Today i left Mumbai for GOA. The day didn't start as i had wished. The previous night i had asked the nice man at the Residency Hotel desk whether i could have a wake up call for 5.30am sharp as i had a train to catch at 6.30am 'no problem sir, no problem' he assured me with a big confident smile, how could i doubt him. I am awoken the next day by the room phone ringing, brilliant i thought, however this thought soon turned to panic as i picked up my watch, 6am? SHIT!!! i had to shower, pack, check out and get to the train station and find my train (10min walk) in 30mins. 13hrs on a train i thought I'm not going to be smelling that great anyway so skipped the shower, packed, gave reception a mouthful about my wake up call and ran (well as much as you can with 23KG backpack) to the station. For a Sunday morning at 6.30am CSTM Mumbai was as busy as Kings Cross at rush hour. I found my train on the board and rushed to the platform. As yet due to how the allocate the seats, i didn't know where i was sitting, all i know it was '1AC', i found the 1AC carriages and on each carriage was a list of names and which cabin you were in. I found mine, i was the only name on my cabin, i jumped on and found the cabin, it was a 7ft by 4ft room with a bed, power points, lights and blacked out windows (which i didn't like as i couldn't take pic's) i was definitely travelling in style, OK, it was old, looked disgusting and falling apart but it had a bed and was spacious and had not AC but a huge fan, it will do me! The journey was long but uneventful apart from the dubious spicy chicken i bought from one of the vendors that walked past every 15mins or so, i hadn't had time to pick up any food before getting on the train as advised by many previous travellers i had read up on but i was starving, so i opened the foil tin that my so called chicken came in, it smelt good but there was something about it that didn't look right, i contemplated just putting the lid back on and going hungry but thought fck it, its meat and banished any thought of what it might have been out of my head and devoured the lot thinking the whole time 'it is chicken, its is chicken'. I also made the porter's (who came to check i was OK every now and again) day, he popped his head in at one point as i was fishing a Pear Drop from its bag, he looked at me as to say 'what are they?' i offered one and his eyes lit up, he returned 5mins later, asking of he could have a couple more for his friends, of course i knew that they were for him, i took a few for myself and gave him the rest of the pack, his face was a picture, so thankful yet so pleased like a little boy in sweet shop, he thanked me a thousand times and wondered off, i felt humble and pleased with myself that such a simple gesture would have probably made his week!
I arrived in Thivm - GOA at around 8pm, i still had a 25min Taxi ride to Calangute where i was staying for the next 5 days. I had already booked a guest house, so showed the taxi man the address to Gabriel's guest house and we were off. As i was filling out the forms in reception the was suddenly darkness, pitch black, the whole area had a power cut, i had read not uncommon for GOA, it was back on in 5mins but happened a few times more in the next few hours. When in reception i ended up chatting to a German guy Tore and his friend Anoop from Mumbai, they were soon inviting me to a party at a place called 'Curlies' on Anjuna beach, they were leaving at 11pm, i was tired, hungry and minging but of course, i obliged. We met up at 11 ini reception and we were also joined by a french guy and 2 girls. Now 6 of us and too many for 1 taxi, Anoop and Tore had a bike so they jumped on that. The rest of walked to the main road for a taxi, not one in sight and Curlies was 8KM away, we saw a Rickshaw outside a shop and we asked the guys inside who's it was, i very plump, energetic Indian guy came bouncing out, we bartered a price which took a while and we all squeezed in, bearing In mind a Rickshaw is meant for 2 people not 4. It was uncomfy and one of the girls sat on our laps. We soon realised why the plump Indian taxi driver was energetic, he was SHIT faced!! by now it was too late and i was sure that he probably done this as many times as i had, had hot dinners. even so, it was a hair raising experience, he was a maniac, i am pretty sure he thought he was an F1 driver. About 10mins in, i think the fresh had hit him, as he went quiet and slowed down, however a little too quiet, yep he was nodding off, we gave him a shake and he was back with us, we had to do this a couple of times for the next 10mins! Arriving at Curlies, a beer or 10 was def needed. Curlies was basically a huge shack on the beach, was perfect, we had sheesha's, hot food and dance music, it was busy but laid back and everyone was chilled and friendly. Had a few 'Kingfishers' at £1.20 a pint, sat on the beach chatting till 4am'ish and got a taxi back, this time with a sober driver!
Sorry for the multiple posts i have had no internet access, its not 12pm on Monday 15th and i am finally seeing some sun. keep well all.
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