Explore the State of Goa in India

Lena and I spent five wonderful days in Goa this past week. Technically we skipped classes, but I consider it more of a spring break. The journey started with a 9 hour bus ride from Pune to Mapusa in Goa. The bus was the typical excruciating Indian road journey. Our friends talked us into saving a little money and not getting a sleeper bus, instead we got a normal bus that had reclining seats. Worst decision ever. It was a journey through the mountains, so the constant turns, stops and starts, and the guy throwing up in front of us made for a rather sleepless night.

We finally arrived in Mapusa about 630 in the morning and were instantly assaulted by cab drivers wanting to take us to wherever our hearts desired. It was such a confusing sight, I had zero coffee, zero sleep, and was not in the mood to haggle with anyone. We managed to push our way through the crowd and stood off to the side to catch our breath and have a breather.We debated about taking a bus to our hotel, but ended up deciding that in our current state we would fork over the extra money and take a cab. After about ten minutes of the cab speeding through the early morning streets we make it to the Shalom Guest House on Small Vagator beach. It is now about 730 in the morning and we aren't supposed to check in until noon, but luckily the owner was up and kindly let us in our room early.

After settling a bit, we decide to head off to the beach and have a morning picnic while the tide rolls in. It takes us a minute to find the entrance to the beach, but using our amazing detective skills we find it a few feet from where our hotel is situated. As we crest the top of a staircase I see the Indian ocean for the first time. The beach stretches out before me and you can see a few early morning joggers and yogis out practicing. Shopkeepers are just starting to set up the lounging chairs and move about the beach. There is a stillness to the beach that later in the day will be replaced with the crowds of tourists and sellers wandering around. Lena and I are comfortably enjoying our picnic on the rocks when a dog decides that our meal should be his and comes wandering up to us. Being the gullible people that we are we feed him some of our crackers and cheese. This was probably our first mistake, because after that he refuses to leave us alone. Lena goes off to take some pictures of the beach and I stay with the bags and the food, occupied by my new best friend.

As I am sitting here enjoying the beach, the early morning salty air, and the slight breeze that hides the morning heat I completely zone out. Next thing I know the dog has his head buried in our food bag and is attempting to carry the bag away. Mind you I still am not fully awake and definitely not in the mood to have my kindness turned against me. I try to grab the bag from the dog, but he just tries to bite me in response. That doesn't really fly with me and I respond by forcefully grabbing the bag tying it up then sitting it directly between my legs. Eventually he gives up and goes to lie down a few feet away from me. Lena comes wondering back and the first thing she does is open the food bag to grab some grapes. Next thing I know the dog is instantly back and trying to take our food bag away again.

A little fed up with the dog we decide to head out in a search for coffee. Remembering seeing some shops on the way to the hotel we start walking towards where we saw them. A few kilometers later we find a nice looking cafe that is open and we head in for some coffee and chai. The owner of the shop is a very interesting character and he tells us all about his cafe and how he got it started. The entire time we are enjoying our first cup of coffee he is telling us about the Australians, Europeans, and Russians he has met in during his time here and giving us advice on where to go to eat or to visit. We order a second cup of coffee just as another customer walks in to the shop. This one is clearly a local and he is telling us about a car crash that happened just down the road. He has to be in his fifties or sixties and has lived here for years. I am fascinated with people who choose this type of life. Someone who visits a place, gets so addicted to it, and then decides to leave everything behind and move to this place. In Goa that is a fairly common thing. there are so many people that have traveled here and then decided to never go back to their home country. I definitely can't blame them. The place is gorgeous, cheap food, and cheap living, what more could you ask for in a home?

We finally head out of the cafe and decide to head back to the hotel and see if the other students, who are already here, have woken up yet. Apparently, they have already headed to the beach because we can't find them in their rooms, so we decide to go get our bathing suits on and head back to the beach. After all what else are we going to do in a beach town?

The beach that we are staying on isn't that big, but trying to find two people proves to be a bit of a challenge. We walk all the way down one side of the beach without and luck and the we head in the opposite direction to see if we can find them there. Eventually we do find them lounging on some chairs and soaking up the sun. We join them on the sand, since all the chairs have been taken already, and start soaking in the Indian sun. We get up every now and then and go for s dip in the ocean. The first time in I am surprised at how salty it is. I have been in both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, but this one was by far the saltiest out of the three. It was nice and cool though and the perfect way to coll off after being in the sun for a half hour.

Eventually Eugene and Silja join Anna, Simona, Lena, and I on the beach and we all head in for lunch at the Om Cafe, which is right next to where we are laying on the beach. I enjoy a delicious veggie sandwich and also order a pina coloda to enjoy while sitting in the sand. After lunch its another quick dip in the ocean and by the time I get out my delicious looking cocktail is waiting for me by the benches. I get one taste of drink and then promptly spill the entire thing in the sand. I suck it up and just decide to avoid drinking at the moment and I'll just enjoy my water, healthier anyways.

A couple hours later the Germans inform us that they normally go for happy hour at another beach side cafe. So we decide to go with them since we have nothing else to do and don't know our way around anyways. I tempt the fates and order another pina coloda. This one doesn't spill, but it isn't nearly as good as the one I had before. While enjoying our drinks we are treated to a gorgeous sunset on the beach. I could definitely get used to ending everyday by watching the sun set over an endless ocean.

We all head back up to the hotel and on the way make plans for the next day. Eugene, Silja, Lena, and I decide to venture down to Old Goa, with a plan to leave early in the morning. In order to do that we need to rent a scooter. Neither Lena nor I have had much experience driving a scooter, but since I knew the most about bikes we decided that I would get the honor of taking it on a test drive. At this point it is completely pitch dark out and I am definitely unfamiliar with this area. The guy renting the bike encouraged me to just "go around the block" to get a feel for the bike. No big deal. right? Well apparently the "blocks" in India are a little bigger and not so nicely defined as the blocks in the US. However, a few wrong turns later I find my way back to the store having successfully drove the bike. We have now acquired a bike to go traveling around Goa for less than $5 a day. Looking forward to the adventures tomorrow.