Before I begin, say hello to Raga and Layla, 2 kittens that love playing in the guesthouse gardens.
Raja. Layla
On the 27th December we headed off on our journey to Goa for our mid-way holiday. The first stint of the journey was 34 hours long, travelling sleeper class. Nowhere near as bad people made it out to be but it is what you would kinda expect for an Indian train. Lots of noisy Indians, mainly men, various guys coming past with anything you could imagine for sale, from chai, water and samosas to socks, nail clippers and fake Barbie dolls. They had it all!
Ellen chilling in sleeper class.
The views on the way were amazing. It was great to see more of India, even if it was only through a train window. Seeing things that you see on TV, how you expect India to be like. Groups of ladies in bright colourful saree’s carrying various bowls and baskets of things on their heads, people of all ages working in the fields, and families living right next to the railway track, drying off their washing from the strong breeze the trains provide as they whizz by.
We eventually got to Mumbai. (After a few funny incidents on the train with drunk men and drag queens! ) We were meant to wait for 8hrs at Mumbai station, but we managed to change our train which meant we only had to wait 4. From Mumbai to Goa it takes around 12 hours, and on the way there we travelled 3AC- not much different to sleeper, just a bit quieter and a curtain separates you from the other compartments.
3AC
We all took it in turns to stay awake because we were warned to keep an eye on our stuff (we did come across some dodgy characters!). When we were all awake, around 10.30am, me, Josh and Naomi went and literally sat in the open doorway of the train!
It was nice to get some air and watch the world go by. You could feel it getting hotter and hotter the closer we got to Goa. We eventually got to Madgaon station, Goa, and caught a taxi to our hotel in Calangute. I was SOOO excited to see the sea!! How I have missed it!
My Chickungurnya disease got the better of me for the first few days in Goa. I walked like both my ankles were broken. The team were embarrassed to be seen with me and several people asked and thought I had actual issues. It was so painful to move but luckily it eased up after about 3 days.
I’m gonna have to write a small paragraph for each day we spent in Goa, else I’ll get carried away and end up writing something that would take you about the same amount of time it would to read a small book.
29th- After Dinner (Beef sizzler) on the first night, we went to find the beach. Calangute and Baga beach are right next to each other, and they are described as the ‘party beaches’ of Goa. It was dark at this point so we couldn’t see far, but when we reached the main bit of the beach it was suddenly lit up with candles on tables and lights of every colour stretching down the entire length of the beach. Music was blarring from every direction and the moon lit sea was crashing on the shore. I couldn’t hold myself back any longer! I took off my shoes and hitched up my skirt, and ran into the sea. Ahhhhhh bliss. Feeling the almost warm water around my ankles and the sand between my toes was amazing. I couldn’t wait to go back the next day.
30th- Bad nights sleeps due to very painful ankles, dreamt they were being broken every time I moved. But waking up and going shopping made everything better. All the way down the road there are little stalls selling all sorts of goodness but none of us could stay out too long as it was so hot!
Oh my goodness, breakfast. I only had a FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST! One of the things I have been missing the most (such a fatty).
Nom nom nom nom.
We packed out towels and headed down to the beach. It was so beautiful. The sun bounced off the vast expanses of water making it glisten and sparkle like someone had come along and sprinkled glitter all over it! The sea was covered with jet skis, banana boats, rubber rings and tour boats. And the sky dotted with people paragliding.
We didn’t waste any time in getting in the sea. It was amazing- apart from the crazy amount of Indian men splashing and screaming like they have never seen the sea before. (See above).
And when they see white people they gather. You literally turn around and you have an audience. They line themselves up so that if a big wave comes they would accidently get knocked into you or vice versa. We later found out that the Indians were not allowed to too deep as they’re not very strong swimmers. So we went a bit further out, and when the guys started getting a bit close, the lifeguard would come along on his red jet ski and round them up like sheep in a field. It sounds a bit harsh, but it really was necessary. I got out of the sea and lay on a sunbed outside one of the many shacks along the beach- ‘Beach queens shack’, or ‘Jacks shack’ as we nicknamed it (Jack is an awesome Indian guy that works in the shack and we all became good friends.) is the one we chose to sit by every day.
The breeze from the sea and hot sun made it perfect for sunbathing. (Yes mummy, I put sun cream on… not forgetting the tops of my ears) The only thing that ruined all this was the endless stream of guys blatantly staring and taking photos.
Dinner = Spaghetti carbonara- Not as good as mummy’s.
I felt a bit funny that evening , just as I settled down to bed I thought that I may throw up. It wasn’t an ‘uh oh’ situation it was a ‘I wonder’ situation. So I made my way to the bathroom and lo and behold, my stomach was emptied. Too much information? Sorry.
31st- More shopping- I bought a dress to wear for new year. We went down to beach again- this time armed with lilos! We spent a good amount of time relaxing on them- like sunbathing on the sea!
Its new years eve so the Indians go crazy. By the time it hit midday most of them were already drunk. We began to feel a bit uncomfortable with this so we went back to the hotel and got into our new dresses.
Naomi looking gorgeous.
Me in my pretty new dress.
Ellen looking beautiful.
THEN- The impossible became possible, after a few painful days walking like a cripple, I.RAN.DOWN.THE.STAIRS.
This is how excited I was.
We went down to the beach to have a meal by candlelight (Beef chow mein). We were finished by 10 so had some time to kill before midnight.
Candle lit dinner for 4!
Munching on some chips before dinner!
5,4,3,2,1- HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Josh is making a special face but its the only one with fire works in the background!
1st- Fireworks everywhere! Not a set out display like in England, they just went crazy and set them off anytime, anywhere they liked. It was as if every shack was in competition with each other. The sky was alive with colour!
We spent until around 2 or 3am dancing to some crazy Indian tunes in Jacks shack.
Me and Naomi doing some weird dance I don't recall doing but apparently I did.
This video goes out to the wonderful Eastern Europe team! Thanks for teaching us this! I hope we have done you proud!
They put barriers around the shack so only a select few people could get in- but it didn’t stop the audience from gathering!!
*Reflection* The end of another crazy year. I have a lot to thank God for. I am so richly blessed. I have a wonderful loving family, fantastic friends and the world’s greatest boyfriend. I’m in India! I passed my foundation diploma with a merit and have secured a place at a top university, but I also have options. I am so privileged to have what I have. *End of reflection*
When we eventually woke up we started the day how we intend to spend the rest of the year- with God. Studying the bible and praying together like good little Christians. Starting the year as I mean to go continued with a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast! Yummy!
We went down to the beach again, spent some time in the sea and sunbathing (still applying factor 30 suncream, still burning- some things never change). We were all getting pretty annoyed with the guys taking photos all the time so I decided to play a little game with them. Every guy who decided to take a photo of me, I took a photo of them. This is the result after less than one hour:
This one makes us laugh so much!
Dinner = spag bol.
2nd- Note to self- Don’t read Revelation first thing in the morning- way to heavy!
Bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast.
Ellen was still ill at his point so she stayed at the hotel. We went to the beach (actual tan starting to appear!)
Dinner- Beef burger.
3rd- I saw an actual Elephant walking down the road! Yes India.
We looked at a map of the beaches near us and decided to walk to Anjuna. Which besides Baga beach, is the closest one to our beach. And we figured it wouldn’t take any longer than 2hrs to walk there. Ellen was still ill so just 3 of us set off in hope of finding Anjuna beach. After enduring rivers of sinking sand, endless cliff walks, fighting through bushes and putting up with the 30 degree heat, we finally reached a little beach. This wasn’t Anjuna, but it was a good rest point. It had only one shack on it and around 20 people quietly soaking up the sun. Very different to the hustle and bustle of Calangute! We went for a little swim to cool down and had a drink before heading off again.
We walked for another 20mins facing various obstacles, and finally reached a hill top where we could assess how much further there was to go. The views were stunning.
The little beach you see is the one we stopped at.
But the beach looked like it was at least another hours walk away, the sun had just started going down, and if we kept going we would have been walking back in the dark. So instead we decided to call it a day and walk back. We reached the small beach again so stopped for a drink.
We walked for what seemed like forever, back across the cliff face, through the sinking sand river, past Baga beach and along the shore until we eventually reached Jacks shack where we turned up to get to the road that our hotel is on. Note to self- Hikes along the cliff edge are best done wearing sensible shoes. Flip flops are not sensible.
4th- Ellen still ill so we took her to see Dr.Dhukler, who shortly after assessing her state, told her she had to spend the day in hospital to be re-hydrated. Ellen was put on a drip throughout the whole day, whilst the rest of us sat on the bed opposite playing copious amounts of uno and monopoly. Ellen defiantly perked up as the day went on but the doctor wanted to keep her in for the night just in case. So Josh and Naomi went back to the hotel whilst I stayed in with Ellen at the hospital.
5th- As you could probably imagine, it wasn’t the best night sleep. The nurse came in at 7am to start the drip again, and the other two arrived around 8.30. We waited until after 10.30 until the nurse came in and finally said we could all go. We took Ellen back to the hotel after picking up her drugs, then the rest of us had brunch and went to the beach.
Determined not to waste the day, we asked Jack about the possibility of doing some paragliding! Before we knew it we were suited up with lifejackets and on a boat out to another boat where, in turn, we were strapped into a harness and clipped onto a big parachute. As the boat sped up I flew off the back and got hoisted up and up. I could see for miles!
Yup, that's me!
It was good fun, and for about £7 you don’t really have much to lose! We left the beach around 5.
Breaking news: Actual tan lines have appeared! Thank yooou Goa!
Dinner = BBQ chicken with bacon and cheese.
6th- Shopping with Naomi to start the day. We both then went to get massages. We had to take it in turns as there was only one female masseuse, and when Naomi came out she told me it wasn’t really worth the money so I didn’t bother getting one.
We went back to the hotel to get Josh then went out for brownies and ice cream!
Dinner = Beef stroganoff.
We settled down to watch Night and Day, when all of a sudden a huge cockroach flew in. Urgh! We screamed and managed to find it (on my bed) and it scuttled out of the room. *shudder*
7th- Shopping with Naomi again- mainly presents.
The afternoon was spent on the beach then I went out again to a Tibetan market which sells loads of gorgeous little things. My idea of heaven on earth.
Look how pretttyyy!!!
Dinner = Double cheese burger and chips followed by a chocolate pancake and ice cream…. I was hungry alright.
8th- Finished packing.
Breakfast = Full English (of course).
Brief shop with Ellen. (Who by this point was feeling a lot better but not 100%). Then we went down to the beach to say our goodbyes to Jack and to the beautiful sand and sea!
Me, Josh, Naomi and Ellen on the beach.
We got a taxi back to Madgaon station to catch our 6pm train to Mumbai. 12hrs, sleeper class.
9th- Arrived in Mumbai at 6am. Train to Howrah, Kolkata was not until 4am the next day. 22 hours in a waiting room- enough said. Waits like this are not uncommon in India. And with the lady shouting over the speakers every 20 seconds, it makes it quite hard to sleep! One of the announcements was funny though:
‘please board the train as early as possible as getting on a moving train is dangerous to life. We wish you a happy journey.’
10th- 4am finally came around. We found our beds on the train and I was asleep before we had even set off! Time goes so slowly.
11th- My shifts to stay awake were 9.30-11.30pm and 5.30-7.30am. For both of these I listened to a recording of Robin Williams live on Broadway to keep me awake! After a painful 34 hours on the train, we finally reached Howrah. We were all so excited to see the guesthouse! Home sweet home!
A few other holiday snaps for you:
Sweaty people. And Jack in the middle :)
This sums up mine and Naomi's relationship perfectly. I'm confused, shes losing the will to live.
Josh found an eel.
Baga and Calangute beaches.
I want one of these!
Josh loves the dogs.
Casual herd of cows making their way along the beach!!
Relaxing on the sunbeds.
Ellen and I paddling on the last day.
So that's the end of my holiday-ness. It was a great 10ish days, the train journey is something I never ever want to do again in my life, but I would go back to Goa any day. Its kinda like the India everyone want it to be. The poverty is hidden and the parties are in full swing. But we are all glad to be back at the guesthouse, home, and looking forward to getting stuck into things again on Monday 16th.
Now here's a bit of a religious bit for those of you who are interested.
So whilst reading the bible recently I came across a passage that feels really relevant to where I am right now. Its Ephesians 3:18-20.
'May have power together with the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God... Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...'
Recently there have been a few incidents where I have ended up talking to someone or reading about the love of God, and that he is 'never late' in doing what he needs to in fulfilling our 'plan'. He has it all timed perfectly and has it all figured out. I need to wait and listen and be patient with God. His love is amazing and he can do so much more than we could ever hope or pray or dream of. 'For at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up' - Galatians 6:9
ALSO- If you have a spare 4mins and 4secs, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY
I hope this blog didn't take up all of your day. Turns out I wrote enough for a small book after all!
Lotsa love,
Harriet xx
I hope this blog didn't take up all of your day. Turns out I wrote enough for a small book after all!
Lotsa love,
Harriet xx
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