November 25, 2009 – Day 335 – Anjuna Beach, Goa, India

The Wednesday Flea Market on Anjuna Beach is a colorful, bustling place to be bright and early Wednesday mornings. Sellers from the surrounding towns come to Anjuna specifically to set up and peddle their wares to the tourists staying in Anjuna as well as the car and bus loads that come in from surrounding beaches and towns to shop. Everything from pillow covers, brass figurines, jewelry, Indian, Nepali, Tibetan, and Western wares, to snacks and drinks to henna tattoos and beggars can all be found at the Wednesday Flea Market.

Deep inside the wednesday market

November 24, 2009 – Day 334 – Anjuna Beach, Goa, India

We started our morning with a long, brisk walk…to the ATM. From town, the ATM is 2.5km, just next to the Domino’s (yes, there really is a Domino’s there). After walking back to town, we walked another couple of kilometers to check out Vagator Beach. We were hoping it would be as beautiful as we had heard it was and, feeling a little disappointed with Anjuna, we were ready for a nice beach. There are two ways to get to Vagator Beach from Anjuna Beach: the road and the path by the water which is supposedly about half a kilometer shorter than the road way.

Vagator

November 23, 2009 – Day 333 – Anjuna Beach, Goa, India

It was a crummy day that was spent getting from Arambol to Anjuna on the uncomfortable, smelly, crowded but cheap local buses and then another hour and a half walking around Anjuna trying to find cheap lodging that did not have spiders or ants in the bed sheets.

Crabs.... just crabs

November 22, 2009 – Day 332 – Arambol Beach, Goa, India

Having planned on leaving today, we failed miserably at this single goal. In fact, it wasn’t miserable at all but quite nice indeed because we decided we would just love one more day here! A stroll through the towns endless souvenir shops yielded little but a stronger desire to hurry and get onto the beach. We passed the usual cows on our way down the beach who were doing their best to keep their hooves dry. Ahh, the beach!

Life on the beach

November 21, 2009 – Day 331 – Arambol Beach, Goa, India

After a heart pumping run on the beach this morning, we decided to toss things up with a breakfast of oatmeal with sliced bananas and fresh orange juice. Mmm! There is a huge fruit stand in town that sells everything from green beans and eggplants to fingerling bananas and melons. Everything just seems to taste better here in Goa!

Fishing boats in the morning

November 20, 2009 – Day 330 – Arambol Beach, Goa, India

Arambol Beach is a lovely, quiet beach. We enjoyed a long day in the sun and perfect water. It’s great for swimming since the sandbar goes out so far and the waves are typically calm. We started our day off with a champion’s breakfast: an omlette, toast, and fresh pineapple juice.

Our palm frenged walk to the beach

November 19, 2009 – Day 329 – Arambol Beach, Goa, India

As uninteresting as they are to us (and to you readers as well), travel days are a necessary evil. It took three very slow, very crowded local buses to get us from Panaji to Arambol Beach but we finally made it.

Cows need a little beach time too

India is a whole other universe, unlike any place in the world. Things are rarely as they seem, people say anything but don’t consider it lying, personal space and privacy are words that probably do not even exist in Hindi, there are smells you could never imagine or figure out, and you will see more naked people than you probably have in your whole life (unless you live in Croatia).

Chaotic India

November 18, 2009 – Day 327 – Panaji, Goa, India

Today will go do in history as the most ridiculous search for a place to sleep. Hmm, where to begin? Maybe with the sleeper bus we took here last night that rocked violently all night on a curvy road and the “two person” bays were only long enough to accommodate 1.5 people in the fetal position. Or maybe the flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Or maybe with the hour and half fully loaded walk from the bus station, over the bridge into the city and then all around the city looking for a hotel that was (a) not full, and (b) not Rs. 1000 per night.

Lights on the interstate at night

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November 17, 2009 – Day 326 – Mumbai, India

We really packed in a full sightseeing tour of Mumbai today! We started the morning with a taxi ride to the Hanging Garden for a nice view of the beach and a bit of the city. The garden is very pleasant and extremely well maintained and for this reason, many Indians like to spend time walking around and people watching (yes, they stare at each other too), especially since the park is free to go in. Across the street is another smaller park where we passed a mini-market with 8-10 tables of random wares for sale and the giant shoe to check out the view.

Hazy day on the beach

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