140km on a scooter in the rain!

A nice long lie in, broken only by waking up at various times to turn down the air conditioning (absolutely freezing at about 6.00am!). A big breakfast served at the huge oak dining table filled us and we were then ready for our single full day exploring the state of Goa. In Gaz and Rach style, we decided to cover as much ground as possible, both in terms of sights and in terms of absolute distance…

We had a scooter for the day and were therefore independent to go where we wanted without the stress of haggling; bliss! Our first port of call on this sunny (so lucky!) morning was to fuel up for the day. This proved to be a bit of a mission; with only basic maps from the ageing Lonely Planet guide found in the hotel we were soon a little lost. Luckily the locals were very helpful with directions and we soon found a petrol station. However, a wrong turn by Gaz en route south to our first beach stop at Colva beach saw us back at our accommodation. So, an hour and a half after the first attempt, we had another go at seeing Goa! Ha ha!

A quick trip down the coast road landed us – eventually – at Colva beach. It was a typical beach town, with lots of shops, stray dogs and hawkers. We got a bit hassled by hawkers trying to sell us things and Indian tourists wanting to take our photo, as we were the only westerners in sight, so we headed onwards. Our main goal was to make it to Mobor beach, right at the south end of a long peninsular. Cue a very long scooter ride, with lots of speed bumps and tiny roads through palm trees and past abandoned portugese houses. The beach was deserted and we had a nice walk along the golden sands (no litter here!), before looking for lunch. The Blue Whale, so highly recommended in the LP, turned out to be an abandoned grass shack. Gaz was in imminent danger of a hunger meltdown so we headed for the uber-fancy Leela Resort (where Tom Cruise, no less, once ate – how’s about that?). The atmosphere was swanky and the two bowls of soup were expensive enough to buy a small Goan village, but it was very welcome nonetheless.

From there we decided to make the epic pilgrimage halfway across the state up to old Goa. It didn’t look that far on the map. However, nigh on forty miles on a scooter in Indian traffic later, we looked at each other with one of those ‘maybe that was a little crazy?’ looks. Still, the dog, cow and goats on the road dodging paid off handsomely; Old Goa was a picture of post colonial loveliness. We parked up and wandered around a number of renovated churches and monasteries, all of which were spectacular. The most captivating was undoubtedly the Monastery a few hundred meters from the main square. Half of the belfry and some spooky ruins were all that remained of a previously majestic building. With no-one else there and the inky monsoon clouds rolling overhead, it was very atmospheric!

Those monsoon clouds then broke into a massive wall of water falling from the sky, and after a bit of sheltering we decided to heck with it, and we’d make a bolt for home. Cue a ten mile ride through apocalyptic rainfall. It was something to behold and tested our waterproofs to the max!
We eventually made it back, leaving puddles of water through the hotel to our room, and warmed up in the hot shower before a taste of the 8% locally brewed lager. We hopped back on the scooter again (not nice – wet bottoms again and dripping helmets!) and then had a treat meal at the local Martin’s Corner restaurant. After breaking our veggie pledge for the incredible tandoori red snapper and tandoori tiger prawns to the dulcic towns of ‘One Man Band Ivor’, we felt much better. Rach was forced into driving Gaz home as he had another beer. She managed the task admirably, even if we did clash helmets a few times through some aggressive accelerator control…