Eastern Trip: Goa IN

After a couple of weeks in India, some standard pictures I had had, simply vanished. Some were confirmed.
The mosquitoes are not that big trouble makers. For now, I haven't even used any repellent. ;-)

Food is amazing, however. The diversity is huge, the use of spices so wide, the number of cereals, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, vegetables and fruits is stunning, so much that I don't know. I keep experimenting! My gutt is safe for now.
I was kind of disappointed. Bicycles are not as used as I thought. The cities are full of scooters and motorbikes.

Yes, India is crowded, but not as much as I would expect. First, I can deal with it. :-) I really thought that I couldn't. Furthermore, the streets are not that full of people... I mean, you can walk, like anywhere on this planet! The dimensions, the figures are just bigger than elsewhere. There are much more buses, the cities are gigantic, wide, much more spread, like markets or slums. 1 million people is a small city! A normal city is 3 millions. You have traffic jams, but equal to Paris, Teheran or Istanbul. Something new I must deal with: you don't wash your hair because of natural dirtiness, you wash them because they get dark, sticky and dry because of dust and smog. Is it like this in Paris? It's been a while I haven't been there. hehe...

After Mumbai and Poona, Goa is different, not like I described before.

Goa is one of the most touristic places in India. Like the Diois region, when you are there, you understand why. Green, nature everywhere, small hills, small paths, nice beaches, relax people... Fortunately, I was there just after the moonsoon and just before the touristic season. And yet, there were 3 westerners out of 5 Indian people: crazy! West invaded the area at hippy time, when the land was almost empty. An old hippy tradition remains. White people come to take a bath, and then stay for 3 years! It is the cheapest area in India, too. That helps.
I was hosted by Christopher a film maker, who notably made, for a great TV production, documentaries about society issues: female foeticide, domestic violence, child sexual abuse, dowry, alcoholism, chemical based farming, disability... Thanks to him, I had a upper class Beethoven performance the 1rst day, then a beachy afternoon with muslim children from slums, the day after. And every morning, fresh French bread and croissant from the French bakery around the corner. :-)