EXCERPT from Planet Backpacker by Robert Downes




The Land of Make Believe,

Nov. 22, 2007

Calangute, India



What am I going to do for 12 days in Goa? I wonder somewhat dejectedly as my cab makes the 30-mile trip from the airport to the beach town of Calangunte.

Perhaps this is a tactical error, but when I conceived of this trip, I planned for a Goa beach break to be a respite from travel after two-and-a-half months on the road. Still, 12 days sounds like a lot of loafing for an action monkey like me.

But Calangute looks like a fun town, even though it’s considered dreadfully uncool by the international backpacking community. There are swarms of Western tourists here and I’m ready to see my ethnic cohorts again after swimming in a sea of Indian faces for three weeks.

Calangute is also a good base for day-tripping around the State of Goa, which runs for nearly 100 miles along the Arabian Sea.

I had half expected Goa to look like Cancun, Mexico, with 20 miles of high-rise hotels rimming the beach. Instead, it’s the same old squalor and anarchy of India, with small hotels, shops and cafes crammed into the narrow lanes paralleling the beach along with hundreds of touts and hustlers. And instead of pretty topless girls in string bikinis, the human scenery here is mostly paunchy Russians and Brits who look like walking conch shells, stuffed into sleeveless tee’s, skimpy shorts and thongs that only a stripper would wear back home. I think the Europeans owe Americans a sincere apology for claiming that we’re fat. Haven’t seen so many fat people since Christmas shopping at Walmart last year.