Apocalypse Now

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We read in our "Lonely Planet" that the off season for Goa ends in September, with cessation of endless rain during the monsoons. I can personally attest that Lonely Planet is incorrect. The off season definitely extends into October.

A couple days ago we took a long (14 hour) train from Mumbai to Goa, opting for the day-time train so that we could see the beautiful scenery between those two destinations. From what I could see through my incredibly tiny window that was heavily tainted yellow, the land was quite lush (most likely from the recent monsoons), with many rivers and hills. We snacked on 20 cent snacks and lazed away the day reading books or writing in our journals.

The next day we decided to try to take a bus 10 miles north to our beach of choice, Arambol. The bus ride could not have been more perfect in fitting my pre-conceived notion of India. We were packed onto an old bus tighter than the Metro at rush hour. As the bus lurched down the side roads, honking seemingly at every car or turn we passed, I held on with my life to the handle bar below my head (I had to stoop because the ceiling was too low). The bus stopped at random (it appeared) to pick people up, but others were denied entry because the bus was too full (at this point there were people literally hanging on the outside). When we finally made it, we had to walk 2 km to the beach.

As we walked down the road, we were a bit disconcerted that all of the shops and all of the hotels were closed. It looked like a small hurricane had ravaged the area. Places were boarded up, and plastic tarps were over what looked like beach huts, once upon a time.

As we got closer to the beach we saw the miracle of Indian man-power at work. People were taking down plywood, repainting rooms and fixing up bars. Apparently, the end of the rainy season meant rebuilding everything.

The view from our room was probably the most picturesque I have had in any hotel prior, not bad for $6, and it even had a Western style flushing toilet in our private bath, true luxury. Despite the construction work, we spent the next couple days sitting by the Arabian Sea, eating pineapple and drinking Kingfisher. It was a great vacation from our vacation.

Tomorrow we fly to Udaipur to continue the sight seeing...

- Steve

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