Well, we have been chilling out in a timeshare for a week here in Goa, Benaulim, to be precise.
The beach here is quite dirty unfortunately as garbage is chucked everywhere and we don't think anyone understands what a garbage can is. We have been chilling out at our pool, going on nice walks on the beach, just relaxing and reading books.
In typical Hennigan fashion we needed a little adventure, so we decided to head out on the Indian roads in a rented scooter. India has no rules on the roads, just some basic guidelines to yield to anything bigger than you no matter what direction it is coming in. Oh and you have to use you horn excessively. Rule number 1. For our first day we took a coastal road down to a little town called Palolem, it has beautiful coast lines and almost empty roads. Other than a crazy dog that chased us, it was a long but peaceful day.
On the second day, Vanessa wanted to go to a spice farm. You could take a guided tour to the farm, but those who know me know that I would rather have my fingernails pulled out than go on any organized tour, so we rented another bike. I wanted a bigger bike with some gears so I asked for the next biggest size. They brought me a crotch rocket and considering I have never really ridden a bike for any length of time and we were heading through the crowded streets of Margoa (the nearest city to us), I thought I should go for a test drive before asking Ness to hop on the back. It was awesome cruising the roads, however my senses took over considering the fact that we wouldn't have any helmets and rented a scooter for another day and said good bye to my crotch rocket.
I had sketched a map on a little piece of paper and we headed out. Driving through the city was an adventurous experience (people step out right in front of you, cars pass you no matter how much room they have). We had no idea how we actually found the Sahakira Spice Farm but after an hour we were there and Ness thoroughly enjoyed learning about how spices grow and such. You get a nice lunch of curries and a shot of fenni. Fenni is like the Canadian version of moonshine and is a Goan drink made from cashew nuts but tastes like formaldehyde. Yum. At the end of the tour, they told us it was mandatory to have a nice splash of cold water and citronella oil before you leave, but didn't mention they poured it down your back. With our backs and butts soaking wet, we walked around a bit to dry off before getting back onto the scooter for our journey home.
I did not want to take the same route back, so we set off to see some different scenery and tried to connect some of the random towns together to get home. However I was having trouble pronouncing the names of the places as my printing was messy on my small little map. We got royally lost and ended up on some crazy mining road that reminded me of Fort McMurray. Our little scooter held up surprisingly well, the little scooter that kept going, even though our backs and legs were killing us. We kept stopping and asking directions given most of the road signs are sporadic at best. It almost seemed like we would never get home, but 100km later, we were finally home and exhausted. Since we were both facing the same direction the whole way, we didn't get a chance to look at each other until we got back. Yikes!! When we both took off our sunglasses it was like we were football players with black tar under our eyes, our hair embedded with sand and mud, and Jack's beard was as black as sin. We celebrated by going to a super fancy 5 star resort , the Taj Exotica (same owners as the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai), for a dinner buffet and where I preceded to fall asleep at dinner. Ah adventure and scooters....
We are chilling in Paloem for another few days and it will be nice to have a wonderful beach without garbage. We are also planning to eating lots of fish brought in from the fishermen on the same day. I only wish I knew something about fish....I think we are going to have 'rock fish' tonight.
Happy Birthday to my Dad on the 23rd!!!!
Here's a link to a map of Benaulim, Goa.
Here's a link to a map of Palolem, Goa, where we are now.
Hope all is well and we miss you all.
J&V
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