http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Goa , Panaji en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:01:29 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:01:29 +0000 well ... i havent started my trip yet ..but m gonna start it next month ... and m travelling alone this time... so any one vacationing in india next month.. so can get a chance to catch up .. m looking forward ... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-445500.html Goa in India is the abode of scenic charm pristine palm fringed beaches exotic wildlife parks and sanctuaries intricate forts temples and churches evergreen hill and mountains and many other mind blowing tourist attractions. It is one of the most beautiful states of India that appeals tourists from all over the world for tours and travels in Goa. Its awe inspiring tourist attraction colourf http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-443473.html I want to talk about a big part of myself that many of you donrsquot know a lot about. Her name is Maggie. Haha the reason you donrsquot know a lot about Maggz is because shersquos a great listener and does not feel comfortable talking about herself. Yoursquoll never hear her boast about anything because she is too humble. For my friends or family whorsquove met Maggie for the first ti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-441898.html Oh man... I just experienced some true India. I decided to take a train up north to the state Goa. It was those night trains that take 14 hours to get to the place. I spoiled myself by buying some 'first class' tickets on the train. I was half expecting the rooms to be like clean and have a nice window. Hahaha so wrong Vic so wrong. The only space I had was the size of an upper bunk bed with a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-441658.html I can remember that all my schoolbooks still showed Goa as Portuguese when I was at school they hadn't caught up with the 1961 Indian takeover. I'm staying in Fontainhas one of the oldest parts of Panjim which is the capital of Goa State and it still seems quite European in appearance. It is sometimes known as Goa's Latin Quarter. Most of the food is Indian in style but with lots of influen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-429143.html We had to make a stop in Mumbai on our way south to Goa. We just spent one night here before heading off as we fly home from Mumbai so will be returning to do some sightseeing. We had some problems finding affordable accomodation one place we looked had about 30 beds crammed into a dark grubby room with half naked sweaty Indian men lying on them. No thanks We did eventually find somewhere that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-398323.html The night before we left Palolem Beach we decided to treat ourselves to an ayurvedic massage. Not really knowing much about it we just ordered the full body massage that focuses on our back neck and legs or so we thought. Joe started first while I ran to our hut to change into my bikini when I came back all I could see was Joe lying on his front with his bare ass being massaged by a big fa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-379860.html So one week into my travels and it feels like I've been here for ages Took a tour yesterday to Dhudsagar waterfalls in the National park in the east of Goa the name of the park escapes me now It was a 2 hour drive in a wee bus thank god for air con followed by a very bumpy 8 km jeep ride through the Jungle and rivers listening to the guide telling us about the termites small snakes spi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-379035.html YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT THEN GO BACK OR GO THROUGH THE PHOTOS CLICK ON THE NUMBERS AT THE TOP IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. CLICK ON THE MAP OF INDIA ON THE LEFT TO ENLARGE.Yes here is another timetravel blog in keeping with my redoing old print journals for our records.SRI LANKA AND GOA INDIA DEC 05 JAN 06As most of you know in November 2005 we were in the U.S. for the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-343050.html Well we left mumbai in a whirl of craziness as the norm there last night there we took a romantic stroll down marine drive as described in the guide book we only lasted about 30secs before getting a cab as children and their parents were letting off fireworks all the way down health and safety is not big here Took early morning train to goa our names did not appear on the list for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-340818.html Well we finally made it out of Baga but not before we were harrassed mercilessly on the beach in the bar in the street and some guy even hovered outside our hotel we think he was exposing himself in the bushes. Generally we didnt do much there and couldnt face the prospect of going to teh seedy bars and just ended up staying in for the two nights we were there. Unfortunately i woke up to find http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-334249.html What will follow in summary Thursday 7th Depart UdaipurFriday 8th Arrive MumbaiSaturady 9th Depart MumbaiSunday 10th Arrive Goa EventuallySo a trip between cities doesnrsquot really merit a posting but if you have nothing better to do you might want to have a wee laugh at how bad a day this turned out to beThe storyWe left Udaipur at 10pm on Thursday 7th aboard the 3tier sleeper http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-312060.html Check out of the AFONSO today.We were paying the bill and part of it was for laundry we had to pay 485rps for the laundry I gave 500rps and started to walk off.The landlady stopped me and quite rudely said you owe me the commission from the bank.Oh ok erm how much is it34Rps 34 BLEEDIN Rupees. I gave her 20rps and again started to walk off she looked and said you still owe me 14 I said http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302413.html BOXING DAYHappy Boxing DayJust having breakfast off to Anjuna Market.Woohoo My idea of heaven DK idea of hell.Having read a lot about it we have decided that we will stay all day and make the most of it.Took a while to get here 45mins maybe in a tuktuk but it was nice enough going through different towns and villages.The market itself was ok quite large but selling the same stuff ev http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302412.html CHRISTMAS DAY HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONEAnother glorious day here in the PANJIM INN.Had Christmas breakfast the biggest fruit salad I have ever seen toast jam and a large pot of coffee.It's lovely just sat chilling watching the world go by.We exchanged gifts this morning we had a plan that we would buy token gifts this year from which ever place we were in. DK wanted some tshirts so we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302410.html CHRISTMAS EVEYep you guessed it its another beautiful day. We havent really made any plans for today maybe check a few emails and and look for some presents that the apple pie eating interupted yesterday.The girls want bags and the ones we have seen seem to be a pretty decent qualitysowe know if we leave it until Mumbai then it'll be a pretty bad decision.So the second guess for the da http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302409.html Up and to the bank DK is having a love hate relationship with them at the moment.. i think its quite funny but I darent laugh KARMA will come and get my assWent back to the PANJIM INN for breakfast that's where I am now sat in the sun writing this...Enjoyed yesterday our walk was good so looking for an equally enjoyable one to pass some time this morning.We went on a little stroll near our h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302408.html Today is really warm funny that considering where we are we have come to the PANJIM INN for breakfast its a great place... Expensive by comparison to what we have been paying for food but of course still mad cheap by our standards. Today we had 2 boiled eggs 4 toast large pot coffee x 2 295 rpsReading the NAVHIND TIMES Its all very civilized...Ive just been looking back through so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302407.html So here we are in Goa weather wise its beautiful nice and hot but its also a bit humid and sticky. Its very lush and green and a bit 'jungly' as we were driving along to Panjim. We arrive at the guest house THE AFONSO and wonder what all the fuss was about the owner insisting that we pay our monies up front and the palaver we had doing so... But were here now and it is nice enough I think http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-302403.html Namaste53 hours 4 flights 4 different airlines and one broken plane later Holly and I made it to Bombay Unfortunately...our bags weren't so lucky... Having been in 4 different countries over the past 2 days our bags could be literally anywhere We filled out a lost baggage form with Sri lankan Airways and set off bewildered into the Jungle of taxi wallah's where we started the neverending gam http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Panaji/blog-300992.html