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Published: March 15th 2009
Colour festival Holi
The picture does not do it justice but im sure you can see how much paint we are talking about!
This was the war zone!Namaste (Greetings) everyone! It seems like it has been a while since we last updated the blog but we wanted to wait until now so we could give you our last India update along with our final thoughts before moving on to China, so here goes.......
After much chilling in Gokarna which we both thoroughly enjoyed, we got a train to Goa only 1.5 hours away, We got off at a place in south Goa called Chaudi, then got a rickshaw to Palolem Beach,
We managed to get a big beach hut on stilts with an en suite bathroom for 200 rupees a night (1.40 each).
Palolem is a picturesque beach with a palm fringed cove but unfortunately tourists have taken over, bringing with them the Ibiza atmosphere! There are stacks of beach huts, restaurants and bars...but it was refreshing change to get scrambled egg on toast for breakfast instead of curry!!!!
Not long after we had arrived we met up with Ruth's friend from London (Kate) and her housemates, who had come to Goa for a 2 week holiday.
Whilst in Palolem we did some sunbathing, explored the surrounding areas and even did some kayaking, which was really good
fun......and yes of course we overturned it in the middle of the ocean when Ruth discovered that you cant dive off a kayak!
Unfortunately Ami felt like she lost three days when she was struck down with a sickness and diarrhea bug unlike any she had ever had! You will all be pleased to hear that she is now fighting fit and back eating curries!
After a week we moved on to North Goa and headed for a place called Anjuna so we could go to the Saturday night market held in the nearby town of Arpora. Anjuna itself was a very strange place, especially where we stayed...it was a little hippie come trance village by the sea whereby everyone we came across was a drug dealer who could supply us with any drug we wanted!! haha if only they knew!!
The market was superb, it was absolutely massive! and in the 4 hours we were there we only saw about 1/4 of it! The stuff for sale was really cool and if we were coming home we could have filled a suitcase or two!! There was live entertainment in the shape of bands, multi cuisine food stalls and
Tucking in!
Ok.. so i gave in, these kids never pestered us once so i invited them to pick out a sandwich from a shop, then paid for it (32 rs). I really felt like i had helped as i watched them tucking in like it was the only meal they had ate in a week. the atmosphere was amazing! Best Saturday night out in a long while!
Whilst there Ami did buy herself a anklet with bells on..... she loves it and isn't annoyed by the noise in the slightest... I, on the other hand feel like I'm being followed by a cat wearing a bell collar! but hey...at least i wont lose her!!!
We then moved on to a place called Little Vagator where we are staying in the cutest bamboo hut called Paradise, we decided to stay here as its pretty central and we can see the rest by doing day trips so we don't have to lug our backpacks everywhere.
Since being here we have spent a little time on the beach where we found a face in the rocks, which stares up to the sky - Random but cool!
We took a day trip to Arambol which we really liked as it had a very chilled out atmosphere with a good mix of everything. We originally went there as we had been told by locals that it was a good place to celebrate the Holi 'colour' festival which was meant to be happening that day, however when we arrived
Hampi Boulders
Check out the size of our bikes and Ami in comparison to the boulders. we were informed it was the next day! Its really strange as for the past two weeks we have been trying to pin point a day for this festival and each time we are told something different! It's a massive deal here and probably one of their largest festivals, yet nobody know what day or date its on! Its like us not knowing when Christmas is!!!
So instead we went off in search of a mud bath mentioned in our rough guide book, after trekking through dense forest we came to the area and all completely covered ourselves in what is described as a 'surreal butter coloured shell' before heading to a fresh water lake fed by hot springs to wash it off! We all looked pretty stupid but had to be done as the hippies swear by it!
We finished off our day in Arambol watching a open mic night at a place on the beach, this was in a different league to open mic nights back home..... for a start the performers actually had talent, by the shed load!
The next day we headed for the Anjuna flea market 'all paint blazing', fully in the mood for
a paint war in celebration of holi. Basically this festival is a celebration of happiness and they use colour (kumkum powder previously pictured on our blog) to represent this, it is thrown and wiped on people.
We all had different colours and had also had a little war before leaving our huts so were already looking slightly colourful before we began our walk. Along the way we came across the cutest kids who we had a little fight with before coming to a area and being absolutely blasted by a group of men! Who shouted down the road "we are waiting for you" as we approached. At this stage we thought we were covered, and when we arrived at the market we went down a storm with the locals wishing us 'happy holi' and laughing and all the tourists wanting our photo... its strange to think how many peoples albums we are going to be in! After eventually washing off in the sea (i say washing off, it didn't really come off that well!), Ami, Kate and I started walking back to the huts being got by colour only slightly on our return from the sea. We were happily wandering
Night market
So many cool things, so little space! along when we emerged from an alleyway to be greeted by about 30 people running towards us with sacks of colour!!!! There was nowhere to hide.....and within seconds we were absolutely covered from head to toe!!! We then joined them and was given free beer and colour to throw at anyone and everyone who entered the zone, be it on foot, bike or car they were covered!! The street was a wash with bright colours, and every minute it and us changed when a new colour was introduced! We still cant quite believe how many layers we had! The whole experience is one we will never forget and we are so pleased that we were a part of it.
Oh and best mention the fact that the colour is super hard to get off and we are both still a shade of pink in areas.... But who knows if Ruth's hair will ever be the same again! she is now sporting a nice shade of Orange, yellow and pink! and has been told because she is blonde the colour will remain for the next 6 weeks! Very Hippie!
On Thursday 12th we took a train to Hampi in Karnataka,
Palolem Beach
Yet another beautiful sunset! along with Kate (Whose friends had returned home on a different flight). Whilst waiting for our train in a place called Margao we managed to catch 'Slum dog millionaire' in a cinema, this is a brilliant film which we recommend you all watch so that you can catch a glimpse of life in India. It was especially good for us to watch as it was so easy for us to relate to it from our experiences here. Not to spoil the story line for anyone but I'm sure your aware its about beggars in India and it is quite sad, causing Kate to cry (sorry Kate!), when we left the cinema we happened to walk straight into a field full of homeless young children who immediately pulled on Kate's heartstrings, and she handed over some cash! This caused a whole herd of kids to chase us begging!!
Hampi is about 7 hours away and is the largest living heritage site in the world! It was breathtaking to see as it was so surreal....... there are massive boulders everywhere, stacked oddly on top of each other (which puts stone henge to shame), there is also loads of banana trees and a
Rock face!
Looks so peaceful! river which has the cool 'rice boats' in, which we got a ride on, after a days cycling around the area had taken its toll on us!!!
We are now back in Little Vagator, flying to Mumbai tomorrow (Monday 16th) then on to Hong kong the following morning. So that's it, our two months in India has come to an end, and what a time we have had! It's been a brilliant start to our world tour and a complete culture shock, which is just what we came for!
We thought we would leave you with a short list of things we have enjoyed about India and things we are happy to leave behind.
Not sad to see the back of....
1, Rudeness (pushing, shoving, lack of manners and social skills)
2, Curries for breakfast
3, Pollution and dirt
4, Begging
5, Greediness (constantly overcharged)
Have enjoyed.....
1, The climate
2, The landscape
3, The Indian head wobble (could mean yes, no or maybe)
4, Cost of transport (it's amazing how far you can get for a pound!)
5, Vibrant colours (from the colour festival all the way through to the clothing)
Watch out China....Here we
Bring on the trumpets!
Part of the Holi celebrations! come!!!!!
Love to everyone back home, you are all in our thoughts , and thanks once again for all those leaving comments. x
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amykins
non-member comment
good final thoughts girlies
A great closing piece on your time in india. Ca't believe Indias over already! Rufus your tan is coming on a treat! The pictures were good again ant love the sandwich tale sweet .... Love to you both as you endeavor on with the next part of your journey, missing you millions as always amykins n shana x x x