The next thing I knew is was 5:30 in
the morning and the sun was up. I disentangled myself from my
belongings and made my way back to the enquiry desk and was met with
the same response. My frustration must have been apparent from a way
off as a man came over to me and asked me where I was headed and when
I told him he informed me there had been a train the night before but
not to matter there would be another in half and hour. I spent the
time before the train arrived chatting to the him about all sorts and
we carried on the conversation on the train over coffee. Before I
knew it I was at Thivim station where we got the bus towards Mapusa,
we got separated when on the bus as it was absolutely crammed due to
being the first of the morning and a school service too. I never got
to say goodbye but upon arriving in Mapusa the conductor told me my
friend had paid for the fair. Its those chance encounters when you
are travelling on your own that make the trip worth while when there
are so many trying to take advantage of you. From Mapusa it was
another short train journey to Calangute and I was there in no time.
Trying to find where the girls were staying was a different kettle of
fish, I had the address but for some reason unbeknown to me I had
neglected to write the name of the hotel down. This lead to me
wondering around the same place for quite some time, accidentally
trespassing and asking a lot of people a lot of vague questions.
Eventually I gave up and went for breakfast, it was at this point I
realised I had the name of the place on my browsing history on my
laptop. After a fleeting breakfast I set out name in hand and managed
to find the hotel in no time. After a short chat with the owner we
came to an agreement about rooms and rates and he showed me which
room they were in, is should say passed out in. A very groggy and
confused Naomi answered the door and she introduced me to the
sleeping forms that were Jade and Kerry. After checking in and
showering that first day was fairly uneventful; sleeping and TV. That
evening we had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and followed
that up with drinks, for my time in Goa it was double whiskeys for
70p a pop. Cards, pool and drinks are the best vice for getting to
know people. By the time I made it to bed I was nicely tipsy and I
was out like a log as soon as face touched pillow.
The next day we set off to explore the
surrounding area mainly up the beach to a place called baga beach.
This was a bit more tourist orientated which was made obvious as it
was the first place I saw beef on the menu in my time in India. Lunch
was enjoyable however completely peaceful as being on a tourist beach
there were the normal touts trying to sell their wares, mainly
tattoos and bracelets, luckily the focus was on the girls so I was
left fairly non beleaguered. The walk back along the beach took a bit
longer than the walk out as we were set upon by a tropical deluge so
we took refuge with the locals in a bar while the downpour passed us
by. We spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool and generally taking
it easy. That evening we went on the hunt for some dinner and
eventually found ourselves at a upper range restaurant which suited
us all. Dinner was quite nice the highlight being my first experience
of Goan port which is regular strength and served chilled but was
pretty pleasant. When we had finished dinner we went in search of an
after dinner drink, a desire sated by a bar by the name of eclipse.
This little gem was a lucky find. Upon arriving we ordered our drinks
as you do and settled into a game of scrabble, when our drinks were
getting towards the dregs the barman, Ranjit, came over and insisted
on giving us a free round of drinks. This was the turning point of
the evening. We slowly integrated ourselves into what turned out to
be a very close knit patronage. After the scrabble was concluded I
started chatting to a guy called Raj over a couple of games of pool,
his claim to fame being that he is good friends with Dav Patelle from
slumdog millionaire. When I returned to the girls they had befriended
to two Daves, two middle aged guys one from Scotland and hard to
understand and one from Croydon big bald and bawdy. Between Ranjit,
Raj and the two Daves we where convinced to join them on their after
closing time tradition of going to a club called south pacific. When
closing time came around we jumped on the back of a couple of
scooters and shot off to the club which turned out to be a couple of
minutes down the road all arriving safely in no time. We got into the
club and the free drinks continued and after a brief stint in the
air-conditioned dance area we retreated to a quieter corner of the
club for the rest of the evening. Plenty of laughs were had and the
standard drunken mishaps, ranjit tried to kiss jade, all in all it
was an awesome impromptu evening. I can scarcely remember the trip
back to hotel as we zoomed down Calangute, three on a scooter,
whiskey in hand I managed to guide us vaguely home to bed.
The next day was very uneventful as
you may expect we were all feeling pretty sorry for ourselves. Barely
managing breakfast I spent most of the morning doing absolutely
nothing, when it came to mid afternoon we plucked up the courage to
head out into the real world in order to find some sustenance in the
form of lunch. Feeling less than savoury we found ourselves wandering
into a Subway. It seemed like a good idea at the time however
sometimes the best ideas go awry, due to lack of toasting, selection
and relatively high prices made for a thoroughly disappointing
experience, not what was needed. We then set off for the hotel again
as we were all still feeling fairly rank. On the way back I managed
to book my transport back up to Bombay. The rest of the day was
fairly subdued and after a dinner at the hotel it was an early night
for all.
After the abysmal amount of
exploration the day before we decided we should go on a trip a bit
further afield. We decided to get the bus to a place called Panaji
Market, Panaji was the next step up in urbanism from Calangute set
beside a huge river with even more hustle and bustle. When we arrived
at the central bus depot we eventually found our way to the next bus
through the throng of people and buses with no English signs. One
more short trip and we were dropped off where the attendant promised
we wanted to go and you could not mistake the smell of a near by fish
market. We quickly found the source of the smell in a small fish
market on the brink of the market proper, fish turned into meat which
turned into clothes and tat displayed in small stalls on busy market
streets. When we reached the other side the close market streets
opened up to a large warehouse style building where the centre of the
market presided. All along the outside of the building the walls were
lined with stalls and when we reached the interior we were greeted
with a huge open market set over two floors with the second floor
keeping to the walls leaving the central space open. You could find
pretty much anything within this building; from any local vegetable
to electronics or a new suit. After a lengthy browse we departed the
warehouse market to find some lunch in the surrounding town, we found
a well populated local restaurant that provided us with a cheap and
cheerful lunch. After another short wander we found our way home
again with a bit more confidence than the trip out. That evening was
spent packing my bag for my departure early the next morning....
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