Blogs from Arambol, Goa, India, Asia

We now have only a few days left of our adventure. The trip has been wonderful,we have seen so many fantastic and varied places, and met so many many nice people (and only a small handful of not so nice!)......but we are looking forward to getting home to see friends and family again. This last stop in Goa is really a holiday to recover from our holiday. We have almost 2 weeks to play about in the sea, lounge about in the shade, have massages and generally have a relaxing time in one place. Goa is quite unlike other places we have visited in India so far. This is hardly surprising because the country is so big (over 30 hours train ride here from Delhi), and because Goa is distinct in having been occupied by the ... read more

Possibly the most popular backpacker destination and hangout spot in all of India, Goa has probably been the lowest point on our trip so far. A rat-infested hut, relentless nocturnal mosquitoes, getting sick in the middle of the night, being bed-ridden with a fever, dirty and crowded beaches, Indian men with no respect for women (especially on New Year's Eve), a crashed scooter, and to top it all off - head lice. After Christmas further north in Diu, we made a mad dash to make it to Goa by New Year's - from one former Portuguese colony beach to another. A 20-hour sleeper bus (we waited 4 hours until an angry taxi driver put us inexplicably in the back of his car and drove us to meet the bus, on its way without us), brought us ... read more

Dnes presne to iste co vcera,len na plazi uz boli dvaja nahaci a nacvicovatel s padakom do mna nekopol. UZ mu to aj dost slo. Kupanie zasa nic,furt velke vlny. Poobede ako som siel kupit vodu,tak chalan predomnou kupoval mlieko v sacku. Take tie male balenia co sme volakedy fasovali na zakladke. Tak som si ho hned kupil aj ja,vypytal som si k tomu slamku a uz sosal. Skoda,ze som o tom nevedel skor,mohol som sa premliekovat. Hadam v dalsich mestach budu mat. Jeden clovek co som stretol ,vravel,ze v Indii je mozne vsetko.Uz tomu postupne zacinam aj verit,som zvedavy co ma este caka. Inak je tato cast pohodova,ziadne velke davy otravnych indov,zobraci skoro ziadny,zvierat minimum na ceste,bordel tiez nie velky ale zas je tu kopa rusov. Vsade su dvojazycne nazvy, anglicky/rusky, niekde cisto len rusky. ... read more

Our train to Arambol, a beach in northern Goa, departed at 7:00 a.m. from Mumbai’s CST Railway Station and was supposed to arrive to Pernhem Station, a thirty minute drive from the beach, at 5:00 p.m. but, naturally, the train was running on Indian time so we didn’t reach our destination until almost 8:00 p.m. We weren’t in a rush, and this was my first Indian train experience, so I sat back and enjoyed the scenery, after first indulging in a two hour nap. We’d bought second class sleeper tickets even though it was a day train since it was a long ride and we wanted the extra space. Scott and I each had upper berths, which was nice considering the triple-bunk-bed style set up of each cabin. On day trains, the middle bunk folds down ... read more

Cestou sme naberali pasazierov. Isli sme cez les,konecne super cesta,nie ako cesta cez dediny,kde bol samy spomalovac. Vodic to dobre valil,miestami sa cely bus cely triasol. Nad ranom sme zastali na vymennej stanici. Asi 3/4 pasazierov prestupila do druheho busu a sla do mesta Gokarna. Od cinanky som sa dozvedel,ze su tam super plaze,skoda,ze som to nevedel skor ,isol by som radsej tam. Gokarna v preklade znamena chod chod,go = chod po ang a karna = chod po indicky,aspon tak mi to vysvetlil moj spolusediaci ind Inak sleeper kabinky su asi 170cm dlhe,takze vyssi clovek nema moc velku sancu sa tam vyspat,vojdu sa tam dvaja ludia na lezaka (neskor zistene,ze aj 6 indov v sede),kabinka sa zatvara supacimi dverami,tak je to trochu izolovane od zbytku busu. Cestou sme v mestach este vylozili par ludi,v meste Panjim ... read more