Day 13: Oh what a perfect day

There was a time in my life when I would have argued that a beach without sand was not a proper beach. Croatia changed this pebble prejudice.
Equally so, there would have been a time when I would have argued that the sea was enough water on a beach. Mandrem and Arambol have now changed this too.

After a few days of beautiful sunsets, amazing food (I found humus and Rob's bid at vegetarianism was well and truely demolished by the local speciality: sea food) and, disappointingly,"nights out" that were closed down and the music switched off at 10:30pm in Anjuna. Team 365 decided to hire a bike and explore further north in Goa. Yes, I said bike, one with a motor.

Now followers of 2005's Chronicles of Australia will know that those with two wheels and an engine have not always been a friend of mine, but this time I had brought my diver, sorry, I mean boyfriend.

So with Rob firmly at the reigns and a speedometer fixed firmly at zero (this didn't change throughout the day despite some definite acceleration) we headed off early on our scooter.

Mandrem beach, of the whitest sands and leaning palm trees, lies between the sea on one side and a gently flowing river on the other that we were lucky enough to have had almost to ourselves.

We paddled in the shallows - of the river and the sea - where one began and the other stopped was fantastically difficult to tell, before getting back on the scooter - this time with me driving - to further our adventure.

And, let us be honest, I was never going to come off a bike compleletely unscathed. But in a moment of small road meets large truck and the emergency stop that followed I feel pretty pleased with only having lost the skin from the top of my big toe.

Anyway. Onwards and upwards. Literally. Arambol was a much more lively town and we were advised to head round the cliffs to a "sweet water lake" - and sweet it was.
Who would have thought that a lake on a beach was a good idea? Certainly not us, but converted we are and so after a refreshing - and disctintly not salty dip - we paused for a moments reflection on what a beautiful place we were and how lucky we were to be on this trip.

Before the sun set we rode over hills and along rivers through winding roads home to Peace Lands, our lovely hotel, before realising we had lost our room key and a man had to literally saw off the padlock so we could enter. That's karma for you.

All in all - our best day yet. (quick check with Rob that it was fair to say....yes, "agreed")

Day 9&10: On a midnight train going...

well; nowhere, for a long time actually.

After much delay and sleeping on the platform our train to Vasco da Gama, Goa due to depart at 12:30 actually arrived at 3:19 and after usurping some sleeping men from our bunks we slept through the mobile phones that rang or played music (honestly; the 134 to Camden has nothing on the Indians) and the cries of the venders.

My favourite is what can only be described at beginning with "chai" and then sounding much like "hullabaloo", but with 15 extra syllables. This is shouted repeatedly and without pausing for breath imbetween calls, even when a chai is being bought.


After the shakey start to the trip we actually became - and I don't think I'm going too far when I say this - good friends with our travel companions which included the best old man. Ever.

All dressed in white, he lounged proped up by pillows with ghandi-esque glasses and a magnifying glass reading the newspaper that could not have been more than 4cm from his face. We exchanged riddles and discussed English literature - he liked poetry and prose and happily quoted Shakespear and Wordsworth.
Then I left Rob's copy of the Motley Crue's biography 'The Dirt' on my seat and he read a bit of that through his magnifying glass too. It is a sight that I shall never forget.

Team 365 were in transit for (yes we calculated it) just over 46.5 hours from the Bandvangarh National Park to Anjuna Beach in Goa - and actually, we met some great people and even (dare I say it) had fun. Now the 'holiday' leg of the trip begins.