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Published: January 5th 2012
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I was fortunate enough to have met some sweet gals in Parassini who were also hoping to experience Goa for Christmas and New Years, so Anna (Scotland), Isabel (Spain), and myself set off to take the overnight train to Goa. We had booked our tickets far in advance and had been on the waiting-list for weeks, when the day came for us to depart we were numbers 4, 5, and 6 on the waitlist so our odds were looking good. We showed up at the station only to find out that we did not get on the final list and our tickets had been canceled. Hmm, we had a little group pow wow and decided we were gonna wing-it and get on that train boarding through general class. If you know anything about the Indian Rail you may have heard that general class is also referred to as "cattle class" and that should paint the picture for you. We bought tickets, the only good thing in this scenario being that my ticket cost about $1usd for an 8 hour train trip, and went to wait on the platform. As a woman, or even as a group of women, you are bound
to attract unwanted attention at the train station. Our first stalker was annoying, while harmless, he followed us wherever we went and just stared at us and kept talking to us in Malayalam. Then we had a young kid, maybe 18, who kept sitting uncomfortable close to us wherever we went. I didn't think much of it until a police came up and asked us if we knew him. I said we didn't and he warned us that he was probably trying to pickpocket us, the officer tried to shoo him away and suddenly the kid started trying to physically fight the officer. Depending on the type of officer, many do not carry any weapons here, the officer had a small and slim frame and for a second I thought maybe we were going to have to help defend him. The brawl started to draw attention and suddenly there was about 50 onlookers standing around until some back-up finally arrived about 20 mins later. Lots of excitement to start our trip. Our train arrived and we decided
we would try and board one of the nicer cars with seats and just act ignorant if we got busted, well we got caught right away and were told to go to general boarding or the "woman's car" which is supposed to be for women only. The women's car was already packed so we sat on top of our backpacks in a very small corner of the train, hoping that maybe a seat would open up but it wasn't looking good. We pretty much spent the 8 hour trip trying to get comfortable in a 4x4 ft area between the 3 of us. I got my sleeping bag out and tried to sleep kind of laying on my backpack but then I saw some roaches and also possibly a mouse and any chance of sleeping was ruined for me. I won't get into the beauty of the bathrooms on the train, let's just say I really tried to refrain from drinking anything. It was not a peaceful ride; many loud intense arguments kept breaking out between some of the ladies on the train. At every stop (there were about 30) men would try getting onto the women's only because there
was no place else for them to go and all of us would have to yell "no no no! women only!!" We had some nice younger Indian girls who offered to help us find our stop because there are no announcements and it is impossible to see what stop you are at in the dark! As we approached our stop they warned us that we would have to get off quickly, because it is a small station the train only stops for 15-20 seconds. We were ready but the door to the platform was completely stuck and suddenly the train started moving! The women were all yelling and practically shoving us out the opposite door (no platform but into the middle of the train tracks, a nice 8-10ft jump)...I saw Isabel and Anna throw their bags and jump, then I threw mine and I felt the train pickup more speed and I thought to myself "this may be the stupidest thing I've ever done ", I thought about waiting and getting off on the next stop but I had already threw my bag with my passport out of the train, so I jumped into the pitch blackness of night. At
first I landed on my feet but then fell and twisted my ankle a bit. As the train sped off I called to make sure the other girls were ok (it was so dark we could barely see each other), we used flashlight to collect our belongings which were spread throughout the gravel in the middle of the tracks. We were all bruised and stunned, but fortunately uninjured!
We checked into our beach hut and went right to sleep for a good nap. When we awoke we headed to check out the beach and we all agreed that the rough night was worth it, though we would like to avoid jumping off trains in the future.
Goa has some stunning beaches, honestly it's not "real India" but after living in Parassini I was ready to treat myself to some Western pleasures and chill on the beach for a bit. It was so nice to have real coffee, internet, good food, good yoga, and cheap massage, and of course just laying on the beach for most of the day. We met a few locals and a few tourists who joined us for a nice Christmas eve dinner. As the
week went on we made friends and I even got a short but sweet visit from my friend Deepti from SF.
Goan New Year is crazy! Lots of Indians head to Goa to celebrate the New Year and some of the men tend to misbehave and go a bit wild, which again can be annoying as a female (lots of unwanted attention/pictures and being followed). We got a bit fed up and took refuge from the crowds by playing it low key and not walking around after sunset. It was really only a madhouse for 2 days, seemed like the Las Vegas of India to me, but then after the crowds left it returned to the mellow vibe we enjoyed. As tempting as it was to spend eternity in Palolem, Anna and I made a plan to visit Hampi which is where I am writing from now. So up next...magical and mystical ~Hampi~!
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