Sasha:
We are in Gokarna (still) and decided to stay here for a total of 4 weeks. We'll take a bus to Bangalore on Feb 5th, try to sort out a visa then fly to Thailand on Feb 11th.
Right now I'm sitting in an internet cafe just off of the beach. This one actually has walls! Most of them are made from bamboo and dried palm fronds. We are staying up the hill from the beach in a cottage that is about $18 a night. It is a splurge compared to the beach huts which are only $3-5 a night. But we have a western toilette and our own shower. Oh, and we have a tile floor instead of sand or dirt :-)
We wake up in the morning in time to throw on some clothes, then head to the main office to use our netti pots, before doing 90 minutes of yoga and meditation. Then we wander either town to the beach, or up to the top of the hill, or over into town to get breakfast. Today's was a spinach omlette, chopped salad, and really yummy laboneh along with a masala chai. Usually at about 2 or 3 I order either a coffee or chocolate shake. At 4:30, we read on the beach, and when the sun is gentle enough, we spin poi until sunset. Then, back to a cafe for dinner. We've met kiwis, americans, brits, germans, south africans, and so many israelis. We spend the afternoons either hiking to a neighboring beach (there are 5- gokarna beach, kuddle beach where we are based, Om beach, half moon beach, and paradise beach) possibly taking a large motor boat piloted by 3 indian men back at sunset. We 3 dolphins together on our first boat here, but haven't seen any since.
Or, we whittle away the heat of the day playing cards with friends, or we hike back up to our cottage and swing in the hammock while reading a book.
All of the waiter in our usual cafes have begun to remember us and my strange food requests- substituting an omlette for bread, or adding a little bit of rice along with my veg soup. I like the regularity.
I've made an attempt to get a tan, and almost burned my arms yesterday. It is stupid vanity- making me more prone to skin damage and cancer later on, but most of the bodies here are so lithe and tan, I felt like working on it. I've never lived on the beach like this, and it seems silly to be in this kind of place, and to still be so pale. Ah, well.
Ra's birthday is on Thursday, and he says that he doesn't want anything, but I feel lame not to try to do something special for him. I'm trying to figure out how to throw him a little birthday party to mark the occasion, but the thing about hanging out with travelers is that everyone comes and goes so quickly. Not many people stay places for more than a week or ten days.
We are in Gokarna (still) and decided to stay here for a total of 4 weeks. We'll take a bus to Bangalore on Feb 5th, try to sort out a visa then fly to Thailand on Feb 11th.
Right now I'm sitting in an internet cafe just off of the beach. This one actually has walls! Most of them are made from bamboo and dried palm fronds. We are staying up the hill from the beach in a cottage that is about $18 a night. It is a splurge compared to the beach huts which are only $3-5 a night. But we have a western toilette and our own shower. Oh, and we have a tile floor instead of sand or dirt :-)
We wake up in the morning in time to throw on some clothes, then head to the main office to use our netti pots, before doing 90 minutes of yoga and meditation. Then we wander either town to the beach, or up to the top of the hill, or over into town to get breakfast. Today's was a spinach omlette, chopped salad, and really yummy laboneh along with a masala chai. Usually at about 2 or 3 I order either a coffee or chocolate shake. At 4:30, we read on the beach, and when the sun is gentle enough, we spin poi until sunset. Then, back to a cafe for dinner. We've met kiwis, americans, brits, germans, south africans, and so many israelis. We spend the afternoons either hiking to a neighboring beach (there are 5- gokarna beach, kuddle beach where we are based, Om beach, half moon beach, and paradise beach) possibly taking a large motor boat piloted by 3 indian men back at sunset. We 3 dolphins together on our first boat here, but haven't seen any since.
Or, we whittle away the heat of the day playing cards with friends, or we hike back up to our cottage and swing in the hammock while reading a book.
All of the waiter in our usual cafes have begun to remember us and my strange food requests- substituting an omlette for bread, or adding a little bit of rice along with my veg soup. I like the regularity.
I've made an attempt to get a tan, and almost burned my arms yesterday. It is stupid vanity- making me more prone to skin damage and cancer later on, but most of the bodies here are so lithe and tan, I felt like working on it. I've never lived on the beach like this, and it seems silly to be in this kind of place, and to still be so pale. Ah, well.
Ra's birthday is on Thursday, and he says that he doesn't want anything, but I feel lame not to try to do something special for him. I'm trying to figure out how to throw him a little birthday party to mark the occasion, but the thing about hanging out with travelers is that everyone comes and goes so quickly. Not many people stay places for more than a week or ten days.
