15-18/mar moving, margao, panjim & vagator

I feel a little bit better today, my stomach respected me tonight, and this is quite good because I have to travel today, 8 or 9 hours on the train, towards margao. And the trains, are one of those perfect places to meet people, to look outside, and even inside, but as well to read. And I started a book, a present from Ok, the girl from South Korea. Travelers to tibet, and it really seems interesting,but very sad at the same time. People explain in first person their experiences in tibet after the 1978, when the chinese government opened the border to tibetans that where living abroad, and to tourists as well. And what they saw was a complete invasion of tibet by chinese people, getting better jobs, speaking mandarin, and destroying the tibetan culture, very rich before the invasion, I think at the end of the '50. The chinese destroyed lots of temples, and exploted their nature... it's sad, very sad so see how they are loosing the tibetan identity, absolutely attached to their religion... well. So the train journey was splendid, like most of the times, and some of the areas, very beautiful, specially when we were getting closer to the border with goa, a mountain area, very green. The only difference with the rest of my train journeys is that this one had lots of beetles. Ribas might be either leaving brasil or arriving to girona, after 5 or 6 months that I'm sure that have passed too fast. Let's see how everything was! Once in margao, bus to panjim, where I spent a couple of nights. Here, everything (accomodation, food, internet...)was slightly more expensive, even if it was middle season. And panjim was a nice town, with a very cute portuguese old area, with colorful houses, narrow streets, and even people speaking portuguese. I didn't dare to use my portuguese, I think because it's too rusty now! The name of the area was fontainhas, where I stayed. The day after was my little sister's birthday!!! she turned 20 years... time is flying too fast! and of course, this reminded me that I'm getting closer and closer to the '30! felicitats elisabet!!! Walking in panjim was like walking really in another country. A part from the colors of the houses, the balconies, doors... everything with lots of details. And all women (almost) dressing western style. the really looked like brazilian girls, since the have the same skin color, hair, and lots of ethnical differences. Many of them were beautiful. This feeling of being outside of india was emphasized by the presence of churches, and absence of temples or mosques (even if there were, but not as a main buildings). The portuguese were the last colonizers to leave india, I think in the '60. Lots of street names were in portuguese, names of shops, surnames of people... panjim was a pleasant city, with the atmosphere of a town. The day after I went to old goa, the religious center of the portuguese occupation, with lots of churches and cathedrals, and where all the streets were extremelly clean. Everything was white, too much for india I would say! And was there where I bought my ticket for mumbai. The truth is that I passed by all this buildings quite fast. I wasn't that interested, maybe because I'm already tired of seeing churches... but also because i wasn't feeling that good. I took a but to mapusa on the next morning, and from there to vagator, in the middle of a couple of places that I wanted to visit. The town had nothing special. No history, just tourism. Lots of hotels, lodges, restaurants, shops... and any sign of previous life before the arrival of the tourism in goa, I would say in the '50 or '60. But the worst came when I saw the beach, and then I remembered that that was goa. Lots of construction close to the beach, wooden sun beds all over the beach, small stalls selling clothes, umbrellas... and a masala of stylish english, others with milions of tatoos, but everyone ready to observe and be observed. Families, and old ravers. Everything very fashion! There were only groups of people traveling together, very few backpackers. There were also many indians, 4 of them very funny. 4 sicks, laying down on the sun beds, that were placed very close to eachother. They were very fat, with underwear, long beards and turban!! So, a part from all this fauna, one had to use the imagination to see the lasndscape behind. It was really on a second plan, sometimes even on a third... A funny thing about this place, is that no-one is using the sand to lay down, only me and 4 more... and, the water was dirty. So I decided to go to discover new beaches, full of optimism! And that was a goo decision. 15 Miunutes far from the little vagator beach, there was vagator beach, bigger, wider, cleaner, without buildings, without sun beds, and with not many people. The only houses I could see from my place were integrated to the landscape, portuguese houses, and palm trees covering them. So this beach was nice, but not as amazing as the other could once had been. No loud music, just people reading, playing freesbee, meditating... I was feeling better here. I was feeling far from the party scene in those days, and my stomach was so so still. In the area, everyone has a motor bike, the best way to move in goa, since is small enough to go from one side to the other in one day. And 40% have enfields. I must admit that this day I was too critic, and many things were irritating me. As soon of the day was finishing, and after realizing about my mood, I started being more posotive, and I liked to see that I was changing. Everything became better then. Even the night was good, I was staying with a family. They had dogs, and even pigs in the courtyard!! The day after I went to anjuna, one of the most famous party places in goa. I thought it was because of the discos and stuff, but also for the nature and beauty of the place. But once again I was a little bit disappointed. Well, maybe more than just a little bit, since I didn't even swim over there. The town is small but scattered, so it looked big. There was not a real center, at least while I was there. I guess that during the x-mas time is another story. So I saw 3 different centers; the one by the road, the paradiso (disco) area, and the beach. From the road to the beach, 3 or 4 km, packed with bars, restaurants and lots of shops, selling almost the same things. This town has not a clear plan, is quite chaotic and has been growing without any prevision. The beach is ugly and narrow, since you can not see many palm trees; you see only sun beds and umbrellas, and all the bars just next to the beach, many of them quite big for the place, and concrete made. One can only swim in certain areas, since the are a sort of black rocks, that looked volcanic. Maybe gokarna would be like this place if the access was better, and they the guest houses more comfortable. But when I was leaving, I had a more positive feeling again. This place, looks like a sort of ghost town in low season, and it has a certain grace; if you look through 'the whole', the town first shows you a memory of the very last past, from the '60, as a kind of souvenir. You can imagine how it was in the '60, with those hippies that 'discovered' goa. The glorious time of the people. These empty street might have been full on that time. Now even the salesmen sleep... and then, the place shows you another memory, previous to the western 'occupation'. Through these empty streets, you can imagine how beautiful this place was once, the glorious time of the nature.
After anjuna, I went to chapora, a fishermen town, kind of hidden behind a mountain with a fort on the top. There were a few restaurants and motorcycles, but the atmosphere was already different, more chill out. The shops here sell things for the everyday life, for the people of the area. There is only a harbour, small, but with the number enough to pollute the water. I walked from the town, kind of climbing a mountain, to the vagator beach. There was a very small beach, very cosy, with very few people. So I was quite happy to be here, and as my mood was great, and my stomach was better, I decided to go to the same beach of the first day, where I met a few people. I had dinner with a british guy, and went to sleep being aware that I had already spent enough time in goa. Maybe another time, in another situation...

2/4/05