A Bucket and Beach Life!

Last Saturday I woke up feeling really off.  My body was sore and my stomach had this really weird hollow feeling in it.  I tried doing some yoga but I couldn't focus so I decided to go get some sugarcane juice, it usually helped with hangovers so I figured it would help with this weird feeling.
I was thinking it could be from just sleeping on a shitty mattress or, I was getting a migraine.  Either way sugarcane was my goal and then back to my hut for a video call.

As I walked along in the heat I felt drained and dehydrated and the thought of food, well, honestly... I didn't have an appetite (surprisingly).  I just wanted to get back to mine and relax my body.

After my video call I decided to take a nap.  At this point I had a bit of a headache and I was feeling nauceous.  I figured taking a nap I could sleep it off.  However it seemed to get worse in my sleep.  I felt even more sick to my stomach and my energy plummeted, my stomach started to gurgle and new I had to make a trip to the toilet which honestly is 7 steps from my bed but it took a lot of energy to convince myself to get there. 

I made it safely and released the lower half of my body.  Water, it was literally water.  When I got off the toilet I grabbed the big bucket in my bathroom and put it beside my bed  just in case I thought.  With my lack of energy I just had a feeling.

I went back to sleep but it was worse this time.  I kept dreaming of food and people eating and I kept waking up feeling more and more nauceous and my stomach was sore and gurggling.

                                                            WARNING
*For those of you with weak stomachs I would skip this part....it doesn't get pretty*

I tossed and turned for awhile with horrible food dreams until I finally just shot up in bed and felt it.  Uh oh I thought.  I turned to the side, leaned over my bucket and let go.  Literally projectile vomited 5 times into the  bucket.  I couldn't stop it just kept coming out .... must've been the bad fruit.

Let's rewind back to Friday. 

My friend and I had bought some fruit and took it to the beach with us but I had a cantaloupe left over so I decided to eat it the next day for lunch. 

I was enjoying my fruit it was tasty.  However it had a bad spot in it so I was cutting it out, that's when I saw them.... MAGGOTS!!! I ran to the toilet and vomited hoping that if I had swallowed/ingested I had gotten them out.

Now back to the bucket....

Must've been that bad fruit. Fucking maggots!!! 

I stopped vomiting, then felt my lower half start going.  Fuck! At this point I felt even weaker and those 7 steps ahead of seemed like a life time away but I needed to get there and fast.  At the same time the smell from the bucket was hitting my nostrils.... ughhh.

I picked up the bucket, and as fast as I could I went to my toilet, literally making it there just in time. 
The sweats started at this point and the whole feeling of being sick just came over my body.   I released what I could from my lower half but again, it was water and not much as I literally had nothing left in my system at this time.  Again the smell of the bucket was hitting my nostrils as I was emptying myself.  Ughhh....this is so not fun.

Finally I finished.  As quickly as I could I got up, flushed, dumped the bucket while looking the other way, filled it with water, dumped it again and repeated.  Put it back beside my bed and stumbled outside.  At this point I had tears running down my face, sweat and literally looked like something out of a Stephen King movie hahaha.

One of my landlords sisters said "Emmie, what's wrong."  "Please I need some bottles of water I'm not feeling very well."  However, I actually felt 30% better!  I went back to sleep but the worst of it was over and I only got better from there.   I still had diarrhea for a few days but whatever it was - I think it was the maggots - was out of my system.

Lol I know I know, it's not a pleasant story but I figured if I go through it, you want to read about it so detail is important hahaha.

That's seriously the worst thing that has happened to me since I have been in Inida and I am glad it happened here.   The fact of having my own place, a couple of friends here and the people I rent from knew I was sick and said I could knock on their door anytime of  night made me feel so much better.  There is nothing like being sick like that and worrying you might die from it hahaha.

So yes... my own place.  The day after James and I arrived in Goa I was on a mission to find myself a place.  By early afternoon I had found a hut on the beach run by a family!  I moved in a couple days later.

I had called my buddy Jim - I met him and his sister Lucy at Tushita in Dharamkot and Jim is living here until April - to see if he could help me move as we all know I don't travel light.  He rolls up on his motorcycle.  Amazing!  I was hungover and didn't want to carry my 80 litre backpack and all extras across town.

I bought him lunch and then we went to this all day party at this high end resort.  It was okay...not totally my thing and I lost him for about two hours so wasn't having fun at that point but it was interesting and I ran into some people from the hostel.  The music well.... it was reggae and then went into dubstep which I can't stand but the last set was pretty good.

It's a big pot smoking community here and it's not really my thing.  They smoke it every where here even in the restaurants so going to these parties it's just everywhere lol which is not my thing at all. But Jim is fun to hang out with and it was nice meeting other people and seeing others I knew.

I seriously couldn't be happier.   There are 6 huts, three small and three big - I have a big one as I am going to be here awhile and it has a bathroom, no hot water though.  It's got a little gated area that opens right up to the beach!  I can hear the ocean in my hut! 

My days are spent walking through the market streets or hanging at the beach.  I teach (or trying anyways)  yoga 4 mornings a week, then I go to the beach and then I come back and teach.  It is literally perfect and I am smiling every day.   I have 3 locations for teaching but I don't really know anyone here so it's hard to get people to come but it will happen over time.

I know some of the cafe and restaurant workers but I honestly keep to myself most of the time unless I happen to go over to the hostel and then meet someone and hang out with them until they move on to their next destination which actually happened just recently.

Christmas, I went over to the hostel as I was supposed to teach yoga there but knew it wouldn't happen (everyone there partied the night before).  But I went because it's a commitment.  I started talking to this guy (Flavius) about.... ummm I can't even remember but we ended up going to a bakery for breakfast and then hung out at the beach all day.  We decided since we were both alone and it was Christmas to go for a really nice dinner on the beach which was fantastic!  Though, my stomach was still a bit off because it was only days before I had been sick so I couldn't eat a lot...but the wine went down well.  I was only going to have glass but he said "two, it's always two glasses.  One glass makes only one leg go funny so you need two to balance things out."  I got confused between the word glasses and bottles...because it was two bottles that balanced things out for me haha.   After a fantastic dinner at Zodiac - which is where I always go to lie in the sun as the service is great and one of the guys who works there is fantastic - we decided to see if there was anything going on at the hostel however we didn't make it there. 

At the beginning of the street where the hostel is there is a restaurant called Rendez-vous and it is one of my favourites.   As we walked by I saw the manager in there and popped in to say Merry Chirstmas.  This ended up in a few free beers!  Merry Christmas!!! 

James left last week ... I was sad as I feel like he had been with me almost my whole India adventure.  I miss his smile and his accent and just having him around but he was going home to surprise his mum for Christmas.

There is always something going on here.  Live music, yoga, parties....you can't be bored.   At night the beach restaurants put tables all along the sand and light candles, they have fresh fish on ice and some also have live music. If you keep walking further South from me you come to the hippie market and drum circle.... it's a completely different vibe but it is super cool.   Goa is full of tourists and ex-pats so there is a very big foreign community.  It's very different from what I am used to.

It's really hard to explain.  I guess the way I am spiritually is on a different level than a lot of the people here.  So clicking with people ins't always easy, but I enjoy watching and listening and I have bought a hoola-hoop hahaha so we will see how that goes.

To my write there are the cliffs.  You take the single road that goes through this little market - and I love walking through it - for about 20 minutes.  When you come out on the other side  you are at this really pretty beach...much quieter than Arambol beach.... and there is also this beautiful round lake, surrounded by palm trees and jungle.  I love it over there... Sweet Water Beach.

Last week I had gone with a buddy of mine.  Flip flops off - as it's sand and rock and most people here go barefoot - walking along and then SMASH!!! MY TOE!!! AGAINST A ROCK!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!! Seriously,  I have not had good luck with my feet this year.  It's fine though lol thank goodness.  I kept checking it to make sure that it wasn't broken hahaha, that's all I need.

Two days ago  Flavius and I decided to go to one of the restaurants along the cliff and enjoy a beer and pizza.  The place was really nice with good music - I felt a little bit like I was in Mexico - and I was so looking forward to my pizza.  When it arrived I looked at it with hungry eyes, picked up a slice and took a big bite.  Mmmm broccoli,  I took another bite ..... there was absolutely no flavour in anything, Not in the tomatoes, cheese, or even the broccoli for that matter, there wasn't even a bit of tomato sauce on it.  It was bland as fuck...and honestly the worst pizza I ever had.  It was like the last person I hooked up with, boring with no excitement and enjoyable on their side hahaha seriously it was awful.  Flavius said his was the same but he was hungry so he ate both his and mine. 
When our server came over and asked how it was I was honest "it was bland there was no taste at all, it was the worst pizza I have ever had."  "Okay" he said and smiled.  That was all. Hahaha, gotta love India.

Now it is the 29th of December,  not much time left before the new year is here!  I'm actually really excited for 2019 ... I have quite a bit going on - that I can't share yet - but its in the works and being here in my hut is great as I can get a lot of work done and focus.

Today Flavius and I are gonna go for lunch and then..... I don't know....the beach maybe lol, or maybe some yoga on the beach.  He likes doing yoga with me because I show him how to actually work the postures.  Who knows really ... its a lazy but active life...you aren't doing anything but aren't doing nothing here lol. It's exactly what I need.

So....with that being said.  Enjoy your last few days of 2018 and be safe on New Years Eve...don't drink and drive and don't drive and drink.   I wish you all the best for the coming year.  Until then... talk to you next year!

                                                               - My Beautiful Life -

The Blue City, Photos and Being in a Mixing Bowl.

So I left off with James and the Dutch checking out the city while I stayed back. I also went to bed early that night while the others stayed up.

The next day (which was our last day)  we went for a walk through the city streets.  I really wanted to go to the Blue City where everything is ...well, blue!

I really enjoyed walking the city streets!  It was wonderful.  Because we were in a local area nobody really bothered us.  No one was trying to sell us anything at all, they just waved and said hello.  The best part was all the photos we got asked for...not of us but of them.  We would be taking pictures of buildings or dogs and they
would ask or show with their hands that they wanted photos of themselves and then would ask to see them.   One woman fixed her head scarf to show her earrings and after I took a photo of her a woman walked up to me and asked for hers to be taken.  Another man wanted his photo with Anouschka and I after we took pictures of puppies. I usually don't take pictures with the locals but he was really sweet and then offered us free chai masala - my angel drink so it was well worth it.

We saw some children playing at a doorway and asked them for a photo and they ran behind their gate, but their mum came out and made them stand for the photo.

Two men eating in front of a doorway asked for their photo to be taken, another woman asked me if I would take a photo of her after I took pictures of the spices in the shop she was sitting at.

I hadn't felt this relaxed since being in the cities.  I am not a city person but India is full-on so its a completely different experience than any other city.  I felt calm and happy and really enjoyed meeting the locals and loved that they wanted their pictures taken.

I was really excited about the Blue City...blue is my favourite colour so it was like blue heaven for me.  It's not as blue as you would think but it is still pretty blue.

After wandering the streets we found a nature park with awesome view points of the Fort and the Blue City.  We wandered the pathways and climbed up towers - which wasn't fun for my vertigo but the pictures turned out great!

We were back by 3pm and I hopped on my computer to teach and then James and I headed to the bus station for our 32 hour journey down to Goa!

It wasn't  too bad.  He had a sleeper bus so we had our own little cubbies... it's not a the best sleep but
it is heaps better than sitting in a seat all day and night.   Stretching my legs was the biggest bonus, it was definitely more comfortable for my legs.  My head however, was a different story.  My ceiling was weird so it came lower which means I couldn't really sit straight so I always had to sit half up.  I also didn't have a curtain in my cubby so I had to make shift a curtain with no hooks and my scarf and succeeded.

The next day we had a stop in Mumbai.  After an hour I asked why we were waiting so long ... we arrived an hour early so we had to wait.  Okay that's fair, but then we stopped again and just sat there, not moving. "Get off the bus! Now" You get off!"  There were only 4 of us on the bus and they wouldn't drive to Goa with just four of us on the bus so they were changing us to another sleeper bus...but they didn't even want to give us enough time to put our stuff together, they were in a hurry.

James and I had to share a bed....well,  this is how it works.  He could share with me or, I would take one to myself and he would have to share with someone else.   When you book a double you only book half of the sleeper, but if a woman books a double and a man books the same bed, the man is not allowed that spot.  So with only two spots left on this new bus these were the options so we decided to share.  We were at the back on the bottom and it was just a curtain not a door and it was bumpy as fuck!!! I felt like I was a bunch of ingredients being tossed around in a mixing bowl.  I was lying down just being thrown around in a circular motion and I swear I even got a little bit of air underneath me.  I just giggled, I found it entertaining and made things a little more active for our long drive.

Due to the switch of the buses we were now on the new buses schedule which meant we didn't have a food or bathroom break for about 10 hours!!! Ughh.   And no, they don't have toilets on the  bus, they usually stop every 3 -4 hours but we got on this bus at 7 so it was 3 hours for them, much longer for us.

We arrived in Goa tired but excited!

The beach, after weeks in the cities and mountains I need to get back to the sunshine and  sand.

I have adjusted perfectly to the life here in Arambol Goa.  I have rented my own hut on the beach and... well, you are gonna have to wait till my next blog post.

                                                        - My Beautiful Life-

"Come to the Desert," they said. "It will be fun!"

So far, I think Pushkar is my favourite city. There is a buzz about it as well as a smell about it...but I really liked it.

The first day we got there we didn't really do anything... the hostel it an awesome rooftop cafe so we just sat around and enjoyed doing nothing.

The next day however, we decided to go down to Pushkar Lake in the morning and then head back as the Dutch were arriving sometime in the late afternoon.

Pushkar Lake.

One of the three most holiest waters in India.  Pilgrims  come from all over the country to bathe in the Ghats - holy pools - surrounding the lake.  Each Ghat has a name and it is said that some of Ghandi's ashes were spread in one of them.  It's not overly breath taking but there is a very nice energy there, quiet and peaceful.  It was really nice to just sit there, watching the people bathe,  a man yell at tourists to take off their shoes - he also yelled at me because I had put my shoes on the ground beside me where I was sitting.  Cows eating garbage - yup even here they throw away their garbage but yet we can't wear our shoes.  There are locals scamming tourists with the purchase of flowers and a long winded story with a small ceremony... it was interesting, funny and peaceful all at the same time.  You also can't take pictures (sneaky me.)

We wandered the small streets as its not really a city, the town (from my understanding) was built around the lake, but it's busy.  Like Rishikesh, the streets are not just busy with people and cows but motorbikes as well.  There is a lot of honking and close calls to getting run over, but I managed to survive.  Also, just like Rishikesh the streets are lined with shops and cafe's, but they seem to be more colourful, darker but with a warm cozy feeling.

There is a real hippy vibe in Pushkar, shops have crazy fluorescent posters or curtains hanging outside which would give their full effect under a black light, funky clothing (no I didn't buy any), and a cafe (as I only know of one) that sells bung lassi's.  A lassi is a curd (yogurt drink) ... I can maybe explain it as a thick Yop type drink.  A bung lassi has hash in it.  The guys enjoyed theirs,  I enjoyed my water lol but we did sit and draw pictures for 2 hours laughing like children.

The next day James, Gareth the Dutch and I went for a walk through the busy streets and headed to the Brahma temple.  It's the only one like it in the world and people come from all over to see it.  It is a quick visit but it is interesting to see.  You get blessed and give offerings and walk down below into a tomb where it is said part of the God Shiva is buried.

I had to work so I headed back before everyone but Gareth joined me as we wanted to book a camel safari tour for the next day.

A two hour camel ride into the desert, sunset, supplied water, a cabin (basically glamping style in the desert), running water, hot showers, a nice meal, bonfire, traditional dancers, breakfast and a two hour camel ride back... "be here for 4 o'clock tomorrow.  We were super excited!!!

We met there at 4 and walked over to our camels.  My came - Salim - was fantastic...he listened and rode very nicely so I wouldn't fall off.  Gareth' however, was not as great.  Cobra, kept trying to scratch his legs because he was itchy from the flies, so he would throw up his back leg which made for Gareth's ride a little unstable.

We walked through a gypsy village where I had a guy tell me "nice camel, I like your tattoos," and follow Salim and I for a bit.   Our sunset point was also in a gypsy area and we got followed and hounded by them for money... but I got some great photos and the camels were able to rest and take a nap for a little bit.

There were water stops for the camel so they wouldn't dehydrate,  Salim slurped it up like loudly,  like a child slurping up a bowl of soup.  However when I asked for water they said it wasn't included...first red flag.

After awhile the guides got on the camels with us.  Just as we hit the "desert" I noticed that the remote for my new selfie stick had fallen out of the bottom of my stick so we had to back track 20 minutes.  Not only did we not find it but it set us back 40 minutes so by the time we got back to the "desert" it was dark and Gareth was in pain.  "Camels are not fun when you have testicles!"  He yelled back at Salim and I. "And my ass is going raw."  I won't lie, camel's are not the most comfortable thing to ride, they are awkward, the seats are uncomfortable and the stirrups are rope, so I had that rubbing against my foot.  To be honest, I kind of wanted the ride to be done with, I just wanted to get to our campsite, chill with the others from their rides around the campfire, watch the dancers and just relax.

"How you doing up there Gareth?!?"  I called.  "I'm meditating."  "Is it helping?" "Kind of, but not really!"

I was a bit nervous going through the "desert" at night and the back of Gareth and his guide on the camel looked really fucking scary to be honest.  It looked like a very tall lank person hunched over walking, swinging it's arms oddly (look up Slender Man, ughh, so creepy) in the middle of the track in this so-called "desert."  Desert, the second red flag...it wasn't a desert, it was literally just sand with buildings and some trees.  "Come to the desert, they said, it will be fun," Gareth said up ahead of me.  "I'm guess your testicles aren't any better?"  I called up.  "No!"

Then we see some silhouettes of camels, camels every where.  They were just standing there eating or doing whatever camels do.  My guide hopped off the back of Salim and lead us through the group of camels -  I couldn't tell what was a tree or a camel at that point - and to our campsite.

"Good night Salim, get some sleep and I will see you tomorrow," I said as I got off him.  It's a little difficult walking after being on a camel for a few hours,  it's kind of like having a pickle up your but, or at least that's what Gareth looked like.

We stopped dead in our tracks when we entered the campground.

No more red flags...just you've been scammed flashed across the clear night sky!

There were no cabins just four big tents and a bonfire... if you could call it that.  A big piece of a tree with a small fire in the middle of a big group - I think they were from Korea or at least some of them were, the others could've been from Japan.  This is based off of one guy having a Korean Red Cross vest on and an Indian kid asking us if we were from Korea or Japan - one of the women laughed at this.

We were shown into our huge tent that was done up with mattresses on the floor with pillows and duvets and they served us some fresh chai masala (bonus.)

We went to join the others outside, however they didn't speak English so it was just us two with our dinner.  I didn't eat much of it as I didn't trust the food at this point especially after seeing the so called bathroom... a tarpaulin covering with a toilet inside of it.  Yes a real toilet but obviously not flushable,  we were in the middle of the "desert" how would it even flush.

We giggled at our dinner and tried to make light of things...it was quite funny but extremely disappointing.  We did get traditional dancers however as promised which I think were the best part
of the night.  They were beautiful and jingled with every move... however they came around asking for tips when done.

I decided after this to curl up with my book and call it a night... I was getting a cold and due to lack of other's for us to communicate with I wanted to get some sleep.  The others however had their own plan, beer and saki they clapped and laughed away and slept under the open sky.

Before getting into bed I asked Gareth to walk over to the so-called toilet with me.  As I was about to enter one of the Korean/Japanese men came over and said "no," and pointed.  Then I heard "HUHHHHHHHH!" Uh oh,  I thought and looked at Gareth, we giggled.  Again "HUHHHHHHHHH."  Someone's stomach definitely wasn't agreeing with the food.  When she walked out and I peaked in...yup...toilet doesn't flush... I peed out behind a bush somewhere.  On one  foot as I didn't realize down hill was towards my left food.

Grumpy Gareth - as he called himself - was obviously in negative mood as everything bothered him, the music, the sand in the bed, there are burrs on the comforter, "when are you turning the light off?"

I was fine, I fell asleep reading my book thought didn't sleep well but I slept, but we did find hundred's of mice footprints around the bed...at least they didn't crawl in the bed with me....at least I don't think they did.

We woke up at 6:30am ready to leave, Gareth especially.  "I'm not riding a camel today I'm walking, I'm in too much pain and...."  he continued on. I felt the same, I wanted to leave, my cold was worse, I literally wanted my cat and my laptop and a movie day - a girl can dream. 

We walked down to the camels... Salim was eating contently but neither him or Cobra were ready to go.  I looked at my phone, 7:02am, we should be leaving already.  I walked up to the makeshift kitchen and asked if we could leave..." tea, masala, five minutes."  "No thank you, we would like to leave now, we were told we would leave at 7 and be back by 9 and we have to catch a bus."  They didn't really like the response but they went down to get the camels ready.  "I thought we got breakfast?"  I asked "We hab banana?"   "No thanks."

There was a big fuss when we were getting on our camels.  Gareth wanted to sit in the second seat as it was more comfortable for his testicles. "Okay, you and her, one camel okay?"  "No!" I said harshly.  "We paid for two camels, we are each getting one.  What is the big deal?  He can sit in whatever seat he want's."  At this point Grumpy Gareth started walking (a little bit over-reacting in my opinion), but finally after calling him back he got on the camel.

When we got to the road he got off and started walking still grumpy..."I haven't showered since yesterday morning!" he says.... "ummm, neither have I."  Geez it's only 24 hours...relax dude, it's not the end of the world.  I get it...he was set off when we got to the campsite so everything was bothering him, but I was sick plus hungover the day before and I didn't complain as much as him...he would've hated the camper van trip I did in New Zealand, we barely got to shower hahaha.

 When we got back to the the guides asked for tips!  Gareth gave them a tip... I wasn't obliged.

"That was horrendous!"  Gareth said when we were walking back to our hostels.  "Dude, that was not horrendous.  It wasn't what we paid for but it wasn't horrendous...and I definitely have a good blog to write about it."  "It was horrendous."  It definitely wasn't the best thing I have experienced or the greatest tour I have gone on but it definitely wasn't the worst either, I find it kind of funny to be honest.

Later that day Gareth went to the guy and complained.  He was in complete denial of ever saying any of the sales pitch he gave us.  When he complained about no water their response "there was water in the toilet."  Hahahahaha.

I ended up going in as well when I was looking for a bank.  The man didn't say much to me...he just looked at him and kept saying "okay."  Some young guy tried telling me another guy sold me the trip but I laughed at him.  "All those pictures you showed us saying you personally took them on one of the trips.  Look at the cabins with running water?  Why don't you show me those pictures on your phone again and I will show you mine and we can compare."   "I'm not a cheat." He said very quietly.  "Hahhaha, you scam tourist's and you have probably already done it again today and will do it again tomorrow.  Your not a very nice person, your an asshole."  I left, and I felt better.

We were supposed to grab a bus to Jodhpur that day but James wanted to wait till the next day...thank goodness.  I was tired and not feeling well from my cold so I didn't want to go anywhere.  I relaxed, read my book and went to sleep.

We grabbed a bus yesterday to Jodhpur and had an awesome night at the hostel with the Dutch and some new friends playing cards.

James and the Dutch went to walk around the city.  I stayed back to write this and I also work in 30 minutes...but I am still fighting my cold so  I really don't mind having a day to myself.

So with that, I am going to say until next time. I hope you enjoyed my desert story... and remember, beware of Desert Safari's lol they will tell you they are fun.

                                                                     - My Beautiful Life -