be married in 2 months. She was marrying a 35 year old she had never met. When I probed about how this made them feel they just shrugged it off and said that's just the way things are. The must do what their family says! Interesting eh?
The first night in Goa I met some friends of Jamie's (Savi and Jon) These guys live in the U.S. & India and have been coming to Goa for years. They seemed to know alot of people and could always tell me where the best parties were
Cows are all over the beach...as well as cow pies
. The specific Trance parties in Vagator have had a bit of a reputation in the past. The genre of music, plus the type of crowed and the abundance of disco biscuits, charlie and charis make for a party that literally never ends. The locals could not take the constant noise and a law was passed (just in Vagator) that all clubs must shut by 10 p.m. But don't get me wrong..... there are plenty of other beaches in Goa that rage long into the night.That night was a perfect beginning to my Goa (Vagator) beach experience. I arrive at a venue which I thought was going to be small...50-60 people max but instead the place was massive with over 300 people writhing to the beats. This outdoor rave had tons of palm trees painted up for the black lights. Pictures don't do the place justice since the trippy lighting cant be captured with my skills. I've gotta admit I felt a little emotional seeing all these people dancing hard to the music I love. At last!
10 pm arrived and off went the music! I was full of drunken energy and no music to groove to! Luckily I had met some Indian guys that knew of an after party at another club. These guys wanted me to drop by for dinner before heading out. So off I went- following these guys to a random location to have dinner
Savi and Jon
. This was my first night driving on the left side of the road... add to that my state (fine is only 10 bucks) but I chose to view it as an adventure. This was also my first experience with Indian dinner invites. When they say "come over for dinner" what they mean is "dinner will be ready in 2 hours".... until then we will all sit in a room watching Bollywood, staring at you and asking your really random questions.... It was weird! The food made me tired plus the experience weirded me out so I bailed on the after party and made my way home. I cant believe I made it back because I truly had no idea where the hell I was! The next day Sue arrived for 2 weeks! Sue is a bonnie English lass I met in Ecuador last year ( I know that sounded gay but I just had to try it on) We bumped into each other in Quito and then again on the Galapagos Islands. Back then she was on an epic ( just sold her house) around the world trip. When I knew I was going to Goa, I sent out a mass email to all potential travel partners. I knew the chances were slim but it never hurts to try. Well it turns out flights from the UK to Goa are super cheap and the rest is history!
Upon her arrival we moved to Anjuna beach so that we could actuall stay on the beach
Sue and me
. (Vagator accomadation was cliff side) This turned out to be an epic decsion because we could literally step out of our room and onto the beach. From here we could walk down the beach to any of the restruants/cafes/bars/clubs. No sandals were needed... except for the random cow pie or trip to an Indian bathroom.... We spent that week scootering around north Goa, catching sun in the day and punishing our liver at night. This was our plan for 2 weeks but after 1 week we grew restless of resting!We devised a plan to head south with the one week Sue had left so that she could see a wee bit more of India!
