Blogs from Benaulim, Goa, India, Asia
December 23rd 2011
It is my second week in India and me being alone on my trip. Surprisingly I’m coping far better than I thought I would at the very beginning of my trip. I am in Goa and will be here until Sunday night when I will head to HAMPI. Hampi is interesting because of its history and temples you can visit within the town and in places close to Hampi. Here in Goa I am staying with an Indian family. I am so happy as I had opportunity to see a bit of their culture. For instance, wedding is such an important event and they are happy to talk how much money they spent on it. Also, as soon as I entered a house I was given a wedding photo album (though it was just the way ... read more
November 8th 2011
Well after a three hour bus ride we arrived at Benaulim. Thank god! Deserted beach, no litter and not loads of tourists! We checked into our beach shack, was....cosy. We made lots of Lizard friends, (which Heather loved!) The place was called Costello's, he was pretty wicked and even came to the bottom of the road to pick us up. We were really lazy here. Beach food beach was how the day went until Jodie hunted down a swimming pool we could use. Like a moth to a flame! So it went beach food pool. We had a few cocktails one night, got sucked into the Benidorm atmosphere. Expensive! We also went to Colva one night which was a waste of time as it was so touristy and tacky. We left the beach, which was hard ... read more
October 31st 2011
It's All a Bit Slower in Goa. 22nd Oct to1st November We eventually heard that we were on the 6.25am train from Hospet to Madgoan, thank goodness. It was more than an hour late arriving but at least we had got seats. The train had actually started at Ara (Calcutta) and some poor souls had already been on the train for 40 hours by the time we got on. People were just waking up so finding our seats was a bit of a joke amonst all those beds and blankets. Fortunately we managed to squeeze in to a compartment with a young Isreali couple who were really friendly, so the 7 hours to Goa passed quite nicely. Like all Indian Railway stations Madgoan was a bit of a rugby scrum to get out of but we ... read more
April 27th 2011
Summer and beach are two words that go together for me, so it was with surprise that 90 per cent of fellow tourists that I met on the way to Goa, warned me off going there. Why - it was too hot apparently. Well I'm glad that I learnt at a young age not to follow the majority rules mantra. Goa was amazing and the weather wasn't a problem at all. The only downside if you want to view it as a downside, is that due to it being off-season for European tourists, the place is not as busy as it is in the on season. So therefore there were less people partying. This downside was actually an upside for me and with Benaulim being devoid of tourists, I found it was a backpackers market while ... read more
simen forteller om sine første dager i india
Published: January 15th 2011Asia » India » Goa » BenaulimJanuary 15th 2011
etter litt mental om og men har vi bestemt oss for å opprette en reiseblogg, i den hensikt av å opplyse både andre og fremtidlige oss om turens tilstand. frekvensen av innlegg bestemmes kanskje av funn av nettkafeer, kanskje er den invers proporsjonell med hvor morsomt vi har det. får se hvordan det blir. nå har vi i alle fall landet i mumbai, vært i mumbai og toget videre av sted mot goa. noen dager i india har passert, og vi kjenner oss noe klokere på dette landet vi har bestemt oss for å reise rundt i. jeg har jo lest litt på forhånd, kanskje mindre enn jeg skulle like, men likevel en hel del, og det finnes folk som advarer mot ekle steder å bo, kaos, kakkerlakker i krokene, mat man blir dårlig av, mer ... read more
March 26th 2010
After a short hiatus in the UK (thanks to everyone who looked after us) we headed out to Goa for a few weeks relaxing and chilling on the beaches in the sunshine. It was great to spend time and have a few laughs with our friends Sarah and Steve, who were on holiday in Goa, including a particularly funny episode when David was wandering about with his "swimming pants" inside out (well at least he had some on this time!). We really enjoyed all the fantastic food that India has on offer and never got tired of eating the delicious curries or the freshly baked roti bread. A regular treat was to sit in the shade on the beach watching the sunset with a Kingfisher beer. For us, we really were quite lazy and didn't do ... read more
January 6th 2010
Hi folks. We set off for Gokarna and didn't make it, we got stuck on this highway dust road which happened to be a truck root to and from a quarry. If you like lorries you would have died and gone to heaven I have never ever seen so many trucks over loaded with bricks in my life and never will again! They also bombed down the wrong way trying to over take he que of trucks and come hurteling towards you, forcing you off the road and then only to then find they couldn't pull back in when another truck came the other way so. It was just gridlocked going both ways with trucks facing all ways on both side and some trying to go round on the dirt. We decided to do this and ... read more
December 21st 2009
Just a quick blog this time, to tell the story about my trip south to Benaulim.... Benaulim is another village close to the beach, a little south of Candolim where I am staying now. I left Saturday morning, took the bus to Panjim, then to Margao and finally to Benaulim. I forgot lesson number one: never sit at the back of the bus, ESPECIALLY if you don't know where you are going. The bus may look empty at first, but this will change soon... So I was, of course, sitting at the back of the bus. Most buses have 2 doors, one at the back: this one had only the front door. I had no idea where to get off so I asked a nice lady. When we got close to Benaulim she said politely: "I ... read more
September 23rd 2009
Hampi Arriving in Hospet early in the morning after our night on the sleeper train, we were immediately accosted by a tout doing his best to get us to go on a city tour in his Rickshaw. He was very persistent but in the end we let him take us to our hotel for a few rupees an told him we might call him later if we wanted a tour (we knew that we weren't going to, but it was the only way we could get rid of him). After a quick shower and change of cloths, we snuck out of the hotel in case the tout was waiting for us. We found a bus to Hampi which was dirt cheap and set off on a 30min ride down yet another bumpy road, arriving at Hampi ... read more
July 6th 2009
We awake to find that our new home is clean, well maintained and ideal for our needs, if not a bit green! The exploration of Benaulim starts with a 10 minute walk to the beach and breakfast at the only open beach bar, Pedro’s. We enjoy the beach for a while, savouring the moment. Walking back we stop to pick up groceries from both the supermarket and the greengrocer. It being the monsoon, all the tourist related places are closed up and we are living in a normal working Goan seaside town. After collecting the basics, of hiring a scooter, establishing where to shop, finding our way to the nearest city (Margao), we settle into a routine. We also start to meet some other longtermers, as the ex-pats out here are known, who are in turn, ... read more
