Back home

This will be my last entry. Im definitely back home now and my brain is slowly starting to comprehend the cruel fact! In London I was sooo busy working that I didn't have time to think. However on Sunday around noon I arrived back in Norway and now I feel a little bit lost and it doesn't really make it better that I have ended up with a cold. So I have so far spendt most time in bed. I did however manage to reactivate my status as unemployed, so hopefully some short term jobs will be available after Easter. It was really strange walking through the town centre the day after I got back. It was completely deserted, I felt like I was walking through a ghost town?!

In one way it was nice not having people hanging on to your leg begging for food or money or people running after you trying to sell you everything from toilet paper to marihuana. There was also no need to go slalom between cows, rickshaws, scooters and hordes of people or having my ears deafened by the sounds of hundreds incredibly loud horns, people coughing up phlegm like they were about to die, cows burping, the chai whallas constant chanting ("chai-chai-chai..."), the smell of everything from cow dung to fresh fruit or spices or just plain garbage......hm...in fact the town was frightfully sterile. It was certainly peaceful, but when I think about it, it looked and felt almost dead. Lets hope it is because of the Easter holiday!

I think I will miss the complete chaos of an Indian town though, although I probably hated it when I was there in the middle of it all! Strange but true, I guess this is how India makes you feel. Very alive, all feelings are in the extreme, something which can be very exhausting at times, but when it is all suddenly gone I realize everything else suddenly becomes a little bit dull?!

Anyway, I better get used to it since I will be staying here for a while now, as far as I know. In some ways there are also so many things about living in Norway which I will appreciate so much more after having experienced a bit of India. Although all that comes to mind just now is clean air. I'm sure there must be more. If I miss it too badly I can always travel back later :)

London

I am back, well almost. Im staying a few days in London before I fly home to Norway. I arrived in London yesterday after a loooong trip from India through Kuwait (4 hours waiting there). I arrived at my friends flat about 7 pm last evening and this morning at 6.30 am I came with them to their office to help them with some work. I was pretty tired, but it is nice having something to do. Its very strange being back. I don't think I have really understood it yet!?

Back in Delhi for the last time

Heyyy! Im back in Delhi again! I came yesterday afternoon after 36 hours on the train from Goa. The train trip was a fun though. For once I was not alone, but travelling with Andreas, also from germany (the Germans must travel a lot, I always seem to meet Germans?!) I met Andreas after a few days in Arambol and after that I did not even have time to update my travel diary. We had a fantastic time there :)

We explored some great places and even made a small bonfire one evening, on which we tried to make home baked bread! It was maybe not extremely successful, but still very fun!

I also had a bad experience with dogs in Arambol. One night when I came back to my room 3 dogs surrounded me. Of course I panicked a little and tried to move away. Then I felt one dog bite into my leg. Luckily it was not too hard, it just scratched the skin, but it made some nasty blue marks and I was very sore. The owner of the guesthouse told me to take a tetanus shot in case of rabies, which I did, but apparently the dog did not have rabies so I should be fine. Not a very nice experience though.

Anyway, I don't think I will write much more the coming days. Im going back to London in a week and then to Norway after a few more days. Im both sad and happy about going home now. But the trip has been a really good experience, both good and bad. I think India is the most paradoxical country to travel in. Some people say you either end up hating or loving it, but I think I actually both hate and love it at the same time!

Well I guess this is it then, I haven't been very good at updating the diary the last month, but some experiences are not always possible to write about and some things are too personal, but I hope it has been interesting enough for those who cared to read it. Even though it might sound a bit negative at times. Namaste!

Arambol (Gujarat crisis)

Arambol






Anjuna

Lots of bad things are happening in Gujarat at the moment. More than 400 people have been killed in riots. There were even some riots in the main cities of Goa on Friday. I was booked to go to Hampi (10 hours inland from Goa) on the nightbus yesterday, but because of all the instability in different parts of the country I abandoned that idea.

Instead I shifted up to Arambol, a small village by the beach about 1,5 hours north of Vagator. I think it is the safest spot at the moment. Got here yesterday afternoon, a very laid back place and nice atmosphere. Since it is the end of the season, its not very crowded either.

There is one thing I have not mentioned before because I thought it was just a few rare incidents, but now it has happened too many times to be ignored. I seem to bump into the weirdest most eccentric people all the time and they tend to be German (whatever that might indicate?!) The first one was a German man in Gokarna. He had travelled through South America on his own. For 3 days this was all he talked about, how he had felt like the main person in Joseph Konrad's "Into the darkness" and how he wanted to write a book about this trip. I mean its ok to mention this, but this was all he talked about for 3 days ! Its is a little bit odd, no?
He almost even latched onto me when I decided to move from Gokarna. I had to pretend I didn't know where I was going, we went to take the same train to Goa, but in the confusion with all the people on the platform, I managed to jump into another carriage, so he didn't realize at which station I jumped off.

I also met a couple of other Germans who were also going on and on about their troubles What is their problem? Im not a bloody psychologist?

Anyway, then when I got here yesterday I met a Scottish woman, a nun. She was very nice and we went for a swim on the beach. Then she started telling me how she could see God's energy. When she was a kid she had gotten this gift to heal people. One night she had a vision of all these naked African people standing around her bed and she then realized she had a special mission to perform, to help all the unfortunate in the world. So she is travelling for almost 10 months of each year trying to help people. She even went to Tibet and also have met the Dalai Lama. She told me she had cured many people. She really had some amazing stories to tell.I don't really know what to make of all this though, but I really think she was telling some kind of truth truth, so it was really interesting to meet her, but I mean she was definitely not the average person!

Then this afternoon when I walked out of my room I bumped into my neighbour. He was also German, after talking for a few minutes I got the feeling that even he is a bit troubled. He had spendt all day in his room because he had problems with some dreams that came to him when he was awake. I don't know, maybe I am weird too from other peoples viewpoint? Its just a bit funny how I seem to attract these people? I am almost becoming wary of talking to people now in case they start rambling on about their problems/visions/dreams or whatever?!
Well, nevermind, it definitely makes my days interesting and some of them are also very friendly people - at least the scottish nun!

Cockroach feast

The other night I saw a pretty big (4 cm) cockroach on the floor. It was lying on its back, wiggling its feet. I really do not like these creatures, so I dropped my shoe on it. Im sorry if this sounds cruel. Since I didn't want to touch it, I just swept it as far under the bed as I could. A few hours later I suddenly noticed the cockroach on the other side of the room? I didn't understand how it had gotten there, since I was so sure that I had killed it.

So I went to have a closer look. It was slowly moving, being carried by an army of a few hundred tiny ants. Yuck! But it was really amazing to watch how they managed to move it, they had at least transported it 2 meters! The next morning hardly anything was left of the cockroach, so apparently the ants must have had a massive feast that night.

Today I went to the beach for a while, but after a few hours it got too hot, so I thought I would go and have a look at Chapora fort. Itt is perched on the top of a hill just above the beach. Don't ask me what I was thinking going up there is the maddest heat of the day. Halfway there I thought I was going to have a sunstroke, but I managed to get to the top and find a small shadow to rest in.

The views from there was fantastic, but it really was too hot to enjoy it for very long.
I decided to go down on the other side of the fort, since it wasn't as steep as where I went up. This was good, but when I got down on the other side I had no clue where I was and my brain was frying.

I saw an Indian couple and asked if they knew the way back to Vagator. They were very friendly (newly married) and offered me a lift on their motorbike back to Vagator main road. 3 people on one bike was no problem - normally Indian style is 5 people on one bike, even on a small scooter!

On Sunday Nishant, the friend from Delhi came down. We celebrated my birthday together which was very good. We also rented a scooter and went to all the beach places around here. Anjuna, Baga, Calangute, Candolim, it was fun! We also met up with soem other friends of his from Delhi. We went to some of the party places, Primrose, Nine Bar and some other places. Techno and drugs seems to be the thing here. It was pretty cool, but felt a little left out at times when not on drugs myself.

Vagator

I arrived here this afternoon. I went to visit Erwin, that German guy I met on the beach in Agonda. I stayed at his lovely house in Goa - Vehla for 2 days. It was very nice. An old Portugese style house with a beautiful garden. He also got 4 dogs and 2 cats. We drove around on his bike and he showed me different places around his area and we visited his Indian friends too.

Anyway, this morning I took the bus up to Vagator and found a room with a family. Tomorrow Im meeting Nishant, one of my friends from Delhi.

Stalked by cows?

I think the cows have it in for me? One night at Om Beach I woke up by the sound of breaking branches outside my room. My the room was kind of in the bush. I got a bit terrified, my imagination started to run wild. I thought someone was staring in the window at me! It was not a real window, just a lot of holes in the concrete - a very basic room you see and the lock was sooo flimsy too! After looking more closely, I realized someone was actually staring at me, but it was just a cow- haha. I did get pretty scared though.

Last night, almost the same thing happend again. Although this time I couldn't see anything, I just heard a lot of noises outside my door. I needed to pee very badly, but the toilet was in another building 15 meters away. Due to the scary noises I didn't dare go outside until daylight appeared!

Maybe I am easily frightened, but when you are on your own things often seem more scary. When I told the owner about the sounds this morning she was like: "Ah..yes it is the stupid cow". Apparently one particular cow keeps jumping their fence and comes and makes a mess in their garbage.

In any case I decided to move down to another guesthouse closer to the beach. After having done that I went to the beach again. However, although it is very nice and peaceful here, 2 days of beach life is more than enough. Im getting bored out of my mind now. Its only old people and couples here. I have talked to some of them, really nice people, but it isn't really too much happening if you are a single traveller. It is very good for a few days though.

Yesterday on the beach I met a German guy who lives in Goa. He was on a day trip with some Indian friends and they invited me to drop by when I head north. Since their house is on the way to North Goa I will try to go and see them.