G O A

We pretty much all have a picture in our heads when we hear about GOA.
Long sandy beaches, cheap booze, great seafood and a lot of drugs.

My friend Laura has been living in Goa for the last 4 years and together with her boyfriend they run 5 hostels along the coat all the way down to KOCHI.

THE HOSTEL CROWD

Laura used to be the roommate of one of my best friends in Vienna.

I came to Goa via train, a "2 AC" train from Lokmanya Station to Margao Goa.

I was warned by several people not to take a train in India out of hygienic and safety reasons.
Well let me tell you this, the train i took was very much okay for me. You have two bunkbeds next to each other and bedding to lie down and sleep. Of course the coaches are not what we in europe are used to be as i also said so often before. It YOU as traveler who should adapt to the conditions here and not the other way around.

The beds where comfortable, the people in the train very helpdul - due to the fact that we had a delay and the stops are not written anywhere nor is there someone who announces the next stops.

So after a one hour delay i finally got to Margao, i was not exhausted i was not tired. I thought that a 12 hour train ride would wear me out but i was fine.

So i arrived at JUNGLE Hostel in Vagator at about 4 a.m. in the morning.

I have stayed in a single room for the last 4 Days now and i am leaving tomorrow.

I have met so many nice people and my time here - thank heavens - is not over yet. Im going to stay at several hostels by THE HOSTEL CROWED until my final leave to Bali on the 29th.

Nightmarket in Anjuna

Me in Arambol 

Sundowner in Arambol

The obligatory holy cow selfie

  

Me at Vagator Beach wearing my DRAGO Scarf ;)

What to expect when coming to Goa:

Well first of all one has to be prepared to see WAY more tourists then f.i. in Mumbai.
Pretty much every country is represented here.
Good thing is that almost every restaurant/Bar/Hotel has Wifi.
Life here is already pretty western i would say, you can get any food from Burgers to Mexican here, but also VERY good Indian cuisine! 

(i recommend Red Snapper Indian style - BEST fish i have EVER eaten!) 

When i took a bus to Arambol yesterday i saw that there are a lot of resorts and luxury apartment complexes, either they are open already or they are about to open.
I met a nice italian man whos been living in Goa since 1982. We could tell that i was kind of hoping to find the "real Goa" from back in the days. But according to him and what i have seen so far the Flower-power-hippie Goa has pretty much vanished.
Don't get me wrong, its beautiful and great here but Goa is not anything close to what India is.

So my journey tomorrow will bring me to one of the 5 star resorts for two nights, after that its further on down to Kerala.
I'll make sure to update as often as i can ;)

see ya!

MB