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Published: June 22nd 2017
Geo: 15.0419, 73.985
And happy Diwali! Our tour of India continues but has slowed down considerably. We decided to spend some time relaxing in Goa for a while to recover from the sensory overload that was North India.
We spent a few days in Udaipur. The city itself was beautiful. Set between two lakes, the city palace and majestic hotels and temples were a refreshing difference to the humid, sandy cities that we had visited so far. We wouldn't quite call it 'Venice of the East' as the Rajestan tourism website tries to sell it, but it did have a certain romantic, slightly Disney-esque magical quality to it at times.
This was the first accommodation we had stayed at where we could use the kitchen ourselves. We were very excited to buy some local, fresh produce and cook for the first time in around 3 weeks! There was a lady selling fruit and veg not far from the hostel so we ventured that way and got some tomatoes, garlic and other bits, excitedly discussing the exotic dishes that we could cook, when Sooz was rammed by a cow… Up until now, the cows of India have been incredibly placid and
you can wander by them with no hassle. This particular day, when leaving the veg market, a car was coming towards us on the street so in true Indian fashion we were being honked at until we climbed up the wall out of the way or magically disappeared entirely to let the car pass. This wasn't possible as there was a cow and her calf walking along the wall. We didn't think anything of trying to walk past the cow and baby in order to get out of the way of the car. Instead, the car kept coming and the cow mum decided Sooz was a bit too close for her liking so she smacked her one with her massive horned head. Sooz didn't know what had happened and before she knew it she was in a game of 'tag' with a cows head. We managed to back away back into the veg market thinking she'd lose interest and move on… out we came, there she is, only this time with eyes for Phil. Phil had a little dance with her (we're not sure now if she had a deal going on with the local shop keepers because she managed
to separate us and drove us into one each) then she came back for Sooz just to make sure she got the message. The local shop keepers were hollering the whole time trying to scare her away but it wasn't until they came out with massive bamboo sticks that they managed to get rid of her. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry about what happened but ever since then we've grown very suspicious of cows on the street in India.
The hostel arranged a free cooking class on our last night in Udaipur which we were really excited about. We cooked a veg curry with daal, rice and chapatti. There were a lot of people involved and in hindsight it might have been best not to eat the food once we'd cooked it seeing as how many people had handled it, but we went ahead anyway and it was delicious. The next day was our travel day and let's just say that the food didn't agree with Susie at all. We pre-booked the bus a few days earlier. It was a mini-bus, we were sat at the very back and the driver was in all honesty the worst driver
we have both ever come across. 4.5 hours of being thrown around at the back of the bus with extremely bouncy suspension, roads riddled with pot holes and a driver breaking whenever he randomly felt the need, constantly honking his horn and chatting on his phone made for a horrific journey to Ahmedabad. Sooz spent most of the time with her head in between her legs (and felt quite smug that she hadn't vomited the whole way but someone else did right as we got to our destination) and even Phil felt travel sick. We had a 4 hour wait and then we boarded the flight to Goa. Pretty much the first thing the pilot says when we get on the plane is that there's a lot of turbulence on the flight path… Not a good day. After a short (but not too turbulent) flight which Susie spent most of in the toilet, we reached Goa at around 12.30am. Absolutely exhausted, we couldn't wait to spend the next 8 days relaxing on the beach, trying to get over our ordeal.
We found it very difficult at first to adjust to a more relaxed, ‘holiday' lifestyle after living the ‘travellers' life for
2.5 weeks. It definitely took a few days to adjust and truly relax but once we got into our groove we have had a lovely time in Goa. We've spent most days on the beach, sun bathing, reading, surfing, swimming, listening to music (and keeping an eye on the local herd of cattle that wander around the beach and streets of Goa) that of course we were gutted when we realised that we couldn't get a train out of Goa for another 5 days! Oh well! Despite falling victim to being sold counterfeit Nivea sun lotion and being burnt to a crisp for a few days, we're happy, well rested and looking forward to continuing our journey South.
Yesterday was the festival of lights during the Indian holiday Diwali. The roads of Goa were lit up with candles and there were fireworks and firecrackers being set off left, right and centre. It was beautiful and a lovely send off from our little holiday. We wish everyone at home a happy Halloween and happy Diwali.
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Sarah Cahill
non-member comment
Thanks for the update guys. Those pesky cows!! Glad ye had some chill out time after all the hectic sight-seeing, Delhi belly etc. Sarahxx