Goa in Pictures

GOI Dabolim International Airport

 Women wearing socks with open toed shoes.  Strange.  This is a rarity in the US.

 To the hotel I go!  Asked the driver how long it would take to get to the hotel - he said 15 minutes. Actual time elapsed?  45 minutes.  From this moment forward, I multiplied all time estimates by 3.

 Saturday Night Market in Anjuna.  This was pure craziness.  There were about 1000 shops.  No lie.  Sensory Overload!

 Really bad food at the Saturday Night Market.  Tip: Go for the shopping and experience, not the food.

 Transportation

Step 1:  Learn how to drive a scooter (or as they say "Scooti").  Step 2:  Explore Goa.

 Mmmm.  Fresh sugar cane juice made right before my eyes!

 Enjoying life (and a coconut milk) on Aswem Beach

 Local man selling sarongs.  I was amazed that he alone could hold so many sarongs. 

 My spot on Aswem Beach.  A little relaxation before lunch.

 Tiger Prawns at La Plage.  Wishing they would have removed their heads before serving.

 How far to Tiracol Fort?  16 km.  Actual distance? 52 km.  My multiply by 3 equation was pretty accurate!  This is the view from Tiracol Fort restaurant where I enjoyed a lovely cheese sandwich.  I think the 52 km was worth it.

 Boat near Tiracol Fort, North Goa

 Doors to the closet in my hotel room.  At first, I thought they were a nice touch.  By the end of the stay, I was completely annoyed with them.

 Hacienda de Goa 

Lodging in Anjuna, North Goa which I highly recommend.  Talk to Thomas.  He'll hook you up!

 Dosa or Dosai?  Doesn't matter.  Always good.

 This dude took me parasailing on Baga Beach for $10.  I was a bit concerned about safety.  How could this cost only $10?!?  But once he gave me a life jacket, it was all good.

 Baga Beach

A much different experience than Aswem Beach, that's for sure!

 Lunch at Brittos.  Mmmmm.  Crab.

 I was fascinated by these flowers.  The owner of the resort caught me staring at them more than once.  Embarassing!  The colors are random on each bunch.  Just think of the genetics!

 Curlie's Dance Club.  On my first attempt to find this place, I ended up back at the place I started.  Asked for directions... Oh! LEFT at the Baskin Robbins!  Tried again and made my way down a dark desolate sandy road.  It was worth it!  The view was fantastic and then there was the trance music.  The Trance Music!!

 Why does my breakfast toast look like a T-shirt?

 The "American" Breakfast.  Ummm.  Nothing on this plate looks American.

 Cab driver kept telling me I had to buy the River Cruise Tickets at the Kaju Palace.  Huh?  This seemed weird to me. I would expect to buy Cashews at the Kaju Palace - not River Cruise tickets.

 An offering for the gods

 Elephant Rides at the Spice Plantation.  While I was taking this picture, a certain boy started whistling at me.  I ignored him, naturally.  Seriously.  I'm not an animal!

 Bridge to the Spice Plantation. I heart bridges.

 Baby Pineapple!

Its protected by the wiring, so the monkeys don't destroy it.  One thing I learned on the trip.  Male pineapples taste a bit sour compared to female pineapples.  No surprise there!

 Female Uterine Tonic.  Really?

 Smiling Dog.  Took a wrong turn down a dirt road and this dog started coming toward me.  Thankfully, he was smiling and wagging his tail.

 Goan Tourist Clothing.  Male tourists in Goa would buy these matching shirt / shorts outfits and wear them around...TOGETHER.  It was quite the look.  This is where you can buy them.

 Goan Water Balls

 Ozran Heights Beach Resort

View from my room.  I highly recommend this resort as well.  You can walk to the beach from your cottage.  And the views during dinner are fantastic.

 My cottage at Ozran Heights Beach Resort.  I spent many nights sitting on those chairs watching the Goan sunset.

 Country cows with their bird friends.  For some reason, the cows in Goa always seem to have a bird friend with them.  At first I thought it was just one, but I saw the cow + bird pairs again and again as I explored Goa.

 Kinda hard to find this place.  But worth it.  A seat on the upper level is quite nice.

 My seafood platter at Infantaria.  Kingfish slice, shrimp, squid and calamari.  Yuuuummmmm!

 Big Vagator Beach.  I found this beach while exploring Goa one morning.  In Goa, it seems there's a beautiful surprise around every corner.

 Caprese Salad.  Need I say more? 

 The symmetry of this plant was quite captivating.  I had to take a picture.

My last Goan Sunset.  *Sigh*

Nainital in Pictures

 My first train ride in India.  What an experience!  The 7 hour train ride ended up being 12 hours.  Arriving in Kothgodam. 

 Man grilling me some corn.  He served mine with lime and salt.  Yum!

 TC's favorite.  Waterballs!  Usually served differently in each locale.  These are filled with onions and potatoes.  The cup in the upper left is holding the spicy water. 

 Breakfast.  I thought I only had one egg, but there was a surprise egg once I lifted up the egg holder.  Two boiled eggs for breakfast!

 The Lake.  I believe its Naini Lake.  As Tal means Lake.  Hence, Nainital.  As per usual, my Hindi is horrendous and any attempt to pronounce leads to much confusion.

 Bottles hung from trees to shoot with airguns for 20 Rps.  Honestly, when I saw these bottles all I could think was - How on earth did they get those tied out on the side of the mountain?!?

 Telescopes.  These were at Himalaya View Point where you could pay to view the majestic Himalayas.  As TC put it, "This is a fraud"

 An Indian tourist dressed up in traditional Nainital dress.  People actually pay to dress up in this clothing and take their picture.  And they have to give it back.  These stands are everywhere!

 An Indian tourist posing as he "climbs the Himalayas".  I'm pretty sure this is probably his facebook profile pic now.

 Wow.  A shocker to me.  Look at all that luggage!  I've traveled 30 days in India with one bag.  This seems excessive.

 Traffic jam!  Local man getting out of his car to direct traffic.  That's one thing I love about India.  People just take control of the situation and get things done.  No traffic police required!

 So many choices for snacks and the only one I could have was water.  Diet soda is just not a concept here!

 Someone's laundry just siting on the side of the road.  Aren't they afraid someone will steal it?

 One of my favorite tourist spots of the trip.  CAVES!

 I was so excited to explore these caves.  I was on my hands and knees at times and racing through the caves.  Good times!

 Post sightseeing snack.  Onions in vinegar.  They look disgusting to me, but TC ate them like they were candy.

 Mosque in Nainital.  I love the symmetry!

 Elevator in the hotel.  My first thought was - What a beautiful elevator!.  My second thought - There is no way an American could fit through those skinny doors.

 Lodging in Nainital.  Arif Castles.

 Driver stopped to get directions to our lodging in Dunagri.  I was nervous.  What do you mean our driver doesn't know where to go?!?

 Apparantly, they needed to gather the whole town to figure out directions.  The more people that congregated the more nervous I was that we wouldn't reach our destination.  Really?  You need 5 people to help find the lodging?!? Gah!

 Yay!  We reached our destination in Dunagri.  This was a school for local children to learn English.  As part of the stay, I visited with some of the local children.

 Local color before trekking 1 km up the mountain to the Dunagri Temple

 So many steps to reach the Dunagri temple.  It was fun and tiring.

 Bells at the Dunagri temple

 Amla!!  I was eating at a restaurant outdoors and this boy climbed a tree and plucked this amla for me.  It was romantic and funny.  So 17th century!

 These women work so hard.  I never see men doing this work.  Hmmmm.

 American "Corns"

 Time for a boat ride on one of the seven lakes.  These boats seemed much more appealing than the self-paddle boats.  I like to relax, not work!

 My Slippers

 TCs post-sightseeing dinner.  

 TC and Lakshmal (the driver) discussing the zoo.  Looks like TC needs more information...

 TC and Lakshmal pointing to the zoo.  Its over there.  You need to walk. 

 After a little hike, we made it to the zoo!  Somehow this is the only picture of an animal I took in the zoo.  Strange.  I know.

 This sign means shortcut.  Or so TC says.  I'm a big fan of shortcuts on the way down, but not on the way up.

 High tech Cyber Cafe.  Here TC is checking to see if we have confirmation for our tickets back to Delhi (No, they weren't confirmed - always an adventure)

 Stopping to rest.  My toes are definitely cuter than TCs!

 Lodging outside of Nainital

 Huge hole in the road on our way to our lodging.  Seriously?  Nobody thinks this is strange?  Its a HUGE hole!

 Dussehra celebration in Nainital.  Later in the evening this guy with 10 heads was burned in a burst of flames.

 I was shocked to find out we needed to stop for an hour to let these construction workers finish paving the road to Nainital.  No room to pass.  We had to just wait it out.  I found it a bit disturbing that they have fun with each other by throwing hot asphalt at each others feet.  Yikes!

 Shirts at the Tailor where I got my pants hemmed for 50 cents in 10 minutes.  10 minutes I tell you!

 Temple where I was chased my monkeys.  MONKEYS!  It was all good until I reached the bridge and then the monkeys swung down like some horrific scene out of Wizard of Oz.  They started chasing me.  I ran.  No wonder the locals were carrying slingshots.

Train back to Delhi.  Until next time!