My vote goes toooooo Vagator

I think I understand now why Indians have chosen cow as their holy animal... After having taken my tenth short bus ride in this country, yep, I can say I can see why the Indians chose cow, the most, maybe, passive animal on the face of earth... The same look I see on cows' eyes, that... passive, non-moaning, non-getting angry look, the very same look I see on Indians' eyes on buses, on extra-extra-extra crowded buses, in which even the last millimetre of empty(?) space is taken advantage of the ticket guys to staff more people on board... I'm telling you, the bus may be F U L L, it may be damn hot, the driver may be doing some stupid things with the brake (stepping on it the moment someone least expects it), bodies may be falling on each other, standing people may be falling on the laps of those sitting, and still, no one moans, no one says "that's enough, there is no space for more people, hey, driver, you are carrying people and not potatoes". The only somewhat annoyed looks I have seen, came from girls, when "accidentally" a guy would push his body on the girl's... That's all... They just... persevere (is this the right word?), they just accept it, saying nothing, not moaning, not making a single move to show that they are in a uncomfortable position... By the way, I am not, really, I'm not, moaning about the conditions of the bus travel in India, because, if you think about it, it is MY choice to take a 5 rupees crowded bus instead of a 100 rupees auto rickshaw or 200 rupees taxi, so, if you think about it, I really have no right to complain. But on the other hand, I am not obliged to accept the travel conditions without saying something about it... I'm telling you, cows would NEVER make it to be considered holy in Greece...Talking about Greece, we have a saying which in English can be translated in something like... "something good comes from every obstacle" (prospatho na metafraso to "kathe ebodio gia kalo"). This morning I woke up having in mind going to some beaches again, but after yesterday's experience on the buses I just... didn't get thrilled at the idea of spending more time on buses. Taxi drivers asked me for crazy money to take me to Vagator and Chapora, the beaches I wanted to see today, so I decided to rent a bicycle and ride to Old Goa instead, take it easy, spend the day not in some beaches, but riding a bicycle in rather non busy roads around Panjim, the town I am based at. Hm... The only bicycle I found available was one that no matter how hard I tried to get a hold of, I failed, failed big, so I forgot the whole idea, and went back to my original beaches plan. Goooooooood thing, because the day proved to be aaaaamazing. OK, the buses were a pain, again, but Vagator, my dear readers, won my heart. It's actually 2-3 separate beaches, not one long stretch on sand, which I prefer, because the rocky heads on both sides make a beach feel more... homey, if you ask me. Unlike Calangute and the rest of the beaches I saw yesterday, today's beaches had hardly any shacks (something like beach bar/restaurants) and faaaaaaaaar less touts. Instead, they were FULL of locals, 90%, and very few foreigners, which I liked. Kids were playing cricket, cows were strolling (really :-))), families were pick-nicking, young boys and gals were playing with their eyes, and generally it felt... warm, sweet, intimate... The northern beach was almost exclusively occupied by locals, a colourful team of people having fun on the sand and in the sea... More cows strolling, more cricket players, more young boys and girls sitting at some distance, giggling with each other... Nice... Nice-nice... The beer was nice too :-), my masala omelet was great, my Limca (local lemonade) was cool, the prices were great (better than in Calangute and Baga), and to be honest I caught myself thinking that... well, I could, maybe, one day, come to India just to spend two summerish weeks in December... The beaches are SO many that everyone can find the "right" one for him... After Vagator I walked to nearby Chapora, which itself doesn't have a decent beach, BUT, it's in walking distance from Vagator, the party scene of Goa, AND, I saw some really great rooms for only 100 rupees, yep, just two dollars, even though this is high-high season. I asked out of curiosity, just to have an idea how much rooms cost here, in high season, and once again I was left speechless realizing how dirt cheap everything is... Tomorrow morning I am starting early to go see Anjuna's beach as well, and around 10am I want to be at the flea market, which is weekly, every Wednesday, and a visit there is supposed to be one of Goa's musts. Since this will be my last day in Goa, I will, finally, do some souvenir shopping, given that I will be at the... very centre of souvenir buying spot of Goa. Later in the afternoon I am taking the train to Mumbai, where I will arrive early in the morning, the day after tomorrow. The days passed, I am very close to reaching the place where everything started, and I have a feeling of... satisfaction, I'd say, looking back at this trip, at how it went these 19 days. Satisfaction, because I really feel that it was/is a really remarkable trip, one that... may sound "heavy", but it's true, taught me things, made me a little better person, and a much-much better traveller. The trip is anything but over, though, so now is not the time to say in details why I consider this trip a big success. Right now all I'm telling you is that writing this post got me even more hungry, my favourite restaurant at Panjim, "Udupi", is waiting for me, my 35 rupees thali is waiting for me, and after that, my Cafe Coffee Day (Indian chain) coffee, "Cold Sparkle", a coconut flavoured coffee, is waiting for me, as the view from my hotel's veranda, from where I will slowly sip my coffee (and maybe another Kingfisher beer, to which I seem to have gotten addicted :-)). That's it for today, boys and girls... Talk to you from Mumbai in a couple of days, if everything goes according to plan.