Goa Uncensored

The truth is... in India anything is possible. So in Goa...ANYTHING is possible.

First thing after breakfast you take a walk down the beach and you get offered Marihuana, Opium and Cocaine. There's absolutely no problem about it. They offer it to you openly and I'm pretty sure the Police know all about it.
Second thing when you walk around is that you should watch out for the Scorpio guys. They walk around in groups of 2 or 4 and they carry a pin or a needle in their hand. They stop you and point at your ear, a bit panicking saying there is a Scorpio on you. Of course there isn't, but when you let them approach you they sting you with their needle. The next thing you start panicking as well thinking you just got stung by a Scorpio and then it's up to them to take care of you. I don't know exactly what they do... sell you a medicine or take you to some fake doctor. But one thing's for sure, they want money! I've been warned so when they approach me I automatically step back and tell them firmly to 'get that thing out of the way'! But it's weird how they keep doing it to all tourists over and over and over... they must know that most people know this trick by now. Anyway... I've got 3 hours left here in Goa, so if anyone tries it on me this morning, I'll scream and yell and fall on the floor faking a heart attack! Ha, see how they really look when they're in panic! ;-)
And then there is the weird atmosphere concerning clothing. Women wear bikinis and some even think it's okay to go monokini. Now, I don't have a problem with that. For all I care people can just walk around naked. But there are a lot of Indian tourists and people who come here to work. For them it's shocking. Just this morning a group of 7 Indian men stopped at one of the sunbeds to look at the woman who was lying there half naked. It was as if they were looking at some strange creature, an alien. That can't be pleasant for those women, except maybe if they're a bit exhibitionist. There's plenty of beaches in the world where this is normal and totally not offensive, so why come here? My guess; because it's still cheaper than other exotic beaches and so the less fortunate come here to pretend that they are rich. Thus raising prices and making it less attractive for backpackers. And I think in the end Goa will kill itself by raising their prices but not equally raising the quality. The same hut costs 250 roepie in Arambul, they ask 600 roepie in Anjuna and in Baga it's over a 1000 roepie. And it's equally dirty and equally decorated. It's as if Goa is attracting more and more a kind of clientele we don't really want to be associated with. Russians picking a fight because you look at their girlfriend (but what did you expect when she's naked?), or coming in a restaurant and rearranging the furniture to suit them... There was none of that in Arambul, which is still backpackers territory. But the rest of Goa is heading down a road which will lead to decay.
And then the contradictory attitude from the Indians. They are appalled, but yet they sell these clothes and drugs themselves. Bikinis, tops, shorts, thongs... so maybe they need to decide where they are heading with Goa. Keep going down this path? It seems like they live from season to season here and they have no long-term vision. I can't really blame the workers for that, but there are rich owners and politicians... even they only seem to care about what they will make today and not tomorrow.
I might still be coming back to Goa, but it will be Arambul or some other backpackers beach, nice and relaxing! But first I've got people to meet, places to go, roads to travel and in a few weeks my trip will take me to Kerala where there are plenty more beaches to discover and to hang out. Let's hope it's more backpack and less Russian over there! ;-))