Exploring Goa - from the ridiculous to the sublime

Upon completing our yoga course we decided to hang out in Goa for a few more weeks, taking time to explore what this tiny portion of India has to offer. Goa is the smallest of India’s states, yet it attracts the largest number of foreign tourists. It is also a very popular destination for local tourists and we met many Indians who had travelled from various other states to come enjoy the sun and sea. Friends might be aware that Esti and I are quite partial to music festivals – especially those focused on electronic dance music. What readers might not be aware of is that Goa is considered by many to be the birth place of psychedelic trance music and culture. This genre had emerged after hippies seeking both spirituality and the lax local laws regarding hashish, arrived in the region in the mid-1960s. The initial parties included the rock music of The Eagles, Grateful Dead, The Doors and Pink Floyd, which had been associated with the hippie movement in the USA and other parts of the world. Soon thereafter local musicians and dj’s began experimenting with electronic dance music, combining this with elements of traditional Indian music and other aspects of the existing "psychedelic rock"…eventually giving birth to the precursor of modern psychedelic trance music. Apparently the party scene really started blooming in the early 1990s, moving into the mainstream and leaving the “underground” behind. It remains to this day one of the epicenters of this cultural musical movement.

As it happened, the end of our yoga course and our austere living regime coincided with Esti’s birthday on 29 October. We thus planned to break our month of no-drinking by hitting one of the local psy-trance parties. Unknown to us, Sunday 27 October was also celebrated across India as Diwali – or the “Festival of Lights”, with celebrations that felt similar to a western New Year’s Eve! We did some online sleuthing and managed to find a party happening at the famous “Hill top” club – one of the original venues that still comes alive every tourist season. Our friends from the yoga course Arnd and Clara had also decided to join us in this ceremonial "breaking of the fast", and to celebrate Esti’s birthday. We found ourselves dancing the night away with friendly locals and tourists alike. The evening included many cheers of “happy Diwali” accompanied by champagne bottles popping and being generously passed around. This area of Goa, known as Anjuna, is famous for its parties, and we spent a few days in the village, exploring these relics and birth places of the psy-trance scene. Invariably taking every second night off to allow ourselves some recovery. Whilst Sunday the 27th October was spent at Hill top, we also managed to pay a visit to the famous “Curlies” on Esti’s birthday on the 29th.

Esti’s birthday celebrations were completed with a delicious dinner at a local restaurant, replete with the treat of a good bottle of red wine – something which we didn’t usually allow in our budget. The restaurant had the added attraction of an owner-cum-singer who periodically joined the band to serenade us with some classics, in-between coming to chat to us and sending out more complimentary food for us to sample. All in all, Anjuna and “Chef Cantando” had more than delivered a memorable birthday. Anjuna has another claim to fame – a traders market, which attracts merchants from far and wide peddling their wares. This market apparently also arose during the golden years of the hippie movement in Goa, providing an opportunity to catch-up with friends from the broader hippie community, who came together from other parts of the region. After five nights in Anjuna we decided it was time to move on and take a break from the “doof doof”.

As per our trend of balancing our different travel needs during this sabbatical, the next planned stop was in the mountains of Goa. The “Western Ghats” mountain range extends 1,600 km down the length of the western edge of India through seven different states, creating a great green corridor where biodiversity thrives. The “Ghats” are in fact considered one of the world’s “biodiversity hotspots” and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – due to the high levels of biodiversity and high levels of endemism which characterise the region. This area has over 10,000 species of plants, more than 130 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species – some of which we hoped to become acquainted with. The region also has 16 endemic bird species, found nowhere else in the world, and I was privileged to get views of many of these; including the Malabar Parakeet, Malabar Grey-hornbill and Malabar Barbet.

We had planned to visit the highest waterfall in India – the Dudhasagar waterfalls, but upon arrival found that the rest of India had apparently planned the same thing. Fortunately some quick google searching brought up a small retreat nearby – Nature’s Nest. We thus diverted our trip and asked the taxi to drop us off at this retreat, which also fortunately had space for us for three nights. The next few days were spent relaxing and “naturalising”. Esti caught up on her reading and chilling, whilst Dale came to grips with the Western Ghats endemic birds and spent time trying to photograph the stunning butterflies which flitted around the retreats garden. A flowering tree provided a regular early morning photo spot as various birds came in to feed, with the cute little Vernal hanging parrots stealing the show. Dale also discovered that the owner of the establishment was a very popular bird guide, busy at the time guiding a couple from the UK. Fortunately my own early morning wanders sometimes coincidentally found me “running into” and joining their group as they strolled along the local country roads. Whilst I enjoy the challenge of finding and identifying new species myself, a little help in a foreign country never hurts. Further discussions with the bird guides revealed that they had a Sri Lankan Frogmouth roost spot staked out.  At this point I would advise some online searching of this bird, just to enlighten yourself about these remarkable creatures. The Frogmouths are an incredible group of nocturnal birds, with excellent camouflage rendering them almost invisible during the day. Our group had booked some transport to take us to a nearby section of the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, where we planned to hike to a waterfall. Some discussions with the helpful resort staff, who by now were fully aware of my avian interests, lead to a plan to stop at the roost spot which happened to be on route to our destination. Luck was on our side and we found the Sri Lankan Frogmouth sleeping obligingly in its day roost. Yet another epic bird species sighted in these months abroad. The guide led us through the forest one by one to observe it and snap a quick picture, before continuing on to Mahadeva Temple and the stunning Tambdi Surla waterfall.

A beautiful walk through verdant woodland brought us to the high falls, running strong with the last waters of the monsoon. In contrary to the other nearby, more famous waterfall, we were thankfully alone, revelling in the solitude of this wilderness. Although India has the second highest population in the world, it is a massive country, and I was continuously surprised by the “empty” areas we encountered, which provided a wilderness feeling and much respite from the hustle and bustle of the towns and villages. Returning from the waterfall we walked around the small Mahadeva Temple, which was now quite busy with Indian tourists. We had learnt that over the Diwali period many people across India take leave and go on holiday, with Goa being a firm favourite. Whilst the places we visited were slightly busier over this period, all the people we met were friendly and it was great hanging out with locals and getting the inside scoop.   After our first sojourn to the mountains we returned briefly to the coast, and stayed at the stunning Woke hostel in Morjim, Goa. We managed to fit in some chilling at the pool, beer tasting and strolls down to the beach. Saying a sad farewell to our friend Arnd, who had joined us for this section of the trip, we then headed back into the mountains once again – where more of their incredible biodiversity awaited our discovery.