From Nepal to Goa, Goa to England and back to Goa again - A 6 month catch up in 60 seconds

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Is it irony, coincidence, or just a sign of my often touted naive attitude of ‘all or nothing’, that after leaving England last November for a 6 month trip, it is now nearly almost 6 months to the day since my last entry on my travelblog…and I am still in India.

My last entry saw me spending a month in Nepal, ending up with a dilemma of what to do and where to go next. Should I extend my visa in Nepal and enjoy the laid back cultural delights of an excited and passionate nation, or do I make the arduous journey south to Goa, the one place I said I would never visit due to my distaste for anywhere abroad selling itself as ‘just like being in England but with guaranteed sun’. Think Benidorm, Costa del Sol, and anywhere else easyjet sends us to for a penny. If I want to have an all day fry-up, watch endless re-runs of only fools and horses, or drink lukewarm pints in a ‘genuine’ English pub I would stay at home and catch the bus to Skegness. On saying that, I had made plans to spend some time at a monkey sanctuary in Goa, and although the state it was in made me shiver with unwanted expectations I really wanted to visit this place, and so the arduous journey south to Goa topped the charts with Nepal taking a reluctant back seat for another time.

So here I am, August 5, 2010, and still in Goa. Still experiencing the tourist trapped beaches, with lifeguards that can’t swim, and skimpily dressed, tattooed foreigners that couldn’t be pulled to safety even if the lifeguard could swim. Still witnessing death defying acts of craziness on the roads by inexperienced foreigners determined to get the most out of their health insurance policies. Spend 2 weeks here, witnessing the ‘in your face’ stupidities and silliness by the tourists and you feel ashamed to be one of them, but get passed the initial embarrassment, begin to live like the locals, and you learn that Goa has a passion that rivals that of Nepal. The people are proud, the scenery is beautiful, the atmosphere is electric, and living here feels surprisingly ‘natural’.

A lot has happened since my last entry, sat in a café in Varanasi, dripping wet and worrying about the possibilities of getting trench foot. As they do on our beloved CNN news channel here, the only wealth of knowledge we get that goes beyond the shores of the Arabian Sea, I will attempt to do my own version of a ’60 second update’ from then to now…

The ‘second coming’ in Varanasi made me nervous about the prospect of ever having to spend time in Asia’s renound monsoon, those nerves turned to blushes in Khajuraho as thousands of erotic carvings stared at me from the walls of some of the most extravagant temples ever built. Oh, and the irony, or was it coincidence again, was that my day with the ‘loved-up’ carvings landed on none other than Valentines Day; a day of love and togetherness, a day of thoughtfulness and kind words, and now, apparently, a day of artistic appreciation of Mr Karma and Mrs Sutra in all their stone-clad beauty. From blushes to bed-bugs, my journey continued onto Mumbai, as I experienced the real ‘budget traveller’ accommodation that the Salvation Army so kindly offers in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Safe to say that any romantic vibes picked up in Khajuraho were imminently squashed with the arrival of dozens of blood-sucking friends, whose mission of turning my body into a commercial for the aesthetic symptoms of chickenpox or measles was a great success. Top it of with a very unforgiving and indiscreet tummy bug that took effect just before a 12 hour train journey to Goa, and my experience of Mumbai was possibly not as inspirational or memorable as I had hoped, at least not for positive reasons. That takes us to Goa, my place of rest for the last 5 months, with a brief journey back to the UK for two weddings. Adam Smith and Danni Smith, with a little help from best man Jon Smith, become Mr and Mrs Smith…honestly! And of course, my dear brother Russell and now sister-in-law Le’Anne tying the knot and getting my ‘not married yet and still single’ butt off the hook for at least another few years…of which I am extremely grateful to them both. In 10 months I hope to be wearing a ‘best uncle in the world’ t-shirt that should get my ‘not married yet, still single, and no kids yet’ butt even more time off the hook! 10 seconds of our 60 second update remains, so just to say that Goa has provided me with many memories and stories; with many more to follow I’m sure. Sharing a garden with deadly snakes and a property with 30 rescued monkeys, retrieving dogs from deep wells, attempting to dodge buffalo, people, potholes and ditches whilst learning the ropes of an extremely disjointed driving system, entering a monkey cage hoping that you exit with your head still firmly attached to your shoulders, and living under a constant rain cloud that is the Indian monsoon are just a few of these memories. All of which I will try and keep on top of in future blog entries so as not to repeat what appears here to be a direct attempt at outdoing the longevity of the classic ‘War and Peace’.

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