Diu, Mumbai and Goa
I have been so busy doing nothing that it was hard to come to the internet cafe...
First regarding Diu. It is a charming island. It is about 25 km long and a few km wide. On one end there's a massive Portuguese fort (with old cannons directed toward the sea, remainings of churches, walls, etc.) , on the other there's a fishing village and in-between there are beaches and mangroves. Next to the fort there's Diu town and it resembles very much the typical Portuguese coast towns: narrow, winding streets, whitewashed houses, catholic churches painted white as well. I rented a bike and spent the whole day riding around the island, walking in the fort, peaking into the old abandoned churches, walking on the beaches and even going to see a very nice sea shell museum run by a retired naval captain. At breakfast I met a very nice older couple who have lived in Kalamazoo in Michigan for 40 years but were originally from Delhi. They told me that even though they come from India, every time they return for vacation they go through the same culture shock I went, life in India being so different from the western culture in which they've accustumed to live. More about it later. Because Nitzan and his friends where going to Mumbai the next day I decided to go with them. We spent three days in Mumbai. It was rather hot and very dry during the day and with pollution added to it, it was hard to tour the city. So I got a bus city tour and went to all the places of interest and just to get the overal feel of the city. It is so far the most westernized city of India I have seen. It looks run down, the way all other places looked, but it was cleaner and some life and hope was visible. It is the seat of Bollywood (the name of the city, from Bombay to Mumbai, was changed a few years ago but "Bollywood" remained) and it is perked up by the glamour of the movie industry and all the movie and other business it attracts. The architecture of Mumbai is fascinating. It is a mix of colonial, hindi, muslim architecture styles and the influence of many ethnic and religious groups is present. We stayed in Colaba district which is labeled as "tourist area" and it has some nice cafes and restaurants and many street shops with crafts. It was very near the Gate of India, a sort of arch looking out into the sea (it was built not long ago to commemorate the visit of Prince of Whales I believe). In the evening we walked around the area and enjoyed the cooler breeze and the atmosphere. The city is surrounded by beaches and it's also nice to spend some time there (but the water is polluted and not good for swimming). Dal, Jess and I were approached by "extras hunters" and asked if we wanted to be part of a Bollywood movie. We jumped at the idea at first (the fact that the scout considered me a "girl" at my age was really amusing; the power of blond hair still amazes me...) and even went to a meeting with all other western girls who agreed to "dance in the background" but it turned out the shooting would be done out in the open air downtown and it would take all day and we decided we had no strength to be dancing all day in that heat. If it was going to be done in the movie studio I would be glad to do it and see how the movie industry works here. The pay for the day of shooting is 500 rupees - a lot for Indian standards. We met some girls who worked as extras for longer than a day to support their trip in India.
In Mumbai our group split. Girls went to Myanmar, Nitzan went to Pune, and Robert and Neate were heading to Goa. I decided to go to Goa with Robert and Neate for a few days. On the train we met Jim from England and the four of us stayed in Margao in Goa for the night. Margao is a small town, also influenced by the Portuguese colonialism. We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant run by lovely middle-aged couple. We stayed long into the night, talking to them and other diners. The next day Robert and Neate decided to go along the shore (Goa is a long strip of land along the coast and is made up of many small towns, villages and beaches) north of Margao and Robert and I came to the Palolem Beach. I decided to come here because the guide book said that it was the most quiet of all beaches of Goa, without loud "trance" music and all night parties, dope, hippies, etc. It might have been interesting to see such "beach life and party atmosphere" but at the moment I am more inclined toward peace... When we first got to Palolem in the afternoon I thought I would just stay here for a day or two because it didn't seem as quiet as the guide book said. I expected just a few coco huts and one or two restaurants, and instead I found a great number of huts built on poles and a lot of small restaurants streatched out in the entire Palolem bay. However, it turned out that it is, indeed, a peaceful place. All businesses are family-run and the atmosphere in our "Rainbow Huts and Restaurants" is very homely. Vacationers turned out to be very nice people who after 10 pm speak in hushed voices so you can fall asleep to the sound of the waves... There's also a number of friendly dogs running around, looking quite healthy, plump and happy. The past few days I have been waking up before sunrise and walking along the beach with a crowd of dogs, chasing each other and greeting other dogs who live in the further parts of the beach. When we got here I felt really tired due to another of my virus infections (I have been getting whatever comes my way on this trip, all the colds and flues...) and persistent stomach problems. I spotted the only malnurished puppy of about 4 months (named Watson aka the Skeleton) who, as it turned out, got dumped on the beach by someone the same day we came. So the first three days I spent sitting at our little restaurant facing the sea, with the puppy sleeping on my lap and feeding him a mix of raw eggs and milk every few hours. He was healing me with his doggy energy and I was healing him with the food he needed. Next to us was a girl from France who fell into a ditch and sprained her ankle and besides her a Canadian who strained his neck. What a collection of invalids! We spent long hours talking, drinking ginger and honey tea, admiring the run rises, sun sets and everything in between, particularly the food our wonderful cooks cook, the food that is delicious and, most importantly, digestible (and ridiculously cheap...). Jim was making fun of us "the retirees." He sprained his toe, however, playing soccer so now he is the one limping around with a sour face. The puppy from a totally lethargic skeleton, just in a few days turned into a very energetic beautiful border collie-looking dog. I named him Watson because he didn't have any appetite in the beginning (he really was half-starved; it looked as if he forgot the function of eating) and we had to constantly hide the body of evidence (his uneaten food) in the sand so the cooks would not see it, and hence Mr. Watson and I, Sherlock Holmes, were conspiring on the locating... It turned out, however, Watson is a female so we call her Ms. Watson. Which remainds me of Elvisa in Chile, who was also a skeleton and who I hope grew up to be a powerful cat.
Today early in the morning we went on a boat-trip to see the dolphins. We saw a few couples and a few lone ones which also must have been a part of a bigger group. It was very nice. I saw one from the shore yesterday morning as well. I love places like this, I really do. It's not as charming as the Caribbean (except for the dolphins there's not much marine life to see) but peaceful and relaxing. (The marine life is compensated, however, by daily bull-fights: the holy cows which take laisure strolls down the beach do some head-pulling for the amusement of other cows and the sun-bathers.)
Robert and Neate made their way south and joined us. The group seems to be staying here for another week or more. I think I will stay for three more days and head to Bangalore.
I will write about my impressions on the Indian culture soon.
First regarding Diu. It is a charming island. It is about 25 km long and a few km wide. On one end there's a massive Portuguese fort (with old cannons directed toward the sea, remainings of churches, walls, etc.) , on the other there's a fishing village and in-between there are beaches and mangroves. Next to the fort there's Diu town and it resembles very much the typical Portuguese coast towns: narrow, winding streets, whitewashed houses, catholic churches painted white as well. I rented a bike and spent the whole day riding around the island, walking in the fort, peaking into the old abandoned churches, walking on the beaches and even going to see a very nice sea shell museum run by a retired naval captain. At breakfast I met a very nice older couple who have lived in Kalamazoo in Michigan for 40 years but were originally from Delhi. They told me that even though they come from India, every time they return for vacation they go through the same culture shock I went, life in India being so different from the western culture in which they've accustumed to live. More about it later. Because Nitzan and his friends where going to Mumbai the next day I decided to go with them. We spent three days in Mumbai. It was rather hot and very dry during the day and with pollution added to it, it was hard to tour the city. So I got a bus city tour and went to all the places of interest and just to get the overal feel of the city. It is so far the most westernized city of India I have seen. It looks run down, the way all other places looked, but it was cleaner and some life and hope was visible. It is the seat of Bollywood (the name of the city, from Bombay to Mumbai, was changed a few years ago but "Bollywood" remained) and it is perked up by the glamour of the movie industry and all the movie and other business it attracts. The architecture of Mumbai is fascinating. It is a mix of colonial, hindi, muslim architecture styles and the influence of many ethnic and religious groups is present. We stayed in Colaba district which is labeled as "tourist area" and it has some nice cafes and restaurants and many street shops with crafts. It was very near the Gate of India, a sort of arch looking out into the sea (it was built not long ago to commemorate the visit of Prince of Whales I believe). In the evening we walked around the area and enjoyed the cooler breeze and the atmosphere. The city is surrounded by beaches and it's also nice to spend some time there (but the water is polluted and not good for swimming). Dal, Jess and I were approached by "extras hunters" and asked if we wanted to be part of a Bollywood movie. We jumped at the idea at first (the fact that the scout considered me a "girl" at my age was really amusing; the power of blond hair still amazes me...) and even went to a meeting with all other western girls who agreed to "dance in the background" but it turned out the shooting would be done out in the open air downtown and it would take all day and we decided we had no strength to be dancing all day in that heat. If it was going to be done in the movie studio I would be glad to do it and see how the movie industry works here. The pay for the day of shooting is 500 rupees - a lot for Indian standards. We met some girls who worked as extras for longer than a day to support their trip in India.
In Mumbai our group split. Girls went to Myanmar, Nitzan went to Pune, and Robert and Neate were heading to Goa. I decided to go to Goa with Robert and Neate for a few days. On the train we met Jim from England and the four of us stayed in Margao in Goa for the night. Margao is a small town, also influenced by the Portuguese colonialism. We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant run by lovely middle-aged couple. We stayed long into the night, talking to them and other diners. The next day Robert and Neate decided to go along the shore (Goa is a long strip of land along the coast and is made up of many small towns, villages and beaches) north of Margao and Robert and I came to the Palolem Beach. I decided to come here because the guide book said that it was the most quiet of all beaches of Goa, without loud "trance" music and all night parties, dope, hippies, etc. It might have been interesting to see such "beach life and party atmosphere" but at the moment I am more inclined toward peace... When we first got to Palolem in the afternoon I thought I would just stay here for a day or two because it didn't seem as quiet as the guide book said. I expected just a few coco huts and one or two restaurants, and instead I found a great number of huts built on poles and a lot of small restaurants streatched out in the entire Palolem bay. However, it turned out that it is, indeed, a peaceful place. All businesses are family-run and the atmosphere in our "Rainbow Huts and Restaurants" is very homely. Vacationers turned out to be very nice people who after 10 pm speak in hushed voices so you can fall asleep to the sound of the waves... There's also a number of friendly dogs running around, looking quite healthy, plump and happy. The past few days I have been waking up before sunrise and walking along the beach with a crowd of dogs, chasing each other and greeting other dogs who live in the further parts of the beach. When we got here I felt really tired due to another of my virus infections (I have been getting whatever comes my way on this trip, all the colds and flues...) and persistent stomach problems. I spotted the only malnurished puppy of about 4 months (named Watson aka the Skeleton) who, as it turned out, got dumped on the beach by someone the same day we came. So the first three days I spent sitting at our little restaurant facing the sea, with the puppy sleeping on my lap and feeding him a mix of raw eggs and milk every few hours. He was healing me with his doggy energy and I was healing him with the food he needed. Next to us was a girl from France who fell into a ditch and sprained her ankle and besides her a Canadian who strained his neck. What a collection of invalids! We spent long hours talking, drinking ginger and honey tea, admiring the run rises, sun sets and everything in between, particularly the food our wonderful cooks cook, the food that is delicious and, most importantly, digestible (and ridiculously cheap...). Jim was making fun of us "the retirees." He sprained his toe, however, playing soccer so now he is the one limping around with a sour face. The puppy from a totally lethargic skeleton, just in a few days turned into a very energetic beautiful border collie-looking dog. I named him Watson because he didn't have any appetite in the beginning (he really was half-starved; it looked as if he forgot the function of eating) and we had to constantly hide the body of evidence (his uneaten food) in the sand so the cooks would not see it, and hence Mr. Watson and I, Sherlock Holmes, were conspiring on the locating... It turned out, however, Watson is a female so we call her Ms. Watson. Which remainds me of Elvisa in Chile, who was also a skeleton and who I hope grew up to be a powerful cat.
Today early in the morning we went on a boat-trip to see the dolphins. We saw a few couples and a few lone ones which also must have been a part of a bigger group. It was very nice. I saw one from the shore yesterday morning as well. I love places like this, I really do. It's not as charming as the Caribbean (except for the dolphins there's not much marine life to see) but peaceful and relaxing. (The marine life is compensated, however, by daily bull-fights: the holy cows which take laisure strolls down the beach do some head-pulling for the amusement of other cows and the sun-bathers.)
Robert and Neate made their way south and joined us. The group seems to be staying here for another week or more. I think I will stay for three more days and head to Bangalore.
I will write about my impressions on the Indian culture soon.
posted by Asia Kabat at 2:34 AM
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