Blogs from Anjuna Beach, Goa, India, Asia - page 8

So here we are, the trip through India is half over and we want to unwind. Where to go?....GOA. The land of blissed out hippies and sunworshippers. You can understand why. With the beautiful beaches and cheap hotels, they come in droves and stay for months. We started our Goa adventure in Anjuna where we met up with one of the girls from our GAP tour, Ayse. We went to the Wednesday bazaar and had a blast walking up and down the colourful stalls, there were hundreds of them. The people, smells and colours made this a truely memorable experience. After spending a couple of days in Anjuna, we took a taxi up the coast to Arambol. This place has a spectacular beach. Long, clean and lined with beach shacks and restaurants. The waves aren't that ... read more

We decided to hit Anjuna as early as possible, not quite in line with the goan philosiphy; therefore we had to wait for the restaurant to open to serve us breakfast so we could make our get-away from Vagator by Taxi. After a short trip round the local hotels in Anjuna, we found a room which can only be classed as a converted barn. We snapped at it. To be honest, we were all done with walking with the heavy bags in the heat anyway! Ollie got the chance to hang is hamock once again, so all was well. We spent the day wondering around Anjuna, obviously realising we had come a little late in the season as the place was more humming than buzzing! Nevertheless, and still strategically finding shadey spots to wonder around as ... read more

One more little story before I leave Goa.... Yesterday, I had to go to Penjim to cancel one of my train tickets. It was a great day. I really like Penjim, so green and much quieter and cleaner than many other cities around. And really good food. Iain had to mail some books back home. Mailing books is cheap from India, but you have to package them in white cloth. So we went to a kind of tailor shop. Older man, very friendly. He was not in a rush and it was fascinating. This shop also had a photocopier, which I needed. I don't know how long we were in the shop, but it was one of those great indian experience. The old man gave me a Lonely Planet about INdia and asked me to read ... read more

One more day of yoga, one day to rest, one day to pack and go. I still don't know how I will get to Rajasthan exactly, this week was funny trying to get a seat on one of the trains... I now have a collection of train tickets, most of them on the "wait list". The first one was booked in Panjim, but to be on the safe side, I decided to book a back-up ticket to Mumbai in 3rd class-AC (I don't like Air Conditioning but may have to tough it out to get to Mumbai), so this one was booked in Pernem. It was late in the afternoon when Iain and I went to that small village. The drive was beautiful, some rice fields, so green on the way, some more rural and especially ... read more

I love India. Did I mention that before? Oh well, I am still in Goa, and I am starting to think about leaving soon... My itinerary changed, I will not go south after all, I decided to go to Rajasthan instead. I figure that instead of being on a dog sled in February, I should try a camel trek this year. So this week I went to Panjim, a very nice city in Goa, where I tried to book my train ticket to Rajasthan. But I am a bit late and it might be somewhat complicated to get there, but we'll see. I will leave Goa next Saturday, and maybe I will have to go back to Mumbai first, but in about 10 days, I should be close to my first camel... Panjim was lovely. Much ... read more