Christmas etc...

Alternative night markets, fashion and style.

Since arriving in Goa’s hippy hotspot, Anjuna, I have been everyday amazed by the ever changing trends, hangout places and people. The usual crowd gathers in the ‘usual’ places (ie. Ingo’s night market, Wednesday flea market followed by sunset at Shore bar, Ashvem beach on a Sunday and Anjuna on the other days), whilst the hardcore party goers have slowly migrated up north, towards Arambol. Anjuna’s now a little haven of residential, civilised living, with English language kindergartens, classy restaurants and yoga centres. There’s a proper village feel to the place. And even though the Wednesday flea market still attracts crowds from nearby resorts, car loads of tourists and keen shoppers, the whole area has definitely mellowed down over the last few months. The recent Mumbai events haven’t helped either. Now the Saturday night market has been canceled until further notice and there’s been a worrying atmosphere lately – both for businesses and on a social level.

So Xmas in Goa has been a bit of a let down for some. No parties, few decent dancefloors, and no one really knew what was happening each day. Is Hilltop open or not? What about Curlies? Even Atit, the local social diary organiser (who runs ‘good morning goa’ – a daily text messaging service which updates subscribers with parties, events etc) didn't quite know what had been allowed or banned, what parties were on or off. On Xmas day, the seasonal crowds were anxiously waiting for text updates of what was going on, but it all seemed very vague...

There’s a lot of uncertainty – socially anyway, which has been a bit unnerving and unsettling for some. It seems so hard to plan anything these days. Things keep changing. But this, I consider to be really quite positive in the end – don’t make plans, just go with the flow and be. Happy yogic Christmas!

And following from a Christmassy ‘nothing-ness’, New Year proved to quite the opposite. Choice and more choice. Parties and more parties. Mayhem on the beach, chaos on the roads and loud music everywhere. Just like back home really!

Happy 2009!!!