Moi at Rancho Relaxo!

Well, Anna Leigh & Lu have abandoned me; I must therefore roam the plains of India solo. Waah!!! I suggested the manifestation of some mysterious illness so they could all stay in India a little while longer but they don’t listen! The lure of pristine, palm-fringed, sand-swept beaches, amazing food, beach shacks and dirt-cheap cocktails just wasn’t enough… tee hee. Sorry kiddos. Don’t mean to rub it in. I miss you guys heaps! Waah!! Altho, you all really must try the local Goan firewater feni- alcoholic beverage made of distilled cashew apple juice…bit of oomph there!

I am currently at Palolem Beach. Bee-lined here straight from Mumbai (after a brief necessary stop at Panjim). This is the most southern of Goa’s developed beaches. Because it is the furthest away it is also the quietest, which means I only get “Conichiwa! Japan? Korea?” once every 30 metres rather than once every 3 metres. I’m staying in bamboo hut on stilts for about 5 bucks a day. I share a room with a lizard who perches on the beam above the fan, eating the mossies I hope.

I could get used to this beachy beach lifestyle. My days generally go something like this: Wake up, go for a stroll along the beach, get a masala chai at one of the cafes, watch the boat people take tourists on dolphin watching tours. Then I go to a yoga class for a couple of hours (yes anna! There is an awesome yoga instructor here. She is gold compared to the phonies we’ve encountered so far!). After yoga, I have breakfast (trying to eat something different every day, costs about $1.50 max). I then read a little bit, mite take a nap… do some kung fu practice, go on the net… In the late afternoon I hit the beach where I remain till after sunset. After that I have a shower, eat dinner and drink GnTs…Yep, could definitely get used to this! Only in India can one sunbathe next to sacred cows and their inevitable canine companions. They just want to be near you, these animals!

Arriving at Palolem makes the horrendous 14 hour bus ride to get here worthwhile, and horrendous it was! For those of you who don’t know the story, here are a few clues:
1) She takes a 14+ hour long haul bus ride.
2) Simultaneously, she contracts a bout of food poisoning.
3) She misses the bag… about 10 minutes into the bus ride…
Is this Murphy’s Law or what?
Understandably, the two American chicks sitting in front of me were mighty pissed-off,! But the poor old Indian woman next to me was kind enough to offer me a lozenge. Bless her little socks.

Anyway, I better go and continue my bid to rid the “work-or-idle syndrome” (I see what you mean now James). I’d post some photos but since the company is three team members down, my pool of accessible resources has substantially diminished!

Not too long till I get back now.
Miss you all and long cuddles! Mwah, mwah!
Moi.