Beach Bummin'

There is one weekend each semester deemed "independent travel weekend". There are no field visits or plans so that students may spend a weekend in any part of Southern India they choose (bonus: ANOTHER holiday! Classes were cancelled on Monday, too). Our group decided to spend our time in Goa! Goa is a small state north of Karnataka, about 7 hours away by bus, and known for its relaxed/hippy and Catholic/Portuguese flair. We arrived around 6:30 in the morning - much before businesses were open - and wandered around after a meager breakfast. After crossing a foot bridge we found this beautiful church!

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church near the
Municipal Garden

Coming to India isn't complete without attending a cricket match. One of the girl's roommates is from Goa and suggested a sports complex that was free and not too far from the bus stand. So, shortly after our walk, we hopped on the ancient bus (which probably exceeded no more than 15-20mph at any point...) and found the complex. There weren't very many spectators, but it was nice to sit in a shady area and try to figure out how the game worked.

 Following a portion of the match, we were hungry and decided to travel a little north to a town known for its vegetarian/vegan dishes. This town felt like I'd stepped back into the 1960s or 1970s (I'm imagining)...as soon as I got off the bus everything seemed to slow down and relax. The pace moved at an inches pace; dreadlocks were tied back on endless visitors, surfboards were hitched to the tops of cars, and Bob Dylan played all over. As this advertisement nicely put it:

Photo Credit: Moira Dhaliwal

We then traveled south to Baga Beach - known for its night life - and found a place to sleep and leave our belongings.

Being in Goa made put all of my worries at ease. I was able to unwind, sleep in ('til 11:30 - crazy!), and be carefree! After our lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon either napping or relaxing on the beach. The water was the absolute perfect temperature and the waves weren't too big or too small. All in all, it's a pretty wonderful place to be a beach bum. Beach restaurants and bars are perched every few hundred feet making it an easy place to spend an entire day (or days).

 The next day, after a late night out of food, drinks, and dancing, we slept in and lounged on the beach for a bit. Goa is so different from India because, unlike the rest of the country, there is no such thing as an 11 p.m. curfew. People stay out until 5 or 6 in the morning drinking (I was in bed by 1am). It's a totally different world!

That afternoon some of us also went to see Old Goa - this is what the state is perhaps best known for. Spotted all throughout this area are churches upon churches upon ruins of churches! Some still hold regular services/masses while others are crumbling and left for looks. We visited two of the most well known ones and they sure were beautiful!

This is apparently the largest bell tower in Asia!

 We returned from Old Goa fairly close to dinner time. After a bit of shopping we met up on the beach for a delicious seafood meal! There was also an eager fire dancer for entertainment:

Two thumbs way, way up!

We called it an early night as our train left at 7am the next day and the drive was close to 90 minutes. Unfortunately, the train came over 2 hours late and we were stuck on benches: grumpy, tired, and hungry. Our original intention was to stop in Gokarna, a less-touristy beach town, but with the delay half of us chose to go straight on to the Manipal stop. This is because we wanted to be back in our hostels for the night. The rest of the group spent the day and night in Gokarna (their train left around 3 or 4 a.m.) and returned that Tuesday. What a wonderful weekend in India!