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.  On the beach here the people just sit nearby and stare as thought were in a Zoo or something. They are really strange if you stare back they just look away and then stare again. Spent the night trying to get coconuts off the trees but they were still green. Wrote home. Floated about in the Lagoon all day.

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 by Calangut , The Roman Catholic priest here is bent he changes money gold and buys and sells anything, says “its for the church”. The family leave tomorrow for Madras via Bangalore well leave Monday I think. Spent a lot of money since we’ve been here spent all we changed plus put an extra 100 rupee each into the kitty.

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 the pig still squealing furiously, to end up as somebody’s dinner. In the toilet at the back of Antonio’s ( the café) you do the business and it travels down a shoot and a big fat pig waiting for it at the other end. Big struggle at night to pinch coconuts shinned up and cut down the protecting thorns and then up to the top, too exhausted to get the nuts skinned my ankles, splinters, scratches, no coconuts .

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 there or something, but it really begins to wear you down. The family left this morning for Madras Baz Bet Sandra and John, their a good crowd, hope to meet them in Madras, tomorrow we’ll look around Goa call in the Post office Monday then head for Madras as fast as we can.

Our LD and Basil and Bets Land Rovers on Baga Beach Goa (slightly damaged photo)

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 playing by the roadside, in among the trees were big termite hills and lots of little towers pointing up. Its been nothing like I expected the land here is very fertile with trees everywhere, a cool breeze blowing and a very pleasant day all round, only sparsely populated too.

Wild Monkeys on the road from Bangalore to Madras

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 the road from a bad storm last night, which we missed. Families of monkeys by the roadside still.  Rad on LD leaking slightly.  Staying at YMCA 6r per night, expensive but good washing facilities. Ate out at night had the most ridicules meal yet and it was expensive too. Second day, 600 miles from Goa. Complete change. Find out about shipping tomorrow.

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 $97 Also went down to the docks asking on the boats but after trudging around for hours in the burning heat no, Drank Ice water on each boat though. Finally came back and found 2 coconut beach huts for hire 20 rupee each a week. At YMCA paying 6 rupee a night. Right on  beach. No sharks. Feeling lonely but hash makes me forget.

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 exchange rate we drove up and down up and down cooking in LD. Tempers were on the ragged edge. Cant change our money on the black market to pay for boat fare because we have to show the form from the bank and bank rate is only 18 rupee to the pound, we would save nearly £75 if we could. I’m feeling really low today. Moved into coconut huts at Elliot beach today with 3 young lads to run errands.

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. In the shipping agency there was no problem. Managed to change the liquor permits without any problem 40 rupee for 6 units also changed £10 at 25 per pound and found we could have got 26. Its still really hot in the town and gets unbearable. Feeling a bit better about things today also changed $4 at 10.50 rupee for one. Close to sorting things out maybe tomorrow.

3 boys from the village who are our ‘helpers’ Peter (big eyes) Michael (in Sandra’s wig) and Manibalan the eldest.(comedians all 3)

Madras Main Street

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 now that any job you try to get done in India is never straightforward. It seems ok at first then crumbles into a multitude of problems. At night time we drank rice wine, very strong too, and smoked hash. Each day we think we’ll get everything sorted out and each day goes into another. Fares paid now, be glad to sail.

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 and a half hours later and still we didn’t complete the job, 5th day, Monday, coming up. Adventurous eating today in Indian vegetarian café Vegetable Samosas and some other things like a big pancake with spicy peas it was nice. I’m still feeling quite low and lonely I don’t know how I’ll make out. Had a good letter from Larraine, sometimes I wish she was here other times I need to be alone?

Landrovers all lined up on Elliot Beach Madras

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 the bottom of the rice wine and they were really tanked up by the end of the night they dressed up in Sandra’s wigs and Saris I took a photo of them they are good lads. Caught and cooked 5 crabs for us today, During the day its so hot. Coconut houses rolling seas moonshine at night, it really is a place to remember.   First day we’ve not gone into town.

Peter Michael and Balem, not their real names of course but easier to understand for us.

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 like there had been a war, people lying all over the place, in the corridors there aren’t enough beds, Man in casualty hit by taxi split lip, doctor sees me looking and inflicts pain on him!!  On the surface the life here seems good their livelihood is dependant on the sea, so now the man cant provide for his family, a few of his family members come with us very emotional, he is operated on that night.

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 they call ARAK very strong tastes like whiskey with water! (we discover later its made with battery acid)The village is so grateful for what we have done they think we can cure everything. We do have a laugh, Bet’s named Syl ‘Nurse Poultice’ Some of the babies are really sick, they can do nothing and the doctors don’t seem bothered about doing anything, life and death seems part of the norm, the biggest problem is malnutrition.

Fishermen from the village on Elliot beach Madras

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 desk. It cost in the end 150 rupee port charges and the vehicles have to be down there at the port on the 1st. went down the village again with Johnny Walker he’s a dam nuisance permanently pissed and cadging. Back at the hut they keep bringing there children with all their illnesses and sickness expecting us to cure them. No more hash again its coming on without smoking. Just found out the ARAK is made from battery acid banana and coconut boiled.

Sighted big turtle out at sea, big as a man, flying fish too.

The hut on Elliot beach, Me, Bet, John, Bev, Basil and Sandra watching the boys cooking fish cakes with tiny little shrimps they just caught in the receding tide.

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, 3 more curved pieces formed the bow. Only lashed together but it handled beautifully. Rowed out 1 and ½ miles with 2 of the village fishermen in there loin cloths, then cast our line, good catch Bev and Baz spewed up, 2 stingrays 1 eel and lots of fish, rowing back the boat surfs in on the waves and rides up to the beach it was really great. Then after a freshwater wash at the village pump. Rice wine and eat our fish, very satisfying.

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. Back in the coconut hut the fisherman cooks the biggest fish into steaks and the small fish into a pate with potato and other pate from crab and prawns. We had a fantastic night hash and rice toddy, Johnny Walker singing and playing the drum and little girls from the village dancing then out onto the beach were Johnny and Mauties  performed a tribal fighting dance it was like a movie scene.

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 wine sitting in their huts, the contrast between our way of life and this, there’s no comparison its been this way for ever. Their only possessions are his wife’s cooking pots that she keeps scrupulously clean, they eat a little fish and large quantities of rice wine, babies too, I only hope I can remember all I have seen and use it in my own life.

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, people were blessing themselves and marking their forehead with white or red powder, us included. Moutab burnt powder at the shrine to give us a safe journey. A medieval roundabout for the kids and hobby horses on stilts, tried to take a picture but I was too late. All came to an end suddenly, blowing lashing rain thunder and lightening, It was as if the Gods were angry.

Dead Turtle Elliot Beach.

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 of themselves and we cant get a moments peace, today we’ve left them too it and gone into Madras, had a job finding out how to get the cars onto the boat and no one seemed to know. Finally we found the 1st officer and he helped us. The boat is now sailing on the 4th but we have to get the cars on board at 10am tomorrow.

Bet and Ken camel riding on Elliot beach

Bev and Sandra