10 Best First Date Spots in Brussels – Drinks
Meeting up with a catch from Bumble or asking out your teen crush for the first time? I Gochu! Bars, cafés, and unique places to have a great first date.
After spending a week in a coldwave in Delhi, I was ready for some SUNSHINE. I casually decided my next stop would not be Varanassi or Pushkar or Jaipur like most travelers, but it would be Goa. Goa is a state in the Southwest of India, known for that sunny beach lifestyle. And I have never regretted that decision.
I found a flight for Sunday and a yoga retreat that started on Tuesday. I booked, packed, and left. My destination was Bodhi Yoga School in Arambol, some random town in the north of Goa.
~She was wrong. It was not just a random town.~
As I told my Moustache hostel mates about my plan, Chris, the German guy, said he’s also going to Arambol on Sunday, so let’s meet up there!
And so it went. Chris’ flight was in the morning, so he texted me to join some beach reggae event that evening at a place called MIR (Music Is Religion, but also “peace” in Russian). After a week without music and dancing, it felt like I had arrived in paradise. Goa was hot, tropical, and filled with dreadlocks and harem pants. As the barefoot crowd went wild on a crazy mix of dubstep and reggae, I knew I would like this place.
Arambol turned out to be a perfect blend of spirituality and party, with people meditating on the beach and talking about the universe, as well as music events every night. The music scene consisted mostly of psytrance events, since “psy” or “goa” music originated right there. It was a trippy type of partying, fitting the crowds there quite well. On the other hand, acoustics like drum circles and open mics were very popular too. Anywhere you’d go, you’d walk into people spontaneously pulling out their instruments and making music together. It was beautiful.
I vaguely knew that Goa was a popular vacation spot for Russians, but I never thought that Arambol would be almost a colony of Russian people vacationing, settling there, and opening small scale businesses. With my Russian roots, I easily navigated the town and its events, but I’m still not sure what I think about the bombastic presence of one nationality in one certain place.
In any case, my knowledge of the language facilitated my connection with Vadim, a guy at my yoga retreat who was willing to give me meditation sessions. Each session was followed by a conversation about the subconscious, the idea of self, the universe, and many other interesting and profound topics (or fluffy weirdo stuff, depending on who’s reading). We truly connected through the sessions and I was learning every day. His words and ideas resonated strongly with me, making me develop my own views on life and testing them against the reality around me. That’s how Arambol became a highly spiritual and introspective place for me, and I found the people around me to also be on that wavelength. Mindful, counscious, and in touch with nature.
If this was “Eat, Pray, Love”, then my time in Goa was definitely “Pray”.
Meeting up with a catch from Bumble or asking out your teen crush for the first time? I Gochu! Bars, cafés, and unique places to have a great first date.
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