Monday Morning .....

It's Monday morning here in Arambol ... had a great evening yesterday ... went and visited my friend Wendy in S. Anjuna ... and after a lovley dinner party with some of her friends headed off to a concert by Prem Joshua.

It was fun, but a bit buttoned down. The police have been really clamping down on the party and rave scene here, and the paper had an article in it yesterday about all the "nefarious" activities in Arambol - we are watching closely to see if we can see any!

Anyways, the concert was really well organized .. maybe 2000 people .. all arriving .. as we did on thier scooters. Tickets were 250 Rs ($6.00) but he volume was quite low, they turned bright lights on the audience between numbers, and shut the thing down at 10:00. I did get up and dance by the stage for a while .. and that was fun .. but it was a pretty tame evening all in all.

The day before I went over to Teracol Fort, north of here and across the river ... a delightful trip ...



Sweet water lake, behind the beach ....

The ferry across to the Fort at Teracol
Hindu Temple passed on the way to Teracol
St Antony's Church inside the walls of the fort (which is now a luxury hotel)

View of Kerim Beach, one of my favorites, from the Fort

A part of Wendy's Garden

Back in the Groove ....

Well all went well on my trip to Panaji to replace my scooter ... and I seem to have gotten a good one this time. (crossing my fingers!) I had a delightful trip back, taking the smaller coastal road up the coast. I stopped for lunch in South Anjuna to visit a friend of Kevins who has lived here for 20 years, and was part of Namgyal Rinpoches merry band in the 60's ... just delightful - like meeting an old friend.

Yesterday was a beach day - a short trip north of here to visit the Fort at Teracol, which has been made into a luxury hotel. Exquisite. I had a small beer there ... for $4.00 then took off across the river on the ferry to Kerim Beach for a $2.00 lunch!

They finally have high speed internet in Arambol, so hopefully there will be a lot more picutres.

Here are a few to get started.


This lovley design, on the earth floor outside my room appeared one morning in Gantipule - the artist was pleased to pose for a photo.

The sunsent shot of a Hindu Temple was taken in Ratanagiri

A typical Goan Scene ... White Portugese Churches rising out of the jungle along broad rivers ending their journey to the sea from the Western Ghats

Sandcastle at Arambol .... the things folks do when they have time on thier hands!

Breakfast this morning at Eye of Buddha Restaurant ..... one of the things I love about Arambol!

The Motorcycle Diaries ...

I arrived in Panjim yesterday, and spent the night at the delightful Panjim Inn.

I set out this morning to rent a motorcycle and head up to Arambol, (where I had the rustic, beach front bamboo hut, before I left.

Unfortuantly the place only had one rather sad looking bike available ... leaking front forks, no mirrors and as it turned out, dismal brakes ...

I was promised however that if I brought it back tomorrow they could exchange it for a happier one.

So, after attaching my bag on the back with the bungee cords I'd bought last night, I set off.

The Indian traffic was actually less daunting that I anticipated, and I made good progress. What had taken me an hour on the bus last time I did in 15 mins, whew! Then, about 30 kims up the road the bike quits.

Oh no ... been here before.

I pulled over, and after checking all the obvious things pushed about 20 metres to a little snack bar.

Now this is what I love about India. Anything you need is close by. Small business rules!

Within 5 minutes a mechanic had been summoned, who quickly determined the engine had seized on account of no engine oil in the sump. I got my cell phone out, but no coverage.

The snack bar had one of those STD phones that you see everywhere, so I plonked my rupee in and called the rental place and tried to explain my problem. Seeing I was having diffilcuty understanding the guy at the rental place, the cafe owner took the phone and spoke to the guy in Hindi to explain exactly what the problem was and where I was. He relayed the message to me that they would have someone there in an hour.

I had lunch, read the paper and sure enough a guy arrives. He gives me his bike (a gearless Honda Kinetic) and transfers the full tank of gas I'd bought into the bike he'd come on using a 2 litre water bottle. And off I go again.

All went well for the next 10 km until this bike suddenly stops working. I start fiddling and a guy stops on a bike and heads off to get a mechanic. I try wiggling the foot crank and lo and behold it works! I turn round to try and intercept the guy who went to get help but can't find him.

I feel a bit guilty that some helpful guy is going to come back to where I'd broken down and find me gone .. but what to do? So off I go ... The bike stops twice again on the way to Arambol, but the same fix works each time.

It's great to be back in Arambol. I headed to Sweet Water Beach where I was in December, get a warm welcome, and get the same hut as last time. This afternoon and evening I've been bumping into all sorts of locals who remember me from last time - I must have one of those faces that is hard to forget!

It's good to feel at home and known when you're halfway around the planet!

Anyways, tomorrow it's back to Panjim in the morning with any luck) in the hopes of getting a GOOD motorcycle.

Some pictures finally ...

India Gate Mumbai

Camels on Beach at Ganpatipule
Time for a coconut ...

Back in India ...

I've been back in India a week now ....

After a couple of days in Mumbai (Bombay) I needed to get out of the city so headed for the sleepy beach town of Ganpatipule via Ratnagiri. I caught the train to Ratnagiri .. or so I thought ... but made the mistake of getting on the train that was at the platform before the Ratganiri train. Before I knew it, we were off, and before I could get to the door we were hurtling along at a speed that made any thought of jumping off impossible! I got off at the next staion, 45 minutes later, and went to the station master and explained my plight ...

He suggested I get a local train to Thane, 20 mins away, and if I was really lucky, I might just make the train I was supposed to be on ...

Well ... I have never been on a train ... or anything for that matter that was as crowded as this one ... somehow I grabbed on, and was hanging out the door by one arm as the train took off. Fortuantly someone took my bags and grabbed me so I could hang on with both arms before we got going really fast - and clung on for dear life, hanging out of the door until we got to Thane, where I jumped off.

Miraculously my bags appeared and were thrown to me! After a few panicky moments trying to figure out which of the ten trains waiting was mine, I got on the right train. It turned out to be a most pleasant trip after that ... my coach mate was a military helicopter pilot ... we had a great time talking about everything under the sun, had a great meal at out seat and I got off at Ratganiri and caught a rickshaw to Ganpatipule, some 45 kms away.

Ganpatipule was great ... nice, cheap hotel, a very clean, quiet village, lovley beach - until the weekend .. when people started arriving for a major festival - seems Ganpatipule is a pilgramage place for Ganesh - and everyone for miles around started descending on the town. I escaped today to Ratganiri, where I can do some internet, get my phone recharged, and get transport south.

I'm heading tomorrow, if all goes well to Panaji, where I was when I left for Canada. I'm having some problems with my hip and leg, so will get it looked at there and take things from there ...
There's good internet in Panaji, so I'll get some pictures up for you to see ...

Happy New Year

Solstice Fire at Birch Lake ,...
Jean Marie's Epiphany Party