I found my way to the beach on my rented scooter. It is a heap but works fine. It has lights, turn signals, electric start, a goofy helmet and a “dipper”. Stay tuned if you can’t guess what that is.
I am rusty driving a motorcycle and never have driven a scooter or on the left side of the road till now. I didn’t die or mostly even almost die. I found parking at the north end of Anjuna beach.
I walked down a market row to the north, shopping for “slippers” aka sandals. Many were used but I got a pair with foam soles and leatherish straps for 500. They are marked 399. Whatever. I talked her down from 850.
Then I walked most of the way down the beach. Not overly crowded here but still plenty of people. I intended to walk all the way to the south but I spotted a place called Tantra with three tiers of padded hangout space. It amounts to a lot of shade and a great breeze. Plus spotty Wi-Fi and beer/food delivery. The Wi-Fi password is godisgreat
Milton told me the local specialty is fish curry rice so that is what I am having for 230 with an 80 rs kingfisher beer and 100rs naan. It is all good and not too spicy. There are some expats here with accents of various kinds but also lots of locals.
I sat in my treehouse all day, then walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. I took some pictures of fishermen silhouetted agaist the setting sun, then a cricket skirmish, then lots of ancient lava and the life within.
I saw a goby in a tidal pool! He shared his house with a spotted crab about the size of my palm. The goby eventually came over to say hi. I was surprised he could move from one little one-foot pool to pool to pool, but the rock was very porous and he seemed to know his way around. There were several neat macroalgae and some hermit crabs. As I made my way back to shore I found a sea cucumber and poked it to be sure I was right. If my index finger falls off, remind me of this so I don’t keep the doctor guessing.
I saw the sun dip into the ocean, but then I hurried back over the jagged rocks. My new “slippers” are much safer when dry and I had already bashed my toe and knee into the ancient lava and encapsulated metamorphic rock. I didn’t need to try it in the dark too.
I also wanted to get moving.
It took many tries to get the scooter started. I wanted to get it back to the room before it got totally dark, but I went the long way (same as the way in) by accident. I got moved to a better room, but the Wi-Fi is worse. So, not really better. I may ask to change back tomorrow.
I am resting now from the stressful ride and will probably rinse off and go for dinner.
Almost all the photos are on my real camera and I don’t have any way to get them off the sd card till Bangalore.
I totally forgot to even test the dipper, which is a switch to turn the headlight beam high or low.