Blogs from Colva, Goa, India, Asia

India: While I was waiting at the Indian Consulate in Nepal for my visa, a girl asked me how long I planned to be in India. I said, "two weeks." Her reply was: "oh wow - just enough to get scarred." I came to understand what she meant. India is slow and hot - insanely hot. Most days were around 110 degrees. On top of that there are tons of people in the streets trying to get by you or begging for food or water. This was one of the differences in other places I had been. Most beggars to this point only asked for money. In India a lot of the beggars asked for food or water. I gave multiple half drank bottles of water to kids who asked for it when they saw it. ... read more

Bus ride to Ahmedabad was interesting, Part normal bus, part sleeper bus, non-air conditioned but not a problem as not too hot and windows opened. Panicked a little when we had to stop for a traffic accident, lorry overturned but did not hold us up too much. Indians are worse than us at rubber-necking by the way. Loads of them got off the bus to go and have a look at what was going on and to go to the toilet of course! They do it everywhere. Don't expect help getting on and off bus with your bags by the way, chivalry is definitely dead in India, if it ever existed! Impressed with Ahmedebad airport. Obviously new, quiet, clean and very security concious. Reasonable flight with Spicejet, a little bumpy because of cloud cover but they ... read more

At 8.00 am we were flagged off from the base camp. We were told to peddle to Donapaula Jetty, load our bikes into the motor-launch and get down at Mormugao Port Trust where we would meet Narendra, the mechanic and Chandan, the guide for our expedition. It was a pleasant biking experience with no sun overhead. We loaded our bikes in the Ferry and settled down to soaking in the refreshing morning air. There was a minor scuffle at the Mormugoa Port Trust, where two cops asked out for some legal documents required for landing at the Port. The guy that seemed in charge was 6 ft in blue jeans and a white shirt which was a little tight for his beer belly. A call to the expedition director, Manoj Joshi, settled out the matter and ... read more

die woche begann erst mal mit einem traumatischen ereigniss: unsere familie wurde auseinander gerissen! traurig aber wahr, wir mussten abschied von tabea nehmen, die sich am montag nachmittag wieder alleine auf gemacht hat das grosse indien zu erkunden. ausserdem geht tina ab jetzt fremd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nachdem sie denkt sie hat was besseres verdient als die cosi hat sie montag in die fishermen's school gewechselt....und die cosi mit ihren frechen kindern alleine gelassen....aber der trennungsschmerz war dann letztendlich doch nicht allzu gross, da die cosi von der irina und dem mike tatkraeftige unterstuetzung erhalten hat. in der primary school laueft also mehr oder weniger alles wie immer....wenn der lehrer da ist sind die kinder leise...wenn er weg ist geht das chaos und die pruegeleien los. manchmal, jedoch eher selten hat man mal ein richtiges kleines erfolgserlebnis, dass einen ... read more

From the luxury of Star Clipper we set off into the splendid chaos of India. We had made some contacts on the ship and so the omelette chef - a Goan - arranged our accommodation for us. It was a very modest but wonderfully friendly beach side 'block of flats' called "Fisherman's" at Colva beach south of Goa. We shared a cab with another passenger, though he was headed to the other end of the luxury scale in the Ramada. At Fisherman's we were met by our Goan friend as well as host Cris Rodrigues, and then started one of those memorable Sunday sessions: drinking Kingfisher beer; eating fresh fish and squid barbequed in Goan spices; talking with Goan fishermen, a Phillipino ship's agent, and a Jamaican ship's steward. The air was hot and humid with ... read more