From Masala to Bollywood and everything in between! Catch up with me and my time around South Asia

So just as I was recovered from my very eventful trip to the local hospital the time has arrived for Stacy, Gigi and myself to travel on our prearranged trip to Goa. Goa is the smallest Indian state, located about 5 hours south of Mumbai on the western coast of India, along the Arabian Sea. The state is known for its beautiful beaches and Portuguese trade history. We got a great deal through our travel agent for four days and three nights in a 3 star hotel right on the beach! Needless to say my recovery as lovely and the fresh sea air was just what the doctor ordered. I enjoyed the change of scenery, traveling through mountains and jungles, 14 hours by bus, to reach the beach state. The scenes reminded me of those you see in movies like Tarzan and Swiss Family Robinson with lush green vines and rocky lined coasts! The food was yummy and more than the standard curry and chutney. We had fish, calamari, seafood pastas, crabs and lots of basic and bland foods we had been missing in South India. Playing in the waves and the salty air healed my soul, and was the perfect medicine for all my ailments. You cannot sit on the beach very long though without attracting the attention of Indian Men (they stare as if their lives depended on it) or of the local fishing village women hassling you to buy some of their cheap and poorly constructed jewelry or to allow them to paint a Mendhi (henna) design on you. The first day I was taken for a few rides by the women...paying far too much for all their wares, but within the coming days I got much better as saying no to the women and by the end we sat around teaching the women ho to write their names in English in the sand. They taught us how to write their names in their tribal language in the sand. The first night we walked to a local bar with some other westerners who were staying at our hotel--one girl. Catherine from Wales, who had lived in India for a year working for a school in Tamil Nandu teaching English, and 3 guys from northern Italy who spoke very broken English, they'd been traveling for the past month. We watched the highly acclaimed India Vs. Pakistan Cricket match. It didn't look like India would come back, but against all odds they tied up the game and on in over time bowl off!! It was all very exciting! Stacy played cricket on the beach with the village boys at sunset, it was a beautiful scene. We rented a motorbike (moped basically) and Stacy and I rode around the little village our hotel was in. It came time for me to try and learn how to drive the bike. Stacy took me to our hotel parking lot to learn. She explained how to start the motor and let it idle while I walk it in a circle. So I tried that and got it down. I then tried accelerating slightly, but didn't let go of the brake, Stacy reminded me to release the brake and when i did so I flew forward. I was unsteady so I clutched the handle more tightly, but ironically this is also the gear to increase the speed. So of course I flew around the parking lot a few times in a circle, I didn't know how to stop the bike. On my way down I hit the brick hotel retaining wall, scraping the whole right rise of the bike and then ended up crashing the bike into a gate to the lot, I had laid the thing down on its left side, pinning my left leg and flying my right shoe off and over the hotel fence. Stacy was screaming, and all the hotel staff and even some local neighbors came running to see what all the raucous was! Luckily I had nothing more than some scrapes and minors bruises, I am not even sure how that happened, because the bike had some significant damage to the front fender (big dent), and fully scraped along the right side. When we took it for a drive subsequently the bike was squeaking and making awful noises. We weren't sure what to do; since it was Sunday no repair shops were open to fix the thing. Our only option was to take the thing back to the man we rented the bike from and work it out with him. He laughed at us for our foolish moped ways, and promptly negotiated we pay 3500 Rupees for the repairs (about 80 USD). We decided this was better than waiting until Monday for a repairman to tell us we owed even more for anything that was ever wrong with the bike. So we were given a completely new bike, and they even siphoned the petrol for the new bike, and we headed to the ATM. We came back and made the guy write out that we had paid in full for any damages! It was quite an adventuresome day, and I could do without repeating any more motorcycle diaries for the rest of my trip here. Although, I do admit I'd like to be able to drive a moped once I return to the US, they're so much more gas efficient than any four-wheeled vehicle. The next day we had a tour of a beautifully maintained traditional Portuguese homestead, it as the only one that remains almost completely intact from when it was originally inhabited in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's so interesting because here in India historical homes have roped off areas where they'd prefer you not go and touch anything, but this is loosely adhered to. One of the men on our tour went and sat down on the historic canopy master bed covered in real silk from china and still the kind where you have to tighten the cords under the straw mattress each night. I just found this concept of preservation quite interesting. So we saw all there was to see in the small state, from beaches, to Hindu temples, and even the cathedral of St. Francis Xavier who has been miraculously preserved there for 500 years...a little gruesome to see. So when all was said and done we were sad to leave our Arabian Sea getaway, and especially because we had a 14 hour overnight bus ride to return to Bangalore.