Early warning, I have zero pictures from Goa besides 2 pictures of my face covered in mosquito bites, which are not at all flattering and will not be shared!
I didn’t want to spend too long in Goa, since my plan was to head to the North of India in time for the holi festival, so I wanted to choose just one town. After speaking to a few people who had already been, I decided that Arambol was the right place and I think that was a pretty good decision.
The journey from Gokarna to Arambol included a 3 hour wait between trains. A kind stranger showed up at the deserted train station, saw me stranded and shocked at the lack of tuktuks (except one, who laughed at me when I asked to be taken to the nearby beach) and offered to take me and my backpacks to the beach. I will be forever grateful for being spared a 3 hour wait at the empty station and being able to eat lunch on the beach instead!
I stayed at my first ‘party hostel’ in India on the recommendation of someone I had met in Gokarna, which had a great group of people staying there. I’ve certainly not been in a party mood so far during my trip, but it was nice to let loose a little. I quickly adjusted to being able to drink alcohol freely (and very cheaply!), being able to show shoulders and knees and being in the presence of a lot of western tourists. I didn’t actually go to any actual parties, but drank quite a few beers and mojitos during my 5 days there.
One day was spent riding on the back of a scooter, which is one of my favourite activities while travelling. I, along with 3 Germans decided to drive around and go cafe hopping. We successfully dodged 3 police stops before the other scooter had a policeman stand right in front of them, with no hope of escaping without paying a fine (aka bribe). Luckily they were able to pay only around £1, after claiming that was the only money they had with them. We also got a flat tire on the way home, so it wasn’t the luckiest day of driving, but fun nonetheless.
I also spent a lot of time on the beaches, including the ‘secret beach’ with a small fresh water lake on the other side of the sand. Although the beaches were much busier than the previous ones I’d visited, I still enjoyed spending time in the waves and on the sand, as I knew this would be my last time by the sea for a while.
My favourite evening consisted of a midnight trip to the beach with a group from the hostel. We were already a little drunk and told we couldn’t play music at the hostel any longer, so we took some beers and speakers down to the beach. Fairy lights and banana bread appeared from someone’s bag on arrival, which could not have been better received. We made friends with some stray dogs, who sat happily being stroked for hours and a dip in the sea revealed bioluminescent plankton. It was an evening of unexpected surprises that were all the more exciting due to being tipsy and one of my favourite evenings of my trip so far.
Katie's Escape 