In Naomi’s last few days of her month long holiday, she wanted to have some shanti days around Arambol.
On the 20th we rented a scooter as I had some errands to do in Mapsa but Naomi also had a mission in mind. The Californian woman that we met back in Kumily at Abraham’s Spice Garden had mentioned that she had been ecstatic to find a Subway restaurant in Goa, specifically at Baga Beach. Baga is southwest of Mapsa and only about 20 minutes away so we headed off in that direction. She also hadn’t been to this beach typically crowded with Indian tourists so she was interested in getting a glimpse of it...I think.
We had to ask a few people where the Subway was and somehow we had scootered right past it but did find it. Ah familiarity. The restaurant could have been anywhere in the western world although of course the menu board prices were in rupees. The subs weren’t cheap by Indian standards with a 6” one being about $4 in cost. Naomi was quite excited to have her sub and I have to admit that mine wasn’t bad either!
We cruised by the beach but didn’t stop for long. Seeing a busy, commercialized beach makes me appreciate Arambol all that much more.
Subway!
Naomi enjoying her sub:
Found my pimp-mobile!
Hanging out with Manu at the Olive Garden:
On her last full day we just hung out at the beach, primarily at the Olive Garden. We ventured into the ocean for a bit of body boarding on a big white board from the restaurant which was around last year but was finless. Somebody added two small fins on the bottom which helps steer the board a lot. We were able to ride waves for 30-40 meters, right into the beach. I tried standing up a few times but failed pretty miserably. Unfortunately there are jellyfish in the water right now and although neither of us was stung directly, we both had some itchy parts on our bodies that felt like minor stings so we probably didn’t stay in the water quite as long as we wanted to.
Naomi found a delicious new drink...pineapple and watermelon juice combo:
The "Flower Lady" came by. She says something like "Hello, flow you buy?" and is one of the hardest workers on the beach:
That night, Naomi’s last night, she chose for us to go to the Double Dutch restaurant. It had recently opened for the season and we had dined there back in February. It’s off the main road, a few hundred meters in from the beach and has a nice outdoor garden setting. Their specialty is steaks. Steaks?!? In a Hindu dominated region where the cows are revered? Yup, steaks...and this was a pretty tasty one I must say. I’ve tried steaks at a few other places and typically they are bad cuts of meat with many sinewy and fatty bits but Double Dutch seem to know what they’re doing.
We’d brought a bottle of wine with us to celebrate the last month’s adventures. It was a lovely meal.
Enjoying our wine:
Subsequently we stopped by Sporting Heroes for a cocktail and to see a few friends. For all the times I’ve been to Sporting Heroes, I’ve never had one of their famous cocktails. During the monsoon season, Madu the manager had told me that one Bollywood actress comes down from Mumbai at least once a year for a week just for the cocktails! She goes there every night and runs up tabs of 10,000 rupees ($200) in a sitting. She must be buying a lot of drinks for people as the Cosmopolitan martini’s we had were 160 rupees each. Tasty indeed and a nice finish to Naomi’s last night.
And then on to Sporting Heroes for some fancy cocktails:
On her last day, we had brunch at the Rice Bowl and then stopped by the Olive Garden to say goodbye to the crew there. Unfortunately Manu was already off to Mapsa to do “shoppings” (as he calls it...and I do too now!).
Naomi on our balcony:
In the Olive Garden:
Naomi with Ram:
The taxi was arranged through Derek at Chilli’s Guesthouse for 1pm. At the last minute I decided to accompany Naomi to the airport, about an hour and a half away. Just a kilometre or so after we turned onto the main road from Arambol, we saw a big crowd gathering by the side of the road where there’s a small lake nearby. We stopped as well to investigate. I crossed the road and went down the small embankment to the barren, rocky area where everyone was standing. There was a 6-8 foot long snake on the ground, seemly in shock from being too baked by the harsh sun. Its breathing was slow and laboured.
A few shirtless Russian men and a woman were discussing what to do as other Indians stood their distance from the snake. One guy grabbed a stick and pinned the snake’s head gently to the ground as the other grabbed hold of the snake just below its head. They both lifted the snake up and began to carry it towards the water. A little unsure of how to put it down, they tentatively placed it a few feet from the water on a steep, dried mud bank. The snake didn’t move at first but then began to slowly head towards the water. Seeing as Naomi had a plane to catch, I couldn’t wait longer to see if the serpent found relief in the lake so after Naomi came down for a quick look, we headed off in the car south.
The huge distraught snake:
Carrying it to the water...hats off to you guys:
Carrying the snake to the water:
It’s been a great month while Naomi’s been here. It feels like we covered a lot of ground and did a lot of different activities but didn’t overdo it either...although she did comment that she needed a vacation from her vacation shortly after returning to Israel. In some ways the time progressed very slowly and in others it flew by.
Shalom my dear friend...perhaps our paths will cross again someday.
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