Time for a rest

Our original plan was to just visit Kerala.  However, we (OK then, Fi) did a bit of digging and discovered that the beaches weren’t great at this time of year and on reflection, we felt that the backwaters on a boat would be great for the two of us alone, but that the children would probably go stir crazy. We are also keen that after all the travelling in Ethiopia we need to find somewhere relaxing and stay put for a while, for the kids’ sake, if not ours. Fi has sold me on a place she’s found in Goa (Casa Susegad in Loutalim) which does look great – she had a particularly good feeling about it and I tend to trust her good feelings. So we decide to fly into Mumbai and get the night train down to Goa – straight into an Indian train journey that I’ve heard so many things about!

Booking train tickets from abroad proved to be tricky, but after a couple of emails to Carole and Norman, the owners of Casa Susegad, plus a quick phone call to Carole, Fi has secured the help of Felix, a friend and local fixer / tour operator. But transferring money across to Felix proved even more tricky – thankfully, Carole has offered to pay for the fares and settle up when we arrive. I think this says a lot about Carole and also about  Fi!

Felix is waiting for us at the airport and ushers us to a local taxi to take us to the train station. First impressions of Mumbai are that there are if anything, even more people than in Addis. The traffic is really heavy and there is clearly a culture of leaning on the horn (London = 2/10; Addis = 5/10; Mumbai = 8/10). There is hustle and bustle everywhere, reaching a crescendo as we approach the station.  Felix negotiates VERY hard with a statio porter (this involved the porter loading our bags onto the trolley and Felix unloading them simultaneously as they fiercely gesticulated to each other). Once complete the porter takes to a welcome air-conditioned waiting room before we board the train (2nd class). The children are very excited to be on sleeper train and are up and down on the top bunks like little monkeys. After the cries of “chai, coffee, coffee”, “tomato soup”, “paneer” and “cheese sandwich” have died down, we re eventually lulled to sleep by the rocking of the train and have a surprisingly good night’s sleep. The next morning we enjoy the sights of rural India slipping past us – of course unlike at home, here you can hang out of an open door to get a completely unfettered view!

Casa Susegad is PERFECT (OK, the internet was horribly slow while we were there, but other than that). It’s a lovely renovated Portugese house with just 5 rooms (we’re the only guests), pool and various secret gardens disappearing off into the jungle behind. Carole is an interior decorator, so everything is beautifully designed, tasteful and relaxing. She and Norman are the perfect hosts, very gregarious and proud of their Casa Susegad project – we immediately get a thorough tour. After 2 days they feel like old friends and can’t do enough to help. Joanita is a fantastic cook – after some serious discussion, we decided she’s the 2nd best cook in the world!

So, initial impressions of India… we’ve left the land of squatting African men and entered the world of crossed legs and wobbling heads. We’ve gone from donkeys and tuk-tuks to motorbikes and tuk-tuks. Not surprisingly, there is obviously more wealth, with the roadside shops being significantly bigger, more sophisticated and better stocked. But sadly, we’re struck immediately by the amount of litter – plastic, plastic, everywhere. We’ve gone from a country in which you can’t walk down a road without having another person in your eyesight, to one where there is ALWAYS litter in view.

Having just left Ethiopia that was not colonised by the Europeans, arriving in Goa with 400+ years of Portugese rule and influence brings a welcome familiarity. There are so many beautiful colonial buildings, although it’s obvious they require a lot of maintenance. Some are still stunningly beautiful and maintained but many with sagging roofs and clearly needing a bit of work doing.

We’d booked for 5 days but the days slip by and we can’t bring ourselves to leave – in the end, we end up staying ten. Norman & Carole take us on a day trip to Palolem beach, where they have a little beach hut. It’s out of season, which is a mixed blessing – it’s a lot quieter than high season but the beach hasn’t been cleaned up yet so there’s a lot of litter. But we have the most delicious prawn and crab curry and it’s a fabulous day.  Carole is very creative and makes her own jewellery; she kindly donates a mountain of beads to the children and they spend the days making necklaces, swimming and occasionally doing  bit of homework.

On one of her expeditions with Carole, Fi has discovered FabIndia, a chain of clothes & household shops that seem to be a bit like the Indian equivalent of M&S – maybe a bit more upmarket? She cannot resist buying few things and has also taken me there, where I’ve succommed, too. The problem is, we’ve already got too much stuff to carry, so this will have to be sent home to the UK. Over here, such packages need to be stitched in fabric, rather than simply popped in a box with a bit of tape. Carole kindly donates and old sheet and I take on the challenge of sewing it up, using the house sewing machine. I’d like to say this is now a new string to my bow, but ‘don’t give up the day job’ (if I had one) seems a little more appropriate. In the end, Fi takes pity and takes the two parcels down to a local tailor in the village – needless to say, she does an infinitely better job in a fraction of the time!

So we eventually decide we have to drag ourselves away from this haven, otherwise we’ll be here for the rest of the year! It has given us exactly what we needed, time to chill and recharge our batteries – onwards!!