India, IX.2016
A chance to visit India does not happen often, so even if it is not the best season it has to be grabbed. Work assignment sent me to Mumbai in September for a few days, and despite the rain season unraveling on the west coast, I couldn’t resist taking an additional week off after the assignment. Food, culture, and architecture will be there anyway!
With preparing the project on the other side of the world I didn’t have much time for research and preparation for the trip, so here big thanks to Kasia for hosting me in Mumbai (great thanks!), giving tips on India, and pointing me later on to Goa as an easy way out as the most tourist-friendly option.
Regarding the food, I will have to make a separate post, but here I would like to tell a bit about Ganesh Chaturthi festival – luckily happening in the mid-September) and visiting Goa in the rain season. For Mumbai, I knew what to expect after the South-East Asia trip a few years back, so flooded and crowded streets were expected.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Ten-days festival is a celebration of the birth of Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, god of wisdom, knowledge, and peace. Each household brings a statue of the god Ganesha represented with an elephant head. Celebrations include fasting and bringing offerings, and after a certain period bringing the statue to water, accompanied by music, in order to immerse it. Mumbai is a great city to witness this festival since it is right next to the sea, and there are parades to be witnessed each evening.
Goa in the rain season
As you might probably imagine, Goa is a crazy party place in the season. The popular and tourist-friendly destination is crowded with backpackers and party people from all over the world. Well, I had a chance to experience a much different Goa. Kasia gave me a great tip for the bus – a sleeping place that allows you to lay down comfortably. Life-saver. After a long ride (12-13h, if I remember correctly – it’s all a haze now), and one taxi-scooter ride, I arrive in Calangute and check in the recommended hostel, Backpacker Panda. After a meal, it was a time to hit the beach, obviously…
An image and sound of a rolling tumbleweed would be entirely in place. But for me, almost entire life living by the sea, I find something magical in empty beaches and just looking at the waves. Not necessarily being scorched by the sun up to an astonishing level of pink/red (that’s how I roll). There is something calm and peaceful in the rhythm, and it is good to experience it in relative silence.
Of course, the emptiness is not a complete option in India, because where there are no crowds of people, the animals have their kingdom.
And some more shots from the beach:
Wandering around Calangute there were also opportunities for less sandy shots. Walking back from Anjuna to Calangute, I came across quite a fancy car. Definitely a speed breaker, or “broken by the speed”.
Backpacker Panda
As it was raining quite frequently and heavily, I have spent a lot of time hanging out in the hostel – something I usually don’t do, running around with the camera. On the first afternoon, while trapped on the big porch by the rain, I grabbed a first random book from an open library. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. There are strange coincidences in life, and that was one of them – it was exactly a book that I needed in this time – about living creatively. Good stuff.
I would recommend the hostel itself as well – it obviously attracts great people, as I have met many friends there, spent a lot of time playing guitar together – including exploring the Indian music system (thanks, Ruchi!), and how to make sense out of it having a European ear:
Next time I will write about the food as it can be fully enjoyed no matter if it is rain season or not. And believe me, it was.
