Goa to Mumbai

March 2

Luxury started in Goa and has not stopped now that we are in Mumbai. In Goa we spared no cost on food and stuffed our faces every meal. We spent an average of 1000 Rs (rupees) a meal. This is only about 23 dollars but is lots when compared to a normal Indian meal. To give another comparison, our hut on the beach cost us 400 Rs a night. Now that we are back in Mumbai we are enjoying the nightlife of the upper class. We went to "not just jazz by the bay", a lonely planet recommendation, and spent 500 Rs to get in the door and over 1000 Rs for a martini and a Kingfisher. The band at the club played a good first set which included some jazz flute. Then they took a break and we heard backstreet boys followed by britany spears... talk about keeping the good vibes going. The next night we went to Dome. An equally trendy roof top bar with a Cuban cigar list and 60 000 Rs Moet & Chandon champagne. This bar is along marine drive and has a wonderful view of where the towering downtown meets the harbour. - Don

I am so glad that we made time to revisit Mumbai. Returning here has been great because our many experiances and conditioning to India have made it so that we enjoy and understand this city quite a bit more than we did. Mumbai is vibrant and lively and even more so now during the spring festival of Holi. We are so lucky to be here during this festival, just by chance. Lots of shops and businesses are closed so there is hardly a car on the streets (which is the complete opposite of what Mumbai is normally like). Instead there are boisterous cricket matches in the street and people everywhere having a snowball fight with powdered dye of all colours. Needless to say, people become works of art and it is a sight to behold. Sadly no one threw dye at us, it would have been nice to emerse ourselves in the festival. I have such mixed feelings about leaving. I guess some things about India have really made me appreciate home so I am looking forward to going back with new perspective. But on the other hand it feels like there is so much of India yet to be discovered and experienced. It feels so good to abandon cell phones and cars and bills and just be a wanderer. Don and I are already thinking of new adventures we'd like to have. Hai Holi! - Lindsay

Kochi to Goa

Feb 24

Ok so it feels like I have to catch up. Kochi was satisfying is so many ways. We did a few touristy things that cost more money than we were used to spending, but in the end it felt like it was worth it. Chilling out on boats in Kerala's back waters was our favorite excursion. In addition to friendly people and quiet villages we saw actual nature. Its weird how elsewhere in India the country side looks so dead, ravaged by agriculture and pollution (garbage!). On the back waters we saw all kinds of fish, birds, snakes, trees, vines and flowers. And we got some more sun! The kingfisher bird is brilliantly coloured and loved by Indians. I'm not sure why exactly but kingfisher is a huge company in India. Another trip we made was into the hill town of Munar where another huge Indian company Tata has an enormous tea plantation. Other than serenity a we didn't get much out of the tea fields because the tour we expected never materialized. The place we stayed made it worth while though. It was perched on the edge of a mountain and we had a guy making us three traditional Keralan meals a day. There were a couple of Swedes and a couple of Danes with us and we all got along really well. The interaction with other people was good for us . Our room wasn't part of the main building but was basically a hut (with toilet!) perched even more precariously over the hill. I have to say though that the driver we had for the trip to Munar was terrible. That drive was probably the most dangerous part of India. The Swedish woman we met had an interesting scheme: when each of her children turns 16 she takes them on a trip. It's a good idea and she's been to Cambodia, New York and now India with her kids. I'm really glad I traveled with my parents as a kid because I feel it made me much more prepared for this trip.We feel like we have "improved" as travelers since leaving Delhi. If anything we have become more wise from our experiences. Delhi may not have been our cup of tea but Kochi suited us just fine. We spent days wandering the low key, Portuguese style streets of Fort Cochin. This part of Kochi is friendly, sunny and full of great restaurants, shopping and Chinese fishing nets. It was also here that we took our Keralan cooking class. The woman who taught it was great fun and seemed to love eating her food as much as we did. We can't wait to go home and try some of the things we learned from her. - Lindsay

Feb 25

Last night we arrived in Agonda Goa. After some searching we found our hotel where we were greeted by a guy lounging at the bar with a beer saying "hey man" to which I said "hi", and proceeded to ask if this was Priara de Agonda and he responded with "sometimes, and I sometimes run it too". Anyways we have a nice little hut near the beach and everyone around is very relaxed. The bar here is open and on the honor system. Lindsay and I speculate it is because he is to lazy to keep track. Last night we spent about 2 hours out in the sun and are now crispy fried! It Hurts! However we are not letting that ruin our fun. We have been swimming and walking the beach still. We have seen lots of crabs on the beach and even a few sting-ray type fish that come on shore with the waves and scurry back when the water gets to low. I think we are bound to enjoy the rest of the trip. - Don