Day 26, Panjim, Goa [Saturday 29th December 2007]
Previous day: Day 25, Panjim, Goa [Friday 28th December 2007]
Next day: Day 27, Bangalore [Sunday 30th December 2007]
We have to check out by 9am so it's an early start. We wander through the busy flower, fruit and veg markets - Kate can't go in the fish market as it makes her heave.
We locate yet another Fabindia shop, then continue on to Miramar beach, where we take a walk and marvel at the team of 4 women sweeping the sand! While we sit on a bench I get approached by a man with a videocamera who requests an interview. He's looking for tourists' opinions on the anti-tourist rhetoric and planned agitations coming from campaigners opposed to the Special Economic Zones planned for Goa. Local people and politicians had been targeting tourists over the Christmas period to try and leverage opposition to the SEZs. Thankfully the protests have been postponed until the new year. The man says the interview will be in TimesNow later today.
We score some more illegal antibiotics from our friendly pharmacists, so now we're prepared for any future digestive episodes. We buy some snacks for the bus journey to Bangalore tonight - mung dal, cashews and fruitcake.
Our bus arrives late. It's cramped and tatty, the lights don't work and the AC smells of diesel. You can buy a sleeper ticket, which is a small compartment just less than the length of a human being, which you can lay down in. But it's for two, so you might end up spooning with a stranger. We've got seats. It's 10pm and there's 10 hours of driving to go.
Next day: Day 27, Bangalore [Sunday 30th December 2007]
Previous day: Day 25, Panjim, Goa [Friday 28th December 2007]