It’s the last night of our last full day and Jared and I are both feeling what everyone feels at the end of a trip - sad for it to end, but excited to get home and start moving on with all the other exciting stuff we have to look forward to (stay tuned, we’re gonna keep writing!). It’s just that, it wasn’t until the last few days that we felt like we got the hang of all of this...although I think that’s often the case when you travel. The first week of a trip, especially to a country like India, [View Full Entry]

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After laying around for 3 or 4 days, Jared and I figured maybe we should peak out from behind our piles of naan, seafood, aloo gobi and butter chicken and explore. So on Wednesday morning we headed to Margao, the nearest large city and the second largest city in Goa. We planned on walking down the street a bit and catching a cab but then decided that maybe an attempt at a bus ride was in order. We were pretty sure most of the buses headed there, so we jumped on the first one that was going in the right direction. [View Full Entry]

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So as much as Jared and I were enjoying the family like atmosphere of the VG, we were looking forward to some luxury and anonymity. Unreliable a/c (in 95 - 100 degree weather), a bad internet connection (yes, we’re that addicted) and constantly making conversation with the hosts had us anxious to get to the Hyatt. Not to mention that we were looking for some new surroundings and knew that these were going to be plush. See, I had managed to score us a ridiculously good deal on our room there. I had gotten 25% off the Hyatt’s guaranteed “best rate” [View Full Entry]

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Back to Turtle Beach, here's a video that sums up our day. [View Full Entry]

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Getting back from such a completely zen day and realizing that I didn’t have my passport was a shock to the system. All the comfort of the day was immediately washed away with feelings of panic, disbelief, embarrassment and humor (I mean, it is funny when you think about it). We looked through everything in our room twice, then went and had dinner, and then came back and looked through everything one more time. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Our thoughts ranged from, “Well, perhaps they can just fax us an emergency exit visa and passport?” to “Here goes another trip [View Full Entry]

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Ruben = Thin Indian Yoga instructor with really wide spread toes. He was super nice with a calm demeanor and was easy to talk to. The class started at 8am on an interesting stone patio on the beach surrounded by palm trees. With the waves crashing in the background we are sitting right up front cross legged on our mats listening to Ruben chant Ommmmmmmmm. Then the yoga starts with Ruben repeating “Inhale in, exhallllllleee ooouuuut, slowly” in what can only be described as a new wave yoga song. Everything he says then becomes hilarious. I will now try and capture [View Full Entry]

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How to describe Janet and Goran? Intriguing I guess. On first blush we thought they were just a quirky married couple. He’s constantly running around asking if we’d like a drink. He’s sarcastic and a bit anxious, and really funny. She, on the other hand, is … dreamy and has a certain quiet charm about her. While she keeps to herself, which creates a certain intrigue about the two of them, Goran chats openly about their spats (“You’ll have to talk to Janet about that, she’s not talking to me right now.”) and constantly wants to be in on the [View Full Entry]

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We arrive in Goa at 6 am and get to our B&B, the Village Guesthouse, around 7:30 am. The house is situated in the village of Palolem, in the southern part of Goa, about a 5 minute walk from the beach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palolem. Very nice and run by a friendly (and odd) English couple, Goran and Janet…more on them later. Anyway, after waking up the owners, who were confused and sleepy but still proceeded to offer us coffee and conversation, we dropped off our bags and headed to the beach. The village of Palolem is a fishing village and most of the [View Full Entry]

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Mumbai, honestly, was uneventful. Unless you count the car ride through the crowded bazaar where my driver locked the doors, told me I wasn’t allowed to use my camera, and then proceeded to repeatedly tell me how unsafe it was. Or the (minor) car accident we got into after picking up Jared from the airport. Or the inadvertent drive by the slums where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. So, I guess there were a few things…but all in all, pretty quiet. I landed in Mumbai and went straight to sleep. The next morning after breakfast, I went on a city tour, to [View Full Entry]

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I actually slept Thursday night, which was shocking to me given how frazzled I was, but I think exhaustion just got the better of me. The plan was to get up early, finish up some packing, drive downtown early to drop my car off at the parking garage (Gara is watching it for us while we’re gone), and then get a coffee and wait for my visa. All goes relatively well. Besides that it’s raining and traffic isn’t moving on Lake Shore Drive, but at this point, I don’t give a f*(%. In my mind, visa is on the way, Mumbai [View Full Entry]

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