I'm terrible at updating this thing. In my defense, my camera has been absolutely useless for the last three weeks or so, and updating without relevant photos is no fun. Here is a picture of a really cute kid to balance out the text-photo ratio of this post.
Since leaving Hampi in mid-December, I ventured eastward to Hubli, a bo-dunk city in central Karnataka, famous for being completely unremarkable in every way. My reason for coming here was this: A friend from Anjuna, G-1, was concerned about the impending graduation of the woman of his dreams, a dental student named Deepti Rao, who was studying at Shree Something University. In India, after a woman finishes her education, it really is only a matter of time before she is pressured to marry and settle down. G-1 was not about to lose the fight for Deepti due to something as silly as his work schedule. It was my responsibility, then, to find Deepti, profess all of G-1's burning feelings for her, and return to Anjuna with mighty prize of her personal digits. My armor? Her name and the approximate location of her university. Period.
I accepted the challenge for two reasons: 1) my undying faith in true love, and 2) I was going to pass through Hubli anyway- how difficult could it be to find this girl in such a small town?
What I came to find out is that 1) Hubli is the second largest commercial center in the state of Karnataka, 2) the university isn't actually IN Hubli itself- it's about half an hour outside of the city, on the side of the highway, 3) the university is extremely large, and divided into two campuses that are impossible to bridge without the aid of the university bus, and 4) Deepti Rao had graduated about 5 months prior to my arrival in India. I was not pleased. Moreover, I arrived in Hubli in the middle of the night, and there was nowhere within my budget range to stay anywhere close to the campus. Thankfully, the manager at the Travel Inn was a freaking saint, and not only called every connection he had at the university in the attempt to find this girl, but managed to secure me cheap accommodation only a short bus ride away, as well as introduce me to a med student named John, who proved to be an invaluable guide to me for the rest of my stay in that horrible town. There was also beef jerky and salted plums involved... but I won't get into all that.
My initial anger at having been dragged out to the middle of nowhere for no reason at all immediately vanished at seeing G-1's crestfallen face when I told him that she was gone. It then resurfaced when he asked me to go back to pester her classmates for her personal cell number. I declined.
Anyway, I was back in Anjuna by the 23rd of December, just before Christmas. If any place in India could be what El Tunco, Maderas, Nazret, or Copán was to me... then Anjuna is it. Maybe Goa wasn't what it used to be, but it's still one of the best fucking places to party in the world. Best NYE I've ever had, hands down. Here's a photo from that night.
Ordinarily, I shun planning ahead- and I was having second thoughts about leaving behind the friends I had made in other parts of India to spend a fortune going to Goa to party for NYE, just to say I was there. (In the 70s and 80s, Anjuna became legendary for massive parties on the beach.. giving Goa the international reputation for being one of the best places in the world to spend NYE) I was not disappointed. When planning this trip, I only wanted a few things: A killer birthday, the pyramids of Giza, the opportunity to learn how to surf, and Goa for NYE. Thank God I never deviated from my plan.
Anyway, there was tomfoolery to be had afterwards.... Swedes are a fun lot to travel with- but I'll leave that for another post. It's on to Kerala tomorrow-- Kochi, Trivandrum, ashrams and lagoons. I'll post accordingly. In the meantime, here's a photo of Emil and Henrik in Paradise beach. The food was bad, but the tans were good.
No comments:
Post a Comment