GOA! 6 levels of awareness
1st - What was I thinking? exotic
What did I think about when I decided to fly to GOA? Kilometer-long beaches, five-meter palm trees, salty sea, sacred cows, Indian songs and the smell of spices… that's what I was thinking about until I got to the GOA airport.
On the plane from Doha, not a single Russian or European... at the airport the same story (September is not the season yet)... arrived at 5 in the morning, the first sensations were not sterile! I go through the control quickly and go straight to the exit. . . I go to the door. . . and I am simply blown away by a wave of strange, unfamiliar smells. The smell of humidity, rotten leaves, smoke, humidity, cows (here I had to write not exactly cows, but it’s better like that), humidity and spices, and for the sake of variety, even humidity, we add stuffiness and complete darkness to this and we get - Welcome to GOA. And what is most pleasant is the eyes burning from the darkness))) Somehow it’s not on its own (We later found the spoons, but the sediment remained))).
The car from the hotel was already standing and we drove off. I look out the window and realize that I do not see anything at all! We arrived at the hotel, everything is fine! The room is excellent. I go out onto the balcony and again the already familiar bouquet... well, except for the smell of cows (and everything connected with them), though the smell of salt was added... BUT! The strangest thing is the sound! OH! I haven't heard that. It seems that everything around rustles, buzzes and worries (at 5.30! ). I understand that this is the sound of palm trees and waves, with an admixture of the cries of birds and God knows who else... all this just blows my head, in any case, to me an exclusively urban person, accustomed to the sounds of cars and sirens of ambulances and police. Suddenly! it started to rain, and from the smells only the smell of wet leaves remained, and from the sounds only the waves... a very strange feeling, especially considering that nothing is visible.
2nd - It just seemed, everything is fine
In the morning, well, like in the morning... waking up at about 5 pm (no matter how 10 hours of flights and transfers! ) From the lowing of cows, I went to the reception to change money and rent a scooter - everything is fast and convenient. They brought the scooter, gave the keys, they said where you can buy gasoline (almost at every step). I looked around the hotel, considering that the sun had almost set, I decided to order breakfast and dinner. Chicken Tika with Indian bread and bean porridge with butter - sooooo wonderful! (Then I tried European cuisine and realized that it is better to refrain from European dishes in general. Indians do not know how to cook it). I was struck by the lack of fish dishes, but a beef cheeseburger will be served))) Apparently, cutlets are not made from sacred cows, but from imported delinquent, European ones))) The evening went off with a bang, swam in the pool, went to the pool bar where they broadcast a game of squash . I was rooting with the Germans for the English team against the Indian… we lost))) Just when I had already relaxed and thought about the best and began to advance into the room, I met with aliens in white suits and masks! Nuuuu I think everything is covered! And where are Moulder and Scali when you need them! In the hands of strange vacuum cleaner-like units, from which white smoke and the smell of an aerosol come down. Later it turned out that this was mosquito control, every evening going to the service to fight for the peace of numerous vacationers))) for all 2 weeks that I was there, there were nine of us (vacationers)))) 2 Germans, 2 Englishmen, me, and 2 Indian families.
3rd - NO, it didn't seem! Why? What for? Well, how to deal with it.
Why is there no beach? I thought when the next morning, at about 9 o'clock, having reached the mark on the map, I did not find it. Where is the beach? Why is it raining? Where is the beach? After wandering around and looking around, I asked myself a couple of times where exactly HE is? I got on a scooter and, thinking that I had vision problems, went in search of a sinful thing. The rain stopped, the sun, the road, palm trees, cows and wild pigs, rice fields… all this did not cause the joy that was expected to be experienced… because the question tormented me – Where is the fish, Zin? Arriving at the next beach (the map from the hotel helped a lot) I actually found HIM! Yes it is! But! It's about a meter wide, and! WHAT IS THIS? ! Oil? ! Yes, this is oil, I answered myself in the affirmative.
Reference: At the end of the monsoon season, every year in September! a certain amount of oil waste is thrown ashore.
Asking heaven, WHY? Am I wearing my favorite yellow flip flops? after realizing that the Levis fabric bag that I so thoughtlessly abandoned, also died the death of the brave (because it was not possible to wash it later), I realized that I had messed up! In the literal and figurative sense.
Why? You ask, but because cows walk here and along the beach too. I must say they are trying to drive them away from the sand, but as practice has shown, it is not always successful.
After experiencing the shock of the loss, I decided to take a dip. The water is great, the temperature is perfect, the salinity level is fabulous (not like in Egypt for example) BUT! Waves! Flow! Rescuers! These are the components that prevent you from getting at least some pleasure from the sea in GOA. I must say that I swim and dive very well, but currents, underwater turbulences, waves and unexpected drops in depth, personally, I was not at all disposed to any long-distance swim... more precisely, I felt safe only waist-deep in water... by the way, until the moment I entered the sea, I didn’t notice people, and suddenly from the forest! Well, in our case, THEY came out of the palm grove! They stood a few meters from me and controlled my every impulse to swim... it’s very unusual to be under surveillance while you are trying to swim where the water level constantly jumps from strange - ankle-deep to sharp - chest-high.
Reference: 8 people drowned in 2 weeks, 2 were saved.
What about the desire to tan? How to sunbathe where even closed swimsuits, and even more so bikinis, are considered indecent? The question is purely rhetorical, because most Russians do not pay attention to such things. I, as a person trying to infiltrate the life of the country in which I am, was forced (voluntarily of course) to swim in more or less modest bathing shorts and a T-shirt. I must say that I tried to swim just in a bathing suit, BUT! Male natives constantly passing by, who kind of stop to look at the sea, and as a result stare at you, well, they really don’t have a carefree sunbathing in the style of a fur seal.
Reference: Over the past few years, it has been recorded - 1 rape of a child, 4 attempts to rape and 1 murder of an English girl. There was a lot of discussion about this in the papers.
Why did I take this scooter? It's just HELL! Traffic in GOA is uncontrolled, unpredictable, incomprehensible, dangerous, laid-back, respectful and calm in equal measure. Coconut crusts, cow mines, puddles and general humidity + condition of scooters and roads + incomprehensible signs, different houses and exits, all this makes riding a scooter sooooo interesting and unpredictable kind of entertainment)))
Help: A child and an adult died because the driver tried to overtake the bus on a scooter. I ride a scooter in Moscow (without falling), I fell on GOA for the first time, because of a coconut peel on the road.
4th - I want to live here
After a few days, I finally let go! Cows and wild pigs (which at first arouse genuine interest and tenderness in everyone), palm trees, rice fields, almost toxic-colored houses, moss-covered Portuguese churches, eagles, monitor lizards and iguanas, Indians in bright clothes, and winking scooters, poignant and strange food, kilometer-long beaches (after 2 pm) and long walks with dogs that are ready to follow you for days, waves, crabs and starfish, and most importantly... SUNSETS! Not even sunsets, but their premonition and expectation. Around 5 pm, indigenous and not very Goa residents begin to gather on the beach. It's a ritual, it's a habit, it's a way to relax, it's spiritual thoughts, it's a time of communication, it's an absolutely useless and almost sporty search for shells. Europeans jogging from side to side, playing squash or beach football and just sitting on the sand between the formed mini ponds with fish that did not have time to swim away with the tide. And actually the apogee... the moment when the sun touches the horizon.
5th - What was I thinking!
Swimming is uncomfortable and dangerous, sunbathing is shameful, food seems not sterile and dangerous, mosquitoes and all kinds of flying reptiles bite around the clock, big snakes on the roads, constant 100% humidity, clay and garbage at every step, cows and the result of their sacred activities, dirty beaches , Indians pissing on palm trees (but there are a lot of butterflies), annoying sellers, the opportunity to get infected with something sooo bad, and most importantly, the widespread poverty of the population... add to this just a mocking screening system before departure, when you are forced not only to throw out all your things in a dirty basin for clothes, but they also confiscate a spray for burns (50 ml) and a package of Aspirin tablets... that's what can kill all the advantages of this place... GOA, in my opinion, is not the place where you can go with children !!!
6th - I miss you
. . . I miss... apparently I will have to return to India. It's impossible to explain. . .
PS. A few words about the hotel: Alila Diwa GOA is just super! Highly recommend. With or without children, there is everything you need or want. Cinema, restaurants, swimming pool with nice sunbeds in the water and a view of the rice fields. Rooms and food. Wifi and safe.
