When we were planning our trip away, one of the questions we were always asked was "where are you going first?" the reply, in general, received one of two responses.
Opinions on India never seem to take the middle ground, you either love it or hate it - even the idea of it, as we found out.
To .........India?! Oh............that's...uh.....lovely.
So, what provokes these extremes? Is it the climate? the poverty? the food? Now I can't claim to be an expert on this country, but I have at least in the last few weeks seen, heard, smelt and tasted things that have taken me from up on high down to fear and loathing and back again.
Of course, there are good and bad sides to every country, but I've never been somewhere where you get so much of each, and so often as part of the same package.
One of the things that I find hard to deal with here is that as a westerner, my big dumb white face becomes target number one for every tout, hawker, pimp, drug dealer and beggar in the sub-continent. Not without good reason of course. An average tourist (that is what you are, doesn't matter if you've got dreadlocks, do yoga in the morning and meditate in the afternoon with your soya bean milkshake, you're still a bloody tourist!) will spend more in a day than a lot of Indians will earn in one month. A regular in a local bar told me about an engineer from England who built a house out here. He paid the labourers 60 rupees a day (around 90 pence). This is bad enough in itself, but to get home the workers then had to give the truck driver half their wage to get home at the end of the day.
This is, however, a land of contrasts. The news tells us India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and from what I've seen there are a minority of Indians who are or are becoming very rich. These facts aside, the sights and sounds of daily life in the majority of places we have briefly visited do little to convince you of anything but the stark contrast between these lucky people and the rest of the population. But then again, you could argue India has always been this way. The caste system in India has existed for thousands of years, with the poor, downtrodden majority supporting the opulent lifestyle of the few, whether they be Mughals, Rajas or the British.
And here lie we, in the relative seclusion and safety of Goa, able to talk about India but not overly keen at the moment to return to the dust and the heat of travel through her. Goa is not an island (as I once believed it to be), but it certainly feels that way sometimes. The 'manana' attitude is prevalent here and the friendly locals are so laid back they are almost horizontal. Days pass quickly, and it's surprising how easy it is to fill them with the simple decisions of what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and which beach to visit. It is still India, but with the volume turned down.
That said, Goa is not without its problems. The roads are still shocking in parts and the drivers are probably worse (not helped by the number of tourists on hired bikes who think they are competing in the moto gp). Corruption and petty theft is rife thanks to the influx of tourist dollars and as I've already mentioned, it is a mecca for every hawker, beggar or pusher looking to sell their wares, which edges every conversation with locals with the feeling that they may at any moment try to offer you something.
Which neatly brings me to my main problem in India, a feeling of guilt. What to do with the problem of beggars? These are very often young children, disabled or elderly men or women who know very well that I have cash on me and therefore make a beeline for my big, dumb, and by now red lobster face. Where does the money really go? Am I helping this person or feeding the problem? If I give to one what about all the rest? all of these questions are valid, but it doesn't stop me thinking that I don't have the right to feel angry for being asked for the equivalent of 5p. Nevertheless, after the twentieth open hand of the day is poked in front of your face, it is hard to smile sadly and say sorry but no, and you start to look through these people as if they weren't there.
We tried something different the other day at the beach. A very young, small girl in a bright green dress placed herself in front of us as we were walking and proceded to do go through a contortionist routine by stepping over her linked arms. after a few seconds she put out her tiny hand. Instead of giving her money we gave her a drink and something to eat. Now I'm not about to try and feed every person who asks for money so I guess this was a one-off, but what to do? Should we just try to ignore it? anyone got any suggestions?
Ok, enough of my rant.
"What have we been doing?" I hear you ask.
Well, We have moved to a new, more homely apartment, and after two weeks of feeling pretty shit due to an ear infection and the more traditional malady of 'delhi belly' I am now once again ready to face the world. We are getting more adventurous with our moped's range and just yesterday we discovered a great beach in the north called Mandrem. It was almost deserted with a minimum of hawkers. Perfect for us. We are based in a small, quiet village called Arpora, which has a few nice restaurants and bars. Just down the road is the main drag of
Candolim, Calangute and Baga, which is a bit touristy for our tastes but has lots of nice places to eat and drink. North of this Goa becomes much quieter- I think we are planning to stay in a beach hut sometime soon.
We are both looking forward to our friends arrival, Kirsty and Bez, who are here next week, so we have a few things lined up.
We have also, after much heated discussion, started to sort out our next big trip in November, to Nepal.The main point of consternation being the 39 hour train ride north followed by a 3 day, yes 3 day bus journey. We could fly but it will eat a big chunk into the budget, so we are looking at all the options- I had to bite the bullet and book a flight back from Kathmandu to keep Sarah sweet. We should have about three or four weeks in Nepal before returning to Goa for christmas. I am really excited as Nepal is somewhere I've always wanted to go since watching 'The Golden Child' as a kid - still got to work out how to get Sarah on a four day trek in the mountains, It can be done!(don't worry Glenys, this is a joke)
Bye for now......................
We took the lads from the local restaurant for a drink.......
jesus blessed the drinks apparently......
The zenith of towel sculpture "the Crocodile"
Mai Tai cocktail in a pineapple, great but for the leak at the bottom, which meant a race to finish.
"I can't believe it" sarah shouted. "now there are two of us." -sorry that's three with sar's cousin liam.
The Goan ice cream van.
our new game - hiding behind Indians
The only thing buses stop for on the Indian highway.
Hawker's Paradise - Calangute beach
There goes whitey.............
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