Freaks, Hippies, Mentals, Chicken Orientals
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
175
221
Trip End
Ongoing
Arambol,
Goa,
India
Monday, January 5, 2009
The saying "everything is possible" is my travel pet hate. The Moroccans overused this one too by saying "Inshallah" (if god wills it) as a response to a request. I hate to be negative on it but in everyday operational life, everything is not possible. In an Indian restaurant if i sat down and said i wanted an Australian meat pie and sauce and a bottle of Bundaberg Ginger beer hand delivered to me by David Hasselhof , the waiters's reply could be "everything is possible", but it's actually impossible and a lie. Just tell me what really is possible so i can get on with my travels. Is there a bus today or not? Can you make me a photo DVD or not? Do you know the way to the temple or not? Do you have vegetarian food or not? Often they make you wait or phone a friend before they give you a reply other than "everything is possible"
cocktail drinking cows
. I guess they want to help so they don't want to say yes or no and would rather bob their head from side to side which i take a s a no response. It takes patience and can be frustrating but it's a cultural difference people must be aware of in India, so many times we've heard travellers faced with this challenge freak out and lose their heads over it.So, with great difficulty and a little help from my friends at The Red Cab Inn, i moved myself to Arambol in a taxi and recovered from the virus / New Years Eve come down in a crap hotel room @ Priya's Guesthouse. Weak, tired, nausea etc etc. I slept alot then I spent the next couple of days getting into the Arambol groove by exploring, going to the beach, checking out and purchasing some sample men's clothing for the business, going to the German Bakery for chill out tunes and spinach, chutney and mushroom burgers, chatting with freaks and people there for the juggling convention, drinking lemonanas and eating seafood sizzlers from restaurants set up right on the sand. It was a full scene and the pace was too slow for me. Alot of people talking, not alot of being.
The main street is full of juice bars and shops selling the usual Indian gear plus wallhangings, psychedelic art, gear from Kathmandu and cyber clothing, it also seems this is the place to get your 'Rasta' dreadlocks styled. Every man, woman and child was stylin it up in Afghani, Sai Baba genie pants. There were hippy folk getting around on motorbikes and carrying guitars, sitars and tabla sets and it was all so very shanti shanti on the street
Sweet Lake wooden huts
. Loads of cool kids and 'people in the club'. Lots of Russians on the sand as well as fake sadhus with decorated cows. Wall spaces were filled with signs for courses designed to turn people onto or further their spiritual paths. I really just couldn't decide between the Firewalking course, the Sanskrit or Hindi, Reiki, Chakra Yoga, Crystal Healing course or the Asana practise with Alex on the Magic Park rooftop course.The first time i felt well enough to leave my room and had no fear of throwing up in public, i went for a quiet cup of chai at a cafe only to be harassed by a 70 year old freak from Chile wearing cowboy hat and large blue snow skiing goggles and obviously a way too long termer in Goa. The bloke sits down in my space, orders a vodka and orange and starts talking mumbo jumbo in half Spanish, half English. The conversation was about him forecasting my future and trying to pick me up then he poured his vodka out on the floor of the restaurant (for Pachamama of course) then gets up and leaves without paying. Nice chap he was. The people you meet in Goa! There's quite a few lost souls around and some that are found, it's a strange pot wof stew with an eccentric recipe.
I bought some sheep leather off cuts in pixie brown, green and red from a leather shop and hope to use them for some clothing i am designing. I also bought a tacky retro t-shirt with GOA and a sailing boat on the front of it, i thought Stuey might like it. I watched a game of beach soccer and fishing boats come and go and also caught the sunsets
Arambol street scene
. One of the days when i wanted to buy some clothing samples i realised i had no cash left and had already spent my emergency stash so i had to hitch a ride on a motorbike to the ATM way out of town. The young driver who picked me up drove ridiculously fast on terrible tyres and the bike broke down four times on the way back. Later he told me he had been partying for 4 days and i felt like a complete idiot for getting on the bike with him in the first place. Purchased some good designs though.I went for a walk around the coastline and over the rocks to find the very nice Sweet Lake cafes and Huts at the end where there were small waves, clean water in the lake and where i thought it was a little more natural and organic, we would have stayed there the whole time if we had of known about it.
I was glad to get out of there and on the road. In the taxi on the way to the Mapusa bus station i met the sweetest girl in the world, Anna-Mi from Belgium who had been staying on Ave Maria rooftop for the silly season. We were both heading to Hampi and were on the same bus. Once we arrived in Mapusa, Anna-Mi went to find some food and i checked my bus tickets. When i got back on the bus i assumed she was on there too and there were no seats empty. Turns out the bus had left without her and it was partly my fault because i was supposed to be looking out for her. Not good. On the up side, Helen from the Hilltop day party was onboard for Hampi and Mono Loco was well happy about that one
palm tree silhouettes
. This first feeder bus dropped us at a random location where we all scrambled to find our places on four seperate Hampi bound buses, a complete palava. Still no sign of Anna-Mi. My bus was a nightmare because i had to share my sleeper space with a girl who turned out to be a pirate with a twin who both partied with all the other pirates (French and Russian) on board for nearly the entire journey. 'There's a pirate party on the bus would you like to come? Then bring a bottle of rum'. I was absolutely exhausted and needed to sleep. I had a minor freak out at the conductors but my words made no difference amongst the frenzy of pirates at the pirate party and i was not going to get my sleeper cabin back. People were pissing out the windows, swigging Old Monk from bottles, chillums were smoking out all of the oxygen and the caged animals were out of control running up and down the aisles like chimpanzees and opening the doors, off choppers. I found a seat and gave the guy next to me one of the bhang cookies i have had in my bag since Jaisalmer in the hope that he would be quiet. Obviously the cookie use by date was out. He went on and on accusing everybody on board of pinching his MP3 player and was making me crazy with his constant jibberish off chops chatter. We made many stops and the journey took 16 hours of hell instead of 12. Short straw on that one.I'm at the point where India is calling me to go within a little more so people's noise seems very assaulting and loud.
Now to Hampi
