Shanti Shanti

The high season for Goa is December/January. I've caught the end bit of the tourist season and the roof at the Ave Maria is a comfortable place to be this time of year. It gets really, really cold overnight though. Blankets are essential.

I met some amazing people in Arambol. Jess went off to meet her dad down south and I decided to stay on. In the end I was there for a full week. You never really get bored around these parts of the world. There's music every night (either a jam session or a band playing at a bar or a dj). Bob Marley is really loved and the other night at a bar called Zion I heard Patrice again for the first time in a couple of years.

The days go just as easy as the nights. It's too hot to move in the mornings until about 3pm, so you sit around and talk with people. An interesting bunch of people. Some of them have really gotten in touch with their spiritual side (for lack of a better word). It's more than spiritual in my eyes, there's some kind of truth they are getting at about themselves that is quite remarkable to see. It makes me jealous but happy for them.

I met Miko, a Finnish guy that used to be a stock broker but you could never guess it by looking at this thin, tanned, blond dreadlocked man. I met him through Andy whom I met on the rooftop. The two of them met in Delhi and headed to Pakistan after the earthquake to help. They've got some remarkable stories to tell of being part of this moetly crew of travellers delivering aid to those affected by the disaster. There was a lot that stood in their way and yet there was a lot they had going for them because in the end they achieved their goal. When they got back they happened to be in the Delhi market that was bombed. After those experiences Goa seemed like the place to head for some rest.

On my last day I was back at the lake and met this little boy that just started jumping all over me. He took my leg and dragged me along the water and then he took my foot and started biting my toes! That was weird.

This is the sort of people I've been spending time with and one of the reasons that leaving Goa as 'scheduled' didn't happen. The days there were spent hiking cliffs and a cave along the beach, taking mud baths up stream from the fresh water lake and hiking up into the jungle to an old hippie hang out called the Bunion Tree. The landscape is absolutely beautiful. There are little white churches hidden between the palm trees and the sky is filled with stars. Sunsets are not the most beautiful in the world but the mother of pearl reflection of the light in the water makes up for it.

Alas, I had to leave it behind for Hampi, another beautiful place that has the potential to tempt me into staying on a while longer than I intend.

The beach
The Ave Maria rooftop
My sleeping quarters