Goan Silly For The Silly Season
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
174
221
Trip End
Ongoing
Anjuna,
Goa,
India
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
We caught the ritzy, air-conditioned sleeper bus from Bombay to Mapusa on which we actually got some sleep then an autorickshaw on to Anjuna Beach, a location we chose because it's not too commercial or crowded and close to most of the action with Vagator and Arambol to the north and Baga Beach to the south.
Once a Portuguese colony, the small state of Goa is known by many to be the birthplace of "Goa" trance (the psytrance genre we love) and an ideal party destination
between Anjuna and Arambol sunset
. We have come to see where it all began but rooms are not cheap over the season. Several factors contribute to this area's popularity, not least the fact that it doesn't rain between October and March, there's 105km of beautiful beaches. Back in the early 1960s Goa was happened upon by a group of hippies on the traveller trail who, recognising the area's special vibe and party potential, started a small psychedelic scene. They began to converge regularly during the dry season and, aided by the availability of tax-free alcohol, parties sprang up around the full moon. Unfortunately, the days of the free for all jungle gatherings are gone due to police restrictions and also the Mumbai terror attacks have cast a shadow over this party season with fewer foreigners arriving and a ban on all beach parties over Xmas and New Year. In case of attack, they even had bunkers set up on the shore made from sand bags.To get in the spirit of it all, here are the lyrics to my favourite Christmas Carol, Winter Wonderland. The original composer was Felix Bernard and the lyricist was Richard B. Smith:
Winter Wonderland
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight.
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song,
As we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say: Are you married?
We'll say: No man,
But you can do the job
When you're in town
our family
. Later on, we'll conspire,
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid,
The plans that we've made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he's a circus clown
We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the alligators knock him down.
When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland
Completely appropriate for a Xmas on the beach.
Doing a couple of weeks in the middle of the Goa season was really what we expected it to be. A cliche beautiful coastline and a total, international beach scene, however it did have it's good bits too and these were based loosely around lying on the beach, eating, partying at beach shacks, sunsets, ambient chill out times, fun times, scootering on a moped, dancing and well, eating some more. There were quite a few tossers around and we may have been more suited to the vibrations at Arambol. But, Anjuna it was. We chased a few trance parties around as we do, always looking for 'the doof' as we like to call it in Australia and we finally scored the treasure, a good old, loose, random, global day party on New Years morning after a full New Years Eve night of 'Avin it' as Hilltop Helen would say. Pirates aplenty! We met some fantastic people and many interesting ones flying their freak flags high with pride, nice one. After meeting so many of these types we started the phrase 'the people you meet in Goa', maybe they find us, maybe we find them, we love them and it's all fun and games
Vagator Beach
. Oh, and there were alot of Russians, Europeans, dreadlocks and hash. It's far away from the real India which we started to miss a bit.Our accommodation was a total stitch up because the terrorist attacks in Bombay meant around 40% of people had cancelled their holidays to Goa and there were lots of rooms available. We had already put the deposit down on a plush room in The Orange House in Anjuna. Nice place and people but way over our budget, we could have got a bungalow on the beach for less. Later we moved to The Red Cab Inn, near Primrose and then i went solo to Priya's Guesthouse @ Arambol Beach.
We stocked up on Xmas day goodie food at the ex-pats supermarket (camembert cheese wheel and Doritos) and rented a moped scooter. Even though neither of us had ever ridden one, the scooter was gold and we used it to go exploring on adventures up and down the coast and to drive around to the parties, restaurants and shacks at night time. Nadia was a better driver than i was. No helmets required and a bargain at 200 rupees a day (about AU$6.50 so AU$3.25 each). Esay to drive, all you had to do was learn to use the horn and get out of the way when people were using theirs. It was a little sketchy with all the tourists driving them and the motorbikes around, especially when lots of people were off their choppers. I dropped the bike once, softly on the sand though and no damage was done. Wouldn't mind zipping around on one at home. So, we were able to stop whenever we wanted to and explore all the little palm-tree lined streets that lead onto secret spots
fire show New Years Day Hilltop
. On the first day we went to the local barber shed shack where the young stylist cut our hair badly then took us on a motorbike tour of the Anjuna and of the cool cat, happening shacks. He also introduced us to his friends who happened to own Shiva Valley, one of the better shacks with a good location and nice tunes. He was a friendly orientation boy who got us sorted for the week to come. It was early moring at Shiva Valley and some baksheesh was being given to police from the shack owners so the heat will stay off them for the trance gatherings. The parties would go ahead, to an extent.
We went to the famous Anjuna Flea Market on the Wednesday but were slightly disappointed that there weren't more hippies and artisans selling original, unique, handmade gear. There were a couple of good leather workers. Included in the things for sale were clothing, Tibetan goods, lots of jewellery (crystals, gems, stones), bags, trinkets, some antique replicas, t-shirts with things like Ohm, Shiva or Goa on them, singing bowls, drums, Auyervedic medicines, copied trance CD's which we stocked up on and lots of Indian souvenirs. There wasn't any musicians there. We thought it a little odd to see Russian tourists getting around in g-string bikinis for guys and girls at the market. It is on the beach but this is India and respect to the locals must be shown. Rude. I bought a very sweet turquoise and red coral antique style pendant from a Tibetan woman, i haven't seen another one like it and many people comment on the piece so it must be a good choice
monkey on moped with us
. I also got a Goa Gil dancing bird puppet for Xmas so the Indigo bird puppet i gave to Margs has a friend, they can dance together, he's a hardcore trancer ostrich puppet bird and a good friend for Jolly Goodfellow the Centaur too. On the way home from the markets we saw some of the fake sadhus with a decorated elephant collecting donations and also saw some local villagers with a rug out selling mirror balls in a shapes ands sizes. All the night markets were out due to terrorist threats.We drove the scooter as far north as Arambol and as south as Baga and Calangute beaches. We went to the top of the hill that overlooked Vagator Beach and went to Morjim beach and BOOM shack where the pace was slower than that at Anjuna. It was good to get out and just go for a drive through the lush, green landscape where life is laidback for the locals and people were working the fields and rice paddies.
Xmas day was a ride around on the scooter and dinner at Curlies, Santa visited Mono Loco while we all slept and filled the stocking he had left out for the purpose. A fun Xmas morning wa shad by all.
We partied twice at Bar 9 @ Vagator which was a good afternoon sunset spot located on a cliff overlooking the beach but the DJ selection was horrendous with full-on Goa trance being played from start to finish with no flow of the sets and Indian men on holidays going for the grope or asking us to dance, 'it's trance boys, you dance alone, here is my space here is yours, understood'
tropical view from a scooter
. I got into the Old Monk rum and Nadine got on the Kingfisher beers which made for an interesting moped ride home. If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot, if you drink and scooter you're just a goose. We also hit up Curlies and Shiva Valley beach shacks @ Anjuna for late night gatherings, Lilliputs or Janet and Johns for day time deck chair lazing on the beach, swimming, people watching, eating or getting a massage action and Antonios shack for sunset ambient tunes or sexy deep house tracks. We ate at The Shore Bar shack once and found the food and atmosphere there quite good but a little expensive. Sacred cows were frequent visitors on the beach and people would be always feeding them or they would help themselves to beers and fruit cocktails all day. Another common sight and good source of a snack was the local ladies who carry heavy baskets on their heads filled with fruit that they would slice up for customers. The waters of the Arabian Sea were a perfect temperature for floating around in. We spent most of the time in Goa with a guy named Matty from Cornwall in the UK. One night we all went to a wonderful place called Artjuna Cafe near where he was staying that had an outdoor cinema, restaurant tables in the garden and beautiful lighting with parachutes and organic style installations, my kind of place and they were showing a film on entheogens. Sweet. So, we rocked up for a masala chai and grabbed a position on the matresses in front of a screen that a local VJ guy called Blue had set up in their garden
dancing bird puppet friend from Anjuna
. Then, we heard the name Alan Shoemaker and realised the documentary they were showing before the feature film was all about a guy's Ayahuasca experiences with shamans in the Amazon jungle near Iquitos, a place we know alot about and Alan Shoemaker is the guy who ran the Shamanism Conference we went to there last year. So, we were glued to the screen. We were blown away by all the movies they screened. There was Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within and the French movie Immortal. Below is some information about them if anyone is interested.Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within is a feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within.
The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstacy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds. Within a narrative framework that imagines consciousness itself to be evolving, Entheogen documents the emergence of techno-shamanism in the post-modern world that frames the following questions: How can a renewal of ancient initiatory rites of passage alleviate our ecological crisis? What do trance dancing and festivals celebrating unbridled artistic expression speak to in our collective psyche? How do we re-invent ourselves in a disenchanted world from which God has long ago withdrawn? Entheogen invites the viewer to consider that the answers to these questions lie within the consciousness of each and every human being, and are accessible if only we give ourselves permission to awaken to the divine within.
Immortal (French: Immortel (ad vitam)) is a 2004 English language, but French-produced science fiction film, directed by artist Enki Bilal and based upon his graphic novel La Foire aux immortels (The Carnival of Immortals)
this one was huge
. The film combines live action footage with computer animation, and received mixed reviews. It is notable as being one of the first major films (along with Able Edwards, Casshern and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow) to be shot entirely on a "digital backlot", blending live actors with computer generated surroundings. Immortel goes one step further than those films, however, in also having live actors interacting with semi photo-realistic CGI "humans" (as opposed to films such as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and The Lord of the Rings film trilogy which featured fantasy creatures).The film takes place in New York City in the year 2095 where genetically altered humans live side-by-side with unaltered men and women, and where Central Park has been mysteriously encased in an "intrusion zone" where people who attempt to enter are instantly killed. A strange pyramid has appeared over the city; inside, the gods of ancient Egypt are judging Horus, one of their fellow gods, who has a man's body but the head of a falcon. In the city below, Jill, a young woman with blue hair is arrested. Not completely human, she appears to be no more than a few months old, and possesses a number of secret powers, including one that enables her to procreate with gods, though she knows nothing of this. Horus is given a limited time to interact with the humans of New York and procreate. During his search for a host body, Horus encounters Nikopol, a rebel condemned to 30 years of hibernation who escapes his prison, due to a mechanical accident, one year early
Tren and Aussie lad
. Horus has been unsuccessful in attempting to take over the bodies of other humans; due to an incompatibility with the genetic alterations humans have undergone, the host bodies self-destruct while attempting to accommodate a "god". Nikopol's body is acceptable as it has been frozen in prison/storage and not undergone the genetic changes causing the rejections. Horus takes partial control of Nikopol's body and starts looking for a woman he can mate with to provide him a son, before his death sentence is carried out. When Horus/Nikopol discover Jill, they become entangled in a web of murder and intrigue.You can spot where the parties are by looking for the flickering lights of the chai ladies on the beach. They always congregate where the parties are happening, and the flames from their kerosene lamps are a great signpost. The vibes were a little scattered for our liking at the parties, too many random characters on different pages of the book. On New Years Eve we went to a chilled place called The German Bakery which is an ambient cafe with great organic food and set in gardens where you can laze on floor mats and cushions and talk with random strangers over countless cups of chai. We spent our time chatting with Ann, an aromatherapist and reflexologist from the UK. We had a dinner at Antonio's Shack on Anjuna Beach where we met UK Matty and headed to the Hilltop party @ Vagator. Matty had no scooter so we drove ours with three of us on it, the police couldn't give a toss
typical day's end
. One time when i was on my own on the scooter they chased me with a bamboo stick but my quick thinking in realising they were probably going to sting me for baksheesh made me keep driving and they gave up the chase. The Hilltop party was an exorbitant amount of rupees @ 1500 a ticket. The venue is a permanent trance location and is basically a big space with UV painted backdrop sheets, trees and DJ stage plus bar and toilets it's not on a hill top as i thought. Local ladies and their children were set up with omelette cookers set up on rugs and chai mats surrounding the dance floor. The music was happy hardcore, full-on, Goa psytrance and we were not impressed with it at all. People munted and gurning everywhere. Indian men hit on us all night and the only hint of the new year of 2009 beginning was a few fireworks at midnight. We did meet a cool, Indian but Israeli-looking pixie named Hardik who we partied with for 24 hours straight. Top effort. The real party began on New Years Day when we moved it to Shiva Valley @ 3am where some nice and funky trance was the flavour and the funsters and party animals were starting to peak. We finally found some family. We were loving life dancing with a global crowd on the beach and on the dance floor steps while the sun came up and 2009 began. Good morning tracks. Nice one. I took a few minutes to trek up onto the rocks where i could overlook the Goan coastline and the party shacks and did some prayers for people i love and for the new year, put my feet in the Arabian Sea to wash off the sins of 2008, thought about the consciousness revolution then went back to join the crew until the police cut the cords on the DJ as the sun got higher in the sky
party location
. It wasn't over yet though. Word on the beach was that the Hilltop party was going to spark back up at 10am for a day party and we still had stamps from the night before. We basically went straight to the day party without any rest and found a few punters already on the dance floor including the fabulous Helen from London and a girl we called Lisa who was dancing in hot pant length, denim shorts, crop top, large sunnies and giant, fully soled, platform shoes that would break your ankle if you pulled the wrong dance move in them. Champions and that set the mood for the rest of the day and into the night. Mono Loco was recognised by two guys from Switzerland who we had met at the BOOM afterparty, Utopia in Portugal, small world in the psy scene.They even told us they have footage of him dancing with a dog, classic. We were still hammering down vodkas and beers at midday and more and more people started to arrive and fill the dance floor. We did stop dancing once to eat a slice of watermelon. Monkey had a great time with Hardik pixie and co. and we met loads of rockin, rollin, stylin, movin, groovin people. Our favourite of which was the hilarious get-outta-it Helen who had us rolling on the ground in laughter as she floated in and out of our day. Top bird! An older DJ we suspect is from the Goa old days pulled out a superb afternoon set and got the floor moving well, the party was a raging success where the global psy family all came together in a language-less, friendly gathering, nice one. Watched a very sexy double staff fire twirling show, said our teary good-byes to Hardik and caught up with the Japanese /Scottish couple we met in Morocco before going home with cut up and bruised dancing feet (i miss my ninja boots with the camel toes). I was so exhausted that Nadine had to spoon feed me soup from room service. A good time was had by all.
Nadine was leaving for Thailand the next day and i was floored by a mysterious virus that had me lyng in bed staring at the ceiling of The Red Cab Inn
I'm moving to Arambol Beach tomorrow.
Happy New Year 2009!!!
