Crappy Colva

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Hi!!

Feels like it's been ages since we did the last blog. We’ve actually got lots of stuff to put in this one so persevere if it gets dull… oh and we remembered the camera!!

Following leaving the lovely flea pit of Agonda, we headed further north up the Goan coast and plumped for Colva. Hmmm… if only we had the Lonely Planet at this point. Colva is a local holiday spot for the Indian people from the nearby towns. This made sunbathing on the beach really uncomfortable as the stares from Indian men were relentless! This was our first taste of realizing how Gail’s white skin has given us some sort of celebrity (d list) status (we are now embracing this and are posing with locals for some pictures). Anyway, turns out the place is literally over run with what the locals report as the Russian Mafia. Russians everywhere.

Luckily we were accosted upon arrival and taken to a rather cute guest house behind the beach - the rest of the accommodation here is hotels - for the Russians. We decided not to stay here for long and took an instant dislike to the place. We can report alcohol makes it a bit more appealing. On the second and final night we got chatting to the Irish Patrick who runs the bar attached to the guest house. This man is too busy trying to make friends and is running the bar at a massive loss. Consequently, we had free beer all night, including 60ml vodka’s. Patrick has a local guy called Moses working at the bar (for 100rs a day, about $1.30). Like most locals, his hygiene left something to be desired; however, we forgot this after a few drinks and said YES!!! To some free local curry… (More on this later…). We met some lovely guys from Spain, France and America who took us to a few local bars and salvaged the Colva ‘experience’.

Moving swiftly on… We then decided to take the local bus (in the morning, with a hangover). This was a brave choice and very difficult to describe. Small seats, no room for back packs and well over 40- people on a 25 seater! The bus stations amazingly strike a fine balance between complete chaos and fabulous
organisation. No signs, just a lot of shouting, pointing, horns beeping and thousands of buses.
Amazingly no one ever seems to be killed!! Still, 4 buses later we arrived hot and sweaty
in Anjuna. On the way Gail got travel sick and hangover. After arriving she fell over with back pack on
and resembled a turtle that had been turned on its back, arms and legs flailing and tears coming out of
eyes. Locals stared; Nikki laughed.

Anyway, click NEXT ENTRY for our ANJUNA BLOG...

xxx

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Comments

[steve]

bom shiva
Dear Nikki Glad you enjoyed Hampi, there are plenty of bookshops in Bangalore if you are still resident. They are all on the MG Road. Anyway now you are in the deep south remember to try Kodaicanal it's in the Western Ghats just inside Tamul Nadu. There are plenty of small houses to squirrel away the day in cooking your own food, smoking the charis, and going for walks. 'You may want to take a visit to the isle of Kochin it's fairly laid back, good food, and very flat which means you can hire a bike and bliss out at the landscape. Same old same old at Shelter towers Carter has'nt stopped pontificating since your departure. Stay safe Steve

[Bren]

Miss you
Hi Gail & Nikki Loving reading the diary - Whats happened to the knitted Characters they not featured. You look relaxed - you've missed the Beautiful Snow and all the Snowmen, however it is cold. Nothing to report as such - you are missed and talked about in every conversation. Love you with All our hearts :) Keep us posted Love Bren & Rob xxx