Forgotten Tales, & Chasing a Caboose

Ok...before we get too far from this magical place there are tales to be told & experiences to be shared (before I forget!).......

Catwalk anyone?? On our last night at the Purple Valley Yoga center, we decided to celebrate with a few new friends. We loaded up a cab with 6 people, I finally got the cab drivers to break their 4 people to a cab rule, and headed to Baga Beach for drinks and dancing at Titos Bar. In we went full of excitement and joy, the restaurant was mostly populated by Indians making it feel like a truly authentic Indian experience. We were busy chatting away and celebrating when this woman's voice boomed out over the PA system something like...and now ladies and gentlemen get ready for a real Indian experience in fashion, before we knew what was happening, the lights went low and three scantilly clad women in short shorts (very short) were seated on with their backs to us and the song about big butts began to blare. It was a fashion show of sorts, if you like short shorts, bathing suit tops made of small wooden pieces, absurdly high-heeled shoes and loads of flowing see through black material. It was quite an experience!!

Scooter lessons??? Since arriving in India I have wanted to learn how to drive a scooter. We thought it would be a great way to get around on our own. Never mind that I have never driven one, that there are cows/dogs/people in the roads and that they drive on the left hand side of the road. Well our friends, Sybill and Florian (from Switzerland) rented one and he knew that I wanted to learn how to drive it, so he told me how, had me start it and then let me drive it. It was early, only a few people out and about so the only road hazard was really myself. After a precarious but graceful turn around (on a dirt road) he told me to try driving it down the road. Never one to pass up adventure or the opportunity to ride on the back of a motorized bike, Kelsey hopped on the back (without shoes) and away we went. I made it down the road just fine but when I had to turn onto a dirt road that is when the trouble started...I accidentlly drove straight towards a large cement post (by now Kelsey was off the bike), I tried to ride up onto the post, this was unsuccesful so I tried to turn the scooter sideways, and then began yelling for help. Kelsey, along with this weird "Italian" guy I met a few days earlier and a few Indian's eventually came to my rescue. The Indian's suggested turning off the bike, the "Italian" said bikes are dangerous, and Kelsey said what do you want me to do? Amazingly I only gave the scooter the smallest little scratch and walked away unharmed...it was pretty funny!!

And now....chasing a caboose. We spontanously decided to leave Arambol the day after Christmas. After two train rides, one which included us wandering up and down narrow train isles to find a place to sit, we arrived in Kulem (or Colem or Collem, we saw all 3 spellings). We got off the train here because we had read about a large animal sanctuary and waterfalls. The town of Kulem, is a sleepy little town, with very few tourists and even fewer who take the train. We got off the train, and walked about 30 feet before being engaged by the man who ran the "tea stop". He offered not only to be our cab driver but our waterfall tour guide. He told us not to pay the 1800 rupee fee for a jeep to the waterfalls, but to go with him on the train the next afternoon. He also told us not to tell anyone about it..which raised our suspicions but that would be the next day and we would worry about it then. Sanjay (that was the tea guys name) brought us to this restaurant, he talked to the owner whose home also doubles as a hotel. It was not until about 9:30pm that night that we realized staying in this guys home meant that there would be people walking through our room to their room....all night long. It was not as bad as it sounds...but it was a bit odd. We spent the next morning in the animal park, saw a bison and loads of monkeys, Kelsey was prepared for larger animals, as she carried a stick to ward them off. Then in the afternoon our adventures really started...Sanjay picked us up, we waited 45 minutes for a train (it was beyond us to figure out the train schedule) and then headed towards the falls. After about 30 minutes on the train, watching the sceenery change from the sleepy town to jungle and hills, we spooted the waterfalls...after 40 minutes the train slowed at Duhsagar falls, and Sanjay told us to jump off. Yes, he said jump off...so we did!!! Then we were walking back up the tracks towards the falls, we walked through a DARK tunnel (Sanjay said to watch for large rats!) and then we were at the falls. We giggled to each other the whole time. After a few photos and moments of thoughtfull reflection, I asked Sanjay how we were going to get back, he said on a train but there was no real train stop so I was not sure what he meant. We obediently walked back down the tracks towards a check point for the trains, according to Sanjay there was a station manager there and he would be able to tell us when the next train would be arriving. After about 35 minutes, (it was now getting dark) Sanjay told us to start running down the tracks as a FREIGHT TRAIN drove at us!!! Because we had nothing better to do and because we were up for the adventure, we followed him (I was wearing flip flops), before we knew what was happening, we were chasing a train and climbing up onto the caboose!! That was to be our ride home....sitting outside on the flat bed back of a freight train's caboose. It was magical...we could see all there stars, were able to smell some fresh air and were delighted about our unique adventure. It was a great ride back, complete with small groups of men gathered along the sides of the train tracks, cooking over open fires.

That night we collapsed in exhaustion from our busy day...we were so tired we did not even wake up when the family walked through our room. Sanjay picked us up from the restaurant/hotel then next morning (we are now entitled to a lifetime of free tea from our friend), and we took a train back to the beach town of Majorda. We spent one last night and morning by the beach before heading to the Goa airport. Yesterday we were stuck in the airport for 7 hours because there was really bad fog in Delhi! We finally arrived in Delhi at 10:30pm, and today had another wonderfully adventurous day poking around...

We leave tomorrow at 2pm.....I have so much more to write but I think I have written enough for today... Until then.................