Goa- Arambol Beach - February 9th, 2009

February 9th, 2009

We left Mumbai at 6:55 in the morning - the train left right on time. I may have had some kind of reaction to the malaria pills (I have stomach upset and nightmares - Kevin nothing that we have seen/he has felt) Of all the train seats, we had one with the least leg room (a big metal box in front of us instead of other seats) and a small, very dirty window. There was an empty seat across from us but we waited to make sure that no one sat there. Unfortunately, an Indian man moved in order to be able to plug in and charge his cell phone. So we could not occupy the seat with the larger window.

Yesterday morning we left Panjim and arrived in Arambol - A beach resort village on the west cost on the Arabian Sea. There are small waves - never any big surf. We came by cab from Panjim with Peter and Marissa.

It is like any beach town - many booths lining the streets selling things - in this case not beach toys and bathing suits, but handicrafts and clothes from all over India. We still have trouble with the negotiations because, although we know they are asking WAY>> too much when we offer a lot less and they act insulted or hurt - we do find that tough. We bought two pairs of shoes yesterday for R500, one was flip flops. Kevin got shoes with "birkenstock" written on them - but they are cheap knock-offs. They started the birks at 1200 and the flip flops at 250 - so it seemed like a good deal but when I thought about it I could have got flip flops and birk type shoes at Zellers for about the same price. E.g. There are so many tourists here that they are not willing to bargain hard - it was much easier on elephanta market.

We stayed last night at the Arambol Plaza as it had AC - but it is far from the beach and Peter and Marrisa were paying R500 a night for a great room near the beach - so this morning we moved from our charmless R1500 a night with AC, but far from the action, to the non-AC but seemed to be cool enough by late yesterday afternoon - Famafa Beach resort.

The beach is soft white sand and the water is warm but even the ocean seems rather suspect, here as public spaces are for the most part dirty/dusty here, although you get used to it. It is dusty as we are the dusty end of the year - the monsoon starts in June. India is what I expected, less and more.

We loved Panjim. We stayed in the A Pousada (Guest House) and had two large rooms with AC for R750. It is a charming little town, and the people seem "real", since it is both industrial and commercial rather than tourist although there are a lot of tourists figuring out what touristy thing to do in Goa. From Panaji (Pamjim - same place two names) You can go to the beach and you can go to the hills - Ponda and the spice plantation etc.

The scene last night, was sitting on the beach while the sun set (into the haze) and the full moon rose over the palm trees. I had been too hot for much of the day so it was a real treat to get a cool ocean breeze. Getting used to toilets in India - squats (Indian toilets) at first a real difference, that was hard to get used to. Every toilet generally has running water beside it and often a hose for cleaning yourself - toilet paper (since you cannot put into the toilet but only in to the can beside it - toilet paper is a pretty dirty idea to Indians and very wasteful and an environmental nightmare. ) Having said all that I carry toilet paper and use it - but if we were here long enough I think I could eventually make the shift.

The bi-polar Norwegian currency trader we met in the bar (and who used my ipod for all the music in the bar that evening) says that within one month the U.S. dollar and the pound are going seriously into the dumper, and to make money right now (he was not selling anything - just said "talk to your broker when you get home") is to sell dollars and pounds short against other currencies like Euros . . . So I mean to check by the end of March and see if I could have made a whack of dough if I had just listened/believed.

We are also getting used to no news and not being connected. No cell phones that let us wander away from each other and easily come back together. Kevin is always worried about me and does not ever like to be more than a few feet apart! I feel perfectly safe but it is true that we will potentially be apart some time if we lose each other!

We had CNN for two nights in Panjim but there was no real news except the fires in Australia. We used an Indian laundry yesterday - machine wash! As I had been concerned about the river washing and the vats in Mumbai, it was a good idea.

Kevin is busy fixing the computers in this small internet cafe - he is in heaven and I am typing away.

Peter and Marissa are on the beach today and we will go later. I have broken my shoes(sandals) so now I have to go and try and negotiate for a pair again. Sigh. . . shopping is hard here.