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Published: April 14th 2008
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We had a three day weekend so we headed to Goa which is south of Mumbai on the west coast of India.
We had heard that Palolem was rated the best beach in the world so we headed south from Goa two hours to check it out on Sunday. It is clearly not the best beach in the world but it was certainly a pleasant place. http://www.bugbog.com/beaches/best_beaches.html
You often hear that you can retire in various parts of the world for cheaper than you can in the USA. Here is one of your options. A hut on the beach in Palolem goes for 350 rupees per day ($9.00 day). Breakfast is Rs 80.00, a beer is Rs 40, and pasta is Rs. 80.00. In short, you can easily live on $25 per day in Palolem. Of course it is too hot to live there in the summer, but you can probably find the same deal in the mountains in Northern India in the summer.
The bad news is that you will be sharing the bathroom with other huts and I am not sure there is any hot water included in the huts. But you will have 20 restaurants
$9 per day
Your new home facing the ocean; 50 yards from the water. Second floor. all on the beach to choose from all in a row and there are people from all over the world you can meet who are enjoying the beach and there is a decent assortment of music and the water temperature is nice. We had lunch and dinner at two different restaurants and the food was good.
So, the rumors are true. You can give up the rat race and live on $750 per month. But it won't be in Kansas Toto.
All the taxi drivers here have Jesus on the dashboard like you see in the USA. As you'll read below, this is a former Portuguese colony and although they kicked the Portuguese out in 1961, Jesus has hung around. There are churches everywhere and many Indians here are followers of Christ.
Our friend Sunjay from the USA told us that we may find the Indians in the south more easy going. We found that to be true. It is similar to the difference between the Northeast USA (New York) and the South (North Carolina). They have more time to enjoy life, they seem healthier, and they don't have to spend as much of their day just
trying to survive.
As usual we went out on the town in Goa looking for a place to dance. We found Titos and Mambos which are in Baga. Unlike Delhi, these two clubs in Goa actually played some hip-hop music and it was earlier in the evening when there was room on the dance floor (before 1:00 AM). After 1:00 AM, it was mostly back to the standard fair that you hear in Delhi--techno and house music. But that was ok. Once the electronic and house music starts, there is no room to dance. Indians love that stuff and they all flood onto the dance floor. So there isn't any room to dance once it starts--and I mean that literally. People are against you on all four sides. Apparently India has not heard what Slim Shady has to say on the subject, "Nobody listens to techno."
While dancing at Mambos, we saw a small person dancing on one of the speakers. He was about 2 feet tall and was missing most of what would be considered a normal body. He appeared to have part of a torso, a head, and one foot; or at least a converse
tennis shoe covering what is presumed to be a foot. He had one good arm which he was thrusting into the air energetically to the rhythm, and he had a smile on his face. He was smiling. In India, we are used to seeing people like him at an intersection asking for money from people in cars waiting at stop lights. In the USA, you would see this person sitting in a fully electronic wheel chair rolling about. But here, they drag themselves along the ground and beg for survival. I have to say that I was touched to see this person on top of this speaker smiling and enjoying the music as much as I. There is something absolutely inspiring about seeing someone who has a life that appears more challenging than mine, dancing the night away. Now when I give money to unusually shaped people at intersections in India, I will be secretly hoping that they spend my money buying a tennis shoe or two, so they can happily dance the night away. No doubt a self-serving denial, but also a more pleasant visualization than wondering about the depth of their plight.
"Goa pronunciation (help·info) (Konkani: गोंय
/ɡɔ̃j/; Marathi: गोवा /ɡoːwaː/; Portuguese: Goa) is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.
Panaji (also referred to as Panjim) is the state's capital. Vasco da Gama (sometimes shorted to Vasco) is the largest city. The historic city of Margao still exhibits the influence of Portuguese culture. Portuguese merchants first landed in Goa in the early 16th century, and annexed it soon after. The Portuguese colony existed for about 450 years (one of the longest held colonial possessions in the world), until it was taken over by India in 1961. Renowned for its beaches, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of international and domestic tourists each year. Goa is also known for its temples and world heritage architecture including the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, which makes it one of the biggest Christian pilgrimage sites in Asia. Goa also has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location
on the Western Ghats range, which is classified as a biodiversity hotspot." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa
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