Our incredible road trip to Goa, India

Good travel stories often start with a special meeting somewhere in this world...

For me, one of these amazing meetings took place in 2013 in the tiny town of Wrexham, Wales. I met this performance car technology student named Lennox. We were sharing the same house with three other British students. And after a year spent in the UK he told me :

Come to India !

I always had that dream to visit India. The culture is so different from Europe. I was very curious to discover it with my own eyes. This vast country is contrasted and attractive at the same time. I read different inspiring books such as Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts, and also The true love story of the Indian who rode a bicycle all the way to Sweden by Per J Andersson. It gave me an insight of what the country could offer... Also, one of the several appealing things : I knew that food was excellent. Before doing this trip I knew I would be delighted by the great spicy food... I was more than delighted at the end of the day !

So, two years after I left Wrexham, in may 2016, I arrived in Lennox's city Bangalore, South India. This dream became real. But I didn't expect I would do one unique crazy trip by ... motorcycle ! Let me tell you the first part of my trip in India.

Saturday 14th may 2016

I wrote in my diary before the trip starts :

This is not an ordinary holiday at all, it will be such an adventure. I expect to be surprised every time.

In the plane I read Explore the world with Jet airways and it was very inspiring :

Goa is a state of mind as much as it is a state of India. It is the birthplace of Susegad, a philosophy that suggests life is best enjoyed laid back in a shady hammock. It is a philosophy you feel in your bones, as soon as you listen to the warble of the sea, hear the good-natured laughter of the Goans and feel the wind in your cheeks. Goa is the unexplainable magnet that pull people from all over the world to its shores. If you visit Goa, you can be sure you will come back again, again and again. 

But I experienced something far more ... adventurous and exciting. Nothing compared to what it was written in this magazine page basically! 

We created our own story, a unique trip based on our wishes and our dreams. I was the only girl riding with four boys on four motorbikes. Plus, I happened to live my holidays with Indian dudes only. I was so lucky and privileged. So I tried to eat like them (the spoon was tempting though!), understand their jokes, their crazy biker lifestyle, enjoy every single seconds in this paradise with them.

First time : this feeling to discover everything like a baby

I landed in Bangalore. When Lennox picked me up at the airport, I was so chocked by the traffic. Cars, lorries, bikes, rickshaws were so closed to each other while traveling on ! I had no clue of what could happen to me next...

We had a nice ice cream with fresh fruits (Apricot & litchis). It was so tasty. Every bite was like I've never tasted before, it was crazy. Perhaps it was because I was too excited to be finally there in this country with my friend. 

Sunday 15th may 2016

FIRST TIME IN INDIA, FIRST TIME ON A BIKE

Are you ready Licia ?

Off to Western Ghats!

We left the house at 4.30 AM. We took the bike, jacket, helmet, gloves and everything to ride safe. 

Everything was so different... Indian roads. What can I say ? Well, I was scared during the first hour. I have always been this kind of girl who is scared of the traffic, not so much of the speed, I like it, but more of the way people drive, honk loudly and repeatedly, animals arriving suddenly on our way. The bikers were very professional and conscious though, Lennox told me : 

I would never put you in danger, don't worry, you're safe.

We had many stops to rest, drink and eat, but also to admire wild nature and animals around us.

It was a very long trip but it was worth it.

Lennox didn't tell me everything. I learned things as we went along. Surprises were unveiled every single minute during the whole trip ! I didn't know that other people would join us on the trip. It was a very good thing actually. These guys were full of fun.

Tim had a problem with his bike so we stopped a couple of hours. I had a nap in a restaurant ! They made fun of me, taking photos... Of course you won't see this masterpiece here ;)

We arrived late at night in Namaste Café. Hopefully there was enough rooms for us. We were so relieved to arrive in this place. We had dinner, a tasty butter chicken with naans and then we enjoyed our first night away from Bangalore.

Monday 16th may 2016

We were still in Karnataka and we enjoyed in early morning Om beach in Gokarna. This first beach we reached was amazing, but it was just the beginning. The weather was quite hot for me, but moderate for the Indian guys. The sea was so hot ! I am not used to this ! It was delightful.

We left Namaste Café to go to Goa. Again we had many stops including a warship boat museum.

At around 3PM we reached Palolem beach, in South Goa. We were intensely happy ! One of the specialities of Goa is these childhood memories for the guys :

We enjoyed some great time at the beach, we had great dips in the salty sea, and at night we had a delicious fish Thali at a restaurant called Mollu's classic. We watched Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. Abi said :

By far the BEST restaurant we stopped for today!! Watching rcb vs kkr on a projector and belting some awesome sea food 

Tuesday 17th may

We woke up at 4:30 AM and went to Darrell's house. His auntie was here and we had a great coffee there. For breakfast, we had fresh baked bread by an amazing landscape. We did some more kilometers to reach a beautiful church and then we went to a temple in a wild area. We even went to a unique place, Borim bridge, where we got busted by the cops for trespassing that broken bridge. Don't worry about it, everything went alright. We wanted the perfect pictures. 

 On the road I COULD FEEL...

Wednesday 18th may

We stopped at the capital, Panaji for some lunch. Abi wrote :

Highly recommend people who visit Panaji to try food at Ritz Classic!
It's a lil crowded and gotta wait for tables, but the sea food here is just amazing!!

Again we had awesome sea food in this nice restaurant. Dudes made fun of me telling me I had to drink that bowl full of hot water and lime ;) Basically it was offered to wash your hands.

We went to Old Goa and visited churches and an archeological museum. The entrance was free this day since it happened to be the annual museum day.

Then we took the ferry with the bikes to go to a special place.

 The landscape was wondrous. We took so many funny pictures like this one below. 

The portuguese church was beautiful.

The guys wanted to picture this scene : I don't have words, it was too funny !

They never stop !

These first four days were incredibly exciting and intense... I saw so many things in a short time. I felt very sleepy most of the journey, but the guys are kind of superheroes, they were always lively and forceful. 

Always being on the road let you discover new places and people, different kind of food as well. That's exceptional, and tiring, of course.

The weather was extremely hot. We were sweating and needed water every single minute. The best thing in India to refresh yourself is Slice or Maaza. It is mango juice. We can find it everywhere on the road and in the restaurants.

Thursday 19th may

We were at Palolem Beach. We got lost. Lennox was riding too fast. We arrived at Morgan beach resort but is was quite expensive. Then we finally reached at Tahira beach resort at Ashvem, North Goa. It was very late. The moon was awesome.

One of the most magical moments in our lives

Watching the moon directly above while lying down alone on the private beach along with my Indian friends. This is pictured in my mind and the memory won't fade I guess...

Friday 20th may

Life is limitless !

We get up very late and we took time to have some time at the beach. We went to a market and guys were so good at bargaining, especially Lennox. He would explain better the story. It was so funny. I wanted jewels, I got jewels ! 

We also had coconut juice in the street. We drank the juice and then it was cut and we could eat it. Yummy !

Saturday 21st may 2016

I learned the news at around 2 AM that I passed my exams ! So we celebrated it at Tahira beach resort, Ashvim beach. It was such an unforgettable moment.

Then, after some rest, time for some brunch at Arambol beach at 2 PM.

Then we took a ferry to go to incredible and peaceful places. We were alone there... We stayed at the beach to admire the sunset. It was too funny to see the boys making so much effort to place their bikes at the beach and take "sexy pictures" of the whole : landscape, and motorcycle.

For our last night in Goa, we had a cake on the beach, to celebrate Tim's sister's birthday. We were listening to this catchy song, Cake by the ocean (DNCE). It was so much fun.

Sunday 22nd may

Lush life

I live my day as if it was the last
Live my day as if there was no past
Doin' it all night, all summer
Doin' it the way I wanna

We woke up at 4 AM. We had packed everything the night before. We joined Darrell and it was time to leave this paradise and go back to Bangalore. We were all very tired of this trip. Abi got sick. But we had enough energy to ride hopefully.

Almost there, almost there !

Dudes were very organized during this trip. Everything went so well. Itinerary, food, fuel, water and FUN.

This experience was definitely one of the best of my life. We did 1900 km by motorcycle in a week. Does it sound crazy ? It is just amazing, stunning, wondrous, striking, formidable, brilliant, magnificent... Words in English are not enough to describe how I feel. This was just the first part of my entire trip in India. Part two is Delhi and Agra. (Read my second Shorthand Social)

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone I met on this trip, and particularly Lennox, Abi, Tim, Darrell, also Pratheek, one of Lennox's friend. And of course Jordanna, Lennox's best friend who kindly hosted me in Bangalore, before and after the trip. 

You guys were my bros during this trip. You always made me feel just like family. Thanks for the great time… and the great memories. I felt like a total VIP in Goa with you guys. I loved every minute of my stay. You really know how to make good times happen. Thank you for letting me be part of it. Thank you for this incredible week filled with laughter and good conversation. Thanks for everything ! I felt like a princess because everything was just perfect. I hope to see you soon, anywhere. You are welcome in France of course.