Goa was like our little holiday from India; a chance for us to chill out and get away from the hustle and bustle. We headed for Arambol which is in the far north of Goa and is the choice of mainly backpackers and ageing hippies. Arriving at 8.30pm, in the dark was not the ideal senario, especially since we were planning on staying in huts on the beach but with torch in hand we managed to find our way to 'Samsara' which is where we made ourselves at home. We had our own little hut on stilts, complete with balcony and a mosquito net that didn't fit the bed!
We were up relatively early the next morning and stepped straight out of our hut on to the beach- bliss. Laying our towels down on the sand and taking off our t-shirts, we were approached by three women selling all sorts, from sarongs to toe rings and tacky elephants. Apparently the milk bottle-esque look we had just screamed newbies! The first lady managed to sell me a sarong. Then her friend insisted that we looked at her things and so foolishly we did: I added a toe ring and an anklet to my collection. When the third lady told us now she would be showing us her array of goods, we tried to say no but she told us "anything for 100 rs"; Dean bought a sarong (don't worry, he didn't do a Beckham and wear it as a skirt!). By this time four more women had joined the throng but this time we really had had enough. The forth woman told me she'd be back tomorrow and that I would have to buy something to give her good luck; that's something I could've done with when she started stalking me on the beach! She also taught us a very useful phrase which meant 'I don't want anything' which to be honest could have been something really offensive but it seemed to work! That night was cinema under the stars at Samsara and so we sat down with banana lassi (a curd based drink) in hand and watched 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
Next day we bummed around on the beach again and I ended up giving mrs 'now you look at my things', the good luck she had requested by buying another anklet. Dean got annoyed with me but he just doesn't understand that women were born to shop! :S The people in our neighbouring huts were from London and that night it was one of their birthdays so we ended up celebrating with them as Neel (whose birthday it was) insisted on buying us a drink which then turned into two and so on- thank you again. We did try to buy one for him but he wouldn't let us. The next night was open mic night at Samsara which turned out to be rather painful. The first act we saw was an American guy reading 'Little red riding hood', in all fairness he was really good. Then a guy from Essex read out some poetry that he'd written which again was awesome and really funny. But then came along a Katie Melua wannabe and o my lord, it hurt to watch. This was Dean's cue to leave and so off he headed to the next bar which was hosting a reggae night. 'Katie' finally finished singing about how she loved 'those blues' and on came her husband who until now had been trying to sooth their screaming toddler. So picture the ageing hippy who has a three year old strapped to his back, picks up his guitar, plays a few chords and starts shouting "shamoo shamoo, oooha ha, shamoo" whilst violently jigging about; off to the reggae bar. Apparently the child finally fell asleep while he was playing :s
On Wednesday we headed to the beach around the corner which is called 'lakeside' due to their being the sea on one side and a lake on the other. It was really beautiful and very quiet so was bliss. It also turns out that this is hashish beach as I don't think we went 10 minutes during our stay there without being offered something to smoke. The lake is famous for having mud which is supposedly good for skin tone and circulation. When we returned to lakeside a few days later with Neel, Shirley and Eve (London crew) we all decided to join in the fun and so each got covered in the yellow mud. The man selling it didn't half scrub you, in fact I think I lost about 8 layers of skin in the process! Once it has dried you have to go into the lake and wash it off. We actually think the stuff works as we all felt silky smooth afterwards.
On the Thursday night Samsara held a drums and fire night and this time the talent on display was just awesome. The percussion band were fronted by a really talented guy who's drumming was just surreal, his hands were moving so quickly that you could barely see them. A lot of dancing was done and it was hard to sit still whilst listening to them play. There were also women doing tricks with fire and one was even hula hooping using a hoop which was alight- crazy but great to watch. A russian girl then came and I swear to god that she is the most flexible person I have ever seen in my life- I had to tell Dean to shut his mouth a number of times ;)! I am having a complete mental block and so may sound stupid saying this but she was doing acrobatics on a huge piece of material which hung from the bamboo roof, lilke cirque du soleil. (Please someone let me know the proper name for this). She was incredible! After the show had finished we realised just how hippy like the surroundings had become. ;)
The rest of our time at Arambol was really chilled out and we had such difficulty in leaving- we just wanted to stay there forever but Hampi was calling. We had a train to catch from Vasco at 7.20am on the Tuesday and so left Samsara on Monday to spend the night in Vasco. The cheapest place we found to stay was way beyond what we were willing to pay but we had no choice. Vasco doesn't really have much to offer other than a look at the non touristy side of Goa, in fact we only saw 2 other western people in the time we were there. The price we paid for the room was not good value in any sense but we had little choice and so cheesed off we headed to explore Vasco. Holi (Hindu festival of colour) started the day after next and so we stocked up on paint to ensure that we would be able to give as good as we got. That night as we were going to bed I checked the tickets one last time only to discover that we had in fact left Arambol two days earlier than we had to- we'd got our dates wrong! Bloody amateurs!! Really annoyed with ourselves we pulled out the guide book and decided that one day in Vasco was enough and so picked out a nearby beach. What was most frustrating was that we left on the day of the full moon party in Arambol which would have been amazing but I guess we'll have to wait for Thailand now. So off to Benaulim we went which was cheap and had some good restaurants AND a walls ice cream parlour which was dirt cheap. Unfortunately, (sorry if i offend anyone) it turned out to be as one English woman described it, "an old persons waiting room" ie, oap beach.
Next day was Holi and as Benaulim was Christian we had to head in to Margao where there are more Hindus. It was awesome as people just walk up to you and smear paint across your face. There were cars driving past us all the time with blaring music and people caked in really bright colours. They seemed to love the fact that we were so in to it all and loads of people wanted to put colour on us. It was strange because the people were so much more friendly towards us on that day, not that they were usually hostile but they were definitely glad to see us joining in. We really enjoyed ourselves but trying to get the pink paint of us later on was a nightmare- we were still finding it days later!
When we finally managed to get on the right train we were thrilled that it was on time and we had seats. Our train from Varanasi to Delhi was a nightmare as it ended up over 8 hours late and as we had a flight to Goa booked for 11 hours after the original expected arrival time, we had to get on another train. However, there weren't any seats left so we had to buy a ticket that meant you could go in an unreserved carriage for 12 hours with no bed and a hard seat. The station police wouldn't let us though and so told us to sit in amongst the tourists where it was less harsh and then sleep on the floor. So we did and that night we snoozed with the cockroaches running by the side of us- it was an experience and surprisingly quite fun- thank god that the people in the berths were understanding! On arrival at Hospet station near Hampi the Rickshaw mafia desended and one driver even got on the train asking if we needed a tuk tuk to Hampi itself- just let me get off the bloody train! We stayed for two nights in Hampi and then headed over to the other side of the river to a place called 'Goan Corner' (thanks Hayley W for recommending) which is in amongst the paddy fields. It's so peaceful there and they give you your own hammock in your porch. We were also lucky in that we were given a room with a view over looking the fields and the rocks. We sat there really chilled out, reading our books in perfect surroundings. Watching the sun set in such an atmosphere was awesome too and so incredibly beautiful. The only problem we had or should I say, I had, was that like a proper sad ass I got motion sickness in the hammock after about 30 minutes- pathetic I know!
Hampi is definitely worth visiting if you ever get the chance and has some really great sights and the views are ace. On one day we decided to go to the hanuman temple which is at the top of 600 steps. It took some effort and we were knackered after the 20 minute walk but once at the temple, you could see paddy fields, rocks and the river for miles. When you go to a Hanuman temple you expect to see some monkeys what with Hanuman being monkey God and all but there were none to be seen here which we were not disappointed by but more confused. Apparently it's because the monkeys are smart and unlike us aren't stupid enough to be at the temple in the heat of the day!
A week later and we were off back to Goa again to catch our flights to Mumbai and then Bangkok. The Bangkok flight was awesome as when we boarded the pane we discovered that we had been given a free upgrade to first class! We were like children messing with all the gadgets and reclining our chairs as far back as they would go. Flying here to Hanoi just wasn't the same when we had to go back to economy! Hehe.

Em and Dean

xxxxxx