Blogs from Arambol, Goa, India, Asia - page 4

After a hectic 2 weeks it was time for a break so we got our first internal flight to go south to Goa (landing in a monsoon is not great for an apprehensive flyer). I was really looking forward to spending 5 days relaxing by the beach and partying at night in Baga, as described in the Lonely Planet. However, the place should instead be called Saga and whoever wrote the guidebook obviously hasn’t been there for a while. 80% of people are 55+, which is fine, but not really what I was looking for. I’d describe Baga as a slightly warmer Faliraki or Magaluf with a much older crowd and no indication that you’re even in India. Not being able to stand it for more than a couple of days we explored northern Goa and ... read more

We got into Goa a little before noon. We decided on Arambol as our beach destination because it was quiet and secluded. It was another wonderful rest stop on our long journey. Our hotel was not only steps away from the beach, but was ran by some of the nicest guys we've met yet. Raj, Ummesh, Milan, and Egan did not only feed us the best food we've had yet, but they looked at us as friends, as we did them. The first day we pretty much spent on the beach talking with our new friends. The next day we got some scooters so we could go scooting around the lush greenery of Goa. We got lost in no time flat, but there is no better place to get lost. We got on a major highway ... read more

so we moved up the coast a bit, which is a bit backward as next we are heading south but there are no rules. anjuna was alright, but it didn't have much atmosphere, as everyone was on bikes all the time it was hard to meet people and have chats. so we are in arambol, which is really lovely. whereas anjuna seemed to be all about old hippies, arambol is all about the new-wave of hippies! we have noticed a hierarchy of tourists here in goa. you have to imagine that john cleese and the two ronnies sketch where they are looking down on each other.... the lowest of the low is the two week package holiday people, who are almost all british or russian. they just come for beaches and beer and are generally looked ... read more

....Aterrizaje en Mumbai, primera parada con muchas expectativas, y antes de poner un pie en este subcontinente, una mirada al slum de Mumbai (hacer referencia a la pelicula Slum dog Millionaire) retazos, pedazos de cartones, sacos de plastico azul, paja, etc...el impacto no es tanto la existencia de los tugurios si no la cantidad innumerable que se extiende por kilometros y kilometros…..El famoso libro "Shantaram" cuenta con lujo de detalles la vida de un fugitivo de la justicia Australiana que termina trabajando con una de las mafias en Mumbai, bien underground, aveces cruel y demasiado real, mucho de que hablar y comentar acerca de este libro fascinante....tema abierto para los que se encuentren con este libro..… ...Apresurando un poco el paso, para que no me agarre el ano Nuevo en Mumbai, termino esta corta visita ... read more

After a couple of beautiful, sun-soaked weeks, Mel & I decided that it was finally time to move on to the next part of our trip. There is just so much to see in India, and unfortunately our time is limited. There was one more thing I really wanted to do before we left the southwest coast though. For nearly 20 years now I have been a fan of psytrance music, and over 20 years ago, certain places in the state of Goa were some of the foundations and epicenters of the genre. I was determined to seek out and experience the remnants of the original Goa trance scene - who knows when or if I'll ever get back there, so I figured I had to do it now. For this reason we moved from Arambol ... read more