The start of a New Year

NYE in Agonda was a very good experience. We spent the evening with our new friends Andreas and Monica. A German couple who seem to have found the correct balance in life. When they are not at work their spare time is spent travelling the earth and experiencing different countries and cultures. I don't think there are many places they haven't visited. With the great company, fireworks, bonfire, live band, the only let down was the food which turned up cold. By the time it finally did turn up we weren't that hungry anyway as the booze had flowed consistently.
Out of the three Japanese fire lanterns we bought and set off at midnight only one had a successful voyage. I blamed the make of lantern as the two that didn't rise to the occasion were a different brand to the one that took off and ascended to the heavens. Not my fault this time round as I tended to each individual lantern with precision before igniting the fuse.

Walking back along the beach towards Fatimas we stopped at the fenced off turtle hatching area. They were meant to hatch either last night or tonight. Last night we waited till midnight to witness the birth of numerous turtles but felt to exhausted so retired to bed. This night we walked by at 1am, people were waiting but still no sign of the little rascals so off we went to bed. Apparently they hatched at 3am whilst we were fast asleep and I probably had the drunken snores.

After many haggling sessions and price ranges from 2000 rupees to 6500 rupees we managed to acquire a taxi to take us the 3 hour journey from Agonda to Arambol via Morjim beach to drop of our Norwegian friend Chade (pronounced Sade, like the singer). We settled on a 2300 rupee fee as the original 2000 rupee price was swiftly taken away after our phone call to confirm the booking, we agreed to the price hike as no one else had come close to that price, fingers crossed he'll actually turn up.

Eventually we found our accommodation in Arambol after taking a detour as a local sent us in the wrong direction. The hut that Allison had booked was not quite what we had expected. Very basic, the double bed looked just a little bit bigger than a single bed, it had seen better days, or maybe it had never seen a good day in its existence. Silence befell us both as we wandered round the site of our booked accommodation. Allison informed the manager of wanting a hut by the beach, these huts were a fair distance away and hopefully the ones by the beach were more airy and inviting. A 15 minute walk down the dusty road to some huts on the sand that were to the same high standard as its cousin way back up the dirt track. We could tell we weren't going to be happy spending a month in a hut like that. It was dark, dingy and not somewhere where you could relax in.
The race was on to find alternative accommodation, we had a couple of hours before it got dark, two huge bags of luggage and 3 smaller bags. We headed to Atman, a local haunt of Allison's when she was here a couple of years ago doing her yoga teacher training. It was there that she carried out her daily ritual of having her caffeine fix at breakfast time to keep her mind focused for the next yoga session. Allison remained with our bags as I hunted for a hut that we could stay in for a night or two, just till we could find more permanent lodgings. I found a hut not far from Atman, we put our large packs on our backs, small packs on our chest and headed towards the Zen huts. A diversion was taken to check out a room in a guesthouse but the price seemed to be grossly inflated. When they see tourists coming looking desperate and weighed down with heavy luggage, prices seem to sky rocket. Heads down we marched onwards mumbling about the inflated price. Our walk then took another sidewards step as a man told us he had a beach hut sat right on the beach for 700 rupees (7 pounds) a night. Like pack horses we trudged along the sand to be shown this rickety shack facing the beautiful ocean. Answer "no". We were now a fair distance from Zen huts and these donkeys had seen better days so we stopped off at the next section of huts on the beach that looked more inviting. They were painted bright colours and after looking inside looked relatively clean compared to the previous rooms we had looked at.

"We'll take it, but not for 1500 rupees, we'll pay 1000 a night for two nights" I said, "Okay, as long as you stay two nights", was his response. We dropped off our belongings, I pulled down the mosquito net and a cascade of dried mouse droppings fell onto the floor and bed! It was too dark to continue our search that night so we sat down in the beach restaurant where we could get a wifi connection whilst our room was cleaned. We looked for apartments and rooms online but came up with nothing. The next days plan was to search high and low till we came up with suitable accommodation for our month long stay.
We walked along the beach to Arambol town to get out of our lovely beach hut. The local shops sell things from clothes to dried herbs and spices. "Come in, take a look" the shopkeepers chant. Tiredness took hold of us and we led ourselves back to our hut overlooking the Arabian sea. My wind up rechargeable torch was used to help with deviating around the mess that was left on the beach from new years eve celebrations, the beautiful beach had sadly descended into a rubbish dump of glass bottles and plastic bags.
"Greetings" said the mouse and rat poo as we re-entered our hut. It was spread throughout the room. Even the sink and my pillow had droppings on, even a dropping on the toilet seat, it had missed the hole by a solitary centimetre. I think they must have had a poo party as soon as we went out. This was the first time I had used the rubber gloves I had bought from home, I cleaned up the mess with the toilet roll we luckily had on us. One night was enough in this shit hole, excuse the pun, but it was! Covering ourselves from head to toe with our sheet sleeping bags we laid down on the bed and hoped for sleep but funnily enough none was forthcoming.

Morning couldn't come soon enough, finally the sun rose, we left the hut with our things inside and our second hunt for accommodation in less that 24 hours began. The plan- Find suitable accommodation for the month, get back to the shitty hut and check out before midday, we had 3 hours and a suitable amount of determination to rise to this challenge. At 11am we found an apartment a bit further south along the coast in Mandrem that was clean, tidy and where we both felt we could spend the month comfortably without getting shat on in the middle of the night. All we had to do now was to check out of the shit hole and get our belongings back to Pushpa in Mandrem. The donkeys of yesterday were gone and the thoroughbred race horses were here. Loaded up and off we galloped along the sand, no need for a carrot to be dangled in front of our mouths! Bags put down, the final negotiated price agreed with the owner Sudhir, we could now just chill. The weight had been lifted from our shoulders and our month long stay here whilst Allison assists on a yoga course was taking a more positive shape.

The next day after returning to the apartment I was met by Sudhir and a Russian couple. He wanted to show them around the apartment? WTF. "What's going on" I enquired, "they are looking for a place to stay, when are you moving out, the 25th?" he replied. "No, the 1st of February!" I said. The couple then took their leave as me and Sudhir discussed the length of our stay. He must have got his wires crossed as we wanted him to pick up my step-daughter Jade and cousin Roni from the airport the morning of the 25th and probably thought we were leaving that day. Either that or he got a better offer from the Russians. Maybe he'll turf us out soon, who knows as we're in India and anything can happen.

Allison has begun her month long assistance on the yoga teacher training course. As for me I have plenty of time to sit and contemplate things. My plan is to wake up early and take Allison to yoga by 06:30, either join in the class and improve my flexibility or take a run along the sand listening to the relaxing sounds of the ocean.

I could run for miles and miles along this sandy beach, it won't break me! (I hope).

On our way back from a scooter ride to Kerri beach we saw this amazing Banyan tree, a pine tree and another tree were entwined in its strange root like branches.

An honest shopkeeper who sold us a bed sheet for £3. Allison got lost in the excitement of haggling and haggled the price down even lower to £2.50 but I felt sorry for him and his family and we agreed on the slightly higher price.

I post this on the 1st anniversary of my mother-in-law Mavis's passing, who knows she could be close by as if we believe in reincarnation like the Indians she could be here too. "I'll talk ta ya".