The End of Another Goan Tourist Season

April 22^nd – May 6^th, 2012

Being a Canadian and specifically a Vancouver Canucks ice hockey fan, I was looking forward to April, the commencement of the NHL playoffs.  The Canucks lost in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals last year, the closest to ever winning the cup in their 40 year history.  This season they finished first in the league in the regular season so things were looking good.  Last year I had a slow Internet connection and could only listen to the games on a radio feed but now with the new 3G network, I looked forward to actually watching the games.  The only trouble was that I can’t receive a signal from my home, the Magic Villa, and with most games starting early in the morning (due to the 13 ½ hour time difference), I’d have to figure out something.  My solution, hike up to the top of the ridge and find a comfy spot sitting against a rock and cheer on the Canucks.

Catching the action at predawn:

You can't watch hockey without a beer!

Sadly the team bowed out in the first round to the Los Angeles Kings...oh well, I guess I won’t have to wake up early and have more free time, but come on Canucks, you better do it next year!

Disappointed...but that's the life of a hockey fan: 

With the temperature and humidity increasing and the monsoon approaching, fewer tourists could be found on the beaches and more and more restaurants and guesthouses were closing up shop.  The majority of the small number of foreigners left enjoy the quieter, more peaceful atmosphere in Arambol...who cares if your dining options become a bit more limited, empty, chilled beaches are fantastic and it also means that I don’t have to share the sky with as many pilots.

Speaking of pilots, my first (and so far only) paragliding student Pradeep returned to Goa from his home of Mysore in the south.  Pradeep told me of a small paragliding festival was being held at Anjuna Beach, about half an hour south of Arambol.  I’ve never flown there as the hill is quite a bit smaller than Arambol so it seems like a stupid place to hold a festival but I decided to meet Pradeep there regardless.  It might be a good chance to meet some more Indian pilots.

I arrived at Anjuna shortly before the opening meeting was scheduled but it took me a while to locate Pradeep and the main venue.  Well in true Indian fashion, nothing went as planned.  There was no meeting.  Instead Pradeep had heard that the paramotor guys were setting up to fly at a large field at the north end of the beach so we headed there on his motorbike, only to find no one there.  I called the president of the Indian Paragliding Association (and the organizer of the event) and he stated they were at the south end of the beach.  So after about an hour of running around we finally located some pilots up on the hill including Anil, the prez.  The wind was fairly light but it was flyable but due to the tiny size of the ridge, only 4-5 pilots could be in the air at any time...this is why I couldn’t understand why they’d have a festival here.

Anyways, I watched pilots cruise back and forth and then I eventually took to the air.  It’s always nice to fly a new place and I enjoyed checking out the views to the south of the busy Baga Beach with a number of people parasailing behind powerboats.  Becoming bored after 15-20 minutes of cruising back and forth avoiding the other wings in the sky, I set up to land on the lower plateau on the ridge.  The only “competition” of the festival was to be a spot landing (as there was no option to do anything else).  I saw a discarded flip flop on the ground and picked that as my target...might as well practice for the contest.  Well I was quite pleased to hit it spot on...but couldn’t help but think “There’s no way I’ll do that tomorrow when it counts!”  While packing up my wing I briefly chatted with an Indian pilot who asked if I had seen the “porno shoot” behind the big rock at the south end of the ridge...damn, no I hadn’t! 

The competition was running for the next couple of days but due to its lack of organization coupled with the poorly chosen venue, I decided not to attend.  Instead I flew in Arambol, sharing the much larger ridge with only one other pilot...a much better option.

After the festival Pradeep came to Arambol to continue his training for four days.  During that time his skills continued to develop and by the end he was performing the odd 360 on the ridge, small wingovers and his landing approaches were quite good.  Well done Pradeep.

One by one, the guesthouses around the Magic Villa became vacant and were then prepared for the approaching monsoon season with dried palm fronds strapped across the front of their balconies, door and window hinges greased and mattresses aired out and then stored in the driest of rooms.  I was the last holdout, enjoying the added peacefulness of having no neighbours.  I did have some visitors though (apart from the occasional monkey jumping on the roof in the early mornings).  First was Andrew, an English fellow that I met through a mutual friend.  We duelled in chess and he was a formidable opponent, winning the majority of the games.  Next was German Robin and not only did we battle in chess but I introduced him to Carrom.  I enjoyed the company of both of these interesting and nice guys and will hopefully see them again some time.

Robin...please with his move:

Meanwhile, a cricket match was breaking out below while we were playing:

Unfortunately the ball was hit into this well...I thought the game would be over but no...send the little guy down!

It’s time to get out of Goa for some time...I’m going to head north to the mountains of Himachal Pradesh as it’s time for some real, thermal paragliding!