Goa

After the journey from my parents nightmares, arriving in Panjim and checking into the loveliest hostel with beautiful tiles outside and amazing clean bed sheets/bathrooms was the biggest sigh of relief. I checked into a four bed dorm and got chatting to the English guy on the bunk above me, it was nice to have someone to rant to about the journey (to my jealousy, he had also come from Hampi the night before but had a MUCH smoother journey on a bus) and we made a plan to do some exploring together the next day. Feeling brave and pretty fearless after that journey, I went out in the middle of the night in search of food, I ate my masala omelet and paid before finally going to bed.

Panjim was beautiful, with colourful buildings built during the Portuguese colonial-era it definitely stood out as very different to anywhere I’d been in India before. We took a local bus (the 40 minute journey cost 20p, take note England) to Old Goa and spent the morning exploring really cool colonial-era churches.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Goa was the drastic change in temperature, with the weather forecast showing 30 degrees and 90% humidity it proved impossible to stay outside and walking around for too long. The heat was a perfect excuse to spend the rest of the within the safe confines of the hostels air-conditioning. Only venturing out for food (of course) I did have an incredible veg thali meal for lunch and tried some bebinca cake for dinner, which is a (very strange) traditional Goan dessert.

The next day I packed my bags once again and took a tuk tuk to Candolim, this is where I had planned to meet Ali (the other volunteer) for the weekend. North Goa is very different to Old Goa, the beaches stretch for miles and they are filled with wooden shacks that in the peak season would be open selling food and drinks to the millions of tourists that flock in. Being monsoon season, the shacks were closed and the sea looked like a death trap, I took a quick photo and went back to my new hostel as it started to rain.

My new hostel seemed worlds away from the beautiful tiles and clean bathrooms the other hostel offered (it was £4 a night what did I expect?). Again, during peak season I’m sure it is heaving with travellers but instead I was greeted with an 8 bed bunk room shared with 4 middle aged Indian men. I had some interesting chats as I waited for Ali to arrive off her train at midnight and one man was very concerned I hadn’t eaten enough (despite reassuring him 100 times I was okay) and he suddenly appeared with a plate full of home cooked dinner for me. I really don’t know where he got it from but it was absolutely delicious! A very sweet gesture from another complete stranger, India you are being too good to me!

Ali made it to the hostel and I think was a little surprised with the nights sleeping set up. The next day we swiftly checked out and (thanks to Ali) checked in to the most beautiful twin room in the first nice looking hotel we could find. Being the last night before heading to the school I think it was a well deserved treat!

We woke up and decided that exploring anymore of Goa was cancelled for the day, we head across the road to a 5* hotel, paid them £2.50 to use their pool and then did exactly that. After two incredible but also very intense weeks, a day by the pool followed by a shamefully western dinner with red wine seemed to be the answer to all of my worries.

Finally it was Sunday and time to leave Goa, heading for Manasa Jyothi school, my home for the summer! This train journey was a lot simpler and not as scary as the last, it definitely helped having Ali with me to stare down all of the curious men that tried to approach us. The 5 hour journey felt like 5 million hours, feeling so apprehensive about what to expect from the school, I really just couldn’t wait to be there!

We passed through some incredible scenery before arriving into Kundapura train station. One short tuk tuk journey later and I’ve arrived at the school! I absolutely loved exploring Goa and I will definitely be back soon as it’s so close to the school. I am also feeling very grateful for such a smooth journey!