Clares Birthday -Turtle Beach and Dolphins!!!

Yesterday was Clare's birthday, and we had planned a boat trip - first thing on this beautiful cool Goan morning, the boat man appears below our balcony sorrowfully looking up, with his long black eye lashes and long white goofy teeth - saying that he won't be able to take us out as he has a puja day!
We have now adopted the Indian way. So we let the boat trip go stupendously quickly - absolutely no boats left the beach that day - we visited the local Mallikarjun Temple ourselves and saw the same boat man doing his puja. It was a special festival day at the temple and quite by chance we cycled past on route to the nearby wildlife sanctuary.

Flowered hair on Hindu women at temple

Clares bike had no brakes, she tells me! Luckily enough cows to prevent traffic going too fast anyway

A bunch of cockerels at the local fish market

detail above temple door - this temple is a GOD temple - tend to be either a God or Goddess temple. Can be a specific manifestation of God or Godess but main thing is the its one or the other - go to a God temple if you want earthing and to a Goddess temple of you need some dynamism. You can feel the difference usually - some one at some point before the temple came into being, is likely to have sat and contemplated the energy to decide the type of temple.

The wildlife sanctuary was quite a bike ride away and in the hot sun my birthday woman companion, Clare wilted quite quickly - and as it was her birthday - she forked out for a lift home and purloined a small truck for us, with remarkable ease. I think she wafted some notes under a chaps nose and within minutes another chap appeared from the deserted bush to rescue us and our rather dishevelled bikes. Clare's brakes had not worked for the whole trip, (first thing to check usually? - not for Clare actually - she has to check that her legs reach the peddles and as long as they do she gets terribly excited and forgets all else!) and her bike was rather clapped out.

The end of a not very long cycle ride!

We had fun in our restaurant that evening. It started with a large cocktail, god knows what was in them but they were delicious. Sanju had forgotten to get the fresh tuna I had ordered (special request from Clare) but, as only an Indian can, he blagged his way into getting us a far better fish dish - he would give us no further information and said to trust him. Well we were too pissed to go anywhere else so I guess we trusted him and as happens when you give up on needs and desires you get plentifulness of all good things. We got fish, for sure - we shall never know what sort - but it was cooked in the tandoor and was delicious - we also got tandoori roti and best ever steamed veg.

After eating we launched ourselves onto the floor cushions and sat looking out to sea with Sanju, Bobby and Cookie playing jenga, we were joined by an Austrian couple looking for jenga action. By this time we had moved onto the more exciting Temple Jenga ( an indian version with, typically, less health and safety), which is stressful to say the least and impossible to believe that your turn will come round again, then again you will have to go through the crippling angst of being responsible for keeping the tower upright for yet another turn.

Not too late in the evening Clare was starting to find all the birthday action was forcing her eye lids closed and I was having trouble finding the pre-ordered birthday cake. It was, as it turned out, hidden in the fridge - this had not been forgotten but somehow things had become too busy or hectic or drunk - so we had it the following evening!

I hope my friend enjoyed her birthday and will forgive me for dragging her too far in the tropical heat, up too big hills on too clapped out a bike!


We got to turtle beach the next day too, which was a real treat and anyone going to Goa MUST go there to spend the night under the cedar trees which form a canopy along the sand. There are hammocks up and the air is cool, the beach deserted and turtles come from out of the sea at about 2am to lay their eggs in the beach edge vegetation. See next blog for pictures of this delightful place. Sea was clean too - not so in Palolem - a couple of turds slipped by rather too close to my cheek yesterday as I did my morning swim. I didn't go back in!