Lost in Anjuna

GoanCanuck

Lost in Anjuna
By V. M. de Malar
I went to the flea market in Anjuna on Wednesday evening this week, my head is still spinning from the experience. Where it once used to be quaint and a bit counter-cultural, it’s now a disagreeably noisy, crowded and dusty free-for-all.

The impromptu backpacker phenomenon of bygone years has given way to Goa 2005 and the tourism tsunami, everything is twenty times bigger and more unpleasant and dirty than it should be and there’s no controls, no assessment, no planning, and clearly no one in charge.
Anjuna is totally overwhelmed. The sprawling village, once gracious and peaceful, has had a long past of international interaction; the name itself is probably derived from ‘Hanjuman’ a name given by medieval Arab traders who frequented the coastline here. It was an iconic stop on the hippie trail in the 60’s and 70’s, the locals got used to a growing stream of visitors from abroad, many of whom dropped out of society and dawdled on in Anjuna semi-permanently.



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passingby

any parties in Anjuna/Vagator now?

seventies'hippy

Yes, As we all know it can get pretty chaotic down there but I do feel on reading this that V. M. de Malar has used a little journalistic exageration to add a punch to his discription.
I'm wondering how many seasons back he's comparing it with, Has he been a frequent visitor over the years & watched it grow/change, If he has then surely it wouldn't have come as a big a shock to him as it obviously has,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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GoanCanuck

I presume you are referring to the open air parties which used to see hundreds of people dancing through the day and night. Those events are history. What you have now is a couple of bars having watered down versions of the legendary parties which made Anjuna/Vagator world famous. The general public in Goa has taken a dim view of these parties which have brought in many social evils which have negatively impacted Goan village life.

The Goan community is no longer prepared to adopt a wait-and-see attitude any longer. They are prepared to take to the streets and launch an agitation to protect their culture. This new found attitude was clearly visible earlier this month when the residents of Assagao village launched a massive protest which led to the cancellation of the permission given earlier for the Saturday Nite market which the villagers felt would be very damaging for their historic village.

kokopelli

GoanCanuck

how come your so certain about this ?
early this year there were still open air parties, even when you red about the ban in newspapers

i'm quite sure there will be atleast another blast monkey valley party in chapora on the second of january(russian new year with XP and stereo from the stereo brothers from assagao). be prepared.

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GoanCanuck

There were a couple of open air parties upto the end of January 2006. Not after that. That's the time there was a change of government. The situation since then is quite different. If you have more accurate information then please post it.

kokopelli

i went to all of them...
some got stopped middle of night in februari.. temple party, bamboo f.
there was one or two more in march on independence day and another day..
hilltop vagator..

if there's enoug money to bribe someone the party continues, untill it will be stopped by the panjim cops..

cyberhippie

I read trashy articles like this all the time about Goa I'm only surprised he didn't get onto the sex tourism thing!!
These are written by well to do journalists, with no stake in the tourist industry and echoed by the well to do classes of Goa.
The people who earn a living from tourism, have a completely different view of us tourists and long stayers. To date it remains a symbiotic relationship, with everyone involved happily using each other.
Also my sources tell me that Anjuna has seen a downturn in it's popularity, where as places like Arambol and Palolem are seeing ever increasing swarms of tourists on their shores, not what the article pushes at all!!
I will go along with the unplanned part of the authors statement, though the thrust of his argument seems to be that it's unsociable tourism that causes all the problems!!
The truth of the matter is that most of the environmental disturbance which is very real is caused by a still corrupt infrastructure.
In Palolem for instance probably less than half of the camps and restaurants are legal!! The rest are just paying for officials to turn a blind eye, this not only means a blind eye to the camps and restaurants existing but also to badly maintained toilets, festering rubbish heaps outside their camps and IMHO a real and present danger of a serious fire breaking out in these badly designed camps, flung together for maximum earnings. In Palolem now there are camps on what used to be a beautiful river with toilets that empty into it!!
This causes a sewage slick that sweeps across the bay as the tide goes out!!
If you're not a registered business they won't pick up your trash either, so that just gets left for the cows and is occasionally raked up and burnt!!
These are not problems created by tourists these are problems of local authority corruption.
Palolem like other places shot themselves in the foot, following this willy nilly approach to planning the beach, even when Palolem is heaving there are still restaurants lining the beach with only a couple of tables in use at any given time, only three years back you could get 800rupees for the airport run try getting that these days with the ever mushrooming taxi populace!
If this unplanned trend continues in Goa I do see a ecological disaster waiting to happen but it is short sightedness on behalf of the local authorities that will precipitate this, not tourism!! Lets face it with a fished out Coastline, mined out mines, a failing feni/cashew industry and places like Vasco losing their status to places like Karwar what is fueling the job situation in Goa, it is tourism.
The many who criticize tourism in Goa have no answers on how to provide jobs should tourism disappear, they don't have to most who voice their misgivings are not from the coastal resorts, they don't live with the problems perceived or otherwise, The are simply voyeurs looking into a lifestyle they don't really understand!!

Ha how lovely it would be if we could turn back the clock in Goa or indeed in many coastal regions of the world!!
I may even vote for that but I think I would always run up against the very real problem of how to provide for those we thrust back into poverty???

The hotels/camps/restaurants and the myriad of drink wholesalers, timber merchants, farmers and fishermen etc that supply this monster make up a very big % of the Goan Population.
These are the people that should be considered when talking about tourism not some fat cat journalist who has a means of supporting his family!!

I can't deny that more planning is needed and the talk of doing away with the coastal exclusion zone (to alleviate the housing problem we're told) would surely be a huge step in the wrong direction.
To simply BLAME tourism for all Goa's coastal ills is short sighted and wrong and leaves the underlying current of corruption the real problem untouched and rampant!!
If Goa is serious about tidying up her act first corrupt officials must be brought to book. Then a central planning organization should be set up to establish norms in building practices and licensing laws.
This has to happen before Goa blows herself out of the international Tourism market as her beautiful coastline rapidly disappears under a pile of huts restaurants and shit.
Some wise people doing business, realize that the beaches are the big selling point in Goa spoil them and package tourist will eventually stop coming, finding their cheap booze and sun elsewhere!!

So yes tourism in Goa but not at any cost!!

cyberhippie

Agreed kopopelli, the ban on outdoor music was not all emcompassing Palolem's Sat and Sunday outdoor jam made it through to the begining of March, the right palms were greased and the show went on!!

However I think generally the party scene in Goa is a mere shadow of what it was let's see what this brings in the coming season!!

kokopelli

if any freak is looking for a party for new years, come and join me in thailand, there will be a 3 day blast in krabi
and continues in pangan offcourse!!

UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ

rrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

GoanCanuck

Definitely. I remember back in 1992 there was one crazy event which attracted almost 500 people for two days of non-stop action! Another factor to be kept in mind is that the Goa Trance phenomenon is fading in popularity worldwide. Think it peaked somewhere around 1995.

kokopelli

it surprise me how you make these statements you don't know about..

GoanCanuck

And you consider yourself an expert on these matters?

From your profile you mention you are 25 years old which would have made you a small kid circa 1992-1993. Since you did not partake in the activities of that time period you have no reference with which to judge parties of today. I had the pleasure of enjoying these events during that time period as well as now and I consider myself to be in a better position to pass a judgment call.

Don't try to teach me about what is going on in Vagator or anywhere else in Goa, I was born and grew up there and I still have my closest friends living there. It is you who is making sweeping statements without any idea of what the ground realities are.

kokopelli

its fine man
forget about it
hari om shiva bom shankar shanti shanti

passingby

for all who are interested, the parties in Goa are kind of dying out this year.
I am now in Arambol. There were a couple of parties in Arambol, there might or might not be one for New Year's here.
in Anjuna, there are no big parties, except for Nine Bar, shore Bar, Prim's Rose. There were a cuople of parties in South Anjuna at Curlies' bar ( or something like that). There was no Xmas party in Anjuna at all. everybody is advertising the parties at Paradiso or any other main club, but there are no other hidden parties, only very rare in Anjuna.
nobody knows what will happen for New Year's. I guess we will wait and see.