Slow Goa'n

We moved from the incessant honking of the crowded smoggy streets to the absolute calm and quiet (almost too much so) of Goa. The tiny beach paradise state located a few hundred miles south of Mumbai, but might as well be on another continent. Palm trees and beach shacks replaced the dump trucks and rush hours. This difference was magnified since we’re travelling through India during the middle of Monsoon  season and the majority of Goa’s beach front resorts/guest houses /restaurants were shuttered until floods of pre-packaged tour groups from Russia and the UK returned.

The reason for the ghost town appearance of many of the small towns during this season became abundantly clear within hours of our arrival.. Rain, rain, and just when you thought the sun was going to stay out…more rain would pour down without a moment’s notice. Things were damp to say the least, clothes we hadn’t even worn were damp in our tiny little bungalow. Besides the lack of party crazed teenagers and reminiscing hippies that typically inhabit Goa during dry season, the other benefit of our timing was the fantastically lush greenery that sounds the beach. We still managed some beach hours and the whole week was unimaginably slow paced and perfectly relaxing, with our toughest decisions being what to order off the menu… We spent 4 nights in the beach town of Anjuna and all four nights we dined at the same kebab/Indian food restaurant for dinner, it was too good to pass up.

The last 2 nights of Goa we spent in the Capital  of Goa,  Panaji, where the Portuguese Colonial influence has left it’s print on the city.  The Thursday we arrived the anti-corruption supporters had shut down their businesses, as in Udaipur, and left us wandering the streets and enjoying the shelter of our air-conditioned, dry room,

The lush green Anjuna Beach

The only beach front spot that was open.  It was a welcome shelter when the sudden monsoon cut our sun bathing short.

The three of us where relaxing in the sun (or just non rain) when a heard of cows headed right at us. We didn't  notice them until they were quite near and by the time we got off our back they'd changed their course ever so slightly to part around us, sniffing as they passed and stepping over our beach blankets.and continuing on their way. Only in India.

The view from our little bungalow.  It was Monsooning and we feared our sandals might float away.

The fields were all green in every direction

To explore the 3 towns located within 10 miles of our base camp we rented some scooters. Shortly there after Sue had a very slow speed crash. Five band-aides later and one missing mirror, everything was ok. We even managed to stay on the left side of the road (most of the time) and navigate the cow herds that seem to possess some desire to direct traffic at intersections.

A banyan tree 

 

Dinner one night at our favorite restaurant in Anjuna. Even though much of the town was in hibernation there were still a few decent looking restaurants to pick from, we at at this one our first night and it was so good (and the menu so large) that we "accidentally" ate there 4 nights in a row. We may have a bit of an addiction to garlic naan.

After our supreme relaxation at the beaches of Anjuna, we headed to Panjim, the "bustling" capital of Goa state. Everything we owed was so damp the first thing we did was hang it all up in our refreshingly dry and well ventilated room

The Church of the Immaculate Conception at the center of Panjim. Due to Goa's intense Portuguese influence until the 1960's much of the population is Christian rather than Hindu or Muslim as is the case for most of India.

Note the sign, very nice of them to warn us.

One of the old churches located in Old Goa, the former Portuguese seat of power.

Another day at the bus stop.

Seriously garlic naan should be a controlled substance.

Udaipur- Land of Lakes Palaces, Temples and Protests.

Leaving our camels and Pushkar behind we headed for Udaipur. However due to the canceling of a train route, it proved to be a rather difficult place to reach. The first leg of the journey was a 5 hour train ride to Chittogarh.  While the people seated around us were very nice, asking us lots of questions and offering to share the food they'd packed for lunch, our other neighbors, the hordes of mice and miniature cockroaches, we're less welcome.

After reaching Chittogarh, we managed to find the bus station and bought our tickets for the final 2.5 hour haul to Udaipur. Having missed the last express bus for the day, we're were left to catch the rattletrap local bus. Fortunately our seats were right up front, so we a great view of the excitement to come. Just after sunset, when we were about 20 K from Udaipur, we came upon an accident blocking the two westbound lanes of the highway. Rather than stopping behind the line of 10-15 cars and waiting for the way to be cleared, our bus driver barely slowed as he pulled a U-turn in a roadside parking lot and headed back down the highway in the wrong direction…. Ummm ok…. No one seemed to be particularly concerned or surprised by this, including the police car we passed on the way to the accident. We drove for about 5 minutes in the wrong direction, flashing our lights at oncoming traffic, which barely seemed annoyed by the bus which had decided to turn a one way road into two. When we came upon a break in concrete divider, we pulled another U-turn, now heading west on the eastbound lanes. We even managed to overtake a fuel tanker which had pulled the same set of U-turns as us (passing when BOTH vehicles were on wrong side of the road). Never the less, we zipped past the scene of the previously encountered accident and another 5 minutes of wrong-way driving led us to another break in the barrier and we were back on the correct side, eventually arriving in Udaipur less than 10 minutes behind schedule. Why wait on an accident when there is a perfectly good stretch of road just on the other side of that barrier? Eastbound, westbound, whatever.

Our first day in Udaipur the local shop and restaurant owners kept their business closed in support of the anti-corruption protest sweeping across India. A local explained “Parents have to pay money when their child is born to get a birth certificate and relatives have to pay a bribe when a person dies to get the death certificate, you pay bribes from the day you’re born until the day you die.”   

Lake Pichola

The Hindu Jagdish Temple built in 1651, we entered and were mesmerized by the women singing holy songs to the beat of a skilled drum. (no pictures from the inside)

Udaipur’s skyline

The only things that were open our first day in Udaipur where the temple and the city palace so we kept ourselves busy checking out the two attractions.  This is Rajasthan’s largest palace. We have no idea who the other people in the picture are, but it's extremely common for strangers (especially young men) to ask us (especially Sue and Kristen) for a photo together. We usually decline, but we took one with this nice family and Graham took one with our camera too.

Jagniwas Island, formally the summer royal palace, now a 5 star hotel where much of the Bond movie Octopussy was filmed.

One of the many purse shops we checked out

One of the many purse shops we checked out

Some boys hand casting into Lake Pichola

A close up of the Lake, when we saw fresh fish caught from the lake on the menu our last night, we decided to steer clear. 

The Jagdish temple lit up for the celebration of Lord Krishna’s birthday.

Next up we take a couple short flights and head for the beaches and famed relaxation of Goa.

Flooded Streets, Shopping, and Camels, But No Meat.

For a change of pace we ventured away from the big cities and headed for Pushkar, a little mountain town of about 15,000 people. The town is centered on a lake and the entire area is considered to be sacred in the Hindu religion and the site of one of the world’s few Brahma temples. While we saw the temple, there were no pictures allowed, and the same goes for the holy bathing ghats lining the edge of the lake. Besides being a holy pilgrimage site, the town is also famous for camels, or more specifically the camel fair, races and trading that happen each November. All this has put Pushkar on the tourist map in a big way despite its small size, so for the first time in India we saw more than a handful of fellow backpackers as we wandered the streets.

The view from the rooftop cafe on top of our hostel.

The rules of Pushkar.

The top of one of the multitude of temples (not the Brahma one)

The afternoon we arrived it had been pouring all day and some parts of the town were flooded. We had to walk about 10 yards in this to get where we were going, not a big deal, but once you've seen all the filth and manure below, you don't exactly want to go puddle stomping. Later that night Kristen realized the toenail polish on her big toe had mysteriously vanished.....whoa.

The main street was lined with shop after shop offering a great opportunity to hone our bargaining skills. We power shopped the afternoon away.

As with most places in India, the cows rule the roads. We stopped to look into a shop when this one came up behind us and gave Graham a gentle (seriously) nudge in the ribs, just like it was saying "excuse me" and went on it's way.

Lake Pushkar

Some monkey's hanging out by the ghats.

Half day Camel safari out into the surrounding country side. It felt great to trade the dirty streets and honking horns for some fresh air and nature.

Lean back. Sue demonstrates the proper technique for not getting pitched after boarding the kneeling camel.

Sunset as we head back for town.

Next up we make the full day trek to Udaipur by van, train, bus and rickshaw.