India - August 1991

Guess what? Another day doing and achieving zilch. Took a beach walk, then read for a couple of hours in the Sanita Beach Bar, then a change of venue to the poolside. Quickly, we were lured by Kumar, a GP from Rochdale and 2 of his kids, for a walk to Joet’s Bar and a beer. Moving on back to Sanita’s, we had chips and were jointed later by the rest of the brood. At 7.00 pm, I went with the daughters to the Gym and Steam Room/Sauna. Adrian and Kumar boozed until 8.15, at which time he said he had never had such a long period of sheer enjoyment (i.e. 7 hours) on any holiday in his entire life. Mind you, Adrian was a little worse for wear too. During their conversational peregrinations, it emerged that they are looking to buy a 20 bedroom mansion, and they’re already £1million in debt. Who says the NHS isn’t working - for some! They “own”, I suppose, two nursing homes too which I deduce must be private - the practice is a one-man operation (maybe it’s private too). All imponderables. He has also been bitten twice, one by a dog and once by a cat which we saw him tease and suffer retaliation. The kids were concerned about the pain of the anti-rabies treatment, but he simply stuck his finger in Cashew Fenny and ordered more beer. Since fenny (or feni) tastes like disinfectant, it probably works pretty well. The coconut variety is only marginally less noxious.

Shona Walton

19 chapters

15 Apr 2020

Monday 26th August

Goa

Guess what? Another day doing and achieving zilch. Took a beach walk, then read for a couple of hours in the Sanita Beach Bar, then a change of venue to the poolside. Quickly, we were lured by Kumar, a GP from Rochdale and 2 of his kids, for a walk to Joet’s Bar and a beer. Moving on back to Sanita’s, we had chips and were jointed later by the rest of the brood. At 7.00 pm, I went with the daughters to the Gym and Steam Room/Sauna. Adrian and Kumar boozed until 8.15, at which time he said he had never had such a long period of sheer enjoyment (i.e. 7 hours) on any holiday in his entire life. Mind you, Adrian was a little worse for wear too. During their conversational peregrinations, it emerged that they are looking to buy a 20 bedroom mansion, and they’re already £1million in debt. Who says the NHS isn’t working - for some! They “own”, I suppose, two nursing homes too which I deduce must be private - the practice is a one-man operation (maybe it’s private too). All imponderables. He has also been bitten twice, one by a dog and once by a cat which we saw him tease and suffer retaliation. The kids were concerned about the pain of the anti-rabies treatment, but he simply stuck his finger in Cashew Fenny and ordered more beer. Since fenny (or feni) tastes like disinfectant, it probably works pretty well. The coconut variety is only marginally less noxious.