Gokarna, OM Beach, Jan 2 2009

Tomorrow is my last day in OM beach, I'm traveling to Kerala starting in Cochin. The last few days have been very relaxed. Waiting for new years. Thinking where the big party would be, etc. Many people talked about going to Kuttle beach which is a 20 minute walk. But in the night and not being completely sober would be tough. So ultimately I stayed in OM. Had a great dinner with my Serbian friend Ivana and some other people. Wow amazing King fish. I have figured that eating with my hands makes food more delicious than ever (on a side note, I used to criticize my daughter Daniela for doing this at home). It seems that using your hands increases your senses and things are even more tasty. Very early in the evening everybody was either drunk or stoned in this beach. So everybody is happy and smiling, etc. Around 10:00 PM a few fires where lit on the beach and people started singing, playing all kinds of instruments. Therefore the atmosphere was great. Watching the fire is amazing, you don't get bored any second. At some point I decided to go to sleep and it was already 5:00 AM. Later I heard that the party in Kutle beach was a flop, was police was all over and stopped the party at 11:00 PM.
So the days pass by with this wonderful lazyness of not doing much. I'm doing some kind of fitness exercice every morning: Yoga, Jogging, Walking and then swimming in this fantastic little beach. It is so refreshing. Spend a long time in the water and then on the sand (when the sun is not very hot). New Years is an Indian holiday and the beaches are full of local Indians.
The majority don't know how to swim and it feels that they haven't been much on beaches. They get crazy about playing in the water.
In many cases you see them watching the western women in their bikinis and quite astounded. I can imagine how different it looks to them from the local women which bathe on their clothes.
They are wonderful people. On the few occasions that you get to talk to them
They typically keep asking your name, country, etc. At some point it gets a bit tiring as they are so many. But when you do get to the next level of conversation you find wonderful, knowleadgeable and good people.

About drugs: It is just amazing the amount of people that you see consuming drugs around. From Charas to other more heavy stuff. I'm a passive smoker of cigarretes, joints ... You just sit aroudn and it is in the air. It starts with breakfast and goes on for the whole day. If not drugs, lots of drinking goes on. So people are happy, friendly, talkative, etc.
Also there is always a place where someone is playing some instrument.
On the 31st, I met quite a few people that wanted to have a great trip experience. So a few I know tried LSD. I'm too old for this stuff and too afraid to try it. But I'm learning a bit about it through the experience of others.
Today I wanted to jog on the beach, but I have a little wound on my leg and it hurts. So put some medicine on it and will wait for it to be better. Wounds here for some reason don't heal very fast, so I need to be careful.
It will be hard for me to leave as with time (I'm more than 10 days here) you get to know many people around, in the guest house, in the beach and you feel like home.
But so far every new beginning has been better than the previous. Therefore I'm sure Cochin will be great too.

Gokarna, OM Beach, Dec 29 2008

Everything is great. I'm staying in Gokarna, OM beach at least until the 3rd of January.
I have a booked train ticket to Cochin in Kerala (14 hours). Many people say that Cochin
is not that great, but I want to see Kerala and go in the back-waters.

OM beach is full of Israelis, as many people came from GOA to make sure their parents are not too worried. My guest house has a load of them. But also other Europeans. I'm not sticking in particular with the Israelis, too young for me.

Yesterday I met an Indian woman which is breaking all my stereotypes of Indians. She comes from Bangalore, she is divorced, owns a business, has her own car, etc, etc.
Therefore I'm getting to know how modern Indians live and not only the low classes which are extremely conservative. This is an amazing experience, as so far the Indian Woman I met here are too distant and don't get to close to westerners. From what I'm learning more and more you have modern Indians in the big cities, but also how hard it is to be divorced in such a conservative society. Her name is Sarita. She came here with her car. So yesterday we travelled to another nearby beach Karwar, north towards Goa. The beach was a bit of a disappointment.
OM is much better. Today I went again to Half Moon and Paradise beach. Wow so beautiful. Little bay with a few guest houses, shacks. You have to walk over the rocks to get there.
The huts don't have electricity, the restaurant has solar panels. And somehow there is an internet cafe. In the past, it was difficult for me to see me staying in such a place, but now I got the point and it can be really amazing. I'm not moving there, but who knows.
There is an Israeli guy, leaving in Half-Moon for 8 years with a scandinavian girl. They are building an Iglo with sand-bags to live. Wow such interesting people.
There is a German guy in my guest house, in his late 40s always playing the guitar. I talk to him and he had liver for quite a few years in Porto-Alegre. His wife is from there (which he is divorcing) and we spoke portuguese. Such a small world.
The food here in the different shacks is just delicious. I'm eating more and more with my hands and slowly and enjoying every bite.
Evening here starts with sunset around 6:00 PM and everybody seats on the beach, on the rocks. Many smoke joints (if not all) and beers start flowing. Around 7:00 places fill with people for dinner. Later in the evening the fires on the beach start, with people playing music and having a good time. It is an amazing lazy routine and real heaven.
The restaurant shacks are always full with people eating, drinking, smoking, playing cards, reading books, etc,
I'm happy