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Published: March 15th 2008
Goa is like Neverland for hippies and ravers. It's been trying to clean up its partying image but I'm not sure how well that's going... However, the beaches are very pretty and fresh seafood is always nice, so it wasn't a bad place to spend a few days.
We mostly just bummed around Anjuna. There's a famous flea market there every Wednesday and we just happened to arrive Tuesday afternoon, so we got to explore that a bit. I picked up a nice pearl necklace for about USD$12!
We rented a scooter for a couple of days and rode it over to a nearby beach called Little Vagator. It was such a nice day that we decided to lay out for a bit (If you know me, you know that I have many stories that start this way...). Unfortunately our anti-malaria medication has made us photosensitive so we both came away slightly lobster-esque. Burt's still peeling!
After a few days we'd had enough sun and sand and were ready to leave but all the trains were booked for days (some weeks!). Instead we opted for a 24-hour bus ride. I'll certainly never do it again, but we managed
to cover a lot of ground for a pretty cheap price. Plus we got to watch several more Bollywood movies! Hurrah! 😉
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Burt and I really weren't interested in stopping in Mumbai, so we skipped over it and went all the way to Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is the capital of the state of Gujurat, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country. Another interesting fact is that the food in Gujurat is a tad sweet.
Our first couple of days in Ahmedabad weren't very successful. It seemed as if we didn't get ourselves lost on foot, our rickshaw drivers would do it for us (yet charge us by kilometer).
After trying to find two different places by two different rickshaws with no luck, we decided to just walk for a while. We walked past a huge market area and Burt stopped to buy a banana. Within seconds we were surrounded by smiling, curious faces. It took a little bit for them to understand that he only wanted one banana, not one kilogram, but eventually we connected. As we continued through the market we felt like celebrities -- shaking hands, waving, etc.
Our last day we managed to find a rickshaw driver that not only spoke excellent English, but also knew everywhere we wanted to go. First we visited the Calico Textile Museum and learned about textiles from all over India. Then we went to the Museum of Indology and checked out their extensive collection of ancient carvings and coins. (The previous day we had gone to the museum next door for a miniature painting exhibit.)
After that we had dinner and then took an evening train (11:15PM) to Udaipur. We're still there now and are thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
*There is a gorgeous boutique hotel in Ahmedabad called the House of MG. It's a bit pricey to stay at, but they have two great restaurants that I would definitely recommend!
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Cody
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Two things: 1) learn from Ray's mistakes and put on more sunscreen. 2) where can I get me one of those camels to pull my car around?