We Have Arrived

We flew with Monarch Airlines from Gatwick and the plane was full. We had paid a little bit extra for the Economy Plus and were sat in the four seats in the middle aisle next to two brothers from Essex. They were very cross because they had asked for window seats and ended up without and as the plane was packed they cold not be moved. This resulted in a disagreement with staff and threats to leave the aircraft and delay the flight. Great ... but you know me I couldn't just sit there and so I opened the conversation with "If you sat somewhere else you wouldn't have met us - we're lovely" William looked at me owlishly through his thick glasses "Sorry?" I repeated "If you sat somewhere else you wouldn't meet me and we're lovely people" He really didn't know what to say "I'm sure you are dear, but we asked for window seats months ago and we don't want to be seated here. If I wanted to be herded I would not have paid for the upgrade" It turned out that William and his brother Brian come to Goa regularly and he used to work in the travel industry but had since retired. It would be fair to say that he was a little bit challenging but he was well meaning and kept chatting away about India and things we should see and things to look out for. The flight was an interesting mix of society and I was amazed by how heavy drinking the older people were. William and his brother Brian drank vodka as if it was going out of fashion and the elderly ladies across the aisle were drinking bottle after bottle of rose. I think that Andrew and I were the only sober people left by the time we had crossed the channel.

We didn't sleep well but the journey went reasonably quickly and we arrived in Goa in 32 degree heat. "Could you pass me out my sunglasses please Andrew?" I asked as he was kindly carrying them for me "Here they are'" he replied and when he opened the case we discovered that I had left them back at home and had in fact brought an empty sunglasses case half way around the world. What a muppet! Bet you are not surprised!

I had heard much about Indian bureaucracy and was not disappointed. We queued patiently and waited whilst the police officer checked our passports, input our details on the computer, checked our details against our visa, checked the visa against our passport without saying a word. Surprisingly our luggage arrived on the belt before us and we were met at the door by our driver and a myriad of people wanting to carry my bags to the car for me ... for a price of course.

The drive to the centre was scary, they drive so close to each other with no giving way and much beeping. The scooters slip between the cars, carrying mother, father and children standing between the handlebars. I can now see why they beep all the time as it is the only way to let others know you are intending to squeeze through the impossible gap.

We arrived at the centre and it was just as I imagined it. A beautiful retreat in which to remove yourself from the world and enjoy yoga and immerse yourself in the environment. Our room is basic but clean and we were so exhausted that we had a quick shower and a couple of hours sleep before the introductions into the course. There are 9 students from all over the world but most are from the UK. We had a lovely meal for dinner with spinach soup, a vegetable Dahl curry and an apple oatcake pudding. It was really tasty and I have every confidence that we will keep clear from a dodgy tummy.

An early night was then order of the day and we struggled to sleep and unfortunately only slept a couple of hours before we were back in UK time and wide awake. It was going to be a long night, even though we were to start out first practise at 6am. So for the rest of the night we clock watched until about 4.30am when we dropped off, only to be rudely awoken 15 minutes later by a loud crunching and crashing sound as the over-worked air conditioning unit started to complain. Eventually we managed to switch it off at the mains but it was too late we were now awake and bleary eyed we entered the yoga studio in time for a two hour Ashtanga Primary Series session. Boy it was tough and by the end the whole group was collectively groaning as Sonya told us to vinyasa up and down between asanas. This was followed by an hour's breathing and meditation session before breakfast. The food has been surprisingly good. We are on a 75% raw living food and their French Chef is very inventive. It was then back into class for a two hour anatomy session with a fabulous guy who is a medical Dr as well as a yogi and it was a hands on session without a clip board in sight. We then had three hours off in the heat of the day and Andrew and I walked across the road to the Arabian Sea and walked along the beach - wow what a place to be.

The time passed so quickly and we were then back in the studio talking through the postures in the primary series in anticipation for our practise first thing tomorrow morning.

What can I say? This is turing out to be everything that I would want it to be. The environment is fantastic and the yoga team are first class. This is the place I need to be right now and being here with Andrew makes it even more special. 

I will update again in a couple of days and let you know how we are getting on ..... life is good