Goa: From Lisbon's Twin to Palolem Beach

The Macau of India

There was not as much Portuguese influence in Goa as Macau, but some of the buildings found in this city was a reminder of its history. The effect of the past was also seen in the religion as many practiced Christianity. I thought of Macau as there are a lot of floating casinos in the town. The food in this region was delightful, since I had been craving seafood. They love their fish, prawns, squid and crab here, along with coconut in everything. I was really hoping to find some Portuguese tarts (葡撻) here but that was asking too much :). I spent a couple of days in Panjim, the north of Goa, and then ventured to the south. The north of Goa is more known for the party life, whereas the south is for the beaches. I was wandering to one of the minor beaches in the north when I stopped at a frozen yogurt and French bakery. They had legit food here because it was owned by a French patiessire. The manager offered to give me a ride around town on his bike when he found out it was my first time here. I covered the gas, which was a good mutual arrangement. We got accosted at all the sites because we both didn't look Indian. He was from the Sikkim area so the Indians guessed he was from China a lot. Then, they were shocked he could speak Hindi and changed their guess to Assam, the northeast region of India. As for me, the usual story...blah blah blah Japan, no, China, no, Korea, no, Vietnam...hmm that was a new one. At Fort Aguada, we roamed around a Punjabi film set. I had to laugh at they way they ran and also their facial expressions. Good stuff.

I was walking through a park and this guy decided to land on my hand.

The film set at Fort Aguada.

With the actors. The film is due to release in mid-December.

My Crab Xec-Xec with Goan bread dinner (sorry for the poor focus).

On the way to the southern city, Margao, I found a tourist information center and was recommended to check out Palolem beach. I got there and decided to park there for a few days to totally unwind. I got lots of reading done, tried and failed at surfing, and watched the Ganesh festival get underway. I waited around for them to bring the big Ganesh into the town but missed it since I don't run on Indian time. So I went around the area and watched some people welcome it into their homes. Depending on the size of the idol, it was kept at their home for one to three days and then dropped into the ocean. The bigger statues that were kept in the town centers were worshiped for ten to twenty days before they were also deposited into the ocean. Environmentally friendly? Not so much, but they have been improving over the years or trying (check out this article).

Spray painting the idol the day before the start of the festival.

A hijra with her dog, Julie. I found her sari very pretty so I asked for a photo.

A Brahmin conducting puja to welcome Ganesh into the home.

Transporting the Ganesh idol to the beach.

The colossal mess at the beach.

Sending the idol out to sea after more puja.

Bombay _ Mumbai

Portuguese vs. Marathi names

So I finally made it to Mumbai after the sleeper from Ahmedabad. When I arrived, I tried calling Nirav, the friend from UVM, and his phone was off. I wasn't sure where to get off but instinctively told the driver to drop me off in the city so I would be able to find a hostel in case all things go wrong. While I was trying to figure this out, another passenger on the bus, Anjara, began to help me out. She offered to let me stay at her house until I found my friend. I was ushered into Mumbai with all of the hospitality India could offer. Her parents kept offering me food and chai. Clearly, I was going to be left with a much better impression of Mumbai than Delhi.

Anjara and her parents.

I finally got a hold of Nirav around mid-day so I met up with him after lunch at Anjara's. Her apartment was a split image of those in New York, as was this city. The slums, the traffic, the air and the prices are relative to New York. By the time I made it to Nirav's place, it turned into California (he lived in Santa Cruz East). The day was of course chill and I joined his family for an amazing dinner at Khar Gymkhana. The next day, we started the real exploring. We started at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and then walked to Hatatma Chowk (Flora Fountain). They were both monuments with not much to explore within. From there we went to Jehangir Art Gallery followed by the Prince of Wales Museum. The gallery had a wonderful collection of local works. I remember shaking my head at how many times they could butcher the spelling for New Zealand. At the Museum, Nirav skilfully got me a NRI ticket, about a third of the cost of tourist one. Score! We spent so much time here, we began lamenting for our empty stomachs. By the end of the day, we ended up at Gateway of India and then the Taj Hotel. One night at this posh hotel would be equivalent to two weeks of my budget for India. My last night in Mumbai, Nirav's family took me to Worli Sea Link road where I could see the whole city skyline. We hopped back into the car and went to Nariman Point with a view of Haji Ali Shrine and the Queen's Necklace.

The family dinner the first night.

Nirav at the Gateway of India.

Inside the restaurant in the Taj Hotel...drool!

The Ganesh idol that is being moved for the festival starting in a few days.

With Nirav's Parents at Queen's Necklace. (Photo courtesy of Nirav Daphtary)

This was not to say my entire time in Mumbai was blissful. The day before the last morning, a robbery occurred at Nirav's Aunt's apartment when we were having lunch with them. They happened to live in the same apartment complex, but different building and floor. When she got back to her place, she found all of her drawers upturned, and her expensive jewellery she had ordered for her son's wedding were gone. She normally does not wear any jewellery and this was the first time she special ordered some. The guards for the complex happened to be on lunch break and there weren't any CCTV's. It sounded like an inside job to all of us but it's such a pity to not be able to feel safe in your own city. I was definitely very fortunate to have someone guide me around Mumbai so that I missed most of the other craziness. Thanks Nirav!

Next stop, the beach!

Rajasthan: Non-Desert Areas

Udaipur: I had gotten recommendations for Udaipur and Mount Abu from Nirav, a friend from UVM, who I would be meeting up with in Mumbai. On the way to the City Palace, I got sidetracked, which happens a lot, and visited the Jagdish Temple first. Then it was a stop at the City Palace, followed by the Moti Mangri. All of these places are easy to research so I'll go into something more interesting. On the next day, I passed by groups of kids preparing for a contest. It turned out to be the Dahi Handi to celebrate Lord Krishna. The kids wore ribbons of colors representing their group with a total of four. The aim was to build castells and break this earthen pot filled with curd, butter and others. While they attempted to build this human tower, people splashed buckets of liquid to foil their efforts. The person that finally reached the pot and broke it, was crowned winner,carried off into the sunset and won a monetary prize. This would be the first of several festivals that I ran into.

Rubbing the Jagdish Temple for good luck.

View from Moti Mangri.

Getting wet.

Breaking the earthen pot.

Jagdish Temple at dusk.

View of the City of Lakes from the above the gondola.

Mount. Abu: Mt. Abu proved more stressful than enjoyable due to their prices. There was an influx of Indian tourists traveling since they had off for this Krishna festival. This meant all of the budget rooms were taken or they couldn't take foreign tourists due to licensing issues. So I stayed one night and scurried out of there on an afternoon bus to Ahmedabad, to catch a sleeper bus to Mumbai. I meant to go trekking here but was warned not to venture off alone. The wildlife would get me. Ah well, I enjoyed the food (they actually had sweet corn rather than this starchy crap), and checked out this wonderful temple complex. If you make it to Mt. Abu, the Dilwara Temples should be number one on your list to see. Photography was not allowed, but this allowed you to fully appreciate the carvings with the naked eyes. There were five separate temples in the complex and all of them had marvelous carvings out of marble. There were two of them that had exceptional carvings into the ceilings. Breathtaking and truly a feast for the eyes.

Mt Abu with Nakki Lake.

The latest form of transportation.

Burning dried coconut flesh for the gods. I thought of Genie and the Lamp when I first saw it.

Rajasthan: Desert Areas

Finally hitting more of the India everyone's familiar with

Bikaner: I spent the majority of my time here at the guest house I was volunteering at with workaway. The couple were nice but I felt like the wife was treating me as a third wheel when I first arrived. Later, I understood her demeanor was such but there were numerous problems with their marriage that I won't delve into here. The first two days were spent in my room over another case of food poisoning. This time I just puked the entire night. I swear I puked more than I had eaten for lunch (dinner was out of the picture). I did happen to meet a new friend, Anshul, at the guest house as we commiserated over the crappy conditions of the roads, and the heat during the day. I ended up skipping the interesting rat infested Karni Mata Temple, and ventured only to the Junagarh Fort and Lalgarh Palaces there were nearby.

Beautiful paintings in the fort.

Colorful Rajasthani dress on display in the new boutique of the wife.

A collection of pelts in one of the rooms in the palace. Imagine if they were all still alive today.

Jaisalmer: After catching the night train, I arrived in Jaisalmer far too early in the morning. I was lucky to run into a group of locals waiting around to cajole tourists to their respective guest houses. I told them I was looking only for internet so that I could get in contact with my next workaway in this city with a camel safari company. One fellow told me I was free to use the wifi at his guest house and use it as a rest place till it got light out. Surprisingly, when I got to his jeep, it had Korean plastered on the windows: 호텔 데져트 뷰 (Hotel Desert View). When I read it aloud, I was further amazed to have a mini conversation in Korean. At his hotel, the amazement continued through breakfast as another staff member also spoke Korean (along with English, Hindi, Rajasthani, and some other local dialect). After finally finding the location of my host, I spent a enjoyable week with the Trotters Camel Safari team at their Hotel Ajanta. There was a lot of email checking and other easy computer tasks. I spent two nights out on the desert though one was plenty. After riding a camel for the first two hour session out of five, I already had thoroughly sore thighs. The food on the trip was even better than at the hotel but sleep was fleeting. They would lay a blanket on the sand dunes, give you another blanket and call it a night. The first night proved cold as the sand was still wet from the previous day's rain. The second night was windy so you had plenty of sand in all of your cavities and pores. The one thing I found irksome was how the staff tried to boss me around because I was a girl. The male volunteer, Tom, who was volunteering the same time as me (alternated tasks), told me he simply enjoyed the safaris as a guest. It was also awkward when the manager continually requested to give me a massage, though I later learned he massages Tom all the time too. It must be another Indian thing: to touch you with no sense of personal space, no sense of punctuality, and the right to order females around. This is not to say they are all 100% true; just taking a piss out of them for it. The most memorable event was during their Independence day. There was meant to be a competition between all the schools in Rajasthan, which got cancelled due to heavy rain. It meant we had to walk back to the hotel from the school in shin deep rain. Since we were already wet, we danced in the rain after putting our valuables away. The other major point of interest was of course the fort. The structure is omnipresent in the city and has great sunset views.

Soaked!

The colorful Rajasthani dress. The girls were prepared to dance, which obviously fell through.

Me and my camel day one.

Waiting for sunset.

An amiable Belgium family I was on safari with.

The sunset, though it disappears rather than sets.

Jodhpur: The prominent structure here was the Mehrangarh Fort. To the batman fans out there, parts of the The Dark Knight Rises was filmed here. Out of the plethora of forts in Rajasthan, this is the only one that includes a wonderful comprehensive audio guide tour, included in the admission ticket and available in various languages. I had worked up an appetite after spending hours here but knew I had begun to get sick of Indian food after my last bout with food poisoning. I decided a change of scenery should hopefully cure it. So instead of keeping to a shoestring budget, I went to a nicer restaurant and rediscovered why people loved Indian food over a vegetable Jalfrezi.

View of the Blue City from the fort.

Preparing food for a wedding.

One of my favorite Korean actors was found in the back of the restaurant's menu: Gong Yoo.

The vegetable and paneer Jalfrezi that was cooked in an onion gravy with roti.

Pushkar: This city is truly a tourist paradise. They offer cheap shopping for clothing and jewelery (gifts to take back home), temples, and short hiking excursions. Be warned, this city is not for the carnivores (meat, including eggs, are prohibited in this holy city). I met people from all parts of the world but I connected with these two friendly Israelis girls, who showed me new ways to bargain, and an Indian chemist, who took me to feed gray langurs at Ajaypal Baba Temple about 12 km outside of Pushkar. We fed them chana, or chickpea, and now I will forever think of them as the chana monkeys. These monkeys are synonymous with the Hindu god, Hanuman.

Pushkar Lake. Come to get blessed but be careful not be conned into a huge donation.

A holy cow! Notice the extra flesh sticking out of its neck.

View from Savitri Temple, wife of Brahma.

At one of many free camp sites for Indians who were doing this sacred pilgrimage (400 km or more by foot).

I got bit by so many mosquitoes but couldn't scratch because it would mean letting go of her hand. So worth it.