Vagator

This is the view from our hotel in Vagator, Goa. If Vagator did not have mosquitoes and cows wandering and, more disturbingly, shitting on the beach, we might never leave -- at least until the next monsoon. If Charlie and I did stay here, we would have lots of company. Dozens, if not hundreds, of other Westerners spend November through May here every year for decades on end. We wonder how such people function in the real world, June through October, bereft of the hippie-backpacker beachside wonderland that is Vagator and its close neighbor, Chapora.

We are only a stone's throw away from the famed Nine Bar, which is on a oceanside cliff with a gorgeous view of the ocean and pumps out crazy techno music that, to our amazement and secret relief, abruptly stops at 10 pm on the dot. We are glad that there are other clubs that do stay open later and that they are all located sufficiently far away that we can sleep soundly.