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Published: November 23rd 2006
Benaulim Beach
Too early in the morning for the tourists..Finally made it back to Goa after about a two thousand mile overland trip. It’s a culture shock to encounter the tourist blight again after having an insight (brief though it was) into the real India. I’ve ended up in Benaulim, which is one of the quieter beaches, even though, the tourists are here. You can watch them, as they flop under a beach umbrella all day then waddle ten yards to the nearest restaurant; they go home two weeks later, a stone heavier and claim they have been to ‘India’. To have a beach holiday in Goa and claim to have seen India is like swapping planes at Heathrow and saying you’ve been to London. Anyway I found a shack for rent on the beach (for beach shack read bug central) for 2 quid a night, suitably Spartan and bare of all necessities enough to ensure no tourists within half a mile or more. Kicked back and recharged the batteries, then come Wednesday I rented a bike from the hut man (3 quid for the day) and set off for Anjuna and the Wednesday Flea market. The ride took me through Margao and Panjim (about 130 mile round trip). I’d
observed close hand the Indian bus drivers’ method of driving so I just followed suit i.e. keep the horn constantly pressed and just go for the gap! The little 125 got me there and back (offerings to the Gods in Madurai and elsewhere were not wasted) in time for a shower, a walk along the beach and a spinach omelet at a shack café near my hut.
Well it’s 11am here. My train to the airport leaves at seven in the morning so I need to find a rickshaw from here about 6. I’m off to pack and get my head in gear for England in November.
It’s been a blast. I’ve seen everything I came to see and some things I wish I hadn’t. India has many darknesses but the indomitable spirit of the country and its people, sometimes seen amongst the direst circumstances, has helped give me some of the perspective I came here to seek. I leave with far more than I came with, happy in the knowledge that, the Gods willing, one day I may be allowed to return.
Cheers for now
TK
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