goin' to goa

Wednesday Nov 16 2011

Actually we’re already in Goa, at this point, it just didn’t sound as catchy. 

We’ve decided to revise our itinerary a bit.  Our camel tour is quite a ways from where we are and makes the train ride to Mumbai, where we will visit Anja, almost 24 hours.  Which was fine until we started talking to other travelers who were really not recommending it.  Not making it appealing enough to make it endure that grueling train ride.  I’m still not certain that we won’t regret missing out on this experience.

We talked about some options and just sort of randomly decided to fly down and check out some beach.  We’ll trained to Jaipur  and spent a day there.  It’s not a bad city we didn’t make it up to see the fort that everyone recommends as it’s a bit of drive, which was unfortunate.  Then flew to Goa, with Spice Jet airlines (love that name). We’re feeling a little tuckered out - the excitement of India is proving a bit wearing on first time visitors. 

It might be the beach...but it's still India!

I just wanted to rub it in a little bit, for our loved ones back home, that while the flakes fly there, we’re enjoying sandy beaches getting our tan on. 

While this might not have been the most efficient little detour we could have taken we’re glad we made it.  It’s really great here.  The last province we were in, Rajasthan, is called the desert province and we found this kind of strange because we thought it had a lot of green and was relatively lush.  Now that we’re in the south it makes amore sense. 

We’re in Northern Goa, in a town called Arambol.  It’s about an hour and half drive from the airport, we just took a taxi.  It’s very touristy here but surprisingly noncommercial feeling, considering.  It’s kind of a “hippy” community.  We get the impression people come and stay here for long periods of time. 

It’s super hot!  As in sweat always dripping down your back hot.  We have trouble ever finding out the exact temperature. 

Arambol Beach

Goa feels a world away from inland India.  It’s not exactly a profound cultural experience but for us it’s a welcome break from our first week in the bustling city.  We stayed in an ordinary hotel last night but tonight we’re going to look into staying in a hut. 

Last night at sunset a bunch of cattle wandered a long the beach, this was just hilarious to me, as just a little reminder that it’s still India.

We’ll be here for about four days.