DISCOVER GOA
ALESSANDRA'S INDIA
Discover Goa, and through this little state, the rest of India, through Alessandra's eyes.
Join the community
Of ecological travelers
Welcome to Easy Travel hosting! CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHAT PUSHED YOU TOWARDS GOA?
As a young girl I read a book by Fallaci, “Useless sex”. It may sound strange but that's what sparked my passion for India for the first time.
Since then it has always been my secret dream, dream that because of my job at the airport lasted well 22 years, I will realize many years later thanks to a long period of waiting.
India must be explored calmly, with great spirit of adaptation and, in my opinion, preferably alone. I ended up in Goa during a monsoon to catch my breath after a long tour of Kerala and I fell in love with it. Verde, very green, colourful, Portuguese. I returned the following year and every year since then until the final choice to live here.
It's always hot, I live in a village and therefore little traffic and few people around, unless you go looking for it and then between raves and trance parties you are spoiled for choice. Don't count on me in this case, I'm completely uninterested :))
I have been living with Ivan for almost four years, from Mumbai but has been working in Goa since 12 years and I couldn't be happier with the choice I made.
WE READ THAT YOU STOPPED IN LAOS 4000 ISLANDS. A PLACE THAT WE TOO LOVED! COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR TRIP TO LAOS?
Ah here, Fallaci was quickly replaced by Terzani, Laos arrived like this. I landed in Luang Prabang from Thailand and it was love at first sight. Luang Prabang is beautiful. I was only supposed to stay three days but I stayed much longer.
I was staying in a pretty cheap guest house, with the sink leaking buckets of water and a bricked-up window. But the location was enviable for that price and the other guests were very nice. I had made friends with a Chinese girl who loved Italian espresso. Needless to say, I, like a good Sicilian, I always go around with the mocha.
Every morning I made coffee, she grabbed the coffee pot, he ran to the market where they roasted meat, he placed it on the grill and walked back with small happy steps. It's one of my best memories.
In Vientiane, however, I spent the evenings with an Indian girl, she was also traveling alone, drinking disgusting white wine sitting by the illuminated river. The three things I know about Hindi were taught to me by her.
I toured Laos on a night bus, sleeping in those tiny bunks with the kitsch upholstery to share with a stranger. I arrived in Pakse without having the slightest idea how to get there 4000 Islands but luckily it turned out to be easier than expected. I rented a bicycle and spent ten unforgettable days wandering from place to place regularly followed by dogs who are my favorite travel companions.
At the time I didn't know I would quit, that I would start a blog and move to Goa. I walked around with a notebook and sat on the floor to take notes. The notebook remained in Italy, who knows where.
WE SAW YOU DO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL: PARTICIPATE IN THE GOA ANIMAL RECOVERY. YOU COULD TALK ABOUT IT?
Speaking of dogs. One arrives in India with the romantic idea of a place where all animals are free and sacred. No, wrong, Indians also belong to the human race and are not free from malice and cruelty, like everywhere else in the world. I also witnessed two cow stabbings.
But the most mistreated are the dogs. Thousands of strays in packs on every street corner. Some in such conditions that you look around and wonder if all those people are blind.
I ended up in a feeder group by chance, that is, those who feed the animals by dividing the areas. But not only this. There is the problem of sterilization, of mass rabies vaccination, of saving those hit and left to suffer for days. The gastro enterite, the distemper – none of these dogs are vaccinated – and worms. They call them maggots, some creepy stuff, they are the larvae of flies and they eat them alive.
I live near the animal rescue, known as WVS Worldwide Veterinary Service and it is a grace that fell from heaven. During the lockdown, when it was impossible to move from home, the WVS demanded feeder travel passes from the government. I got it after ten days and I assure you that it was heartbreaking to go out and find them skeletal. Luckily we recovered a lot of them, the situation has returned to normal.
WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAKE YOUR LIFE GREENER?
The state of Goa has a high rate of education and is quite wealthy. It plans to become plastic free in a few years. In the residence where I live we do waste separation. I should think that after the harvest, the garbage will all go to the same place and will be burned like they do in the nearby village. But the guy who picks it up, if he doesn't find glass and plastic well sorted he starts shouting epithets in Hindi so I tend to believe he will actually do the recycling.
I do what I do everywhere, I don't leave anything lying around.
I buy drinking water in large bottles 20 liters that I regularly bring back as soon as they are empty, I don't have a car despite the monsoon and I only shop with canvas bags.
Easy Travel Hosting thanks Alessandra so much for showing us her India.
If you want to inform yourself more about his project, You can follow it on your site By clicking here. And also on social media!
Easy Travel Hosting It is hosting 100% ecological created to measure for travelers by travelers. You want to tell us about your story? Contact us here.