a long and interesting day today. i started at 7.30 a.m. with the alarm. having showered and packed my stuff, and paying the last bit of the rent to tilu, i took the now familiar path past the vendors and straight to the blue sea horse. still looking very unfashionable, especially so early in the morning, i took my usual breakfast/lunch/dinner meal of alu gobi sabji with 3 roties. my usual waiter with the eyebrow piercing didn’t need to ask... but he came back later to say the roties were out ‘cos the tandoor oven would take time to heat up. ‘chappatis instead?’ ‘oh no, that’s why i come here... your roties are the best in arambol!’ but the chappatis proved to be great too.
i sauntered up the road heading to the bus stand when i spot a ‘foreigner’ with his scooter. i ask if has just arrived or just about to leave. ‘oh, do you want a lift? well, i have a lassi waiting but i can give you a lift to the bus stand.' so was my first lift of the day, and i wasn’t waiting 5 minutes before i get my second. a bright red tata truck hauling its load of sand to panjim. slow but sure, and nobody messes with these trucks on indian roads (except maybe the local buses and their suicidal drivers!)
a small communication problem meant that i got to see the driver shed his truckload of sand at a building site a little south of the town, but he was returning to the main road where i got him to drop me off. standing at the roundabout/junction on national highway 17, i stuck out my thumb. i got some incredulous looks, some indicated that they were turning off or not going far, but ten minutes later, i got a lift with a young guy on a motorbike. ‘i’m just going to the gmc’, he said, after i asked if he was going in the direction of margoa. ‘ok’, i replied, having not the faintest idea of what or where the gmc was. having a motorbike conversation is like trying to catch fish with a toothpick – pretty useless. but i did learn that the driver was a lecturer in psychiatry, and it turned out that the gmc was the goa medical centre, about 15 minutes ride from panjim. he also told me i should take a bus to margoa and from there take a train to gokarna.
i carried on hitching from the gmc bus stand and within 2 minutes, another young motorcyclist stops to give me a lift. ‘are you going to margoa?’, i asked. ‘i go half the distance’, he replies. ok! he was driving a bit faster than the one before, mainly because he probably also thinks catching fish with a toothpick isn’t a good idea. and riding pillion on a motorbike in india is rapidly becoming an extreme sport for me. the sense of not being in control and the possible physical consequences of hitting bus /truck /tuktuk /rickshaw /cyclist /cow /pedestrian in a crash scenario would come intermittently to mind as i peered out past the motorcycle helmet to the road scene ahead.
surej dropped me off at the vasco turnoff, and ten minutes later, i get a lift with small van/pick-up/tuktuk vehicle. for transporting ‘small’ goods. as it turned, he was going to margoa to pick up some fridges and tvs to take back to mapusa. he said he had been driving professionally for 15 years now. i felt safe. he dropped me at the margoa bus station where i debated whether to take the bus or carrying on hitching. but first some water. i had already finished a litre off this morning, and the heat of the day was getting to me. i stood at the road and stuck out my thumb. a minute later, another motorcyclist takes me to ‘market’. i assume it’s on the right way so i don’t hesitate and jump on. ‘market’ turned out to be a 10 minute ride down the road from where i had to walk the road over the railway lines till i got to the main junction on that side of the tracks. a longer wait this time, margoa is a busy place with lots of very local traffic, one of whom (another male motorcyclist) gave me a lift a kilometer down the road to the next village of nairlik. here i walked a little to a convenient place in the shade, but it looked like my luck was running out. 15 minutes gone and no sign of anyone stopping. and hot, hot, hot! then suddenly, a car stopped. going to karwar? i asked. he said he was going to palolem but he would drop me off at canacona. i noticed it had tourist vehicle written on the side (often used as taxis for tourists) and so i confirmed that he was giving me a lift as a hitch-hiker. it was a beautiful ride through the hills and he dropped me at the bus-stand.
at canacona bus station, i only had to wait 10 minutes for the next bus to karwar, from where there were no more direct buses to gokarna. take that bus and change at ankola, i was told. i took the bus, it was half empty... ah yes, it was the express bus and so more costly. at ankola, again, only ten minutes wait before the bus to gokarna turns up.
this time however, there were a lot of college girls and boys waiting, and as the passengers from gokarna were getting off, they were throwing their satchels and bags through the windows to reserve their seats, the cheeky monkeys. they were clambouring aboard before the last passenger had even fully got off, and the poor guy almost drowned in the sea of uniforms. it’s good to have a pack on your back at these times, and the little rascals were fairly bouncing off it as i fought my way to the back door. once on, i grabbed the bags on one of the seats and placed it on the seat in front. no worries! the girls were from the nursing college in ankola, i discovered as i glanced at an assignment one was showing to the other. i also pointed out the english mistakes! (professional habit!)
another beautiful red globe of a sunset, and so we arrived in gokarna in the dark. i was shown one guesthouse on the walk to the beach, but they had no cheap rooms. then one guy asks if i want a room... do you have a cheap one? 100? it was 150 and 2 minutes ride along the beach road. ok, let’s have a look. a ride on the back of a scooter with him, and we arrive at his place: ‘krishna farm hous [sic]’. and a very basic room... just a mattress. no table, no chair, no bed, no attached shower/toilet. ‘but it has a roof’, he points. yes, very important. i haggle him down to 80 rupees.
i take a ride back with him to town, and i find a place for a thali. and the walk back isn’t as long as i feared. and now that i see a little of the surroundings, it seems like a nice little shanti place. i’ll get the full picture tomorrow!
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