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Published: January 21st 2008
Namaste everybody!
Ok 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 1,000 mph by the insane driver who nearly managed to kill us but not quite. It's easy to forget that the chaos on the roads is just standard in India- a lot more fun than getting a taxi at home.
We basically slept our first day as Virgin were pretty rubbish and allowed us neither entertainment nor sleep. The people in front of us had dreads down to their knees and one of them had some serious BO, so Jodi and me only managed half an hour or so of sleep the whole 8 hours. What we saw of Mumbai (which was not much in one night) was really not as bad as we'd been warned. The hotel we stayed at- the Highway Residency- was great and so far we've found
that people can't do enough for us. Apart form the wallet getting stolen we've yet to encounter any dishonesty or threatening behaviour- though we have had some pretty strange looks!
After flying to Goa the next day, we stayed for two days in Goa's capital city, Panjim. Walking down the street there you could so easily be in Europe; the architecture is really colonial as Goa was a big Portugese colony up until abot 100 years ago. It had a great atmosphere, and the place we stayed was fantasic- one waiter in particular has helped us figure out the manic public bus system: Basically you turn up, and listen for the guy shouting the name of the destination, get on, and hope that you can get a seat and that you don't die of over-crowding or heat-stroke. We managed to travel the 30 minute journey from Panjim to Mapusa, then the 40minute journey on to the coast for the grand total of 16rupees- about 20p!
Our first stop on the coast, Anjuna, was not exactly what we were expecting. Rubbish everywhere, getting mobbed by women selling bracelets on the beach, trance music blaring from every stall and people
offering us drugs every two minutes. The whole place was an absolute dive, and the only place in India so far that we've felt at all threatened. Our hotel room was a real dive- Mum you would have hated it! But at about 2.50 each you couldn't really complain.
Needless to say, we fled Anjuna the next morning, to the Northern coastal resort of Arambol, which is absolutely stunning. Still very busy and full to the seams with travellers, but it's so clean, and there's so much going on: Yoga, wind surfing, kite sufring, meditation, fantastic places to eat (we fed five of us for Rs600 last night- 7.50!). Last night we went to see a bunch of old hippies playing old punk songs and sat on the beach playing cards and drinking super cheap beer. This is the life eh?
We've managed to hire out a beautiful beach hut on top of a hill which we're sharing with a really nice Norwegian girl, Corina, who is training to be a yoga teacher. The view is teriffic and it's even cheaper than the hovel at Anjuna, at 2 pounds per night.
I think we're planning on hanging
around Arambol for a few more days at least, before we head south to Hampi. Will try and add pictures but this connection is soooo slow.
I think the only bad thing to report is we're about to run out of rizlas- gutted!
**PS- fed up of waiting for photos to load so will try and add more later
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ben
non-member comment
hello
Blimey that is comprehensive who remembered all that! Nice to hear you guys are ok and it sounds like your doing fine. (apart from harriet's wallet malfunction).Everything is as per normal here apart from skip won at poker. now go travellers I wish you fortune in your next quest's !