Miles' Travel Blog: I'm still alive... but a daily blog was too demanding.

Sat in Delhi airport I decided to update the blog. Well a few people said that they missed reading it while in work (clearly on their lunch breaks). So I have a little catching up to do.

I left you all in Varkala... well I spent a couple more days there where I met some very cool people, some nutters too mind. After realising how easy it was to get alcohol from the government run shop I started doing bulk runs to the shop for everyone in the hostel as well as for a few other randoms. During one of these runs I was introduced to Catherine, she was a petite English girl that had just come from an Ashram, which may as well have been "a cult" (her words). In the several conversations with her I were informed / warned that a couple of her friends would be joining us all for a few days before continuing their travels elsewhere. The group was getting bigger each day.

A few days later they arrived like a predicted tornado, Mel and Cath... not the Catherine that was already there a petite English girl that was a hippy, not in a smelly way though. ... I did my best to remember names and, well, didn't do a good job. This brings me about to how Mel and I got on so well.... she isn't the kind of woman to hold her words in so when I forgot her name she tore me a new one. This then became a daily ritual. Along with the other cocky remarks and banter, I think I had finally met my match.

Catherine, Cath, Mel and I spent a few days together having the odd drink, even though Melissa (that should piss her off) and Cath weren't drinking on this part of the holiday. Thanks to their influence I can now play 'shithead' to a 3 year old's skill level. Catherine was the first to leave of the three, the girls were gutted to see her go, and it wasn't the same without her 'colgate' smile around. We attempted to make up for our loss by booking a cooking course and drowning our sorrows in Byriani. The cooking course was amazing.
For the price of a microwaved steak in the Spoons in barry we had 2 hours of lessons in which we cooked 6 dishes of our choice, taking it in turns to cook, photograph and write the ingredients. The chef, a miserable man of considerable experience ordered us around with the tact and etiquette of Rommel, and it was surprising to see these two women that had been laughing, fooling around and taking the piss for the last few days all of a sudden take the lessons seriously... while still taking the piss out of me. The two hours of cooking, lessons and preparations culminated in some of the best food to date. Which we ate in about 20 minutes. The Samosa's were AMAZING, even if mine did have a deep fried mosquito on the top.

This is what I managed to get my team to make ;-)

When Cath and Mel left, the party slowly started to die down.... well, actually, when they left my hostel turned into a ghost town.
I finally peeled myself away when, slowly people that I had come to like started leaving to actually do some travelling. I joined a bunch that were heading to Gokarna. They mentioned a really nice beach called half moon beach, coconuts fell from the trees like rain, and the rain was made of beer and rum, he beach was err... something grainy and tasty but not Cous cous, as that stuff tastes like crap. You get the picture, it was better than Varkala. I literally knew nothing about it.

I rocked up to the new groups hostel at 07:00 and nobody was there... I started to think that it was all a hoax, but slowly people rose from the dead and the group formed. I was going to be travelling 14 hours (ish) on a train with Rosanna, Akesh, Clement, Gwen and Angela. I'm not going to say who was who, but there the group consisted of an artist, a promotion person from Ibiza, a paragliding hipppy, a stock broker and a masseuse. While on the train we met up with another white face. An American, someone that was going to be a pretty good friend and partner in crime. Anyone that knows me will know that I'm not a great fan of Americans, but Will, this one, is a top bloke. He is the wisest mad 30 year old I have ever me.

On arrival at Gokarna, there was a small bus ride and then a small mile or 2 walk up a couple of mountains, nothing epic, just a few hundred feet elevation in the midday heat with about 20kg in two bags sandwiching me into a sweating whinging red faced mess. It was very relaxing and peaceful. After what felt like an hour, probably 35 minutes, walking through bushes, down rocky paths and in the jungle, we arrived.

Half moon beach is a 150m stretch of paradise. Surrounded by an impenetrable 1 hour walk up a hill. Once there you are rewarded for your efforts by a small palm tree lined beach, the jungle behind it hosts hornbill birds, monkeys and various random hippies kipping in hammocks. All of which are protected under Gokarna law. There is a string of beaches that are peppered along the coast, the ones that I paid attention to are Paradise beach, Half Moon Beach, Om Beach and Kudle. .

We spent about 5 days sleeping on the beach, we rented a room threw our bags in there and spent the day sleeping, exploring, swimming, walking, and eating. It is a tough life. Each evening we'd have some music, a fire, look at the stars, and swim with the photoluminescent plankton. The experience is like being surrounded by stars. They are everywhere. Swimming under the surface with your eyes open is like a firework display, only this firework display leaves you with glaucoma and pink eye, still pretty cool though. You can get antibiotics like sweets in India so you are pretty much invincible.

I'll summarise my time in Gokarna. 4 nights on Half Moon beach, then Will and I (brothers by now, finishing each others sentences) headed to Om beach. Om beach is a little more lively, random hippies and a few drinkers that are possible new recruits to our clan. Will is a nutter, no doubt about that, however with a past as chequered than a tartan chess board, he is now a clean living lad. We met people, had an amazing night with a Jason Mraz sounding dude with a mini guitar and two Dutch singers that could also play the guitar. They all blew the table away with their singing and their playing. What an amazing random night.

Will and I entertained ourselves with hour long swims in the day, walks to the local town, and chewing the fat with randoms we'd meet daily. Eventually the others from Half Moon joined us and the crew got bigger. It had only been a couple of days, but it was nice to see them. The next place we were going to was Goa... not the craphole I went to, but somewhere totally different, about 4 miles up the road. Arambul.