Yes it's true: I'm strongly defending my title as the king of rashes! Nat and I had just decided that whoever is the first to get a rash loses. period. The next day I discovered that, while in bed in Mumbai, I'd made a lot of close friends! Yup! Bed-bug bites! Although technically they're bug-bites, I looked like a walking rash! Up my back, both arms, and both legs, were little bumps that grew into big bumps and itched like nobody's business! I think everyone needs an experience like that sometime! I mean, frankly, years of sleeping worry-free gets kinda old after a while!
So we've been chillin on Palolem Beach, in Goa, for about a week now, and it is glooooooorious! I know it's not hardcore travelling, and it's not really India, but it's easy to justify some solid "let's-do-absolutely-nothing" time after 5 or 6 years in (yaaaaaaaaawn) school! It's been a rad experience being here, meeting other travellers from all over the world! We've got quite a crew that we chill with! Swedish, Dutch, Israeli, Spanish, Kiwi, British! So many awesome people! The amazingly splendid beach is like a huge magnet! It's pretty hard to stay off of it! Nat's turning a nice dark brown, while I, the whitest of the whiteys, am usually glowing red! Why did I opt out of that skin-cancer vaccination?! I'm learning to take it easy though! Yesterday I gave my shoulders a break and burnt my nose, hands, and toes instead! This beast we call the sun is as unforgiving as the Indian monkeys when the bananas are gone! It sure gives some killer views from the beach as it sets though! I've been lovin the star-gazing too!
Well, on the run from Johnny-Law... ain't no trip to Cleveland! Heh, yeah we rented scooters yesterday and cruised up the state! It's a very cool way to see the countryside, although you can't stray too long from watching the road or you'll smoke a cow or another vehicle or something! Especially in the city! It's so chaotic! I only ran into one truck! Not too shabby for the odds, I'd say! Somebody warned us before we left not to stop for the cops! So we didn't! After their first attempt at a routine pullover, driving through a city, I was chased down by a cop on a bike and forced off the street! He tried to fine me 600 rupees in exchange for returning my driver's license! When I told him I had no money, the corrupt weasle asked me how much of a fine I would pay! After getting nowhere, he let me go! The cops at the next check-stop weren't so foolish, and after seeing what spectacular speed-demons we were, decided against a chase! Man, the life of a renegade is exhilirating! We've yet to see the inside of any Indian prisons, and hopefully it stays that way!
The monsoon is slowly advancing on us! We tasted it last night as we swam home on the scooters through the torrential rain! I have no idea how it will treat us in the next couple of months, but the unknown is pretty exciting!
Ok, Cheers, I'm out for now!
-S
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