Blogs from Goa, India, Asia - page 8
April 13th 2011
With all of the group games completed, we had to make a decision as to what we wanted to do before we all left India, me bound for home. England were playing their quarter final in Sri Lanka, which ruled that out as an option and I was pretty keen to just soak up as much sun as possible and enjoy my last couple of weeks on a decent beach. Goa is the tourist hotspot in India and we had heard from various people that Palolem Beach was the place to be at the moment. I had intended to beach hop all the way along the coast, but it transpired that time wasn’t really on side and Palolem appeared to have everything I/we wanted for the next 10 days or so. Bear had wanted to do ... read more
April 11th 2011
We arrived at Mumbai CST about 2 hours before our train was due to depart – well we didn’t want to miss it now did we! Actually it was lucky we did as we had to find out which platform our train would arrive and where abouts on the platform to stand to board our coach. After seeking help from a very kind Indian man who was getting on the same train we managed to find the right place! Our beds were right at the end of the coach, so we were in for a bumpy ride! Once we had boarded the train we realised that our e-ticket had no ETA on, and they do not announce the stations on Indian trains as that would make things far too easy for their customers! Debbie seemed to ... read more
April 10th 2011
Flying the no-frills Air Asia airlines, we landed in Mumbai (Bombay) on March 23rd, found our way to an ATM and booked a pre-paid taxi to take us to the least expensive accomodations we could find: the YMCA downtown at $45/night it is still incredibly pricey compared to the rest of India. When Dave handed our taxi driver a 100 rupee tip, he said “Sir, this is very small, Sir” with a pained look on his face. We were tempted to take it back and say sorry and walk away, but instead we just said “No, this tip is fine”, we did just land in India, but we weren’t born yesterday. We caught a late Indian buffet dinner that was included in our room rate and headed for bed to catch a slim few hours of ... read more
April 2nd 2011
Juhuuu, Sonne, Strand und Meer! Endlich bin ich in Goa! Hab so lang drauf gewartet! Und weils hier Gott sei Dank nicht viel zu tun gibt, kann ich jetzt ganz ausfuehrlcih ueber die letzten Wochen berichten. Am 17.3. bin ich mit dem localbus von Jaisalmer nach Jodhpur gefahren. Ganze 6 Stunden sass ich neben dem Fahrer, der eine unglaublich laute Stimme hatte, mit der er mir dann auch non stop die ganze Fhart ins Ohr gebruellt hat. Mit Kopfweh und komplett durchgeschwitzt (es wird echt heisssss...) bin ich dann in Jodhpur ins Hare Krishna Hostel eingecheckt.. HAb ein Zimmer fuer 150 Rs bekommen, das aber kein Verglecih zu meinem gemuetlichen Lieblingszimmer in Jaisalmer war. Das Bad war am anderen Ende des Hotels und selbst nachts hatte es saunaverdaechtige Temperaturen. Dafuer war das rooftop wieder wundervoll-mit Blick ... read more
March 26th 2011
December 2010 Sidika and I have fled the cold and chaos of Delhi for the warmth and chilled out vibes of the gilded playground of Goa. After a week or so at Magic Park, Arambol, in a hut inhabited by many different species of mosquito, we take ourselves off to Casa Natividad, South Anjuna, where we put ourselves into the care of Jean Pierre Avantario at Here and Now Healing (www.healinghereand now.com). We have prepared for the week long colon cleanse by progressively eliminating items from our daily diet until it comprises only raw vegetables, fruit and litre upon litre of coconut water. Day 1 On arrival Jean Pierre gives us an iridology consultation, weighs us and takes our blood pressure. My iris indicates that my digestion is toxic and my lungs and ovaries show up ... read more
March 17th 2011
Hei igjen! Som jeg fryktet, er det egentlig ingenting å skrive hjem om fra Goa. Vi har vært i Palolem i en knapp uke nå, og har ikke gjort noe annet enn å bade, sole oss og drive dank. Det har vært godt, men jeg er veldig klar for å reise videre i morgen. Da drar vi til storbyen Mumbai, og tilbringer helgen der før vi reiser tilbake til Trivandrum, byen hvor vi startet hele reisen. Derfra flyr vi hjem om en drøy uke, med et 12 timers pit-stop i Dubai. Her i Goa har jeg forøvrig handlet litt safran, siden prisene er litt hyggeligere her enn i Norge. Jeg tar med meg 20 gram hjem, noe som tilsvarer en verdi i Norge på ca. 2000 kroner. Her kostet det meg litt under hundrelappen. Det betyr ... read more
March 15th 2011
Now adamant that we should all have been opening for England, we drove back up towards Agra and the famous Taj Mahul. As one of the wonders of the world expectations were high but it didn't disappoint. Unfortunately, there's literally nothing else to do in Agra, so we took a tuk-tuk down to the local Pizza Hut and overpaid massively for the comforts of home, demolishing three large family feasts and a couple of Sprites a piece. After a week of nothing but veggie noodles (spelt noddles on most menus), it went down a treat. The next day we took our first sleeper train down South. We got on about six O'clock Friday night and didn't arrive till half six Sunday morning. We took a taxi to Anjuna and strolled along the beach looking for somewhere ... read more
March 14th 2011
Now for the last leg of my journey. I arrived in India on the 11th, and it felt like i never left from last time. The weather is perfect. The yoga is energetic and i'm paying the price of not doing any for two months. My body is aching from head to toe and its only day two. The food is fantastic and I've met some really lovely people. So this is it for the next few weeks..... and i gues you'll hear the rest on my return! 11/03/11............ read more
March 11th 2011
(Day 1071 on the road) And then, things got better. The further south we moved, the less hassle there seemed to be. After we left the northern Indian states behind and headed for the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Ellora Caves, Mumbai and Goa, things turned decidedly more relaxed. Of course there were still the constant "Hello sir, auto rickshaw?" cries from the drivers in the streets, but they seemed less persistent than in the north of the country, and non-rickshaw touts declined noticeably. Ah, niiice. Speaking of auto rickshaws: One of these, painted bright yellow, made of plastic, maybe about 20cm long, and in the possession of naughty Luc, proved to be a near endless source of fun for us all and many passer-bys. Jasmin had bought the toy auto rickshaw for Luc in ... read more
March 10th 2011
Okay, after the very depressive previous entry that sounded like the diaries of a suicidal fat kid imma cheer things up a bit with the magicalness of Palolem :) After a near on 30 hour train journey from Varanasi to Mumbai, nearly missing a flight (got to check in with 7minutes to spare), being given VIP wheelchair service by the airlines (whack on a bandage round yer leg and they’re putty in your hands) and then a VERY long taxi ride in the dark we finally, finally made it to Palolem Beach, south of Goa, also referred to as Go Go Goa – the land of dreams. Now the reason for this very apt name is because Goa literally has it all: amazing food, amazing shopping, amazing people, amazing beach, amazing bungalows by the amazing beach ... read more
