The Final Countdown...

Welllll hellooooo theeerrrrrrrrrre!

After two buses, a jeep, and two trains (3 days) we have made it to Goa, and back to our old stomping grounds (of two months ago) Anjuna. God does it ever feel good to be back.

We were a little worried that we wouldn't make it, at least not unscathed, after a few minor setbacks and troubles. First there was that jeep ride from hell I mentioned in the last entry, then the train with mice and cockroaches, and finally, me waking up to some guy trying to get at our bags in the train. But as they say, all's well that ends well, and nothing bad has happened since then.

Something quite interesting happened (though there will be more to report on this later, it is a story in progress) on our last train from Delhi to Goa. This man named Vicky (a nickname, and a male name in India) started talking to me, nothing so strange in that you say...Well, Vicky begins telling me his life story, which is nothing short of unbelievable, but also so tightly woven that it would be hard to disbelieve as well. I told a fib and told him Ryan and I are an item, because I am a magnet for freaks. For now he can believe that.

Vicky is a very generous and nice man (to us at least, some of his stories would indicate he isn't always so kind), and has an extremely sordid past. He name drops like no other, but again, the names he drops run from very well known to mildly obscure, and make it hard to tell whether he is full of it or not. Vicky tells me he has finally received his inheritance, which had been cause for grief for him for many years, and he is now a multimillionnaire. I had no idea what to say to this, or what to make of him telling me.

Anyway, after all my skepticism, we got a taxi with him (which he paid for, and in which he showed us many many wads of cash which lend credibility to the millionnaire bit) and went to see how his friends in Goa received him after his 12-year absence. Thankfully, the reception was good and we moved on to our hotel in Anjuna. We are meeting him for dinner tomorrow night since he has taken quite a liking to us so Im sure there is much more to come in this story. Man, what a character, you wouldn't believe your ears.

We thought that with "high season" in full swing that Anjuna would have lost its charm, but we are happy to report that our last week here is looking to be as good, if not better than our first. We have already splurged and bought ourselves massages at the Taj complex for our last day here. Yay!

Well, I am off to get settled in and go tanning before heading back to the coooold winter of London and Paris.

Leanne