Posted on by Anamika

The beaches, the waterfall; the paradox called Goa

I was going through my phone gallery when I realized that it has been more than two years now since I went on a trip to Goa. Of all the things that corona deprived us of, travelling and exploring new places had the biggest setback. But, to have the memories of a two year old trip still afresh in your mind like it was yesterday, perfectly describes just how indelible the journey was. I still remember the exact feeling of emancipation which I felt while walking along the rebellious yet beautiful waves of the Arabian sea.

Just coz I love this click.

Talking of Goa and not mentioning beaches is like talking of science fiction movies and not mentioning Interstellar. On our first day of the trip we went to the Calangute beach, one of the most popular holiday destinations in Goa. Before going to the beach with the whole party, me and my sister decided to rent a scooty and visit the beach while the sun was still down, because someone had said that the beach at night looks really beautiful.

Beaches are usually closed at night because of the risk of high tidal waves, so when we reached there it was just us and the vast moonlit Arabian sea. It was dawn, the full moon was still shining above the carpet of water, pulling it up time to time, making it look like Aladdin’s magic carpet, ready to fly. The moon was shining so brightly and the reflection from water was so strong that it could almost trick people into thinking of it being daytime. The only difference was the calmness due to the lack of people. It seemed like the sea was resting, getting ready to welcome thousands of people again during the day. As the sun slowly started to replace the moon, me and my sister went back to the villa to come back again with everyone.

I’m not a photographer so please forgive me for not being able to provide you with aesthetic pictures.🙇‍♀️

When we came to the beach during daytime, it was a completely different site. There were many people, mostly non locals like us and many foreigners too. People, wearing swimsuits, were lying down on the sand, some beneath the coconut trees, some were playing volleyball and others were enjoying water sports like surfing, jet skiing, boating or just swimming. For someone like me, who belongs to a tropical region, what I was seeing in front of me was a whole different culture. Just how much change a different climate pattern can bring into the lifestyle of people was very apparent at that moment.

After strolling around the beach a little and clicking pictures that will allow us to visit this beautiful place again virtually, our crew decided to go on a boat ride. At first the waves threw a little tantrum and kept throwing our boat back to the shore. The empty beer bottles in the boat got filled with seawater due to the speed with which the waves were crashing on our boat. But finally the waves gave way for our boat to step in. The boatman was a local Goan who throughout our boat journey told us about other places to visit in Goa. Looking at him I realised that our perception of Goa is actually all about the tourists visiting here. But this man, right here, and many more like him, making sure that every person visiting Goa enjoys their stay here, so that they can earn livelihood, are the true representatives of Goa.

Outside the beach there were many coconut vendors and the marketplace was filled with stalls of handicrafts, jewelleries, bags, beachwear, etc. The jewelleries and handicrafts were mostly made of coconut, sea shells and corals.

The Mandovi Bridge

At night, we went on a cruise party near Mandovi bridge, built over the Mandovi river. Apart from the loud DJ music, there were some cultural programs as well, that gave us a glimpse into the Portuguese history of Goa. Dance, music, drinks, everything was there, but what I needed was to feel the touch of pleasant wind blowing over the sea on my face. So, I rushed towards the deck. From the deck, I could clearly see the Mandovi bridge lit up with different colored lights, and right beneath it was another bridge exactly the same as the one above, lying underwater, peaceful and serene. It was a sight to behold. But my movie mind kept thinking of Titanic, and the iconic Jack and Rose deck scene and then whatever followed. In order to avoid these thoughts I rushed back to the party.

The next day was even more exciting. I have never been a beach person. I always wanted to visit mountains, forests and waterfalls. A waterfall in Goa was unheard of for me, but there is actually a waterfall in Goa, called the Dudhsagar falls. Located in the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, Dudhsagar literally means the ‘sea of milk’. There are two ways to access this waterfall. You can either take a train which passes through the falls or you can go through the Wildlife Sanctuary. We took the later route.

When we entered the Mahaveer Sanctuary, we were asked to wear life jackets. From there, we boarded a Bolero, and through the muddy pathways, surrounded with trees and occasionally interrupted by the shallow parts of our old friend, the Mandovi river, we reached a wooden bridge. That is where the Bolero left us. There is one thing worth mentioning here; there are no concrete bridges inside the sanctuary and because of that, while crossing the river some water even entered the Bolero. The reason for not building bridges, as explained by our driver, is to keep nature intact and not obstruct the natural flow of the river.

The Dudhsagar Falls

After boarding off the Bolero we walked a great deal before reaching the breathtaking sight of one of the tallest waterfalls in India. Falling down from a height that used the maximum of your head tilt to be able to see where the waterfall is originating from, the water looked completely white in colour, till it met with the river. As we were wearing life jackets, we decided to step into the water, although none of us knew how to swim. Completely opposed to the warm, rather moderate, sea water we had met with the previous day, the water falling from above was chilling cold. Ironically the calm and moderate sea water is a symbol of chill lifestyle, meanwhile the cold and angry waterfall symbolises the serenity of nature. After spending some time in the water, I came out and sat on one of the rocks, just looking at the giant waterfall and thinking how much variety nature has to offer in such a small state as Goa.

Trust me it was very difficult to capture the whole thing in camera.🙁

Dudhsagar falls was the last destination of our short trip to Goa. On the way back to our villa, we boarded a bus and I took the window seat . The icy cold water of the river still had its effect on me, but the slightly warm weather was slowly balancing it. Looking outside of the window, with my favourite song playing in the earphones, I started contemplating how this whole journey made me feel. The reason I called Goa a paradox in the title is because, despite being the ‘party capital of India’, what Goa gave me was a sense of relaxation. Indeed the beaches are meant to chill and relax but as someone who hates crowded places, calling the Goa visit my favorite trip so far is quite paradoxical. And then ofcourse the contrast of sea and waterfall.

It was near dusk, the sky was slowly changing its colour, as was the sun. The magical nightlife of Goa was taking control of the marketplaces and I was trying to capture every beautiful scenery I could into my memory lane. With a little bit of sadness and lots of sweet memories it was now time for me to say goodbye to Goa.

Posted on by Anamika · 1 Comment

When the Pope divided the world into two

In 1917 the British government issued the Balfour declaration, promising the establishment of a national home in Palestine for Jewish people. A year back they had secretly promised the French that they would divide the Arab teritorries and that the Brits would keep Palestine. Going back another year the British had an agreement with the ruler of Mecca that he would rule Palestine if he led a revolt against the Ottomans, which he promptly did. All of this happened before the Ottomans were defeated in the First World War, which means that the Brits promised a land, which technically didn’t even belong to them, to three people including themselves.

Spanish and Portugal Empires in the 15th century.
Pic credit: Google

There are several instances in history when a country has claimed a land which they were not inhabitants of. Hundereds of years ago, even before the rise of Britain, as a superpower, two countries were fighting to claim the lands which they newly discovered and one person tried to resolve this conflict by dividing the ‘New World’ between these two countries. It was the Pope. 15th century was marked by great expeditions

15th century was the beginning of the Age of Discoveries. Europe was finally out of the shadows of the crusades, into the Renaissance period, rediscovering it’s culture, art and philosophy. During this time two of the most powerful European empires, Portugal and Spain were taking the lead in discovering new sea routes to map the world. One of the reasons for so many voyages in the 15th century was out of curiosity to discover new lands or to ascertain the fact that the earth was round. But, another important reason was trade. With several stories from travellers like Marco Polo about huge amount of wealth in the east, western Europe was now trying to find a sea route round the African continent to reach Asia. Although trading between Europe and Asia wasn’t a new thing, but with Constantinople, Egypt and most of the Middle East under the Ottomans, the land route became pretty difficult.

So, the Portuguese tried to go east and Spain which was a Christian empire under King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, went towards the west. A major victory for the Portuguese came in the year 1446 with the discovery of Cape Verde, which is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and also the westernmost point of Africa. This was the discovery that made people believe that they would be able to reach India, if they were able to go round Africa.

Cabo Verde also called Cape Verde.

Portuguese and Spainiards were doing there separate voyages pretty smoothly, till 1493, when Christopher Columbus returned from his American exploration. He was a Italian explorer who wanted to find a route to the East Indies particularly the Spice Islands (Indonesian archipelago), through sailing west. He first went to King John II of Portugal to sponsor his voyage but the King refused him. Finally it were the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella who sponsored his voyage. Though Columbus did discover new land, or shall we say new for Europe, because the land was already inhabited by people, it wasn’t the East Indies which he intended to go to. He landed at Bahamas, one of the islands in the West Indies.

Upon his return, Portugal and Spain entered into conflict to claim the newly discovered land. King John II sent a threatening letter to the Spanish Monarchs, reminding them of the Treaty of Alcáçovas signed in 1479 that granted all lands south of the Canary Islands to Portugal. The Spanish Monarchs knew that they would not be able to match the Portuguese in terms of military power, so they found a diplomatic way out of this conflict. This is where the Pope comes into the scene.

Line of Demarcation (1493) and the new meridian after Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) Pic Credit: Google

The Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella reached Pope Alexander VI, who himself was of spanish descent, to issue a papal bull– a public decree– called Inter caetera. This bull granted all the lands west of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues( about 300 miles) west of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde to Spain. This was called the Line of Demarcation. The bull did not mention anything of the Portugal lands, which made the Portuguese King quite unpleased. In order gain rights over the lands east to the Line of Demarcation the Portuguese King started negotiations with the Catholic Monarchs. Funnily enough, the next year, that is in 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed between Portugal and the Spanish Crown to move the Line of Demarcation 270 leagues west, without even consulting the Pope. It is bewildering to think that actual land, home to millions of people, was getting divided between two foreign empires like a piece of cake.

All these bulls issued by the Pope or the treaties signed between empires dividing the world might be just an interesting piece of history to ponder over now. But back in the day they were actually setting the stage for colonisation of these “undiscovered” lands.

Posted on by Anamika

Legend of the Wandering Lake

A picture of Lop Nur dried basin acquired on October 28, 2001 by NASA Earth Observatory.

Marco Polo, the thirteenth century Venetian merchant, crossed the Lop Desert in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region of China, on his way to meet the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan. Marco, in his travel records, describes the desert as inhabited by spirits. He says, “when travellers are on the move by night, and one of them chances to lag behind or to fall asleep, when he tries to gain his company again he will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his comrades. And in this way many have perished.”

The Lop Desert and the bigger Taklamakan Desert spread westward to the Lop city was part of the famous Silk Road. Thus, many travellers including the famous Chinese travellers Faxian and Hiuen Tsang crossed the Lop Desert on their journey to India. Apart from being part of the Silk Road there are many other interesting things about this desert. One of them is the Lop Nur lake, also known as the Wandering Lake. Since the area is dominated by endless desert a water body in the middle of it is already a point of interest.

But this lake doesn’t seem to greet every traveller going past the desert. Some ancient merchants/travellers have mentioned about a salty lake in their travel records, but some didn’t. Marco Polo, for example, didn’t mention any lake. Later explorers suggest that the reason Marco didn’t mention any lake in his travel records was because he probably didn’t see any lake. But, how is that possible? Hundreds of years ago people travelling through a desert will definitely look for a water body, especially when the vast Gobi desert awaits you, if you are travelling to China. Going through the same route, the travellers must have met Lop Nur, unless the lake was wandering/ changing its position.

Imperial maps from the 17th century, Qing Dynasty show the lake at the same position as the present day Lop Nur dried basin. But, Nikolay Przhevalsky, a Russian geographer on his expedition to central Asia in 1867 found the lake at Kara– Koshun, which is south west to the lake’s current position.
Sven Hedin, a Swedish explorer and geographer, went on an expedition to the Tarim river basin, in 1900-1901. In 1937, he published a book, entitled The Wandering Lake, documenting his journey to the Tarim basin and explaining why and how the Lop Nur changed its position.

Pic: Wikipedia. Map of Lop Nur by Folke Bergman, a Swedish explorer, 1935.

The Tarim basin in an endorheic basin, spread across more than a million square kilometres and dominated mostly by the Taklamakan Desert. An endorheic basin system is one which doesn’t allow outflow of water to external water bodies, such as rivers or oceans. They are landbound and water is instead drained into lakes or swamps which equilibrate through evaporation. Within the Tarim basin is located the Lop Nur Lake, a terminal lake with no natural outlet for the water accumulating in it through the Tarim river. Here comes the tricky part. It’s not actually the lake changing its position but the Tarim river changing its course. Rivers tend to change their course over the time, due to sediment deposition. Since, Tarim river is the major source of water for Lop Nur, when the river changes its course the terminal lake changes its position too. This resulted in Lop Nur altering its location between the Lop Nur dried basin, the Kara-Koshun dried basin and the Taitema Lake basin.

Lop Nor, also called the “the heart of the heart” of Asia, doesn’t exist anymore. It has dried up mostly due to climate change, human settlements and nuclear testings. But this wonder of nature was once the only friend of faraway travellers amidst boundless desert and had surely tricked many of them too because of its wanderings.