After our busy weekend at the waterfalls and Mysore we decided to stay in Bangalore the weekend after, as some volunteers who had left, Will, Chris and Ajay were coming back for a few days before going home. Also Aina, my Norwegian roommate, had two friends, Fride and Berit, come and visit her as part of their travels around India.
On the Friday we all went on a night out to say goodbye to Ajay and Beckie who were going back to England. First off we went to our favourite bar 'Le Rock' then to our friends Dinkel and Ajay's house (a different Ajay). A good time was had by all and we all managed to get home around 4am. The next day after a lie in we went into town and I went to a 'scary house' with Jo, Meg, Tom and Sooz. The scary house is in Garuda Mall which is a big shopping mall fairly near us in Bangalore. I was thinking it would be a good laugh kind of like a ghost train with people jumping out at you. How wrong I was. It did have people jumping out at you but it was genuinely scary! It lasted about ten minutes and you had to walk around in the pitch black while various things followed you and made noises in you ear. The scariest bit was at the end where there was someone who seemed to be in a bed. The bed complete with person jumped violently at you across the floor. All five of us were terrified and screaming. The worst bit is you leave the house and walk straight back into the mall again much to the amusement of the people standing outside watching. This weekend I went to Goa for a few days with Sooz where we met up with Will and Chris. We managed to get cheap flights from Bangalore and headed off on Thursday.
 | | Sunset at Anjuna Beach |
The plane took just under an hour and then we got a taxi from the airport in central Goa to Anjuna where we were meeting the boys. We were instantly taken aback by how beautiful the countryside was there. The landscape we were driving through looked so tropical and was filled with palm trees. The roads were dramatically quieter and the air was fresh. We also had a driver who was pretty unusual. A deeply religious Christian, he crossed himself at every church and shrine we saw. There were many as Goa seems to have quite a high percentage of Christians. Unfortunately this meant taking his hands off the wheel quite a lot, which was worrying especially as he also felt there was something he needed from his glove box and kept leaning over to get it without stopping the car, which would veer every now and then into the middle of the road. When we arrived in Anjuna, in one piece, we met Will and Chris and went to the guest house we were staying in, just behind the beach, called the Top Shop. When we hit the beach Sooz and Chris went in the sea and Will and I were instantly descended on by girls and women from the various stalls along the beach. Each one complemented us and tried to make us promise to 'come to my shop'. They also kept saying things like 'Lovely jubbly' and 'Asda price' and one of the younger girls also did a good impression of a London accent which Sooz was very happy about (she's from South London). The atmosphere in Anjuna was completely relaxed. Just a few guest houses, stalls and bars along the beach. The one chain I saw there was a very small Dominoes Pizza which seemed to be empty every time we drove past, which was refreshing after Bangalore. We also noticed that night how quiet it was when we were sleeping, no car horns or men shouting about what vegetables they were selling.
 | | Fire Display on Anjuna Beach |
The next day we'd heard about a 'trance party' in the nearby town of Baga so we thought we'd check it out. One thing I grew an enthusiasm for during my stay in Goa was trance music. It seemed you couldn't escape it and I grew to like it over the weekend. The trance party wasn't much of a party more just a few people in a bar listening to a DJ so we headed back to Anjuna to a really good club there called Paridiso. It was interesting how different Baga was, a lot busier than Anjuna and commercial. It made me glad that we were staying in the quiet Anjuna. Although music is technically banned in Goa after 10pm to try and cut down on all the raves Paridiso was still going strong when we left at 3.30am. I managed to embarrass myself well that night by using the men鈥檚 toilet thinking they were unisex. Just as I was strolling out of the toilets a confused looking man said 'I think you're in the wrong side' and, much to my shame, I realised I'd walked straight past the women's which was round the corner. He was very nice about it though and I was glad I had done it in Goa and not somewhere else in India. The next morning I wasn't feeling 100% in the tummy department which I think may have been down to the fish I ate the night before, so I swore to go back to my vegetarianism. After spending a bit of time in bed though and not eating anything, I was feeling better. Me and Sooz went to meet Will and Chris who were in a bar watching a football match (big Manchester United fans). We then all went to Ingos Night Bazaar nearby. The bazaar was a massive market filled with amazing stalls of clothes, jewelry, carvings and food. There was also a bar with a party area behind including a DJ which is where we went to chill out after shopping. At one point they put a line of alcohol along the bar which they set fire to and then juggled with flaming bottles behind.
 | | Sun shines down on Anjuna Beach |
This weekend was the Hindu festival of Holi celebrating the end of winter. Children cover you in brightly coloured powder and then sometimes ask for a bit of money. Sunday was the big celebrations in Anjuna and so we all got covered in powder along the beach. At one point I was set upon by about five boys shouting 'Aunty, Aunty!' who covered me in purple powder. It was a really fun festival, I almost bought some powder to take back to England and try and start it up there. On Sunday afternoon we had found out about a party which was being held at Hilltop in Vagator, which is next to Anjuna, for Holi. We got there around 4.30pm and the party had already started. There was a DJ playing and people dancing in a clearing between brightly coloured painted trees. More and more people arrived throughout the evenings and there was a stall selling drinks, and various food stalls selling omelets, sandwiches and fruit. We also met up with Ana鈥檚 Norwegian friends which was good as they were in Goa at the same time as us. The party started to fizzle out around 11.30pm when the music stopped and we headed off to a club we had heard about that stayed open all night. Unfortunately when we got there we found out there was a Rs500 charge to get in which is nearly six pounds - very expensive for India. Will found out that you could get in for free if you were in fancy dress which unfortunately we weren't so the only option we could think of was to swap clothes so the boys could get in for free. Will was having none of if but Chris looked great in Sooz鈥檚 long skirt and my little vest top which was pretty ill fitting!
 | | Decorated tree at Hilltop |
The next day it was time for Sooz and I to leave Goa behind and go back to Bangalore and we weren't that enthusiastic about leaving. Anjuna has such a good atmosphere and we wanted to stay by the sea but we both had to go back to work on Tuesday. Goa kind of reminds me of home and as I have said in many a drunken rambling while in India 'Cornwall is the Goa of Britain'. Arriving back in Bangalore was so much easier than when we had first arrived in the city. We both felt it was kind of like coming home. I was also glad to go back to work the next day because it was so busy. The March issue was all finished (I've got two pages and four reviews in) and everyone was hard at work on the April issue. I was assigned the task of getting the pages for International hip-hop, pop and world music news written and in to the editor by the next day. I was pretty apprehensive about getting it all done on time considering my knowledge of world and hip hop music is very small to non-existent. I got it all in with an hour to spare though so I was pretty pleased with myself. Next weekend we are off to Hampi which I'm really excited about as it's meant to be a really interesting place, so I will let you know how it goes. Bye for now! | 
