Mad dogs, Englishmen, and the the occasional American tourist on deadline

I arrived in Goa at 7:00 this morning, utterly exhausted after another overnight train ride. My last, unless something unexpected happens (I'm supposed to fly to Bombay tomorrow, but there's a nationwide air workers strike. Supposedly, flights have yet to be compromised -- although "passenger amenities" are in poor shape, and travellers have to fight their way through picket lines. Of course, rail workers are also on semi-strike, so the trains aren't necessarily a good fallback...). I slept poorly not only because of the general discomfort of the train, but due to a stuffed nose that constantly made me feel as though I were choking to death, and an inconsiderate fellow passenger who turned on the light at 3:15 in the morning. Grr.

My hotel had a 9:00 check-in, though, so after breakfast on the patio, I was able to collapse on my bed in my absolutely lovely room, and sleep for about 3 hours. Which then left me ready to face the day...that's right, at noon. It's hot in Goa, you know? Staggering down the street, crossing back and forth to catch the shade, I wonder if I'm truly insane. All the churches are locked, unfortunately, so I can't get in out of the sun; a very nice man, though, invites me in to have a soda, and to talk to his son, who's a pastry chef in Edison NJ, home for his brother's wedding. There seems to be a lot of this going around: one of the passengers in my train compartment last night (not the rude one; this one taught me card games, which we played with his mother) is a busboy at a hotel in London, home for his brother's wedding. Tis the season: get married before it gets any hotter.

Apart from the heat, my primary impression of Goa is colour. The colonial-era houses are painted in tones that are simultaneously bright and washed out: lots of great blues, but also reds, yellows -- and a bright orange Hanuman temple.


The overall feel is very mediterranean, between the colours, the vegetation, and the church spires. I think I'm going to escape the heat now by going to a museum tracing the history of Goan architecture. If I'm lucky, it'll be airconditioned...