"It's a Goa!"
( ...has been Helen's response in the affirmative to every question posed since we ditched the city, took a 12-hour train and wound up in Arambol, in the north of this state.)
Goa, from what we've seen today, is a pretty amazingly contradictory place. Everyone we spoke to before we came warned us, "It's not India," - and they were right. I do kind of miss Mumbai, for all the pollution, the poverty, and the commercial hustle: you don't get more India than that. Still, with me still recuperating and Shae coming down with a cold, we thought that a few days on the beach sounded like a good idea - and just because it's not India doesn't mean there isn't plenty to see.
Oh no. Arambol is supposed to be one of the most relaxed places in Goa, but if so I really can't imagine what the others are like. Here it's a frenticly low-key mix of faded hippies, stoners, middle-aged drop-out ex-lawyers, Israeli psy-trance freaks, multitudes of backpackers, locals, shopkeepers, tradies, and cows. There's no getting away from the cows in India - they wander on beaches framed by palm fronds past topless, G-stringed Eurotrash; by yoga devotees doing stretches as the sun goes down; and into the rubbish bins beside the restaurants and beach shacks that line the shore.
We're staying in one of these shacks, for about $3 a night each - a little bamboo hut with a double bed, mattress on the floor for the third of us (we plan to rotate), and a little plaster Jesus above the light switch. Goa is the most heavily Christian place we've found so far, being a former Portugese colony - there's a little whitewashed church lit up by neon lights on the main road, and crucifixes and statues everywhere. We're planning to spend some time in Old Goa, where there are many many cathedrals, some ruins, and the relics of St Francis Xavier, who last went on show two years ago and who will be resting deep in the tombs when we visit.
It's odd to be in a place with such a heady mix of religious devoutness and hedonism. We're planning to go to church tomorrow to atone for the day on sloth we've had today, browsing the stalls and drinking Indian wine. Then for me it's on to Hampi, and after that... well, a few days of leisure never killed anyone, did they?
Helen says:
Helen is off drinking wine and so not available for comment. I plan to join her very, very soon.
Goa, from what we've seen today, is a pretty amazingly contradictory place. Everyone we spoke to before we came warned us, "It's not India," - and they were right. I do kind of miss Mumbai, for all the pollution, the poverty, and the commercial hustle: you don't get more India than that. Still, with me still recuperating and Shae coming down with a cold, we thought that a few days on the beach sounded like a good idea - and just because it's not India doesn't mean there isn't plenty to see.
Oh no. Arambol is supposed to be one of the most relaxed places in Goa, but if so I really can't imagine what the others are like. Here it's a frenticly low-key mix of faded hippies, stoners, middle-aged drop-out ex-lawyers, Israeli psy-trance freaks, multitudes of backpackers, locals, shopkeepers, tradies, and cows. There's no getting away from the cows in India - they wander on beaches framed by palm fronds past topless, G-stringed Eurotrash; by yoga devotees doing stretches as the sun goes down; and into the rubbish bins beside the restaurants and beach shacks that line the shore.
We're staying in one of these shacks, for about $3 a night each - a little bamboo hut with a double bed, mattress on the floor for the third of us (we plan to rotate), and a little plaster Jesus above the light switch. Goa is the most heavily Christian place we've found so far, being a former Portugese colony - there's a little whitewashed church lit up by neon lights on the main road, and crucifixes and statues everywhere. We're planning to spend some time in Old Goa, where there are many many cathedrals, some ruins, and the relics of St Francis Xavier, who last went on show two years ago and who will be resting deep in the tombs when we visit.
It's odd to be in a place with such a heady mix of religious devoutness and hedonism. We're planning to go to church tomorrow to atone for the day on sloth we've had today, browsing the stalls and drinking Indian wine. Then for me it's on to Hampi, and after that... well, a few days of leisure never killed anyone, did they?
Helen says:
Helen is off drinking wine and so not available for comment. I plan to join her very, very soon.
posted by Jess at 9:02 AM
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