{"id":2263,"date":"2009-07-05T11:32:39","date_gmt":"2009-07-05T17:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.wend.ca\/?p=2263"},"modified":"2020-06-19T21:44:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T01:44:20","slug":"the-ride-to-calangute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=2263","title":{"rendered":"The Ride to Calangute"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, how’d I get back to Calangute<\/a>? I’m glad you asked. Remember the list I put together when I jumped off the boat? One of the items on the list was to befriend either a restaurant worker, tout, or taxi driver. I chose the first option and found a nice little restaurant to sit in and eat fish curry. By this time there was a preposterous amount of rain falling from the sky and I decided I was done for the day. <\/p>\n

Whilst there I chatted with the owner and mentioned that I needed to find a way back to Calangute. Well… he had a friend who had a neighbour who had a van that was straight out of the disco era. It was fully decked out in brown shag and came with stereo and loud Hindi music.<\/p>\n

He offered to take me back to Calangute (a 40 minute ride) for relatively cheap and offered to keep the music loud so I could relax in the back. So, off we went, in the disco van, with Hindi music blaring. As an added bonus, he took a really interesting route back through small villages and narrow walled streets. At one point I felt like I was traveling through ancient Europe instead of modern India.<\/p>\n

It’s a funny place this Goa.<\/p>\n

The drive went surprisingly quick and eventually I began to recognize some familiar sights: Little Italy… the sign that says “Deep Tattoo,” the “Indian Handicraft” store with Tibetan and Indonesian trinkets, the market, and eventually the windy beach packed with hundreds of people squished into one little lifeguard zone.<\/p>\n

From here I was able to quickly meander up the beach (yes madam, come madam, hey madam, buy some stuff madam, come to the bar madam) to my beach hut where I could get out of my wet clothes and take a moment to breathe.<\/p>\n