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Hello everyone, sorry it’s been so long since I last updated you on my travels! I must say, a lot has happened over the past week so here it comes!
Last time I wrote I was in South Goa in a small town - Colva. We stayed in a cheap hotel and enjoyed the luxury of the beach running into the resort and a swimming pool (although it had worryingly cloudy water!)
We met Lottie and Maz on a stretch of the coast called Utorda and Majorda which you can only distinguish by a cluster of palm trees! There were several beach shack restaurants of which zeebops later became our local. It was crazy to see friends from home in a place which couldn’t be more different that home if it tried! It was a really amazing reunion and our spirits were lifted to new levels! We ate dinner that night and made plans to check out of our hotel the next morning and move up the coast to stay near maz and Lottie in Majorda.
The following morning we left in search of a place to stay in Majorda. We were successful but later the deal fell through when the owner suddenly doubled his rent price! Charlotte, an owner of a 5 star hotel in Majorda and a friend of Maz’ family was putting Lottie and Maz as well as three other English guys (more friends of the family I guess) in her huge Portuguese mansion. Lottie told her about the problem we had and soon sorted our lives out. She arranged a cheap room for me mike and hugo to stay in along with Jack and Jd some of Lotties friends from Malvern who were heading down from Anjuna (North Goa) to meet us. It was late and we really weren’t expecting much apart from a bed to sleep in until the morning when we could find a better place. This simply wasn’t the case! We met the owner of ‘Rainbows end’ and she showed us up the long drive to our room. The big padlock clunked open and the lights turned on. They lit up the drive, the garden and the mansion which we were told was ours! The price was out of this world - 200Rs per head (under 3 pounds) per night. We explored the house for the next hour, and discovered that it was only us staying there so we had a bedroom each and two to spare, a bathroom each, and a kitchen each!! It was out of this world!
The next few days were spent exploring the surrounding beaches by moped and enjoying eating in for the first time in months! Having fridges and gas stoves made life so easy and we could even keep our beers chilled! The porch covered the whole length of the house and had various tables and chairs so we could eat and drink outside. Lottie and maz spent a lot of time at our house and we also visited Charlottes hotel for a cheeky swim in the luxury pool! I had a brilliant 5 days in Majorda and although there wasn’t much to do there it was very hard to leave! It was finally time to say goodbye to Lottie and Maz who flew home on Wednesday 22nd April I think. It was a very emotional goodbye but I think we felt it was time to continue north and with the girls leaving it was the natural time to leave the house along with the brilliant time we had all had together. Jack and Jd left on the train into the North and we moved up the coast to a the capital of Goa – Panaji.
Panaji was very different to the Goa we were used to. It wasn’t a beach town for starters and it was clearly much wealthier. The town had a huge Portuguese influence which is what I had expected more of goa to be like. Walking around the city you could have been anywhere in Europe with crumbling houses on narrow meandering cobbled streets with a very pedestrian feel to them. In parts it was like a ghost town with everything closing for afternoon siesters. I really enjoyed wondering around and taking photos of these vibrantly colored town houses straight from Europe without the usual hassle attained by most Indian destinations.
We made a day trip to Old Goa from Panaji which was fascinating. We looked around all the remains of the old city. No one lives in old goa, it is a national heritage site filled with imaculatley restored churches and Cathedrals with inspirational architecture derived from lots of different styles from the era. They were like no buildings I have ever seen. Well worth the visit.
After Panaji we left by train to Anjuna north goa famous for its Wednesday Flea Market and the Saturday night market. We found a great self contained apartment near the beach. The beach was a bit of a let down as it was much busier than others and not as clean. We rented a couple of scooters for the 4 days as jack and Jd had told us lots of places to visit in the area. We were lucky as we were there for the last Saturday night market of the season, which was incredible. It was about the size of Hereford with live music, fireworks, bars, cocktail lounges, a food market and a vast goods market. We spent until around 3am soaking up the atmosphere and cold beers. It was so similar in setup to the big chill festival I kept expecting to bump into people from home! It was a brilliant night.
Over the next few days we enjoyed visiting untouched beaches and other towns along the coast. We visited Arumbul and Baga as well as India’s best beach. The name escapes me but it was truly magnificent.
We decided on a night in and were watching films in our room one night till around 3 when we hit the hay. The following morning I woke at 9 to discover the front door wide open and our belongings spread all over the front room and out on the porch. That during the night we had been broken into and burgled. My only plans for the day were to burn my pictures onto a dvd and to update my blog. This would now not be possible. The robbers had stolen all three of our cameras, 2 mobile phones, my ipod, my hiking shoes, my swiss army knife, mikes shorts and towel, our wallets and cash. They did however leave all our id cards, our passports and our cash cards.
We were absolutely heart broken. All the photos I had taken over the previous weeks had now gone. And now we had to deal with insurance and police reports.
To add salt to the wound, the even found the memory cards which I had filled which were hidden in the depths of my Burgan for this exact situation.
The day was spent with the corrupt police who refused to help without a generous bribe. Eventually we were issued with a police report so that we could make our insurecne claim.
The following day after visiting the famous flea market we left Anjuna and headed to Mumbai on a night bus – an altogether new experience. We were in a Volvo A/C bus in ‘slumber class’ which meant we had fully reclining seats and foot rests. It seemed great at first but as the night continued, the roads became worse and we were unable to sleep at all! Our savior was the regular stops at the Indian equivalents of Road Chef where you could buy anything under the sun and make full use of the communal toilets – The hedge.
We arrived in Mumbai at 8.30am pretty tired and baffled, so we headed off on our search for somewhere to sleep! Eventually we found a place with a great name – Vulga 2 with a great location, the only problem was it was located above the famous restaurant & café Leopolds. The one which got attacked by terrorists not so long ago! We were so tired we just slept until the evening when we went out for dinner.
The next few days were spent hanging out with the wealthiest Indians ive encountered cruising around huge shopping malls trying to buy back everything we had stolen in Anjuna. We did manage to fit in some sight seeing, visits to the gate of India and also a tour of the biggest slums in Asia. This was an incredible experience which I will never forget. I was amazed to find how advanced these slums were. There were plastic recycling factories, ceramic and leather factories as well as numerous smaller businesses. The part that amazed me the most was the community within the slum. People pay rent, tax and electricity. Also all the machinery within the slums factories are manufactured inside the slum by a steel works. I left the slum excited and happy, when i was expecting to be upset and distressed.
We left Mumbai on a night train where we finally managed to get some 3a/c tickets. We were heading to Delhi on a 26hr train through the dessert climates so we were thankful to have air conditioning and 3 meals included!
Currently we are in Delhi the capital of India, and are planning the next 7weeks of our trip – The North!!! More about Delhi next time!
Hope all is well, lots of love xxx
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