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

Hello! Est-ce que je vous ai dit que l’Inde est un pays de contrastes ?!! Maintenant plus que jamais, nous en avons la preuve. Nous avons eu l’impression de quitter l’enfer pour aller droit au paradis! Nous sommes donc dans le sud de la province de Goa, ayant sauté les gros Resorts pour filer tout droit à Palolem. Il y a un mini village ou plutôt une rue principale avec des petits commerces et restaurants, mais l’attrait principal est évidemment sa plage en forme de croissant. Cette plage est bordée de petits villages de huttes de plywood aux toits de bambous, regroupées autour ou derrière un restaurant qui pour sa part fait face à la plage. C’est d’ici que j’écris, en dégustant un méga bol d’ananas et de papayes, alors que Phil va s’essayer pour un ... read more

Namaste!! So sad that this is one of my last posts as the trip is winding down and I'll be heading home in a few days!! Moving up from Kolkata to Darjeeling was a huge shock to the senses. Kolkata had been really warm and nice and busy and then all of a sudden, we were up in the quiet, damp, misty mountains with a serious chill in the air – luckily, we were well-prepared with lots of wooly socks and toques to keep us warm, but I still found myself wearing about 3 layers on the bottom and up to 5 on the top! We stayed at one hotel the first night that we found with a really lovely British couple, Damian and Rhoda whom we met on the train, but it was like sleeping ... read more

I was fortunate enough to have met some sweet gals in Parassini who were also hoping to experience Goa for Christmas and New Years, so Anna (Scotland), Isabel (Spain), and myself set off to take the overnight train to Goa. We had booked our tickets far in advance and had been on the waiting-list for weeks, when the day came for us to depart we were numbers 4, 5, and 6 on the waitlist so our odds were looking good. We showed up at the station only to find out that we did not get on the final list and our tickets had been canceled. Hmm, we had a little group pow wow and decided we were gonna wing-it and get on that train boarding through general class. If you know anything about the Indian Rail ... read more

M – My first impressions of Goa were a little mixed. We had taken an overnight AC sleeper train from Mumbai to Margao - about two thirds of the way into Goa. We then headed a little further south to avoid the more populated beach resorts frequented by the holiday packages from Europe in central and northern Goa. The positive - the morning view from the train of the rice fields surrounded by palm trees and lush green hills boded well. I was excited, so much so that I decided to stand in/hang out of the open doorway of the train to suck in some of the fresh air. This is something you can’t do on British Rail! After a few minutes I ducked back inside before Kate saw me hanging out the window or I ... read more

Terry has been to South Goa before when he last came to India 5 years ago and loved it. The guide books say’s the best beaches are in the South and quieter so we decided the South it was. As Smithy only had 8 days left she was happy with the best beaches rather than the more rave party scene and package holiday crowds that pile onto North Goa beaches. Terry and I are here for 3 weeks so after Smithy goes we would be checking out North Goa as my brother comes out for 2 weeks on the 18th November. We arrived at Margoa train station at 10.45am. The skies were blue, the weather was hot, all we could think about was jumping into the sea. Margoa train station is in South Goa but still ... read more