Sunday 12th September

Today we got up early and met up with J and R. We had decided to hire a taxi for the day and were going to see as much of Goa as we could. First we went to a waterfall, it was pretty amazing, although we couldn't swim there which was not so cool as even though it was still before half ten in the morning the sun was already beating down. It reminded me so much of Niagra falls, not the size but the sound and the water spray – I love waterfalls.

Then we went to a spice plantation, stopping off at a temple on the way, as we were ahead of schedule. Actually the temple we had originally planned to visit was closed for the Ganesha festival so we went to one a bit further up the road. It was so interesting to learn about all the different spices, and then to get to try some of them in the food. It was yammaliscious, although I couldn't eat much and ended up gorging on watermelon to try and stop the burning, it was way, way too spicy for me.

We then went to old Goa, visiting two churches and the archaeological museum, it was very interesting and amazing how old some of the portraits and stone sculptures were. As it was so hot we all decided we needed to head home. After dumping our things Ch and I headed to the beach. Apart from the people who came to try and sell us things every five minutes, or to take a photo with us, or tried to offer us massages (for free) it was a lovely afternoon on the beach, reading, sunbathing, paddling, finished off with a great dinner of fresh fish and cocktails. A wonderful way to end the stay in Anjuna, and we still have tomorrow morning ☺

Friday 10th September

Today we got up early and went for our obligatory beach run. After ten minutes I was already out of breath so it turned more into a stroll down the beach. It was idyllic, if perhaps a little hot. On the way back we got accosted by about five young women and a man, they wanted us to buy jewellery and henna. In the end we caved in and bargained and ended up with pretty good deals, much lighter pockets and a suitcase full of goodies for people back home. I got a henna done which was kinda cool, but I realised I had two weeks for it to fade (before work)
so have been scrubbing it every day since.

We went back to the hostel and showered and headed back to the beach for breakfast. It was a lovely breakfast looking out to the sea, of fresh fruit and pancakes. Then we decided to go for a walk down the beach. After Curlys the beach actually stopped and we ended up climbing over some rocks to get to the next beach. This beach was a slight disappointment. It was rather scummy and it was practically impossible to continue around the rocks as the water here was much too rough. I was stubborn and did not want to turn back and Ch humoured me so we ended up trying to climb the hillside. The ground was pretty unstable and the path was negligible in some places, meaning we had to practically rock climb in some areas. About halfway up we realised there was another person with us and she ended up staying with us for the rest of the day.

Once we got to the top of the hill we were so relieved, and had encountered minor scrapes. The top of the hill was like a field, very, very green and lush and we couldn’t see much but we headed in the general direction of Baga. After about ten minutes we ended up walking through what looked like someone’s back garden. There were dogs barking everywhere and eventually a lady come out, we apologised and asked for Baga. She pointed down the opposite direction from which we had come, down a small forest route. We went down and down, through the forest, hoping that we would soon come to the beach the otherside. Eventually we did, however it was not the beach we had expected. There was a small café and we got some water, but we were on the opposite side of the bay to the Baga beach, on our side was a small beach, with not many places to set up a nice camp, and there was no where to eat so we really needed to try get to the other side. We could not see a bridge and the water looked pretty shallow, so R ( the Spanish girl) went first and Ch and I followed.

When we reached about halfway between the small beach and Baga beach a boat appeared, it was not a bay, but a river. The boat acted just like the cars in India, and did not change course despite the fact it was heading straight for us. We had to dive out of the way, this is where it all started to go wrong, Ch bag went in the water, with his camera inside. We cut our feet on the rocks and then realised the current was too strong to move. That was when we saw the lifeguard approaching us from Baga beach, he was telling us to go back, but we had no idea how to move and not to loose foot. A man got out of the boat and also came to help and somehow we all managed to et back to the small beach. Then the lifeguard and man from the boat proceeded to try and help us cross the river at a sandy point, which was a bit wider but much safer. Once on the other side we received first-aid. Our feet had been pretty mashed up by the rocks (as you can see above in the photo).

Thursday 9th September

Today was THE ESCAPE, from Delhi to Goa!!! It was a long trip, we got to the airport early as the traffic was actually surprisingly spares on the way there. The plane was delayed so we were waiting from about 9 am until about 3 pm for our flight. Nerves were high and I ended up taking a bit too much diazepam so spent the whole flight sleeping, which I suppose was pretty good, apart from the fact that it meant I found it a bit hard to stay awake once we had landed.

Once at Evershine, the hostel, we asked if there was a good place to go to for dinner, as we were starving. S directed us to Curlys and she was right. Others from the hostel were also there and we had a nice night of great food, company and hookah.