Benaulim to Anjuna

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  Anjuna, Goa, India
Thursday, October 7, 2004

After a few nights in Colva, the hotel filled up with a busload of young Indian students. I could hear the guys yahooing it up in the pool late at night and again in the morning. As I had breakfast, I asked one of the waiters if they were a sports team or something as they were all guys. But he told me "the women are very shy. They are staying in the room". So it seems even young Indian women are still quite oppressed. Interesting to see the Sikh guys swimming with their turbans on. Actually I was perhaps more surprised that one of them did not have his turban on, but his hair was still neatly tucked into the tight front top-bun thing they do. When I was talking to Sonny and Damon on the train from Aurangabad, I asked how long his hair was, and he told me it came down to his waist.

I ate at the Sea Pearl Hotel's restaurant, ordering the Kingfish. They showed it to me before they cooked it. They offered a large or small one, so I opted for a small one, which turned out to be about 45cm from nose to tail, fried in butter with garlic and served with salad and chips. And it was divine. Between that and a large beer the bill came to $6. Mmmmmmm.

The receptionist told me that I would have top move to a more expensive room if I wanted to stay longer due to the large booking, so I decided maybe it was time to move on. I got a lift with a rather surly rickshaw driver to Benaulim, the next beach along. He was most unhelpful, dropping me at the beach -- away from the actual village -- and refusing to take me to any of the hotels. I'm not sure what his problem was. So I walked to the only hotel ion the area and found a room there. It was the Hotel L'Amore (!)

If Colva had been quiet, Benaulim was positively comatose, so the next day I got the hell out of there, catching a bus from Margao to Panaji, then another to Mapusa, then a third to Anjuna Beach. It sounds like a hassle, but the buses run frequently: I never waited more than a few minutes between them, and the most expensive one was Rs.15 (45c). Good but sometimes crowded way to get around. The seat pitch sometimes leaves a little to be desired -- sometimes there's as little as about 7 inches between the front of your seat and the seat in front! Probably just as well Brett isn't travelling with me in that regard, as well the beds are single and my feet almost always reach the end of them.

Stayed at the "White Negro" Hotel (I have no idea so don't ask). It was reasonably pleasant with mainly friendly staff. The hot water in my room didn't work, but I put my hand-held element to work so I could heat my own water in the bucket they always provide in the rooms with no problem.

As I was waiting for a bus into Mapusa on Monday, two women on a scooter pulled up alongside me and asked me if I'd like to be an extra in a beer commercial to be filmed on Thursday and Friday, paying Rs.700/day with lunch etc included. So I thought what the heck and agreed. I was supposed to meet them somewhere near the Starco Bar at 7am (along with 20 or so others on their list). I got there at about 7.10 which I thought was pretty good but maybe I was too late, or couldn't see where exactly I was supposed to be, but never mind. There'll be other opportunities. I'd rather do Bollywood anyway.

Checked out the Anjuna flea market which happens every Wednesday. Lots of nice shiny jewellery, colourful souvenirs etc, and certainly many things I'd liked to have bought except for the having to carry them thing. Looked at some nice cushion covers which I thought Dad and Joan might like (i.e. not hippy ones but ones which would suit their lounge suite) but they only had a very large size which wasn't right. Never mind.

Haven't decided whether to stay in Anjuna beyond Saturday or not. Might take a peek at Vagator Beach (next beach to the north) this arvo and see if there's a hotel I like, without being weighed down by my bags. Currently I'm at the Villa Anjuna, which is a quite upmarket resort-type hotel with pool. My sunburn has disintegrated into a mass of peeling skin flakes. So much for that. I still have to give it more time until it fully repairs itself before I let the sun on me again.

Met three girls from the UK, Louise, Becks and ???. Had finished the book (Shantaram) which Annie gave me to bring along which I really enjoyed, and was telling Louise about... then gave it to her because she was quite interested. She insisted on giving me a couple of hundred rupees for it despite me telling her it wasn't necessary. They were off to Palolem today after a rather large night out at a beach party. Becks was recovering after a possible rohypnol drugging. She'd been with a local guy, then just about passed out and her friends took an hour walking her back to the hotel (only a short distance) whereupon they kept her awake and alert until she came out of whatever it was. She'd taken an E so it could have been something in the pill but the fast way the effects came on and then wore off suggests to me it was something else. Louise said she'd spent several hours in a trance-like state. Anyway I'd given Palolem a miss after Benaulim as I thought it'd be even quieter... but Louise reckons it shouldn't be bad as she was here earlier than this last year and it was good. So if I make it down there in the next two weeks I'll be sure to look out for them.

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