Goa baby!!

When I visited Christel House I met Barbara, one of the other volunteers there, we got talking and within 10 mins she had invited me to go to Goa with her and her friends that weekend! I had to pack my bags and get ready to leave for 8pm that night, it was already 2pm and my lift home got me there for 6pm. I rushed about like a headless chicken packing, going out for supper and then catching an autorickshaw to the other side of town.
I had been told we were going in a taxi, umm quite a long way but it doesnt look that far on the map - oh wait that's a zoomed out map...What was suppose to be 12hours by taxi was actually 18hours!! ouch!! Not only that but we didn't go on a single road that resembled a motorway and quite a few that didn't even resemble roads! I felt so sorry for the driver who drove straight through the night. Out taxi would have held 6 people including the driver in comfort, we had 9 people plus luggage - tight squeeze doessn't even come close to describing it! We had 3 people in each row, including front row which was the worst place to sit by far. We played musical chairs at every stop, to make it fair on the people in the front. The person in the middle at the front didn't even have room to sit straight, they had to have one leg up on the dash board and even then the gear stick vibrated against your arse! But even though the most uncomfortable moments of my life were in that car it didn't feel like 18hours.
The group I went with were fantastic, they're all here with Gap Guru (a student travel company, who charge for finding you accomodation and volunteer placements or adventure trips, but you still have to pay for them! they literally just find it for you and act as a safety net for you, and they give you a T-shirt!). I've met most of them but I think there are still a few people I haven't met who didn't go to Goa. They're mostly UK and US gappers, really friendly and open.
We spent the whole weekend on the beach, gorgoues sand, palm trees, not a cloud in the sky, warm sea....ah beautiful! Because it's not really Indian tourist season yet, the beaches weren't overly packed. There were cute little huts with restaurants or cafes all along the beach with sun loungers in front for customers use. All selling Kingfishers, India main beer (and cheapest drink you can buy in any club! ie my drink)
I may have spent quite a bit of money....we went to a market and there were these gorgeous embroidered rugs/wallhangings and I could only think uni accomodation and bought two. They each took about a month to hand-embroider with beads, sequins and thread.
The best night was when we went for pizza at a local restaurant (only customers!) and then went to the beach. We made a campfire on the rocks by the sea and sang songs around it! Our Lion King renditions were a joy to the ears - particulary since one of the girls has been accepted to Cambridge with a coral scholarship and did loads of harmonizing! Palm leaves burn well.
A good weekend!