Goa!

As a write this (James) I am suffering with "Delhi Belly" and have got one eye on the toilet whilst Georgia is lounging away in pain on a giant beanbag next to me so if none of this makes sense is because I am in pain lol (and the fact I have never done a Blog before). Does Myspace count from 5 years ago?

Anyway, we landed in Mumbai and was transferred to the domestic terminal to catch our flight to Goa although our flight was delayed and we had to wait around in the terminal for a few hours. Our experience in the airport was a taste of what was to come, we were taken back by the fact that the slums of Mumbai was surrounding the airport, with washing being hung on the airport security fence to dry! If you can imagine two storey tin houses packed together in a cloud of smog and pollution with rooms so small it was hard to believe anyone could sleep in them. At that point I think me and Georgia was glad to have been getting a flight to Goa and not leaving the airport even though we did not say it to each other. The next shock was the toilets, if you can imagine them being worse than toilets you would find in bar at 3am in the morning with piss everywhere and toilet roll everywhere.

Arriving in Goa Airport in the afternoon, we was hot and tired and just wanted to get to the hostel and jumped in a taxi which was probably older than us with the decor inside being leopard print with a dodgy hooter, reminded me of India's version of Mr.Bean. On our way to the hostel we couldn't believe how many churches around, nearly all the population of Goa are Christians. We arrived in the hostel during a power cut. just what we wanted after travelling for 18+ hours and was guided to our room a few minutes walk away. The hostel is basically a converted Goan house with a new block of rooms around the corner. After being jet-lagged we just quickly went out for a meal where I was pleased to see 50RP beers (60p).

We headed to the local beach for a couple of days where the beach is not great but different. It can only be so relaxing when there are cows on the beach, I had to keep one eye open when sunbathing especially after witnessing a sleeping Russian couple in front of us having their bags looked down by a cow. On the back of the beach were wooden shacks made from bamboo selling jewellery, crafts and Bob Marley towels. We watched the sunset on the beach in a wooden hut restaurant.

We visited the next resort up called Anjuna beach although the taxi driver thought it would be wise to drop us off about a 20 minute walk from the beach in a dark road where he was insistent on the beach being a short walk away. The dirt track road we ended up walking down was dark and was immediately approached by some dodgy looking man trying to sell us drugs. We were the only tourist within site and was probably the only time I have felt unsafe in Goa. Georgia doesn't like going to places that she has never visited before so you can imagine the panic on her face! We just paced into the nearest restaurant that we could find which was bizarre. There was like music from a 5 piece boy group but they were all high along with 90% of the customers and staff! Although one of the musicians was quite good playing the Trumpet whilst swaying side to side. We read that this part of Goa in the 1990's was full of hippies and not much has changed by our experience. There were no roads in site and we had to find a taxi but we ended up walking along the beach going past hippies and the constant sound of trance music. How can anyone like that type of music?? We felt like an old couple, got in a taxi, got back to our room and watched the Big Bang Theory lol.

The next day we got a moped out to have a little drive around but stayed clear of Anjuna! Although we were told by a few others in the hostel that there was a night market open from 9am-3pm which was surprisingly good. Georgia just enjoyed haggling her sunglasses from 8 pound to just 2 pound, sure I have not heard the last of that!

We have spoken to a few characters in our short stay in Goa including a boy called Shaun from up North, he looked like he was from Kasabian or Kings of Leon with a headband on and long ginger hair. We even met a couple who lived in one of the corners of Leyton Orient's ground, wasn't jealous at all!

After 4 nights in Goa, we have been told that this part of India is so laid back compared to Mumbai and New Delhi so we are a bit more cautious, especially when we have been told there are not many white people and hearing that in Mumbai they pass their babies to white women for a picture for good luck. Lets hope Georgia doesn't drop any of the babies! Haha, we will wait and see....