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Published: February 20th 2009
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So, here I am a couple weeks after arriving in India. Since the last entry, we haven't been doing much in Goa other than a few simple, yet all equally important things. Getting to Palolem was quite an experience. Jumping on bus after bus, some of them crowded as hell. I'd have to say that it was my first sense of "culture shock" I got. As we drive through the villages, I see families huddled under bridges burning garbage. That is not uncommon here. Everywhere you go in that area, garbage is constantly being burned. We got to Palolem and right away were hassled about a guesthouse to stay at. After one night there (not very nice), we switched over to Paridise de Palolem. Here is our stay in
Palolem summed up pretty quickly.
Wake up...well, whenever.
Get Chai Masala tea and maybe some breakfast. All the restaurants in Vagator/Anjuna/Palolem are pretty much the same. You pay more/less for the ambiance. Our favorite place in Palolem was the Inn Joy Cafe, which had couches throughout and a pool table in the back. When we didn't feel like venturing all the way (~100 yards) to the Inn Joy, we'd just get
something at our little restaurant. We stayed in a hut that had a ocean view for 300 Rps, or about ~$6...$3 each. We pretty much read all day and took the occasional dip.
At night, we'd drink, smoke, eat and watch the sunset. The Inn Joy was a nice place for the sunset, but we found a place on the north side of the beach that was better. A bit more expensive, but much more beautiful.
After sunset, we drink more at other bars and usually just head home.
A few highlights of Goa:
- Palolem is much more relaxed and beautiful than Anjuna/Vagator in my opinion. Huts and bars line the beach and there is two 24-hour bars right on the beach as opposed to in Anjuna, where everything pretty much shuts down at 10PM unless you know of a secret party.
-The beaches amazing, however, you are constantly barraged with Indians trying to sell you things. Clothes, sunglasses, ice cream, jewelry, fruit and sometimes even drugs (from the same people trying to sell you a shirt). You have to be patient and take it with a grain of salt.
- The people here, and all over India,
wear extremely bright colors, especially the women. I guess I fit in in that regard considering my borderline obsession with wearing the color yellow.
-The main drink of choice is Kingfisher. You can get them in 24 oz bottles, or 12 oz pretty much anywhere. They range from 50-80Rs for the big boys (about $1-$1.50) I like to call Kingfisher "India's Budweiser"...but we all know who the real "king" is.
- The Arabian Sea is extremely hazy. The sun will "set",but it will stay bright out for another 1/2 hour or so. You don't actually see the sun go beneath the horizon.
- On the 1st night in Palolem, we meet an Estonian Superstar! I forgot her name, but Aaron remembers...I'll have to get back to you. Either way, we mentioned American Idol and I guess they have that in Estonia. I told her to go on it to get popular and her manager/husband said that would be a step back.
So, on the Saturday in Palolem, we have some drinks with our new Aussie friends and plan on going to this "headphone party". It's an odd concept but I'll explain: Basically, you purchase headphones for 500 Rs with
a 500 deposit and you have the choice of 3 different channels to choose from. Imagine watching 200 people all dancing to a different beat - it must look ridiculous. Either way, we head down there. Aaron is very anti-buying the headphones, but in my somewhat intoxicated state I do it. You get a "bindi", one of those red dots if you're single as it's Valentines Day, however, I take mine off once I'm told that it's for girls! (whoops). I went off on my own for a while and meet these 3 girls. Two from Australia and one from the UK. I breifly mention to them we're going to Rajastan on Monday and told one of the girls, who had just extended her stay, she should come. Little did I know she contemplated it pretty hard that night, as she told me the next day. I thought it was kind of funny because I was half-way joking. After the headphone party, we head over to Cafe Del Mar - one of the 24-hour bars. There are about 30 people there, but it's kind of a weird vibe (as it was 6:30AM) so we head home.
The next day, I
wake up around 2:30PM (it's nice, I know) and realized I can't find my bag with my new digital camera and passport. Fuck, I pulled a "Max", for sure. So, I go tell Aaron, he's at a restaurant down the beach and we walk back to the hut to go have another look. No, luck. So I check Cafe Del Mar and sure enough, it's there and everything is in it too! Please refrain from telling me I'm an idiot as I already know.
Walking back, I see these two girls waving at us from the Inn Joy, we wave back but I have no idea who they are as last night was a pretty big haze. Aaron goes back to the restaurant he's at and I go investigate who it is. Turns out it's two of the girls from the last night. One from Australia, Jade, and one from the UK, Lidia. After getting lunch and shooting the shit for a while, we plan to meet next door cuz there's a band playing that night.
Aaron and I meet them and after talking about Rajastan and the camel trek, Jade mentions she really wants to go...so after a few
drinks and a bit of the "Levitt Charm", she heads over to the traveling agency and gets a flight for today (Wed) to meet us in Jaipur!
On Monday, we took a bus from Palolem to Margao and from there we took a train to Jaipur - Rajastan's capital. The 30 hour train ride isn't so bad as we find someone with a laptop and watch Slumdog Millionaire and a couple of other movies.
We arrive and meet Aaron's friend from work, Noelle, and get a place for pretty cheap and pretty big.
Today, we went to the city center of Jaipur and HOLY SHIT - New York City has nothing on these drivers. There are lanes, but no one uses them, including the camels, horses and elephants! Jaipur is famous for it's silver and gems as well as being called "The Pink City". We went to the Hawa Mahal Palace and it's absoultely beautiful. You should be able to look it up, but it was built in 1799 (I think) and was made for noble women to view the city below without fear of being stared at (I think).
Sorry I couldn't be more descriptive (and grammar/spelling
concious) as I'm in a hurry and this place is way too over-priced! Also, it won't let me post some pictures from Palolem so...sorrry!
Edit:
Pictures:
Pix 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63057&l=b8654&id=501346438
Pix 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64381&l=28c78&id=501346438
Namaste!
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mom
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finally blog!
Max, a wonderful addition to the travel diary, we have been starving for news! What a rich experience you are having, you lucky guys. Now just take some more photos of each other and some together... I want to see you!!! And tie your backpack to your wrist, would you? Love love love and keep up the great writing!