{"id":2231,"date":"2010-03-26T05:41:05","date_gmt":"2010-03-26T10:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=2231"},"modified":"2010-03-26T07:16:06","modified_gmt":"2010-03-26T12:16:06","slug":"go-air-to-goa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/?p=2231","title":{"rendered":"Go Air to Goa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Our flight to Goa was not until 3:00 pm, so we were able to indulge once  again in the comfort of Win&#8217;s apartment, rising late in the day to be  greeted by Win&#8217;s staff who were quite eager to make us a traditional  Indian breakfast, followed by a few cups of that, now oh so familiar, sweet  milky Indian coffee. Win had arrived home very late the night before,  and though we had done our best to communicate to the servants that it  would be okay for them to go home, the entire staff had stayed the night,  setting up beds on the kitchen and living room floors. At one point I  found myself apologizing profusely when in the middle of the night I had  tripped over one of them on the way to find my cell phone charger.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">We  resisted departure as long as we could, feasting on the abundance of Internet, filtered drinking water, and cups of coffee which Win&#8217;s staff  so generously gave to us.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245361.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2294\" title=\"Coffee\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245361.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245361.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245361-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">When the time came, we hauled the bikes  downstairs to the courtyard, where we began to pack them up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><iframe class=\"aw-video\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Travel video\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/LhAMhv2LHqs\" allow=\"fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">We could  not do this, however, until one of the security guards finished taking a  ride around the building on the Speed TR. This he did with much gusto  and a huge grin, taking quite a few victory laps on Scott&#8217;s bike, while I  headed out along frontage road looking for a cab.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5371.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2291\" title=\"Packing up Cycle\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5371.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5371.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5371-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245362.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2295\" style=\"margin-left:10px;margin-right:10px\" title=\"How to Talk to Anyone\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245362-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245362-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2245362.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>When I finally  made it to the intersection, I found myself confronted with a fuming,  deafening gridlock of black and yellow cabs, all honking and screaming at  each other. Most of these had fares and were too locked into the mayhem  for me to attempt to make contact and initiate bargaining. On the other  side of the raging gridlock, I found a number of cabs that all seemed  to be lorded over by a central character, a large fellow in the flowing  white gown and cap which advertised his religion. He had a number of  cabs and rickshaws. The cabs all seemed unable to go to the airport, and  a rickshaw was too small to fit ourselves and our luggage. For one  reason or another each cab driver I spoke to seemed unwilling to go to  the airport. Finally I was able to find a driver in one of the small van  taxis they call &#8220;Omnis&#8221; who seemed interested in driving us to the  airport, and though I was making good progress in nonverbal  communication with him, the white gowned fellow came over and began to  play translator, taking the opportunity to work out some sort of profit-sharing deal with the driver. Soon we had agreed on a price, and our  man was jamming the Omni into gear, suspension lurching and belts  squealing forward into the steaming gridlock that separated us from  Scott and the bikes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Some 10 minutes of horn honking and traffic  jam aggravating later, I pulled up to find Scott smiling at me from  behind his sunglasses. All our bags were packed up and piled neatly in a  corner. The staff had lined up to shake our hands, as the security  guard who had ridden the bike started to give us the hard sell on why we  should just leave the Speed TRs with him, since we were, after all,  going back to America, where folding bicycles grow on trees.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Wrong  on both accounts, we assured him. And with a tip of the Panama hats, we  were back on the road. The van had no third gear, so the ride to the  airport was very loud. But soon enough we made it. Negotiation of the  domestic part of the Mumbai airport proved quite simple. It had been  remodeled since we visited it during the pilot study, and it now gleamed  with all the new wealth of India.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5379.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2292\" title=\"Checking in at Goair\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5379.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5379.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5379-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">I went off in search of some  Vadas to snack on while Scott waited in a vast and snaking line to take  advantage of our free coffee coupons (Thanks Go Air). I was just returning  when I heard Scott scream out in pain, &#8220;Aye! Aye! Aye!&#8221; It seems that  just after his long wait was finally over, he was proudly returning with  the scalding load when a small portly woman, in an attempt to traverse  the massive the line, ducked and wove behind him, scuttling through  Scott&#8217;s legs and popping up at precisely the right moment to spill  boiling hot boiling milky brew all over the two of them. I hustled to  grab napkins and Scott and the woman began a fierce bout of apologies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Later  on, Scott was running his arm under cool water. &#8220;We just can&#8217;t seem to  execute a domestic Indian flight without some mishap,&#8221; he observed.  Would it really be India if we could?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5385.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2293\" title=\"Boarding Goair Flight\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5385.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5385.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_5385-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Onboard Go Air&#8217;s flight  from Mumbai to Goa, we found some subtle increases in the pricing of  on-board snacks compared to the Bangalore-to-Mumbai leg, but for the  most part were once again quite impressed with the airline. We also had the  great pleasure of sitting next to a beautiful young architect from Goa  by the name of Anna, who was happy to sit in as a surrogate member of  the AsiaWheeling advisory board for the flight, explaining to us that  travel back to Bangalore would be much easier by bus, and showing us on a  map how we could take a cab to another city in the nearby province of  Karnataka, and catch a bus from there to Bangalore.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Very much in  Anna&#8217;s debt, we exited the airplane into the fresh air of Goa, which we  savored for only a second before being herded into a bus and  transported to the airport&#8217;s interior. Goa is certainly a tourist  destination. The airport was like a less organized, less expensive  version of the one in Bali, with many tropical potted plants, beach  imagery, and figurines depicting men carrying loads of coconuts and  scantily clad women whipping their shawls around in the sea air. We  couldn&#8217;t wait to do the same, so we quickly piled into a taxi and headed  south toward our hotel, a place that had come highly recommended by  our friends in Mumbai, by the name of Cozy Nook.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><iframe class=\"aw-video\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Travel video\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/EvME6Cumbxw\" allow=\"fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">It was in a  place called Palolem Beach, in the south of Goa. And when our driver  finally got there, we were not only quite hungry but surprised to find  that our hotel was only reachable by walking down the beach. Rather than  deal with that on the cycles, we locked them to a pole with a  large &#8220;no parking sign,&#8221; which was being widely ignored by the locals,  and headed down the beach.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2297\" title=\"Men inspecting bicycles\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265379.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265379.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265379-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">It was a bit of a trek, and gave us the  chance to take in the world around us. It was a nice white sand beach,  covered completely with inns and restaurants. \u00a0Everywhere we looked there  were white people, mostly in the sort of hippy-esque Indian influenced  garb that is oh so common among those post-army-service Israelis who  seem to be spread all over India and south-east Asia, spending a little  time traveling and relaxing after what was no doubt an extremely intense  experience. These made up the majority of the vacationers, but the  group was also spiced with large numbers of older, more affluent looking  European and Australian types, bathing in the greenish brown opaque sea,  playing Frisbee on the beach, or strolling and attempting to fend off  the many begging stray dogs which scurried everywhere.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265387.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2299\" title=\"Cycles on Beach\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265387.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265387.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265387-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">We were  almost to the Cozy Nook when my stomach suddenly tensed into knots. I  had forgotten my Ukulele back where we parked the bikes! &#8220;Sorry, Scott,&#8221;  I said &#8220;You&#8217;ll need to haggle for the room and check in alone. I need  to run back and see if it&#8217;s not too late to save my baby.&#8221; So I threw  down my pack, took off the Panama hat, and began to sprint down the  beach. A couple of stray dogs joined me at first but soon lost interest.  My legs began to throb and demanded I slow down, but I refused them.  Finally panting and wheezing, I scrambled up off the beach and across  the concrete parking area, but my uke was nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">My  heart fell like a stone into a frozen abyss of defeat. How could I  have been so stupid? How was I supposed to sit by the beach here in Goa  and strum Jimmy Buffet&#8217;s Margarittaville without my trusty uke? What an  idiot I was&#8230; Ah, cruel fate.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Just then I heard a fellow call  over to me. It was our cab driver. He was sitting at a nearby Chai  stand, sipping tea and in his hands&#8230; my ukulele!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">I ran over to  him with tears in my eyes and took the instrument. I looked down at it.  Not so fast, I thought, there are still a few more places we need to go  together.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265386.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2298\" title=\"Cozy Nook\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265386.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265386.jpg 700w, https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/P2265386-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our flight to Goa was not until 3:00 pm, so we were able to indulge once again in the comfort of Win&#8217;s apartment, rising late in the day to be greeted by Win&#8217;s staff who were quite eager to make us a traditional Indian breakfast, followed by a few cups of that, now oh so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,8,3,6,23,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-travel","category-india","category-pictures","category-scott","category-transport","category-video","category-woody"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2231"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2303,"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions\/2303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}