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Published: January 2nd 2010
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Kerim to Tiracol
Aboard the old car ferry It’s been a while since the last Blog, we don’t have the time to sit and do this very often so obviously this quick little update is bound to turn into an epic.
The last Blog took us up to New Year…….that was ages ago!!, since then Jean and Terry (that’s Bev’s Mum & Dad for those that don’t know) have been and gone. They had a lovely holiday. We had another great couple of nights down in Palolem with them and managed to relax after the madness of Christmas and New Year. We tried some lovely new restaurants while we were there this time and had the most gorgeous (and massive) white snapper that we’ve ever tasted……yummy!!! A trip up to Fort Tiracol on the Goa border was next on the itinerary, a day out that we all enjoyed. Getting to Tiracol involves crossing the Kerim River by a really old dodgy Ferry; getting the car on board is an - experience in itself. The ferry costs Rs10/- for a car and its passengers and the men that work on the ferry told us that they do 24hr shifts!!! They sleep in a small hut on the side of
Family Portrait
We even managed to get the cattle in shot the river and for Rs35/- will take you across at none scheduled crossing times if you can manage to wake them (by blasting your horn and flashing your lights they said).
The Fort is now a boutique Hotel but the restaurant is open to all so we had a lovely lunch and a couple of drinks, took some photo’s before heading off back to the Ferry for home.
Now this is where the fun began. When we got back to the ferry the tides were all wrong so the next crossing wouldn’t be for another few hrs - “what to do” (as they say in Goa). Luckily one of our customers from Shooters (John) was also stuck at the ferry - he advised us to drive back up past the fort and over the border into Maharastra where we’d find another Fort and another ferry crossing….good tip, we had a brilliant few hours. The road in parts was like a lot of roads in the outback in Oz (the ones they tell you to steer clear of), nothing more than pot holes and dust. Passing by the quarry we stopped and took some photos of a little boy
Paradise Beach
The beach lies beneath Reddi Fort in Maharastra and his family, they were amazed to see the picture of themselves on the camera!!
We found Redi Fort eventually - not preserved like Tiracol but still really interesting and a bit spooky, it was a massive dilapidated old thing that sat overlooking a gorgeous beach known locally as “Paradise”. No shacks, no sellers and no hassles - beautiful!
Heading back towards the ferry we came across a lovely little village with a cricket match going on and a few locals working the fields - one guy was working the irrigation machine…….. what a machine!!!, it consisted of a well with a log across for the guy to balance on, a mechanism made from rocks and bamboo with a big coconut bucket that was dunked into the well, brought up again, poured into a collecting unit which in turn fed and irrigated the fields……Barry had to have a go of course and the locals thought it was hilarious!!!
Things at the bar were hectic in January, it was non stop and we were packed to the rafters every night. Lots of new customers found us this year and we also had our repeat customers who
Village irrigation system
A scene from Dirty Dancing....or is it Max and Paddy?? all seemed to bring with them family and friends. We were “fined” by the customs and excise department……..a hefty fine I’ll add but one which has brought us more customers due to our new later opening hours and yes the tills bells have been ringing!!! The local police have hit us all with a music ban after 10pm, it’s a bit of a pain but we haven’t suffered as much as some places, the night clubs are worse off and have lost a lot of money. The word going around is that it’s all to do with elections and keeping the locals happy……hopefully when the elections are over it’ll be back to normality but who knows….this is Goa!!
Now I know you must all be sick of seeing the repeats of our TV documentary on TV back in the UK - we get sick of customers reminding us about it (cringe). Anyway we’ve been filmed again for a Discovery Channel programme called “Café Asia”. The crew came into the bar and asked if they could film - apparently the programme is about all the best nightlife and dining that Asia has to offer and the producer thought that Shooters
Watering the rice fields
"...next time I'm gonna bring my own hosepipe" fitted that description. They only filmed for about 15 minutes so blink and you’ll miss us!!! Not sure where or when it’ll be shown but at least this time we have
non- speaking parts.
Friends of ours Gary and Sara invited us to their daughters wedding up on the beach at Mandrem a few weeks ago, it was gorgeous and a good excuse to have some new togs made…..well you can’t wear Anjuna Flea Market clothes to a posh wedding can you!!!
Mark and Simon our friends have sadly left Goa - they’d had enough of all the hassles that come with life out here; the business wasn’t doing very well so they decided to walk. We’re really going to miss them, they’re probably a couple of the very few true friends we've made during our time out here and it feels like the end of an era.
Anyway I told you that this would turn into an essay of epic proportions and it has so I’m going to say bye for now. I’ll try to do another one soon before we head off to Singapore for our 4 day break.
Take it Easy xxxxxx
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