The past couple of weeks I have been fortunate enough to spend at the beach. I realize in being here that I haven’t had a strictly beach vacation in my adult years. Most of my vacations have been spent with family in Ontario, or roughing it traveling around third world countries. Arambol Goa is the beach I have been staying at and I had my doubts at first. Seems surprising considering a beach is a beach. When I arrived Arambol was crawling with tourists looking for the party/trance scene that Goa is so well known for. This is not what I was looking for. I was seeking a bit of an escape and break from the crazy tourist track as my time in Delhi and Agra had been a bit too much and I was just tired. Hesitations in hand I had agreed to come, take in some sun, the salty water, as well as wonderful Rachy and a group of friends from Delhi. Best decision ever !!!
It has taken some time for me to unwind and simply relax, but I have gotten in to the groove and am not yet ready to leave. Life at the beach is amazing!! Within the first couple of days I was whipping around on a motorbike, partying till the week hours of the morning, eating fresh seafood and juices everyday, swimming in the Arabian Sea and just loving life again!
Beach culture in Goa is fabulous. You do not have to worry about being too modest, wearing a bathing suit to the beach is completely acceptable. You do get attention from Indian men, but I have learned how to filter it a bit better, plus the fact that I am with a large group of people and have their protection. My day begins with slipping into my bathing suit and sarong and heading to the beach front restaurant to have a tomato, basil, bison mozzarella omelette and a fruit shake. Fabulous! Everyday the group organizes a trip to a different neighbouring beach, or some sort of adventure. Traveling in a pack of motor bikers we weave along the curvy Goan roads, the ocean sparkling in the distance. Rachy is a speed demon on the motorbike so we usually overtake everyone else in our pack. Although they do leave us in the dust sometimes. One day it is off to Anjuna to take in the sunset and play frisbee. Another day it is a ferry ride to Paradise beach.
One afternoon Rachy and I were having a lazy time at our favorite hangout “pies and love” when we got a text from the group saying they were going to Vagator for sushi. We packed up and set out. We kind of knew the way, but not really. Shortly after making a wrong turn our motorbike ran out of fuel. Holding the spirit of Tabitha and laughing with it, Rachy and I sauntered down the road in search of petrol. A very nice man picked me up to take me to the gas station. Upon arriving I chugged down a one liter bottle of water so we could fill it with petrol. We filled up and set off only to go much farther south than needed. We got to the town of Mapusa, which is where I had gotten one of my original buses to take me to Arambol, so I knew we were too far. Again asking for directions is always a task. We found out the general direction we were supposed to take. Poor Rachy was trying to navigate through Mapusa, which is a bigger, busier city. A little frazzled we were circling a roundabout when we came upon a cow lost in the roundabout as well. As if we needed anything else to add to our journey. With a little more patience and perseverance we made it past the cow, through the roundabout and back on our way to Vagator.
Of course there are two ‘Vagators’; small and big. Asking for the sushi restaurant didn’t help either. Amazingly enough we found our friends, and the restaurant, and enjoyed a lovely sushi dinner, with a power outage to boot. Hahhahahah. Our way back was much smoother and included a game of motorbike tag. Soo much fun!
The holidays in and of themselves were absolutely incredible. Christmas eve was a night to remember. Our group has twenty people or so. Tables crammed together our large group spread out on the evening beach with all things alive and moving around us. Evening barbeques are set up with the catch of the day. There are bins of fresh fish, squid, prawns, baby shark, and any other seafood you can imagine. You select the fish that you would like for dinner and they grill it up for you right there on the spot! Six of us purchased the largest fish they had and shared it together. Amazing! There in the sand with fireworks going off overhead we feasted like kings and celebrated little baby Jesus’ birth. At one point we realized we had representation from sixteen different countries; Canada, India, Afghanistan, Australia, France, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Senegal, Portugal, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Colombia, and Argentina. Pretty impressive and absolutely incredible. If Jesus were to represent anything it was love for all peoples from all places.
New Years Eve was equally enjoyable as our group had arranged a private, white party at our guest house. Ruffus was going to be the dj for the event. Once the sun had gone down behind the ocean horizon, decked out in our finest white attire, one by one we arrived to celebrate the evening and bring the new year in together. Everyone in a great mood and properly clothed in our beachy attire. We danced like it was 1999, shouted, and cheered when the ball dropped and the clock hit 12am, midnight. Champagne bottles were opened and sprayed over the crowd. Fireworks going off all up and down the beach, the music pumping. On top of it all I had my dear friend Rachy there to bring in the new year and not only one person to kiss at midnight but a whole group!!! One of my favorite moments of the night was tearing it up, dancing like crazy in the sand, and Rachy yelling across to me “Steph, you’re a mother fucking rock star”! To which I replied “no, you’re a mother fucking rock star”! A night I will never forget and will be eternally grateful for!
Ultimately my time at the beach has taught me that life is a beach. If you chose to take a step back, relax, breath in the fresh air, taste the salty ocean water, and absorb all the beauty and benefits of the energizing sun life can be pretty darn great!
Happy New Year Everyone! May 2013 bring much success, happiness, and fulfillment as love shines down on us all!
It has taken some time for me to unwind and simply relax, but I have gotten in to the groove and am not yet ready to leave. Life at the beach is amazing!! Within the first couple of days I was whipping around on a motorbike, partying till the week hours of the morning, eating fresh seafood and juices everyday, swimming in the Arabian Sea and just loving life again!
Beach culture in Goa is fabulous. You do not have to worry about being too modest, wearing a bathing suit to the beach is completely acceptable. You do get attention from Indian men, but I have learned how to filter it a bit better, plus the fact that I am with a large group of people and have their protection. My day begins with slipping into my bathing suit and sarong and heading to the beach front restaurant to have a tomato, basil, bison mozzarella omelette and a fruit shake. Fabulous! Everyday the group organizes a trip to a different neighbouring beach, or some sort of adventure. Traveling in a pack of motor bikers we weave along the curvy Goan roads, the ocean sparkling in the distance. Rachy is a speed demon on the motorbike so we usually overtake everyone else in our pack. Although they do leave us in the dust sometimes. One day it is off to Anjuna to take in the sunset and play frisbee. Another day it is a ferry ride to Paradise beach.
One afternoon Rachy and I were having a lazy time at our favorite hangout “pies and love” when we got a text from the group saying they were going to Vagator for sushi. We packed up and set out. We kind of knew the way, but not really. Shortly after making a wrong turn our motorbike ran out of fuel. Holding the spirit of Tabitha and laughing with it, Rachy and I sauntered down the road in search of petrol. A very nice man picked me up to take me to the gas station. Upon arriving I chugged down a one liter bottle of water so we could fill it with petrol. We filled up and set off only to go much farther south than needed. We got to the town of Mapusa, which is where I had gotten one of my original buses to take me to Arambol, so I knew we were too far. Again asking for directions is always a task. We found out the general direction we were supposed to take. Poor Rachy was trying to navigate through Mapusa, which is a bigger, busier city. A little frazzled we were circling a roundabout when we came upon a cow lost in the roundabout as well. As if we needed anything else to add to our journey. With a little more patience and perseverance we made it past the cow, through the roundabout and back on our way to Vagator.
The holidays in and of themselves were absolutely incredible. Christmas eve was a night to remember. Our group has twenty people or so. Tables crammed together our large group spread out on the evening beach with all things alive and moving around us. Evening barbeques are set up with the catch of the day. There are bins of fresh fish, squid, prawns, baby shark, and any other seafood you can imagine. You select the fish that you would like for dinner and they grill it up for you right there on the spot! Six of us purchased the largest fish they had and shared it together. Amazing! There in the sand with fireworks going off overhead we feasted like kings and celebrated little baby Jesus’ birth. At one point we realized we had representation from sixteen different countries; Canada, India, Afghanistan, Australia, France, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Senegal, Portugal, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Colombia, and Argentina. Pretty impressive and absolutely incredible. If Jesus were to represent anything it was love for all peoples from all places.
New Years Eve was equally enjoyable as our group had arranged a private, white party at our guest house. Ruffus was going to be the dj for the event. Once the sun had gone down behind the ocean horizon, decked out in our finest white attire, one by one we arrived to celebrate the evening and bring the new year in together. Everyone in a great mood and properly clothed in our beachy attire. We danced like it was 1999, shouted, and cheered when the ball dropped and the clock hit 12am, midnight. Champagne bottles were opened and sprayed over the crowd. Fireworks going off all up and down the beach, the music pumping. On top of it all I had my dear friend Rachy there to bring in the new year and not only one person to kiss at midnight but a whole group!!! One of my favorite moments of the night was tearing it up, dancing like crazy in the sand, and Rachy yelling across to me “Steph, you’re a mother fucking rock star”! To which I replied “no, you’re a mother fucking rock star”! A night I will never forget and will be eternally grateful for!
Ultimately my time at the beach has taught me that life is a beach. If you chose to take a step back, relax, breath in the fresh air, taste the salty ocean water, and absorb all the beauty and benefits of the energizing sun life can be pretty darn great!
Happy New Year Everyone! May 2013 bring much success, happiness, and fulfillment as love shines down on us all!
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