bohemianvagabond

Hello friends, I am back. And Alive. I caught a cold, but I believe was on the flight.. Let me just say that it was the most obnoxious 2 day flight/travel back EVER. It was a 6 hour flight from GOA to Chennai (I originally thought that i'd visit Chennai for a few days.. but heard that there was nothing special, so I booked a flight from GOA to Chennai, where my departure flight was..).. And in that 6 hour, we had 5 stops, that basically went down south to cochin, trivandrum.. a big U turn. (that's all that was available) Then at Chennai airport, I waited 3 hours to catch my international flight. From Chennai, we flew to Singapore for a few hours, stopped in Singapore airport for about 3 hours.. then from Singapore to ... read more

I've been in Goa now for the third night.. Last night in India before my flight tomorrow at 1:45 pm!!!! I will land 11:30 am saturday.. straight to lots of Chinese food, pedicure, target, costco, laundry (running the soap at least 2 times).. I've done the laundry once here but I dont know if it cleaned it or made it worse. After my last post, I took a taxi to Anjuna Beach Tuesday around 3 pm. Much better than Baga.. more of a young crowd, new age hippies as well as hippies in their 50's and 60's.. who were the true hippies back in the day, discovered Goa back then when they backpacked and are now back for a reunion... These 40-60 year olds are more liberal than us youngins!!! They are at the raves on ... read more

Last night, Bunty took me to the Gate of India monument.. which was on Marine DRive.. Chowpatty beach.. then we went to the oldest, most well known hotel in Bombay the Taj Mahal Hotel.. it was beyond elegant, comparable to the Grand hotel in NYC. I had a dirty martini there.. same price as US.. about 15$. its amazing the dichotomy between rich and poor here. Then Bunty took me to his favorite indian restaurant, and OH MY, IT WAS DEFINATELY THE BEST FOOD OF MY LIFE. We got Masala poppers, which is papadum, sprinkled with spices, raw onions and lentils?? and then Chicken Kabob.. amazing.. and LAMB CURRY. It was perfectly spicy.. and I was in heaven, along with my king fisher. Thereafter we went to a local club.. it was definately happening, 5 stories, ... read more

Well It's official. Before my time is up in this life.. I need to, will be, demand to be in a Bollywood music video as a leading female role.. a Bollywood Movie will do.. So far, the 2 night stay in each city has still been in effect. After 2 nights in Varanassi.. I was done.. It's amazingly beautiful for it's ancient traditions.. the spirituality.. the rich culture.. But on another spectrum.. It gets very annoying being a traveler as it is.. an alone female traveler being gawked at, bothered by every male 3 yrs old to 80.. And it really does frustrate me seeing kids at age 8 trained to sell like the sleeziest car sales men you see in the states.. You wonder why the hell aren't they in school? If India and China ... read more

Woke up around 7 am this morning.. our view is amazing, overlooking the Ghats. Quickly got ready and had breakfast at Hotel Alka.. I had potato paratha and cheese paratha, and a pot of chai (forgot to tell them no sugar.. oh well).. then after we roamed from one end of the ghat to the other.. we saw some funerals in process.. there were a few beggar children that ran up to us, but not as much as I had imagined.. and at times you feel incredibly sorry, and start handing out money.. and other times you get immune to it and just tell them to shoo. Not only are you helping them out with some money, you are in a way giving them money for them to leave you alone and having them stop tugging ... read more

Yesterday morning, I boarded the train to Trivandrum at 10:30 am.. About an hour ride.. and I just did not want to get off.. I love train rides, rickshaw rides... You get to see everything!!! The ticket was about $1.50.. when I got off.. I took a rickshaw to Mitraniketan.org (check it out!) ... a secret society in the city of Vellanad.. I got this contact from Servas organization. K.Viswanathan actually started this school in 1950s.. It is a whole campus.. including a People's college.. an elementary school.. a girls hostel.. a dormitory for international volunteers.. as big as a college campus!!! I really did not know much prior to contacting Mr. Reghu for homestay.. And although I had the bad experience first day, I wasn't going to let it stop me from many other potentially ... read more

I've spent 3 nights here.. and I could stay longer.. Its more touristy, western, and catered to tourists if anything.. but its still a peaceful hidden city... I hear Kovalam is over-saturated with tourits and expensive hotels.. this hotel here is costing me about 14$ a night, and 12$ for last night ( i talked him down ).. im about to check out and board the train to Trivandrum.. a big city.. I will stay there a night.. i'd say about 1/3 the people here are from Tibet.. some came 10 years ago.. some 30.. some more.. The people here have been absolutely the friendliest bunch I have met.. the travelers as well as the natives.. There is not one person you miss saying good morning, good afternoon, hello too.. and they remember you.. and it ... read more

The Paradox of Our Age by The Dalai Lama We have bigger houses but smaller families; More conveniences, but less time; We have more degrees, but less sense; More knowledge, but less judgment; More experts, but more problems; More medicines, but less healthiness; We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever but have less communication. We have become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are times of fast foods but slow digestion; Tall man but short character; Steep profits but shallow relationships. It's a time when there is much in the window, but nothing in the room. I was up before sunrise by the sounds of ... read more

Im here in Varkala.. gorgeous beach, definately inhabited by tourists, families, couples, backpackers, and catered to tourists.. i like it tho, its peaceful. its the first place where im pretty content in being here. Next to backpackers traveling alone... I am envious of the young couples traveling together. That has been added to the ultimate must for male prospects.. A man I can have fun in the city with.. and loves backpacking around the world with me.. one that will try any kind of food.. along with lists of others, but those are the 2 must before we can proceed.. Same with friends, if you can travel with a friend around the world, you can do anything with them. I pretty much am able to blend in with the natives here with my burnt/tanned skin.. I ... read more

I am getting a bit bored here.. it could very well be the lack of company... but also, I realized the south is not the India I wanted to see.. Given 6 months- 1 year.. I would relax and visit everything.. But I have 2 weeks left and need to prioritize what I want.. Kerala is beautiful.. coastal tropical area.. Many many beautiful temples.. all green, slow pace life, straw huts.. beach living.... which is all fine and dandy, but it's not what IM looking for. I am going to book a plane right to Varanassi to see the Ganges River for a few days.. the oldest city in history.. known also for the daily burning corpse.. and am advised not to be surprised if you see a dead body floating around... many old people come ... read more