So, yes, I got truly, disgustingly, stereotypically ill in India. I'm a lucky lady, though, and Logan brought me sauceless iddli and made gallon after gallon of electrolyte water for me. And then, he took me to the beach, where I could sit under an umbrella, drink water and the occasional salt lassi (salty yogurt drinks are my new make-my-tummy-happy obsession), and try my best to hide from the brightly-plumaged flocks of ladies trying to sell me henna or bracelets or anklets or sarongs or massages or necklaces or shirts or pants or internet access or or or.
We went to Benaulim, on Goa's coast near Margao. It was pretty quiet when we were there at the beginning of December; the package tourists stay up north a bit, and the domestic tourists haven't descended en masse for the Christmas and New Year's breaks. So Logan had lots of cashew fenny (white lightning made from cashew fruit!) with Limca, lemon-limey soda, and ocasionally walked out into the cool but not cold ocean.
I found a puppy to snuggle. Not sure why my face is fixed in an uncomfortable rictus; maybe I was still feeling a touch yucko. BUT PUPPY!
And not only puppy... OCCASIONAL WATER BUFFALO! I would not recommend getting your snuggle on with this guy, though. Probably end in sadness all around. And possible trampling.
We stayed at a place called Heaven Goa, with comfortable beds, no internet, and unfortunately no restaurant (though they offered a skimpy breakfast). We also opted for no a/c. At least the room had a fan, though it still got uncomfortably warm in there. And this was December!
Our view, according to the guidebook, was supposed to be of a "lily pond".
I was expecting to be eaten alive by mosquitoes, looking at this marshland outside our door, but they surprisingly weren't that bad. We tried out the white lily oil we bought in Mysore, which is supposedly a mosquito repellent, and made it through our stay with only a couple of bites.
There were often pigs rooting around in the muck, this area of India being one of the few that eats them.
One thing Heaven Goa did have going for it (besides the friendly proprietors, clean rooms, and hot water) was the menagerie. Does it count as a menagerie if it's just a sweet, hyper-ass dog named Dixie and a whole passel of kittens? Our bags apparently make good lookout points. If you're tiny.
Then this happened, without the least prompting from me. I immediately felt, like, 67 percent less sick. Kitten therapy! It's a thing, or should be. Forget all that ayurveda.
After our three nights beaching it up and relaxing and dousing ourselves in lily oil, it was time to move on to the big bustling crazyness of Mumbai! Goodbye for now, romantic beaches and candlelit dining, ocean whooshing suggestively within earshot. We'll see you again in Southeast Asia in a couple of months!
