In the early afternoon, Zohar suggested to me that we should rent a motor scooter. It only costs 150 rupees a day (under $4) so why not? We found a small rental outfit just off of the main road. The owner, Rupesh, sorted us out with a nice red scooter. Zohar (Zo I call her as no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get the pronunciation correct so she insisted I just say Zo) was happy to take the first turn at being the driver. She needed to turn the bike around in a narrow laneway and after a couple of back and forth turns pushing the bike, she accidentally twisted her wrist on the throttle and the bike lurched forward a foot into a stone wall and the rear wheel began to spin. Rupesh leapt forward and helped her with releasing the accelerator. He looked a little bit nervous about whether he would see his little red bike in one piece again. I probably also sported a nervous look as I was about to hop on the back of the scooter! I suggested that Zo go for a little drive up and down the road first by herself to get the hang of it again (she has driven scooters before). After that, she was golden.
On the road:
With the wind in my hair:
We drove along the windy road heading south. I quite enjoyed being able to look around at the surroundings as we tootled along. Our goal was to head to Vagator Beach, a quiet place that Zo had heard about. We took the odd wrong turn but it was fun to explore. The biggest hazard seemed to be the speed bumps and the odd cow. The speed bumps come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There are single humps, some of which are quite large, double humps and the dreaded triple hump. The triple meant that the front wheel was going over the last hump, the back wheel was hopping over the first one. I did get some air time here and there which is always exciting.
Live to ride...Ride to live!
A bird's eye view:
Arriving at the beach, we took a stroll along it and then went for a swim. It is a pretty beach with only one visible restaurant on the main section and another couple of rudimentary establishments around the headland to the north. Up on the promontory, the remnants of a fort made from red brick lined the contours of the top of the hill. There were some small figures walking along the fortification. Judging their height, it looked as though the wall was but 6 feet tall in some parts. You could throw someone on your shoulders to storm the place if you really had to!
Vagator Beach:
The little fort on top of the hill:
A few men were sporting these lovely hats but I didn't know where to purchase mine:
After the swim, we walked around the headland and had a drink at one of the beach bars before hopping back on the bike and starting our ride back to Arambol. I let Zo drive back seeing as she was doing such a good job plus I had had a beer whereas she stuck to Mango juice. The sun was beginning to set as we crossed over a big bridge. It was dark before we got back and I was even more impressed with Zo’s driving at night. There were one or two butt clenching moments but it was nothing to do with her actions but usually due to oncoming traffic mixed with dogs or cows.
On the beach:
Ahhh....
A common sight:
But this one got a bit too friendly:
That evening we hung out in the Olive Garden. I challenged Panna to a rematch in chess even though my confidence was low. Surprisingly, taking some of Manu’s advice of taking the pressure to your opponent, I was able to checkmate Panna shortly into the middle game. We took the turn back and continued to play to see what could have happened if he had seen his predicament. Avi and Zo showed up and watched some of the game. I began to make mistake after mistake and in the end Panna won...whoops.
Playing chess against Panna:
Avi and Zohar playing:
Later that night, Penny joined us (if you’re unfamiliar with Penny, just look back a few postings) as did Tal (another Israeli woman) and a weathered older guy with a long white beard named Han. Most of us sat quietly as Penny began to go on some interesting and animated rants. She had been out partying with a British woman, Karen, who is staying in the hut across from me (it was Karen’s birthday). She began talking about old souls and young souls. She claimed that she varies from a 6 to 13 year old soul but never higher than 16. About five minutes later as the conversation/diatribe veered towards the inevitable topic of Penny’s recent breakup with her boyfriend of 3 years. She began making comments about this 60 year old man who was now acting like a 20 year old...like a child! I tried to point out to her that she had just mentioned that she was 13 but she set me straight that that was her “soul age” and for the ex this was the age he was acting....ah, I see, clear as mud. Who needs a TV when there’s entertainment like this!
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