Delayed Delhi belly – doh!

I thought I had escaped 2 months in India relatively unscathed, but I returned with a gurgling belly, then spent the last 24 hours with diarrhea and some vomiting (in between fits of sleep the whole time). Welcome back!
And a big thanks to Susan for taking care of me!
I seem to mostly be over it now (on Sun)…

Update: or not! I was still very much under the weather until Tue morning, sleeping most of the day away… and even now on Wed morning, I’m not back 100%

Was sick last night…

Literally. At both ends. But better this morning (only had a bland breakfast though). Not sure what it was – everything seems suspect in restrospect! I hope Christian and/or Silje (from Norway) weren’t sick too (although that would narrow down the bad (sea)food!)

I’ve checked out now, and am sharing a 2-hour taxi to the Margao train station (Rs1000/$25) in a few hours with Max, yet another Austrian.
Actually we’re paying a little more (Rs1200/$30 total; 2½ hours + church sightseeing) to make a detour to Old Goa and look at some of the churches there (something I had planned on doing as a day trip from Panjim (Panaji) but ditched to stay at the beach).

At 18:00 departs my 12 hour train to Mumbai, which has the most expensive hotel rooms in the country…

 

In Goa at Benaulim Beach after a rough day

Yesterday was not fun, what with, umm, stomach issues, on the train yesterday (at least the toilet was pretty clean on the train, being in one of the better classes).

I arrived in Margao (Madgaon), the main train station town in Goa, in mid-afternoon exhausted and not feeling well.
So instead of 2 auto-rickshaws and 2 buses up to Arambol beach, I took the fastest route to a beach, which was a 10-15min auto-rickshaw ride to nearby Benaulim Beach (only 6-8km away from Margao).
I slogged along the beach to find a room at the beach huts, and the 3rd or 4th one did have one available (albeit with the tiles ripped out of the bathroom for renovation).
I drank 1L water with oral rehydration salts, took a brief swim, huddled on the padded lounge chair (free!) to watch sunset, and then slept off and on until the next morning (no dinner).

Today my stomach feels better. I had an exciting porridge breakfast (mmm), and a slightly more substantial lunch.
I was going to try to move to Arambol today, but it turns out check-out is at noon (not 24 hours from check-in) so I am staying another day (which is also safer, methinks).
The beach here is very wide, with light rolling waves and a good breeze. Lots of restos on the beach, but spread out enough to not be manic.

This is the main part of Benaulim beach (my bungalows/hotel is a 5 minute walk north of here, where it’s a little quieter)

Beanaulim beach