- Dogs
There are wild dogs, or at least dogs without owners, across every part of India I have visited, but no where have they been so aggressive as in Goa, especially on the beach in Anjuna. I was warned about the dogs on the beach “packing up” at night when I was at Ashiyana near Mandrem last year, and it’s true. These dogs can be sweet and hesitant to even approach you during the day but at night something takes them over instinctively, and they can turn aggressive. The same can be said for dogs used to guard houses as they can become extremely territorial after nightfall. My advice, taken from my hotel host in Anjuna, is to carry a big stick and don’t speak softly if approached. Aggressively tell the dogs to back off and don’t slip into a passive posture. If you find yourself without a stick, pick up a big rock and throw it at them if they get too close. I had to swing my stick at a couple of dogs who were nipping at my pants in Anjuna before they finally backed off to find easier prey. - Honking
Regardless of if there is need to honk or not, Indian drivers rely heavily on their horns to warn others around blind curves that they are approaching or just out of frustration with slow-moving traffic. There are signs all over Mumbai advising drivers that “Honking Is a Sign of Lunacy,” but rarely will you see any abatement of the automatic action unless you’re in front of a hospital, and even then, most people ignore the signs. Carry some ear plugs with you if you are sensitive to noise. Don’t use the kind that block all sound, though, or you may not hear the warning beep of an approaching scooter, which are sometimes knows to hop right up on the sidewalk and pass you within a hair’s breadth. - Men
Goa is a pretty safe area to travel in, and Bombay is the safest city of all the major cities in India for women to travel alone, but you still want to take the usual precautions you would at home. Don’t take drinks from strangers in bars, don’t walk alone at night or in strange areas remote from the help of police or families, and, if you find that you are surrounded by a group of men who are whistling or making comments, make a big scene to drive them away. People will come to your rescue if you raise a stink, and, like the dogs and the touts, typically the men will wander off to find easier prey. - Mosquitoes
Check with your doctor to see if malaria is present in any of the areas you will be traveling to before you go as you will probably get bitten by mosquitoes if you travel to Goa, especially after monsoon. Several of the locals told me that they were never bitten, but the mean little critters do seem to love foreign flesh. I use DEET at the worst times, like during dusk or after a rain storm, as I have found no natural alternatives that really work. Put it on before you dress—they will bite right through your clothing if your skin underneath isn’t covered. - Poop
There’s a lot of poop on the sidewalk, so be sure to look down every few feet to make sure you are not about to step in any cow/human/rat/cat/dog/goat or whatever kind of critter was walking before you. Not only is stepping in shit gross, but cow poo is really slippery, and you may find yourself sliding through it as if you’d just stepped on a banana peel. - Touts
You will be followed and hounded to go visit a store (or buy directly from the tout on the beach) everywhere you go and in every season. If rebuffed, these women (typically) will start to rebuke you for being “rude” and “not talking,” but don’t take the bait. Just smile at them and firmly but kindly tell them you don’t want to buy. They will begin the interaction by asking you one question after another (Where from? What name? Why here? Here alone? Married? and so on), but I have found it easiest to just tell them, “I’m not interested in buying, thank you, have a nice day,” at the onset of the questioning and then just to repeat that same phrase until they tire of hounding you and, like the dogs, go off to find easier prey. If you do choose to buy something, be aware that you will be marked as an easy target, and the sales women will only come back to you each time more aggressively. - Traffic
Just as in the country that colonized it, Indian drivers use the left side of the road, which can be one of the most confusing things to get used to upon arrival. The confusion can worsen as it seems that adherence to lane lines (if they exist) is not strictly followed, and you will often see drivers passing vehicles directly into oncoming traffic when a two-laned road will suddenly become three lanes for a terrifying few seconds. Despite the fluid movement of the cars, scooters, trucks, bullock carts, and whatever other vehicles you might find on the road, I have seen only a few wrecks because the seemingly chaotic traffic patterns seem to work.
