A Bit of Western Culture and Beach Life.

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Afternoon!

It's been over a week since my last entry! Mainly either because alcohol has become freely available to me again and I have been too busy spending my days swimming and sun bathing.

So to recap where I last left you I was feeling pretty stupid about myself for going to Jalgaon (a town that literally has nothing going for it) when the Ajanta caves were shut. I therefore decided to cut my losses and head to Mumbai.

I had had very mixed opinions of Mumbai from people; my old man described it as the worst of both western and eastern cultures. Whereas others had described it as the only place in India that is clean and you can get a decent cup of coffee.

After my visit I can firmly place myself in the latter category. Arrival at the CST station greets you with splendid Victorian architecture; granted I arrived at four in the morning however, i didn't really care for it at the time. I had a mission and that mission was to be first in line for the ticket office when it opened at 8 to get my ticket to Goa. Thankfully I was there before anyone was even up and actually managed to get the last seat on the train I wanted... making a very happy Jack.

Everyone I had spoken to who had been to Mumbai said the cheapest place to stay was the Salvation Army hostel in the famous Colaba District. The hostel is a melting pot of travelers from those who had just arrived in the country to hardened India campaigners. I quite happily fit into the hardened traveler category and spent my days imparting my wisdom on the newbies.

Although my visit to Mumbai was only two days I managed to fit quite a lot in, including all the main sights in Colaba, such as the Taj hotel (where the terrorist attack was) and the infamous Mumbai Oval in downtown. The latter is actually where i spent most of my time sitting in the sun and watching the locals play cricket (for which they take with the utmost seriousness). Mumbai has been the first place I have been to in India that really has actual bars... yes ACTUAL bars. Where you can buy a beer in a glass (and not off the menu as 'special tea'); therefore my evenings were spent in the bars of Colaba such as leopold's (made famous by the excellent book Shantaram - thanks for the recommendation Amy!) amongst others.


The time had then come for me to immerse myself in some real 'tourism' in the Goa; perhaps the most visited state in India. On the train ride in I was struck by how green everything was; as I had been in the barren north for 7 weeks lots of trees were a welcome sight. From recommendations out of the guidebook and other people I decided to hot Palolem beach; a supposed tropical paradise beach with a kilometre if white sand and bath like warm water.

The beach is stunning; however I was a bit downhearted with the amount of temporary bars and shacks that litter the beach in peak season. However this did not deter me from enjoying the sun, sand and sea.

So, literally for the last week I have been sunning myself and drinking. I actually had a night out on the Saturday and a headphone party; which as most of you know involves every person having a set of headphones with three channels of music. This leads on to the hilarity of everyone dancing to different music and further high jinx when you take your headphones off and hear people drunkenly singing.

One activity to note was my first participation in a game of cricket. The general format being taking it in turns to bowl and over each and bat two overs (unless you get out). All was going really well I had a few good bowling spells, took 2 catches and batted twice without getting out (a tough feat for me - ask those people I used to play with). It all went pear shape when I decided to wicket keep; a lot of Indians are naturally talented cricketers but often lack in the technical aspect of the game. This means there bowling can be a little bit how should I say... off. I unfortunately got the brunt end of this lack of skill when a wayward ball was bowled without bouncing, the batsmen then tried to smash it for six; instead the ball skimmed off the bad and hit me square in my right eye. I therefore now have a nice swollen eye and the beginnings of a nice big shiner!

All in all then its been good in Goa; although things are getting more and more commercialised by the day and I am beginning to get itchy feet. As some of you may know my Dad is coming out here on Friday for Christmas and new year; so i will be here in Palolem for the next few days waiting for him before we head south.


Hopefully you are all getting in the festive mood!

Jack x

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Photos

Palolem Beach
the beach (with beach shacks)

Beach Life
Relaxing on the beach with some friends