http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Goa , Arambol en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:55:39 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:55:39 UTC OK... so we arrived in Mumbai on Monday November 3 at dawn. Since this is our third international airport arrival on this trip we are already hardened to the taxi and hotel offers and were very put off by the man that overcharged us for using the public phone and the man that swore to us that we would never find a room in Mumbai for under 2500 rupees... we did find one for 500 rupees. Sidenot http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-345335.html Well first I must apologize that it has been quite some time since I have written... I will try to summarize as much as possible all the things that have happened since my last entry...In Luxorwe spontaneously rented a motorbike to get to the other side of the Nile and visit the Valley of the Kings. We did not intend to rent a bike but when we left the hotel that morning there was a foriegner ou http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-343592.html After a frantic two days in Mumbai we have escaped to Goa and to the beach1 We have travelled north to Arambol which is about an hour away from central Goa. Arambol so far seems to have escaped the tourist trail and is a small resort full of ageing hippies and crustys who are all lovely and friendly . We have a room overlooking the beach which is clean and spacious and more importantly only coa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-331742.html O.M.GWe finally arrived in Mumbai after an amusing flight. Cat who Im travelling with started to black out on the flight. I've never seen the colour drain from someones face so quickly. Luckly we had Rob sat next to us a paramedic from Londonwho helped out loads even though he was completly pissed on red wine.Mumbai is full on in ya face chaos. A big shit hole full of smelly slums run down bu http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-331713.html On arrive a Goa le 22 mai en avion pas de perte de temps en trajet interminable trop fort et la on passe la plus detendue des semaines que l'on puisse imaginer en vacances grosses bouffes sur la plage raquettes dans l'eau badgamon balade en scooter pour 100 roupies par jour soit 1.50 euros et rencontre avec les quebecois les plus cool du monde Justin et Sarah avec qui on fera les stars http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-284681.html Faut que jrsquocrive un peu en francais pour certaines de mes amies francophones. Excusezmoi les fautes drsquoorthographes et de la grammaire.Les matins la cloche de lrsquoglise sonne lentement vers 06h30 et a 06h50 sonne rapidement comme un reveil matin avec fonctionne snooze. Dehors il y a une cacaphonie incroyable les oiseaux. Certains chants je connais drsquoautres pas. Le http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-281420.html Green and red seem to me to be the predominant colours here within the natural world. Green vegetation and red earth there must be a lot of iron in the soil which gives rise to a fair bit of red dust. But when it comes to humanmade things they use the entire spectrum whether it's for clothing or houses. Visually this place is Disney on drugs. As if theyrsquove ripped the rainbow from the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-281419.html A hangover I'm at the cyber cafe and the poor guy is back at the hotel with an awful headache. Yesterday was his birthday. We got an Ayurvedic couples massage then I had our hotel set up a candle light dinner in the garden and serve us Punjabi food wine and birthday cake. Two glasses of Chianti and he's on his deathbed. I find it strange that he can drink 3 pegs of whisky and be fine but 2 g http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-274998.html Leaving Bombay turned out to be a bit like trying to enter the Pentagon with a turban on... We headed to the beautiful VT Terminal 2nd flr Booth 54 where we were assured to be able to book the tourist quota tickets that the Indian Govt. leaves open for impressional foreigners like ourselves but after waiting in line for over 45 minutes we came to the window to be informed that the trains http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-251589.html After settling in at Arambol and loving our new shack on the beach we decided that this was definitely the place to stay The weather was perfect the views were great and the beer was very cheap We have spent the previous 4 days lazing around on the beach eating good food and finding new places to string up our hammocks well ollie did anywayNot much else to note except Ollie decided to have http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-250988.html Another day in our beach hut and we arose early and headed down the beach to find some better digs. Luckily Mark and Dale had found a beachfront property with its own bathroom. Great success and we moved in and then headed out to explore some more of arambol. For those doubters among you there ARE plenty of places to hang a hammock and yes it it very nice So nice in fact that Ollie has invested http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-249126.html Welcome to paradise. Waking up to the sound of the beach and the clean air was amazing. We spent the day exploring Arambol and eating and on the beach But not much else. Finding a pool table again we settled in. had a couple of beers and then turned in Tired from the 1600km journey in the last 50 hours. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-249124.html Juche smo izgubili dosta vremena oko odaska do Panajia kako bismo kupili kartu za vecaras za Hampi. Ispostavilo se da to ne moze vec idemo tamo pa kao i obichno na guranje ko udje udje ko stoji stoji... Planirali smo i izlet u Old Goa nekada najmocniji Portugalski grad ali smo to ostavili za neki drugi put. Vratili so se u Arambol. da josh jednom uzivamo zalazak sunca. Veche smo proveli http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-248867.html dan 4Super smo se naspavali vozu dobili smo spavaca kola iako nismo to ni znali. Posto smo vec culi sa vise strana odosmo u Arambol. Nasli smestaj za par dana koliba na krovu kuce super. Ulicom prepunom prodavnica uglavom odece dole na plazu u restoran na klopicu uvek tako dobru i jeftinu i uvek razlicitu. Samo bi jeo stalno. Posto smo more dosta gledali za ruckom vreme je bilo i da a pr http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-248855.html Ive just been on the craziest bus journey they have sleeper buses that have little cabins for 2 to share ours was over the back wheels and it was like being on a roller coaster all the way For 10 hours ive been bumped up and down and actually feel like ive flown off the mattressim surprised i hadnt fallen out of the bunk compleatly and spent the last 10 hours holding on for dear life i obvio http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-245957.html Namaste everybodyOk so first yes we are still alive. No rape or pillage yet though I have already managed to get my wallet stolen at Mumbai airport typical Harriet huh Never mind living off my credit card for the time being thanks mum.So anyway we arrived in Mumbai dust heat palm trees pollution and were whisked away to our hotel in a rickshaw at about 1000 mph by the insane drive http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-237927.html www.diariodeunviaje.com todo en nuestra pagina webNORTE DE GOA 141712Otra noche durmiendo en ruta pero esta vez el autobus es mucho mas comodo la amortiguacion funciona y la cama es mas ancha y limpia. Llegamos a Panaji Capital del estado de Goa a las 800h. Buscamos una consigna para dejar las mochilas pero no hay asi que vamos en bus local 7Rp hasta la antigua capital Old Goa y al http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-236217.html cooooey everybodyI'm in a place which just might be the closest i've ever been to paradise it's so beautiful the white sandy beaches bamboo cafe's on the beach which amazing music always live music and fires on the beach so many really lovely people its really great. We got here about 34 days ago have been stying in a lovely little bamboo hut on the beach in a place called 'Cocks Town' lovely http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-234938.html Getting to Goa was a chore worth mentioning brieflyWe took a 16hr sleeper train from Jodhpur to Mumbai so far so good. It was as good as a 16hr train journey can be...Then we spent 2hrs in the blistering heat and humidity of the hottest place in creation i.e Mumbai trying in vain to book a train before relenting and buying an overpriced bus ticket leaving later that evening. So one substanda http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-219832.html Arambol 7th 16th November 2007The second leg of our journey took us to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus Victoria Station the busiest train station in all of Asia. As we arrived at 6.30am we were greeted by hundreds of men workers filing off the trains ready to start their day's work in Mumbai. The train station itself is an amazing Gothic building and it apparently has influences from Hinduism I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-219188.html So the plan had been to kick in up to Anjuna famous for its all night parties and rave scene and jam out with the party crowd there for my last week...I sold new friend John on the idea of a change of venue over beers the night before so I had someone to split the 2.5 hr40 dollar cab with rather than the much cheaper about a buck but 7 hour long bus option. Some last minute intel had us deci http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-217555.html Am still here in Goa in the tranquil and very strangely hypnotic Arambol. Billed as a very quiet town where people go to get away from the bustling crowds of Anjuna I have found the exact opposite. I do think this is a geographical thing Arambol is the first main coastal town in Goa as you travel south from Mumbai and I think everyone just gets off the train here first on their way down an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-216780.html NamesteI am now in the South of India in the state of Goa and what a state I have been in. The journed from Varanassi required me to catch two trains with a 8 hour wait in between each one. The total jounrney took 59 hours and I my arse started to leak about 3 hours out of Goa. I had been staying so healthy but I suspect it was some dodgy train food that did me in. I am now in Arambolwhic http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-213923.html Well hello there my english countrymen I do believe it has been quite sometime since we last wrote in the travelblog but we have been very busy partying at the big chill sunbathing swimming watching movies and getting drunk I think the last place where we left off was in crazy Calungute So after Calungute we headed for Palolem where we stayed here for ten days What lazy bums we are Here http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-151710.html People that I'd met along the way had told me I'd like Arambol it was a bit more laid back hippyish and less touristy than the rest of Goa. However being the end of season they were literally starting to pull down the huts and shacks it was a little laid back even for me. The preferred activity seemed to be the usual baking on sun beds all day though I found it a little more challenging t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-149965.html Ah... today i managed to get a well deserved lie in slept till about 930am which was extremly nice and relieving after the night before. We then waddled down to the restaurant to grab some breakfast. After some good strong discussions we thought that it would be wise to send as much stuff as possible to Australia as we were getting extremely knarked off by lugging very heavy loads. We were not http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-144692.html We awoke to limbs limply hanging off the edge of the bed due to its obvious growth deficiency or something. We removed the msquito net from clinging to every curvature of our sweaty bodies and made for breakfast. After our curious breakfast of masala tea toast with psychadelic jam and imitation cornflakes with about 100ml of milk to make them slightly less crunchy we started for the sunshine and http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-144021.html JUST TO LET EVERYONE KNOW I HAVE HAD TO REWRITE THIS BLOG 5 TIMES NOW DUE TO BAD COMPUTERStoday we officially moved in to our new appartment 091if you can call it that093.Up the dirt road and to the left you come across Riva Resort our new habitat for however long. Its a village of bamboo thereare quite literally only 2 stone built buildings in sight After packing lazily that morning http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-142460.html woke up to goa in daylight which was a pleasant suprise seeing as we were facing a lovely lake surrounded by a forest 091yes we even had rainforest sounds all night too093 with a yoga resort smack bang in the middle of it. The opposite side of the hostel was the sea front 091where the restaurant was situated093 with a beach practically deserted and for our pleasure. white sands....h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/Arambol/blog-142132.html