Goa

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I have a confession to make - I have fallen in love; her name is Laxmi. Already I am trying to arrange for her to come to England - Carol is very understanding and says that it will not change anything between us. I saw Laxmi again yesterday and bought her lunch. She likes fruit and has very long eye lashes. After eating she allowed me to get on her back and we went for a ride. Bliss.
Carol says that we could convert our garage and perhaps raise the roof so there was more room.



The Goans are lovely people - very gentle. The tourist area is very much a development 400 metres inland running along the coast - as soon as you move away from the coast it is paddy fields, farms and deep green jungle vegetation. We visited a spice farm with the river running through it and elephants being washed. Drove to a spice plantation where we had a guided tour and saw the actual plants that produce pepper, cardamom, vanilla, nutmeg and mace, piri piri chillies, cashews, pineapples, and cloves. We also saw fenni brewing equipment ( the local fire water made from cashew nut husks!!!).

A couple of elephants were in the grounds and people were queuing to wash the elephant……this involved stripping down to a bather and the elephant was much nicer to look at than most of the people in the queue.
Idyllic spot up in the hills where peace permeated your bones as you plunged into a world full of lush greens and tranquil waters threaded with wooden walkways and semi hidden paths through the tame jungle.

In the interests of culture (!!) we also visited the Old Goa area which has the original Portuguese buildings including churches, cathedral administrative buildings - all very interesting as well as a set of portraits of all the Portuguese Governors of Goa with their potted histories - like the Wild West! A really fascinating history - the Portuguese were here for 400 years longer than any other set of rulers in Goa’s history.




It is therefore a very odd mix, and you need to pick very carefully. For instance when we walk the minute down to the beach we turn left rather than right because the beach is noticeably quieter and has better beach shacks. Turn right and keep walking and after half a mile it gets pretty packed (however this is the peak time of the year). All the Goans are saying this is a poor season for trade as the Brits aren’t here in numbers because of either visa delays or because of the threats to tourists which were on the TV. We have met a lot of people who have returned here year after year as well as those who come out for a long period up to 3 months - you can understand why as it is cheaper to stay here than most peoples utility bills for the winter quarter

We read the local paper and it is full of the usual - what’s happening to the youth of today - family unit break up - corruption in politics - and traffic congestion - Britney Spears. Over here as at home the media trivialises the important and emphasises the trivial.

The best bit is that this is a fab beach holiday which Carol and I haven’t really ever been on. We have breakfast, walk along the beach for an hour in the sun, read, sleep, have some fruit for lunch, go for another walk, figure out what we want for dinner, eat, sleep..

I’ll give an example from last night. We paddled along to a great restaurant we have found on the beach and cos we were really hungry asked for some seafood spring rolls whilst we decided what to have for dinner. When they came they were almost a meal in themselves - fat and the 2 of them were the size of omelettes, full of seafood, crisp outside and so delicious I can still taste them - cost? 130 rupees or 80 pence each.

We went on to have a whole tandoori chicken, chicken biriyani (best I’ve ever had), aubergines with spiced yoghurt, a cucumber/onion/tomato raita, a nan and a roti, 2 bottles of water and 2 brandies. A great meal overlooking the Arabian Sea. Oh and they were playing soul music as well! When I got the bill my jaw literally dropped the grand total for everything was 793 rupees or just over £10. What amazed me was the sheer quality of the food not hot but full of spices you could taste. As you might expect we will not be going anywhere else - they also do breakfasts …. Hmmmm.

As we walked back along the beach to our hotel paddling through the warm water in the dark past the beach bar shacks (the Goan boys who work in them also sleep in them) the boys half asleep called out softly “Goodnight Maam Goodnight sir” - and as we reached the darkest area of the beach Carol switched on the torch. Three white bodies flashed by us and jumped into the sea giggling - skinny dippers - in the interests of modesty we switched the torch off……and so to bed.

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Comments

[sue]

Bliss...
Well you certainly know how to get me envious...! It sounds just wonderful. I have really enjoyed reading the blog as it feels as thouhg you are really beginning to relax into life at a different pace. I imagine Newcastle is a distant memory now. But what I really want to know is, are you going to buy a small beach hut somewhere, and can I come and stay?!