Griffs in Goa

Tuesday 20th ( Shrove Tuesday)
The week before Lent is Carnival time in Goa. There has been the usual discussions and denials in the newspapers about the local big-wigs allocating funding to their political supporters but this only was relevant for Panjim and Margao, the two main cities in Goa. In Benaulim there was no such funding available as far as I am aware. The floats were very ‘Heath Robinson’ but charming all the same. They mainly consisted of lorries packed to the gunnels with exuberant young Goans. These lorries were preceded by even more excited young Goan males on scooters and motorcycles. They were painted in various colours and some wore masks or were in drag. There main aim was to drive as fast and as dangerously as possible which had the unintentional result of clearing the road of pedestrians and spectators. The procession meandered its noisy way down to the beach car park where the usual traffic confusion and chaos ensued. This was followed by music, dancing and drinking into the early hours.
We went with Dennis and Linda to Fiplees Restaurant for a meal last night. We were presented with a rather obscure different menu from the usual one. On the top it had in big bold letters ‘A price hike was inevitable’ – after enquiring what this meant we found out that the increase for the night was due to the carnival but nowhere on the menu did it mention carnival. We were “entertained” by a dreadful male and female duo singing (with far too much echo and reverb) along to backing tracks. TG & I had the worst meal since we have been here. Dennis, in true Brit abroad fashion ordered two lemon pancakes and one chocolate pancake for his main course. The waiter courteously smiled and obviously thought he was insane when he tried to explain it was ‘Pancake Day’. Pancakes are available here every day!