Namaste
Let’s start with the flight. It was easy to get out of the airport. We packed all the stuff, that is essential to a trip to India. I still managed to leave my license without which we likely will not rent a motor in Goa. Or at least I thought. At the airport a nice big Boeing was waiting for us, and we managed to book the seats near the window. While Zsuzsa tried to tuck herself into a big blanket, getting ready for the 7.5hr flight I was checking out the on-board entertainment. Half of the movies were Hollywood and the other were Bollywood. Of course, a Disney productions have selected! We watched Brave while we were cruising 36.000feets. Oh, and a good advise. If you flight with Oman air ask for a special food in advance as you’ll get it first. They were just about to start to bring out the general food when we just finished ours.
After a “good” sleep we were approaching Muscat in the morning. By the time I woke up we were already above the desert over Dubai. We saw the Palm Islands, the World Island and the Burj Dubai which looked tiny! But still it looked massive compared to the other buildings. Dubai looked like a nice little scale-model. We changed planes in Muscat and in 2.5 hrs we landed in Mumbai.
And here's what everyone has written and talked about. The airport surrounded by slums, the heat and the smell. We experienced the culture shock as characterized by many people. It was already clear that we will soon be faced with some interesting stuff. We quickly gather up the backpack and tried to find our driver who was supposedly sent out to drive us the hotel. We reserved a room for two nights just to get familiar with India or Mumbai. It turned out you don’t need two days here. What we saw and experienced are indescribable. Not in a bad way, it’s just so many things happening there is no time to absorb it. We can easy state that the Indian people are creative people! Nowhere on Earth you can manage to cram, squeeze so many things into one place. We did not know where to look. Small huts next to massive buildings (finished or still in progress); children laying on streets, everyone is trying to sell something, or offer a service. It it not unusual to see a hair dresser salon next to a blacksmith(!) or a food take-away. Riksas (tuktuks), cars, taxis, motorbikes in 5 rows on a road where 3 cars could only just manage in Europe. Noise, heat. 3-4 adults ride on one bike. And these all just a little taster how Mumbai looks like. It was very clear that all the European or western health and safety regulations are not know. I saw a pick man working without any safety helmets and wearing only flip-flops. It seems the buildings can take years or decades and while one part of the building is ready the other part is coming done. But it all works. Human, animal, poor, rich live next to each other in the greatest harmony.
The hotel we stayed in was in the suburb which was close to the airport and the slums. The room looked ok; it was clean, not too airy but was alright to sleep in. What we realized is that everything looks dirty, but in fact, they are just old. After a quick shower we deiced to get into the city and check out how we can get to goa by train. We heard about the chaotic trains ticket booking system, so we wanted to make sure we can leave Mumbai in the couple of days. The receptionist advised that we cannot just walk in Mumbai, we either take many many taxis or hire a drive for 8hrs. Of course, we didn’t know that’s part of the business. Everyone knows a “good” driver or shop or travel agent. Everyone can recommend someone. They are not trying to rip you off, that’s how they do business here. They want you to be happy! But if you don’t ask around or try alternatives you think that the only way. We wereadvised the train station is closed (which was true) and we cannot buy tickets anyhow (that wasn’t). He can get train tickets for us in the next couple days so we just stay here and relax. But we still wanted to get into the city to look around. As we were rookies we agreed on the driver as it seemed reasonable. It wasn’t. We drove into the city and we got a little sightseeing tour as well. One thing to remember, and we already to learned on our first day, that you have to agree on the price and the service in advance. We’ve been told that we need to pay extra for parking and for toll, but as the receptionist said there are not many pay parks, and there is only one place to pay toll. Nether less to say we parked where we had to pay, and we somehow managed to include to cross a bridge where you need to pay.
At the train station, after 30second a guy approached us with questions regarding our travels. He said that we are not able to buy any tickets to Goa, but he can help us. Of course he can! We didn’t take the opportunity at this time. Buying a rail ticket is a big hassle in India. Is not just you show up before the train leaves and buy a ticket, but you have to buy it in well advance, as there are waiting lists. Also there are 6 different classes. It took us a couple of days to get our head around it, and still, we haven’t managed to buy one.
On the streets we saw so many people offering different kind of services. One was offering palm reading other was offering to take photographs and printing them as well. I couldn’t image how would he do that, but realized Polaroid has a small digital instant printer. I thought he had one, but for my surprise he was carrying a desktop printer under his arms and printing with it! I have no idea where it get the power. In our way back we saw the palm reader sleeping on the street, exactly on the same spot as he was before. Probably his shift has been finished. He will open tomorrow morning.
At the end of the sightseeing we were absolutely sure we wouldn’t want to spend another day in Mumbai, as there are not much to see rather than crowded streets, a few monuments, and crazy traffic. It was too much. So we decided to leave as soon as possible. Train was out of the question so we managed to find a flight for next morning. It was reasonably priced and the journey took 1 hr (the train would have been 14hrs at best). The only trick was that I didn’t receive any confirmation email, and we didn’t make any notes, and the only thing I was remembered that the flight leaves at 12.00pm. But I didn’t know from which airport, which airlines etc.
Next morning we woke up and had a breakfast at the hotel. Being our first real day in India we went for the safest option. Muesli, jam and pancake. We didn’t dare to try to other suspicious food. I’m pretty sure they were tasty, but it was too early to dive into the culinary of India. Later we manage to get a taxi from the hotel to the airport. Luckily the driver knew that we supposed to go to the domestic airport, but still it had two terminals. Later it turned out that we were flying Indigo airlines (which a no frill low cost airlines). At first I thought Indigo was the agency where I booked. We arrived at the airport, and we had to show our confirmation email. As I haven’t received any I couldn’t give it to them, but I could have our boarding passes printed out at the airport for a little extra. As usual. (By the way I later checked and I received the confirmation email 3 hrs just before the departure.)
The flight took only 1 hr and we safely landed at Dabolim airport just off the cost of Goa. We saw that the conditions are very similar to Mumbai, but it was spread. It just wasn’t that concentrated. For my surprise the conveyor belt at the airport had painter roulette numbers as it was advertising a casino. And I got lucky! My backpack was lying on one of my favorite number! Good start for the trip.
We also had a reservation in a hotel for two days. I quick taxi ride and we arrived in a nice hotel close the beach with white sandy beach surrounded with palm and coconut trees. The village, called Majorda, is a tiny place with lots of Russians! It turned out that this place is one of the famous resorts among Russians (and Bollywood actors). The local people could speak a little Russian and all the stores had Russian texts. And of course you could buy diamonds and vodka almost everywhere. We also see a (probably) Russian couple who just married in tradition clothes. Not Russian. Indian.
After a quick shower we went down to eat something. The lunch was traditional Indian food. Needless to say it was terribly delicious, not too spicy, slightly oily. And it cost only Rs300 (around £4). Which we soon realised is a typical price around Goa. Later we went ot the beach for a little walk. What can I say, it was astonishing! It wasn’t busy, just a few people was wondering around, we saw a big water buffalo a dew cows and many crows! My only „problem” was that the water was a little bit too warm. Other than that it was picturesque!
As we need constant water supply, due to the unhealthy water in India, our first way in a new place is to get bottled water. It’s very easy to buy water, even chilled ones. As we entered into a small shop just off the hotel, the owner turned the ligths on. Why have it on when it’s not in use. Simple. It had everything from sweets to envelops. Nicely put on shelfs which was covered in newspaper. Newspaper is widely used here to wrap anything. From mosquito repellent to buns.
We made a promise not to buy a lot of things in the couple of first days as we need to carry all our stuff around. Well this promise lasted till the first clothes shop. They all worth it, and we even managed to practice our bargaining skills. It’s funny that everyone knows that the first price is at least double the normal price. But that’s how it works! They asked Rs400 for one trousers. We said it was too much and we offered 150. The shopkeeper said it was too low, then he said 350. We offered 180, he said 320 and so on. At the end we bought two very nice and colorful trousers for Zsuzsa forRs500. We also bought a hat for me which followed the same example. You have to bargain for everything. There are set things like stuff in shops and restaurants, but other than that nothing has a fixed price.
Later we had another nice dinner at the same restaurant but this time the mosquitos and ants were invited as well. We got some mosquite repellents but ultimatly it didn’t really work. During night we also had to compromise between the heat of the mosquitoes. As the only place where we could attached our handy mosquito net was the fan on the ceiling. We choose not to use the fan. I can’t remember when was the last time I couldn’t sleep becaouse of the heat! Maybe 7 years ago... Even the heat and the noise from the kitchen, which was basicly a few washbasins under our balcony we sleept well.
We had to leave our room before 10, but Zsuzsa asked if we could stay for another night, despite I was told twice the night before we had to leave. For my surprise we could have stayed for another night. It proves nothing is set in India. You just have to keep asking... We planned to walk around in the village and its surroundings. We bought some fruits (papayas, bananas and something called chikoo, which looks like a not too hairy kiwi and tastes like pear but a very sweat pear!) from local people and had it in the jungle sitting on a palm trunk. Usual Tuesday mornings! During our walk we bumped into locals who were waving to us and tried to get into conversation. Everyone speaks at least a little English. Even in remote places. At least the places we were so far. We meet a young woman who was kind to invite us to her house where we met her parents, a few chickens and a couple of dogs. The house was very clean, but in a not too good state; no furniture only a few beds, TV and a VCR! After 5 minutes we already changed contact details. We had our first friend in India.
There was also an international centre in the village, where we could use the internet, change money, or buy SIM cards, which we did as for booking train tickets we needed one. Everyone has mobiles, they know about facebook and all this s**t and everyone is up to date. They know more about us then we know about them! I asked the lady who worked in this international center how could I rent a motorbike without a driving license. She said it’s not possible but doable! I just need to be careful not to get caught by the police, and when I got caught I could probably get away with a little bribe. One of my friend, who was in India couple of years ago, got caught riding without a license, He was asked to pay Rs200, but he managed to get it down to Rs100! You can bargain even with the police.
During lunch we got a little taste of the “take it easy” attitude. We were waiting for 20 minutes just to get the menu, another 30min to take our orders, and another 30min to get our food which we ate in 5minutes. These are the things we need to get use to. Everything happens slow-motion. One guide book mentions that there are few train lines where the trains spend more standstill then in motion. A 10 hour journey consists 6 hours waiting + 4 hours moving. But it reaches the destination.
We went to the beach for a nice little night stroll, when we saw a little restaurant just off the coast, which looked promising to have our dinner there. We ordered something masala and something jalfrezi. But my favorite was the pancake. Not because of its taste, but because how the conversation during between us and the server:
Zsuzsa: I’d like to have a honey and chocolate pancake.
Server: There isn’t any honey and chocolate pancakes. You can have honey or chocolate pancake. Which one would you like?
Zsuzsa: Let’s have the chocolate one.
Server: Sorry but we ran out of chocolate.
Zsuzsa: Then I'll have the honey flavored.
Server: Very well!
That's how it goes here...
Next morning we went to the international center to check our emails, still cannot forgot about the rest of the world, but there wasn’t any electricity. It’s quite common in India. The power comes and goes like cows on the road. While we were waiting we experienced how they fix the roads here. It’s self explanatory. Check out the videos.
We were waiting for like an hour, an there were still no sign of power we got a taxi and left Majorda and travelled to our next stop Benaulim. En route we had to stop for a short shop visit as we could only get a good fare it we stop for 5 minute. We didn’t have to buy but we need to look around. The drivers get a little money to bring tourists to shops. This shop was more like a 3 story high massive shopping center in the middle of nowhere. It was clear that we were not the target groups as it mainly had unbelievable beautiful (and expensive) rugs and carpets, lots of jewelry and hand crafted statues and other things. We spent 5 minutes in there, the shopkeeper was very kind showing lots of stuff but we left empty handed.
Majorda usually is full of Russian millionaires, while Benaulim is full of British pensioners. We saw both here. This village was far busier than the previous one, it had more restaurants shops, and an all night-long-party-bar right next to our hotel. It was touristier. I know it’s quite hard to go to a place where the locals outnumber the tourist but I never understand why people travel half a day to another continent to a completely different culture to eat English breakfast and drink Heineken. I get that the locals try to make the tourist happy, but something it goes to far. The bar next to our hotel had a bad (very bad) disco. At 2 am, after a night full of ABBA hits, when you think it wouldn’t get worse, someone starts to sing to the Final countdown from Europe. I mean I get it. But really?
After of our arrival we went to look around in the village. It had the same charm as the previous one but with more restaurants and guesthouses. The beach was still almost empty being early season. While we were sitting and enjoying the view a local asked if he could join us. It turned out he studied in England, more specifically in Kent. He was a cook and had a guesthouse nearby, which he kindly offered for a good price. Everyone has something to offer here. And they try to make business. Not pushing it, but making sure you don’t forget where to find a service if you need it. And everyone is friendly. They like foreigners (not the Russians though) and they always admire out white skin. It’s funny that in the western world people spent money and time to get as brown as possible, meanwhile in India you can buy cosmetics to have a skin as bright as possible. We saw some ads where the Indian celebs were retouched so heavily that they looked almost white.
As we were walking back Zsuzsa noticed a rusty metal cabinet, which apparently was the beach toilet, and a local women next to it who was waiving friendly. We wave back which lead to a little chat. It turned out she leaves nearby and has something to offer. What a surprise. And her name was Suzanne. Having the same name as Zsuzsa we couldn’t reject her offer. She lead us to a little bench or bed (who knows what was that). She asked her son the help her bringing out the treasure. She had textiles, jewelry, decorated pens and other useful artifacts. The ones you can buy in Camden for $20. But it was straight from the maker for about Rs200. Of course Zsuzsa couldn’t resist the temptation, which I totally understand, as I got a bracelet and a necklace. In the meantime another women appeared from nowhere, her name was Silvia, and she insisted we should look at her stuff as well. We were in trouble! Not a deadly one, but still we realized we wouldn’t get out of it easily. So we bought more! Of course we were bargaining and it all felt good. Not the usual way you would buy something in a regular shop. You get to know the person a little bit. It’s more personal. They are not just jewelry. They have a story. I don’t usually wear bracelets, but now it reminds me how and where we got it.
On our way back we get lost, of course, but asking for guidance from the locals we got home in one piece, and we also managed to buy some fruits which we ate with a good appetite.
In the morning we had our breakfast in the hotel’s garden which was absolutely stunning. Palm trees around the garden, beautiful flowers and dozens of butterflies. We had a little chat with the owner of the hotel. He was born in Goa and learned catering in England. Another “surprise”. He suggested to visit a museum not far from here to get to know more about the history of the region. We didn’t plan to visit museums but knowing nothing about Goa we decided why not to take the trip We were advised to go straight and turn left at the cross roads and the museum would be there. Simple enough.
We went straight and turned left. While we were walking, for like 20 minutes, we saw a young guy sitting in a metal hut and carving some incredible designs out of big flat wood. Do you recognize any of it? Well… No comment. He didn’t speak to much English but he was keen to show his previous works and photos about is family.
Further along the way we were surrounded with cows and pigs. Just the usual. After another 30 minutes or so I got a little bit worried that we might missed the museum as we were told it was just right there. I asked a woman for further instructions and she said we need to walk a little bit then we have to turn left. I got a little bit suspicious as we already turned left once. But she was local so we believed her. We found the junction and we turned left. After a while a house with a sign: Soul’s gallery and yoga. I understand the yoga part, but wasn’t sure about the gallery as we were in the middle of nowhere. We rang a bell and a young guy appeared, turned the lights on and kindly invited us to look around in his gallery. It was full of paintings and drawings by local artists and by himself. He was also a yoga teacher and he held classes every morning and evening. Well what can I say? Zsuzsa was very happy to participate. We agreed to come back in the morning as we were about to leave the next day afternoon.
We continued our journey with a big smile on our face. Later we spotted a guy riding a bike with a big metal box. He was the local ice-cream dealer. I asked what flavors he had but soon I realized how stupid my question was. Laszlo, you are in India, in the middle of the jungle. Think! So we bought two chocolate flavored one and while we were licking the quickly melting delight we asked a local shop owner where the museum was as we still couldn’t find it. We got the same answer. Straight and left again. Now we got worried. But surprisingly we found the entrance of the museum after a little walk with a turn at the end of the road. It proved that everyone was right. It was straight and left. Not once, but 3 times. But it was there!
The museum wasn’t the typical air conditioned building with marble floors and armed guards. It was like a big farm with lots of stuff in it. We got a little tour and we were lucky to meet the curator as well. He told us that the traditions, the culture of the old Goa is slowly disappearing, and no one remembers how their ancients lived. The museum has a little land attached to it where various vegetables, herbs and fruits are grown to support the locals. He doesn’t get any funding, so it’s a very slow process to record, preserve and spread the story of their past. But he is confident, and more importantly he is very passionate about what he does. He doesn’t want to include his museum in any guide book, as he doesn’t want to be commercialized. He rather like it to be spread it by one to another. We promise we’ll mention his museum. So here it goes:
Goa Chitra Ethnographic Museum
St. John Baptiste church road, Mondo-Waddo
Benaulim, Salcete Goa
403716 India
Tel.: 0091 0832 657877
www.goachitra.com
In our way back home, for the first time we managed to get in to a riksa taxi. As usual we negotiated the price, which took like 5 minutes, and we were heading back to the beach where I was to have my first seafood on Goa.
We heard about the shacks along the beach where we could eat fresh, daily caught seafood, but we didn’t really saw one. What we didn’t realize that it is still preseason, and the shacks and beach huts are built and rebuilt every year, as they wouldn’t survive the monsoon. The main season starts mid November so only a few shacks have been built. We found one, so we entered with big faith. As Zsuzsa is vegetarian it was more for me, but it still served traditional Indian veg food. I choose a red snapper as I didn’t want to put off Zsuzsa’s appetite by ordering a baby shark. We also ordered a bottle of Kingfisher which is the flagship beer in India. As far as I know. It’s a very light beer, with not specific taste. In about 20 minutes a guy appeared holding a metal plate with a fish on it. I was shocked for a minute as I thought that’s how I need to eat it, but it was just showing that the fish was fresh. Weird custom, but at least genuine. I was happy with my selection so I agreed to have that fish. It’s like choosing a living lobster in big water tank. Kill that one! I’d like to eat that one. As it wasn’t too busy, only a drunk Russian, and a british young couple were sitting in the restaurant the kitchen staff thought why to rush. It took around 1 hour to get our food. We could follow up the whole cooking process as the kitchen was right behind us. It was spectacular, and slow. But it tasted very good.
We went to bed early as we had to wake up at 5 to get to the yoga class in time. What we didn’t realize that at 5am in would be completely dark, no taxis or riksas, and we don’t really know the way back through the jungle. Even we woke up in time, it was too frightening to leave the hotel room, so we had to skip it.
We had to leave our room but we didn’t really planned where to go from there we decided to stay another night. Our destination for that was Colva beach, which it a very popular beach not just for the tourist but for the Indian people as well. We took a taxi as we were not (yet) brave enough to get on a local bus. Colva is much bigger than Benaulim hence it is much crowded. The beach was full of locals and foreigners and it wasn’t really pleasant to stay there so opted for a little walk along the beach to find a quieter spot. It was very strange that hundreds of people were crowded in one place, but no one realized if they walked 100 meters it got much more pleasant. Lucky for us they didn’t realized. As Zsuzsa was still a little bit afraid of the water I approached the welcoming waves alone. After a nice swim we walked back to the center. As I was still wet I carried my clothes in my hand. When we got back that’s when I realized I lost my shirt somewhere along the way. We didn’t remember where and how. I usually like to wear a shirt when travelling even if it’s hot, so I decided to buy something to cover my hairy chest. I entered to a shop like a half naked idiot tourist how lost his shirt and now he needs another. Yes, it was me. It’s very hard to bargain when they know you definitely buy something. We agreed on a nice stripy shirt for about Rs250 ($3).
As we realized we still have the time get back to the yoga class we rushed back to Soul’s gallery. I didn’t participate, but Zsuzsa enjoyed a lot. She also had the chance to talk to Soul about things that would fill a book if I want to write it down.
We finished the day with a cinnamon roll (russain yuppe for the locals) and some fresh mangos, papayas and bananas. All for Rs100. I love India!
To be continued….
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