Manchester United v Arsenal - India style

So Ally and I made it to Anjuna and what a lovely place it is. Takes us back to our days in Palolem...though they were only a few days ago. We love a quiet beach town, and despite the boom of tourism here, it is just that...a sleepy beach town. At least it is now during monsoon season. We found the best hostel yet since travelling in that we get a fan, personal toilet facility, television with multiple English channels, towels, a refrigerator and a porch area all for 200 rupees (about 1 pound 44 pence per person). Not only do we get all of these spectacular amenities and plush features, but this place (called Paradise) is set within what appears to be a petting zoo. Well, it is just the owners actual home, but there are chickens, dog, cats, ducks and all sorts running around over here and we get to pet and play with them all the time. The chicken coop is literally nest to our porch area and those buggers can be quite noisy at 2am, but this is by far the most unique and fully loaded accommodation thus far...and there has only been one 5 hour blackout so far. What a place. We woke this morning and rented a scooter for the nest 5 days so that we could get around exploring all the beaches, just like Sue and John do by foot when they come to Goa, and we needed a scooter to get to the International Animal Rescue (IAR) facility to volunteer. We eventually made it to IAR and could not believe how organized and well run it is. Again, an English couple came to Goa on holiday and could not stand the way the animals were treated here so they set up this magnificent rescue facility and they link in with vet schools in the UK and USA and students can go there to do placements and volunteers can come in the morning hours to walk all of the dogs and play with the puppies. Unlike GAWT, this place is serious about volunteering and you have to prove you have had your rabies injections and sign in and out every time you come to work with the animals. At GAWT, we would just rock up any time with all sorts of unhealthy treats and snacks and let all the animals out of their cages (dogs, cats, calves) to play around in one large group...it was chaos, but such fun! This is like the business side of volunteering, but we did meet some interesting characters in the kennels...lots of dogs with random puncture wounds from fighting and multiple dogs that were too afraid to come out of their cages and cowered every time we came near them. What happened to those poor animals? After a morning of walking dogs up and down the red pebble pathway, we scootered around all the surrounding areas (Calangute, Dando, Baga) and also explored the Anjuna and Vagator areas as well. Calangute is a very bustling tourist trap with rows and rows of shops and "tattoo" parlours and the beach has been built up with bars, restaurants and more shops. The highlight to this evening was coming across an actual local football match, which Matt (Al's brother) would have loved to watch with Fin. This was not like your typical Premier League football match...this was Indian style with dogs and cows roaming the pitch and men on scooters driving from one side to the other with all the fans sitting along side the field on scooters or in the derelict building on the right side of the field behind the goal in plastic chairs. They looked so funny stretching out their legs before the game and the referrers were in such tip top shape...with their beer guts and swollen faces bobbing around from side to side...they looked so out of breath and I just felt sorry for them really. We had the most delicious veggie dinner at a gorgeous little place recommended by Lonely Planet, but we did not know it at the time. Dinner does not begin until 7pm and that is too late for Al and I so we end up eating smaller snack-like food that actually fills us up like full meals for a fraction of the cost. We eat Cheese Masala Dosa and Poori (potato) and Chana (chick pea) Masala...both so delicious we could not pick which one is best, but the Dosa is strictly Southern Indian cuisine and it is a big thin pancake folded into a large triangle shape and baked with a mixture of potatoes, cheese and some crazy Indian spices and it comes with the tastiest sauce that includes spices, tomatoes and onions and the marriage of the dosa with the special sauce is like magic in our mouths...then we wash this meal down with a cold, sweet mango lassi to help with digestion. Now we are off to the White Negro bar for a drink...yes we gasped too, but this is the name of the bar and we have the pictures to prove it. The sign has a picture of a face that is half white half black...it is so disturbing that we must go see it for ourselves. We met a black guy from America travelling here and we are going to bring him there with us to get his thoughts and feelings about the White Negro bar. You think we might get into a discussion about equal rights and Martin Luther King Jr...G-d I hope so! And, without jinxing ourselves, it has not rained in over 2 hours. Pray for us all here in India...pray for us all!