India

Exactly 2 months today since we were in the VASA club drinking, It seems years ago. Smoked hash again last night after deciding not to smoke again, finished now I think. Since we’ve been here we’ve been eating really well I think we needed to as well we were getting really run down and skinny. … Continue reading »

Wrote to mam and Larraine Received a letter from Larraine very short and not much information in it, I wonder! Not been to the toilet since we arrived, 7 days and were eating a fantastic amount of food. Drove to Panaji caught the ferry across. Collected post then had a drive up to Mapusa and then back to Baga beach, which is just … Continue reading »

A really hot day today gets almost unbearable at times the sand gets so hot you cant stand on it. The squealing of a pig disturbs the day as its strung up, the other pigs fighting to release it, then its dumped backward on to the carrier of a bike and he rode off with … Continue reading »

People in India really do begin to get you down after a while. On the beach here in Goa they just sit and stare from morning till night, even making special journeys across the beach to stand and stare, just a few feet from us, when confronted they just look away and seem to think they aren’t … Continue reading »

After fixing a blown exhaust gasket we left Baga beach for Panaji, crossing the river by ferry boat. Called at the post office but nothing there left a forwarding address Madras post  restante.  Ate a meal and decide to head for Bangalore about 1pm. Good climb on twisting winding road out of Goa climbed to 2000 feet then on to the open road. Gangs of monkeys … Continue reading »

Exactly 10,000 miles from Trafford Park Manchester to Madras India. Up early had a good run from 170 miles outside Bangalore, the climate and the landscape looked English and was comfortably cool. Then after Bangalore it gradually got hotter and more like desert again. Till finally in Madras its like being in a wet oven. Fallen trees across … Continue reading »

Done it again 81 rupees for a meal that was mostly no good, but I really enjoyed my curry and chicken, I am now under the influence of hashish and trying to do my handwriting well. Drove around all the shipping agents in Madras today the cost for LD is $175 cost for us is … Continue reading »

What a terrible day we’ve had, driving around Madras the heat was unbearable sweat teaming out this month is the hottest ! Spent the day trying to sell liquor permits but only sold 8 units out of 42. Lent Baz £30 to change he got 25 rupee to the pound. But to get the good … Continue reading »

Changed £10 into rupees Had a fairly good day today but even so a simple operation turns into a big problem. Getting Gas, We went into Cooks Travel Agency to be met by the most arrogant man I have ever met. He called us Hippies and wouldn’t book us unless we had £100 per person. … Continue reading »

Changed £400 at the bank to get bankers cert. by doing that we lost £160 by the black market price. Cooks Travel would not entertain us at all, price per person £37-8-0 and for LD £72-7-0 total for the 7 of us and 2 land rovers  7360 rupee. Not a bad day on the whole, we expect … Continue reading »

Letters from Mam and Larraine Tried to finalise the bookings for the boat and once again a simple job becomes a serious problem. We entered the building at 12-30 and after tramping up and down alternately between 4 floors and heaven knows how many offices, we finally left for another office with tempers frayed two … Continue reading »

Wrote home Mam and Larraine. We have 3 boys here who are our helpers, Michael, Peter and Balem real characters they are. Sons of Fishermen in the village, they love working for the tourists. Yesterday they earned a little money so they brought us mango’s jap fruit and rice wine and pinched some coconuts. They eat the rice from … Continue reading »

Tamil is the language they speak here on Elliott beach; the boys say that’s the name of the village too. A fisherman from the village was heading across breaking waves when oar snapped and hit him in the stomach rupturing his abdominal wall. We drove him into the hospital. It was an education it looked … Continue reading »

Normally they would have to walk to the hospital sometimes impossible and they die because they cannot afford the taxi fare. It’s a good village and the people are good but their life is very hard. Living in coconut huts for shelter.  Had a nice meal the lads cooked today also rice wine and a drink … Continue reading »

Spent the night at the pictures in the village, big night out with the boys. Finally we managed to complete the formalities for the shipping the vehicles, it was unbelievable the pieces of paper must have passed over 20 desks, been entered into numerous books, each time it all had to go to yet another … Continue reading »

A fantastic day Indian came down did conjuring tricks, good too, then he had a cobra snake and a mongoose fight to the death, unfair fight though the snake had no chance at the speed the mongoose moved. Then out fishing on the sea. The boat consisted of 5 shaped logs lashed together with rope, … Continue reading »

Up at 6am  lashed the boat together then out fishing, with nets this time it was great but hard work rowing and hauling the net you needed a good sense of balance, I fell a few time and once overboard. Hauled the net about 9 times before surfing in. Hot sun fish sea and sand. … Continue reading »

Took a drive into town. No mail. Boat sailing 4th now, engine trouble. Another day working. Line fishing again caught another big basket of fish, Moutab sorts out the catch and brings them back cleaned and prepared for us. They really work hard out fishing and they have nothing. This is there theme when drunk with rice … Continue reading »

Its festival time in the village, they have it every year and we are all invited On the way came across a massive big dead turtle on the beach smelling bad. The festival consisted of a wooden god painted with real gold like a huge pyramid carried by 80 men. It cosy 20 thousand rupees, … Continue reading »

So sick of the Indians coming around now they come all day bringing children who are full of sores and all kinds of things, we’ve used all the medicine’s and creams we had on them but we’ve found by experience that if “you give an inch they take a yard” They’ve made a complete nuisance … Continue reading »