Author Archives: Luana

The Sand Gremlin

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This was the nickname given to me by several others. This started on a particular night which I will never forget. It was the first Friday night and therefore Hippies night to shine. This was a bar, which along with all the other bars, was situated just above the beach. Sand filled the whole vicinity and stairs lead to the upstairs wooden seated area with great views of the sea. Feeling safe and secure around all of the Westerners, I felt that it was my turn to be acting my age and relaxing rather Read more [...]

Realisation

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Tonight I have reached a realisation. An obvious realisation. The realisation that I don’t need a man to hold me at night. That I don’t need a man to hold my hand as I walk down the street. That I don’t need a man’s approval of who I am or how I look.

I’m me. Independent me. Not dependent on men, me.

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Where ya Goan?

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As previously stated, Goa was not on my list of places. If anything, it was on my list of places to not visit. But bored of the haggling and stress, here I find myself in Goa in search of Westerners, peace and relaxation on a beautiful beach. Okay, so I found all of what I was searching for and so much more. I was unaware that Goa was just a location for drunken foreigners to take as many drugs as possible and to have sex with anyone in their grasp. I wasn’t completely oblivious to this but Read more [...]

Bus to Goa

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Throughout the journey I would wake up with the Indian man next to me stroking my arm, holding my leg or with his arm fully around me. Numerous times I would get up in pure rage from being touched and have to flick or physically chuck his limbs back in his direction and say harshly ‘Don’t touch me. You don’t need to touch me. Keep to your side. Why do you have to get so close?!’ To which I would always get the response of ‘Oh sorry, sleeping’ as if each occurrence was an accident. Read more [...]

Quick, find the bus.

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From Mumbai I had booked a bus to Goa. This bus was supposedly to leave at 5:30pm and arrive at 9:30am, according to my printed ticket. Being the sensible traveller, I arrive a good 30 minutes early to make sure that I can calmly find my bus without the panic, running and stress. A random man then approaches me, looks at my ticket and write down a number plate on the top right corner on my printed paper. He then points me in the direction of a bus with the same operator name as mine and I waddle Read more [...]

The Bucket Shave

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This might sound absolutely absurd but another girl, Alex and I realised that in our horrible dorm of Mumbai, the beauty of ‘the bucket shave’. This consists of: 1) Filling up a large bucket with water 2) Carrying it to the side of a bed (which doesn’t belong to you) 3) Placing your disgustingly hairy traveller legs inside the bucket 4) Layering them in shaving gel (or shampoo for us poor travellers) 5) Now sit on that bed and endure the most amazing shaving experience of your Read more [...]

“Slut-Dancing-Money”

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A group of us (4 English, 2 French, 2 Americans) wanted a night of drinks and fun in Mumbai, which seemed to be a lot trickier than one would have thought. We arrived in one bar which I wouldn’t even know how to start explaining. Though I shall try. There were three women dressed in full sari’s who would stand there as one would sing. Then a group of Indian men would get passed a bunch of 10 Rupee notes by the bar manager to throw at the women. As soon as money was flung towards them, all Read more [...]

Slum Fun

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An American, a German, and English and I all decided to get a train to where the slums of Mumbai are located. As we walk in all eyes are on us. The four white females walking into what feels like a whole different place to the Mumbai we had known from the days previous. And it was. The poverty was higher, the dirt was more extreme but the thing I loved about it was that the smiles were genuine. These people were happy. So happy. Yes, there was the odd person who would ask for money like the rest Read more [...]

Lights, camera, action.

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Being in Mumbai, I was told that it was common for you to be stopped in the streets and asked to be an extra in the back of a Bollywood film. This sounded like an amazing yet bizarre experience to be involved in. Of course I thought it was too good to be true, until I was approached myself. It was to be a full days work (leaving at 8am and returning at 10pm at the latest), I was also to receive breakfast, lunch and dinner, as much chai as I would require AND I was to be getting paid 5,000 Rupees Read more [...]

No bed sheets = Bed bugs

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When you are paying for a bed….who doesn’t give sheets? It’s illogical and highly unhygienic. Add that to the breakfast we all received which was 3 bits of bread (not toast), a small ration of butter and florescent jam and a boiled egg (if you were lucky!) Then there was the issue of bugs and cockroaches. This to me is not normally an issue. Some places you go, bugs are inevitable and that’s fine. But the reason that this place was packed full of them was because no one cleaned any of the Read more [...]