The evening before leaving Mumbai, Tuesday 8 September, Joanne cut my hair. I was going to just neaten it up so that I could grow it out for next winter in Australia but decided with another 6 months of hot weather and traveling ahead of me I would prefer it short again. I found my way to her small salon which was very cute. She pampered me with a wash as well as a lovely cut, and yes it was very short.
With most of my things packed before I slept, I washed and hung the clothes I had worn that day out to dry overnight. I was up early to finish packing and email my blog ,to be finished off for proofreading. At 11am Joash rang for a prepaid taxi, we bid our good byes with the expectancy of catching up when they visited Goa in a week’s time. Joanne was coming down to look for a venue for her wedding. While I was staying with them I had the privilege of meeting both Joanne’s fiancé Anthony and Joash’s girlfriend Ekta.
The taxi took me on a wild route through the backstreets to avoid the traffic which was in places bumper to bumper. Total cost 450 Rupees much less than my original trip. 
The flight out over Mumbai took me past some of the areas we had covered with our sightseeing then down the coast over lush green pastoral lands to Goa. We arrived in the pouring rain, half an hour before schedule. I SMS’ed Zameer when I had picked up my bag to give him the location of where I was waiting. He later told me his dad and he had run through the rain to get the car which is parked quite some distance from the house along a muddy village road. They then drove back on another route to collect his mother. Previously they had parked the car closer to where they are renting but their car had been scratched by a local resident who didn’t like their car being parked there so they had found another area to park. Unfortunately it was some distance from the house and on the other side of the village along a muddy dirt road.
I didn’t have to wait long before their little red Toyota came into view. I was easily spotted being the only westerner standing at the departure exit. Warm hugs all round, definitely not a typical Indian greeting but because I had known them for over 8yrs they felt like family. Before returning to Coco Beach where they rent a small house, I was shown around some of Panjim, Goa’s capital city. Panjim is situated at the mouth of the Mandovi River. On this river there are many cruise boats anchored which are floating casinos. Nowhere else in India are casino’s permitted so many Indian to
urists visit Panjim to try their luck. We stopped at Miramar Beach to enjoy the sunset before heading across the river, past Nerul to Coco Beach, a tiny fishing village nestled on the other side of the river mouth.
Coco Beach had two entrance’s one to the middle class residential homes with a sealed road where Zameer’s family are staying, the other came to the fisherman’s village which was to the south. Here the bitumen stopped at the entrance of the village and became a muddy dirt road which went both south to the fishing village and north pass some guest houses back to the main village.
I was dropped off while Nawab, Zameer’s father parked the car. The Singh’s had just moved from a room they were renting to a house and had asked the landlady if they could please have a mattress for their guest. She hadn’t gotten back to them yet so Millika explained that she may have to sleep with me. I would sleep in Zameer’s room while Zameer and his father slept on a bed in the lounge. A strange set up but the landlady kept her things in the other bedroom which she had locked. I unpacked a few things and realised then I’d left my dress in Mumbai! Oh well never mind I could cope till they came down. I excused myself and went to bed. It seemed I had only been asleep a short while when Millika climbed into bed with me….. hmmm obviously they were unable to get another mattress.
I don’t know about other westerners but I don’t think it’s quite as accepted in the west to sleep with someone unless you were married to them or when you were kids. I’ve never been comfortable sleeping with other people not even in the same room let alone together in the sa
me bed because I’m a light sleeper. Consequently I had very little sleep. I tried not to toss and turn like I normally do and every movement and sound disturbed me. I dozed off and on till 6am then gave up. Mallika later told me the landlady wanted another 500 rupees ($11 Aust) per day for my stay. Although they had rented the house it seemed that any guests they had they would need to pay more. Of course this was not expected or expected as Zameer’s parents also wanted to be able to entertain family and friends who may visit from Delhi.
The next day they arranged for me to stay in another guesthouse. They told the owners that they also would like to move in at the end of the month and would stay 6 months. Because of this I was given a special deal of 300 rupees a night. (Approx. $6AUST) My new room was very big with two king size single beds which were pushed together, a table with three chairs, a large bathroom with hot water shower, kitchen area (no stove that’s an extra with gas cylinder) and a balcony overlooking the bay. There was another guestroom like this and two smaller back rooms but I was the only occupant, at least for a few nights. The only down side of my new room was the heat because it was the top floor. I closed the place up when I went out and came back to a hot box which took hours to cool down. At n
ight I used to lock the outer barred door so that I could leave my room door open and with the large veranda doors open wide there was a bit of a breeze through to cool things down. One night at 3am there was some noise at the barred back door. I wasn’t sure if it was the landlord or an intruder so I remained quiet even when someone called out. Then my phone went so I knew it must be the landlord. He had a new guest arrive and I had the only key. From then on I had to lock my room door which also kept in the heat.
My first morning, after sharing the bed, I tried to get up quietly as I knew the family slept late but as I entered the living room Zameer rolled out of bed and joined me for a walk around the village. The guest houses, many of which were empty as it was off season, were to the north of the fisherman’s village, joined by the muddy road full of large puddles from the monsoon rains. The houses were built on either side of this road some along the water’s edge which Zameer said was now walled to hold back the sea since the tsunami had washed away the beach. We walked to the fisherman’s beach at the far south end of the village, and along the beach, stepping carefully to avoid the excrement which was above the tidal line. Obviously the fisherman’s village latrine! This village had thatched roofs and wooden huts unlike the stone walls of the villages to the north. Fisherman wer
e hanging their nets possibly from the nights catch. It was a lovely time of the day so cool and quiet with the waters at low tide lapping at the shore. This little bay on which the village is nestled, is also the mouth of another river. It’s very picturesque and quiet, a lovely escape from the hustle and bustle of the towns.
Goa has many small beach towns which are joined by narrow winding roads either lined with small shops or rural pastures where mostly rice is grown. It’s just lovely seeing some of rural India after the maddening crowds and noise of the big cities.
Most of the first day was spent organising our accommodation. By midday my accommodation was settled and Zameer and I went out to explore some of the northern beaches which included the hippy beaches of Candolim, Calangute and Anjuna where we had a very cheap lunch at the renowned hippy hangout Curlies Restaurant.
From all I had heard about the Goan beaches I was terribly disappointed with the state of the beaches. I had expected to
see lovely white sands but instead was greeted with black or dirty beige sands. Zameer says that all the white sands were washed away by the tsunami. Tourism had also dwindled due to the devaluation of the Russian ruble and the poor economic situation in Europe. Being off season there were only a few Europeans although I was amazed at the crowds of Indian tourists from various Indian states. I was told they came in the off season due to the lower prices.
The following day, Friday, Zameer and I took an all-day bus tour seeing more of the beaches and northern towns, stopping at another lovely cheap place for lunch. Saturday we decided was a day of rest where I caught up with mail and started writing this blog.
Sunday we were up early and heading into Panjim the capital of Goa for church. Anne had given me her friend Chri
stine as a contact for Goa. She had put me in touch with Joshua who was from the New Life Fellowship. It was the first time Zameer had been to a protestant church and a Pentecostal one at that. The only other church he had attended was when he attended a Catholic school during his childhood. This church was very different. We had an amazing service, like a party full of the Holy Spirit. It reminded me of some of the services I had attended during the outpouring of the Spirit in 1995-7. It was so much fun. I was told by the visiting minister (from South Africa) that that was a quiet service. Wow! I’m looking forward to next Sunday.
After the service we went out for lunch with one of the members Sanjeev. It was good to get to know someone at the church. He had come to Goa as a child with his parents and had come to know Christ while working here. He had an interesting story of his conversion. After lunch we tried to change money but because Goa has a Portuguese/Catholic influenced most of the shops are closed on Sunday. Our new friend said he collected different currencies and would like to buy my $50 Aust. He gave me a good exchange rate unlike the other places we asked and the next day the dollar continued to rise. I hope it stays on an upwards journey now so I can get a better rate as I need to pay my accommodation soon.
Zameer and I headed toward the ferry as we had decided to return on a different route having taken the bus into town. Just as we arrived the strap on my sandals broke! I had worn th
em nearly every day since leaving Perth so they had lasted well. We took the ferry across the river mouth and inquired for a cobbler, just to be told there was one back where we had come from. So jumping quickly on the next ferry we returned to find they weren’t there on a Sunday. Bother! I tied the strap on with an orange hair elastic I had picked up on my travels… I knew it would come in handy for something!
That evening I contacted Christine and arranged to meet her on Monday. Zameer came around 10am. We walked to the main road which is about 1 ½ km down the country road to where we could catch a bus. This bus then dropped us in Candolim where we stopped for a coffee for me and a juice for Zameer before heading for Mapusa where Christine and her husband picked us up from the market. The town was so congested with crowds coming for the Ganesh festival which would be held on 17 -23 September. The Soude’s then bought us lunch and showed us around their village which was 4km north of Mapusa. Zameer and I then returned to Mapusa where I found a cobbler who did an amazing job on my sandals and gave me a lifetime guarantee, with a cheeky smile. We then wandered around Mapusa market to buy my bananas, a papaya and 5 litres of water (as of course tap water like most of Asia is not safe to drink).
Tuesday we decided we would just relax. It’s a good thing we did as most of the morning it rained filling the puddles along the road. I spent some time with Zameer and his family eating a delicious vegetarian lunch prepared by his mum. That afternoon we went back to Mapusa so that Zameer could purchase a long awaited computer game. We didn’t realise it would take us over 2 hrs. There was not parking at the marked so we double parked. Others parked beside us so it was triple parking on a busy roundabout! One driver who parked beside us left his vehicle empty for over an hour while he shopped. We had to move back and forward several times to allow parked cars to leave but this car blocked several cars in. Fortunately after several vehicles manoeuvring back and forwards there was enough room for those wanting to leave to squeeze out. Eventually the traffic policeman who was at the scene rang his mates who came with a wheel clamp to secure the car. The owners finally arrived and had to wait in his car before the police came to release it, possibly with a huge fine. Serves him right!
That evening we stopped on route home at one of the large convenient stores which was stocked with all sorts of imports from inters
tate and overseas. I stocked up with two more 5 litre bottles of water and yogurt. I was amused to see that Fosters made water so of course had to buy them. I can now say I drink Fosters from 5 litre bottles. We noticed today the traffic had become more and more congested.
Wednesday Zameer and I wanted to take the Soude’s out for lunch and had arranged to meet at 1pm in Anjuna Beach so we could take them to Curlies. Unfortunately it poured with rain that morning which kept us inside. I was not deterred and prayed for a break in the rain. Then the power went off and eventually my laptop battery died. Ok now it definitely was time to go! Fortunately when I stepped out the door the rain eased to a drizzle. Zameer met me and together we walk to the main road for a bus. By this time the rain finally stopped. It was after 11am and we had forgotten there was a festival holiday that was about to begin! We waited for quite some time for a bus but none came so I decided to try hitchhiking. We hadn’t walked very far when a local guy picked us up in his jeep. Zameer and I squeezed into the front seat as the back was full of gear. He dropped us just outside another town where we tried again to hitchhike but fortunately a bus finally came and took us to Mapusa, here we jumped on another bus to Anjuna. During these travels I had contacted Christine to say we were running late and where to meet us. At 2:30pm we finally met at the Eatopia Restaurant and had a lovely meal for nearly a third of the price of yesterday’s meal and just as nice. Chapattis, Butter Chicken and a fish curry for less than $13 Aust.
Zameer and I then wandered around before finding a bus back to Mapusa and from there we took another two buses before reaching the village near Coco Beach. That evening while waiting for Zameer’s parents to return home we updated Zameer’s Facebook page with a heap of photos and worked on naming my photos with the correct location.
Thursday I opened my computer to finish this blog and halfway through some alterations my computer suddenly started deleting all my work! HELP! What to do??? I couldn’t stop the deleting! I decided the only way to save my work was to close the word doc. I chose ‘don’t save’ and quickly closed all the other windows but as I was doing so it also started deleting all my emails!!! WHAT??? I shut down the computer waited awhile and reopened. My blog writings were in a mess but fortunately not too much deleted. I tried to see how I could recover from previous versions but there was none…. Hmmm what was the point of having ‘recover from previous versions’ when there was none? Fortunately I was able to rewrite what was missing. And so you have it Blog number 52 – Goa.
Pictures: 1. Life guards hut Anjuna beach 2. Zameer, Mallika & Nawad 3. Sunset Coco Beach 4. Fishermen Coco Beach 5. Zameer at Curlies Restaurant 6. Fort & light house Aguada 7. View from my room 8. Worship in Hindi 9. Sunday lunch 10. Coco Beach 11. Lunch in Mapusa 12. Fosters water
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for Zameer and his family who have given me a warm welcome and helped me find accommodation. For Zameer who had accompanied me, showing me the sights of Goa.
Please pray for Zameer and me to be able to book bus tickets to Bangalore as we hope to stay on an organic farm south of Bangalore for a few days before I fly out on the 27 Sep returning to KL.
Praise the Lord we have found a very alive church here in Goa that we can attend.
Please pray for Zameer’s spiritual growth and that he will find some friends here that he can relate.
Please pray for our safety as we travel to Bangalore (Unfortunately there are only night buses and trains) and for the rest of my stay here in India.
Please continue to pray that I have wisdom as I minister to people along the way and the opportunity to share my faith.
Please pray for ongoing good health, protection and safety on my travels through India.
Mum is doing well and has gone to Broome with my sister Kathy to stay with Jen my other sister. Please continue to pray for her health and that she will enjoy her stay.