Blogs from Anjuna Beach, Goa, India, Asia - page 13

Yesterday Sarah and I left very early in the morning to catch the bus to Anjuna to attend the Wednesday market. It took us about two hours on a very packed and very nauseating old bus making one connection on Mapusa (pronounced Mapsa). We met up with some friends we had made in Arambol and had a great day searching for treasures. The entire market was abuzz with excitement about a particular party that was happening that evening in a place called Baga, not far from Anjuna. Sarah and I were intruiged, but smelly and weary when we were told the party would be going until dawn. However, our good friend PJ Polo talked us into it. We took a taxi back to Panaji, got as dolled up as our backpacker wardrobes would allow and made ... read more

Jan 24 - 31. We arrived on a night bus from Mumbai to Goa. We were only planning on staying a few days, but somehow ended up staying a week. Goa is a very relaxed and beautiful place, but it's very difficult to break away and go to the Internet cafe. We met some very interesting people in Goa and enjoyed just chilling out for a week. ... read more

With the Boxing Day test under way and England defeated before it has started it seemed pointless to settle in to watch another defeat, and the time had come to put on the shoes and travel further up to the capital of Goa Panaji, and to catch up with a mate of mine John Hayball (for those that don't know John is a work colleague from Cox Architects and has come out to travel across India for 4 weeks). It was good to catch up with a familar face again and after a couple of beers discussing the trials and tribulations of India, the meaning of the Indian head wobble (a shake of the head can mean anything from yes, no, maybe or hello) and the overwhelming smells of life, we set off to explore the ... read more

Mumbai was excellent. Really beautiful buildings downtown in the Colaba and tropical foliage all around. In that part it was more like a western city, taxi cabs, actual sidewalks, some western-style stores and a relatively expensive western hotel. Had a beer at the famous Leopold's from Shantaram that we are both reading. We went to a couple of museums including a house where Gandhi lived for some period, it was quite something. At one place there's a beach where teens were playing a complex variant of tag in a circle. Every other person tried to rent you a grass mat to sit on. We found a cafe nearby and realized that you could also try a Huqqa - the water pipe- I remember my Egyptian heritage collegue Mag Estefanos telling me, if you're ever in Egypt ... read more

Writing this entry a bit late, as we've been back a while now, but partly trying out this travelblog thing, and partly letting anyone who's interested know a bit more about where we're headed.... We've got a flat booked in Baga, Goa, from the 1st November, for 6 months. We've been over to Goa a couple of times now, November last year, then this Feb. One of the reasons we're heading back there is that we've got involved with this school, Sacred Heart in Anjuna. We bumped into Assunta, the headmistress, on a bus on the way to Panjim and she invited us back to the school to meet the children. Thinking she meant it was a small village school, we were suprised to find a large two story comprehensive, with 450 kids! We were shocked ... read more