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 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

November 16, 2009 – Day 325 – Mumbai, India

Whether you call it Mumbai or Bombay, this city is a really happening place! It boasts the richest neighborhoods and most famous people in India but it also holds Asia’s largest slum. From both extremes, Mumbai is a place you will either love or hate. It is India and it is not. The people are different, the food is different, the prices are high and the city is abuzz and never sleeps. At any hour you will hear traffic whizzing and honking its way through the streets below your hotel room. You can always find a snack stand open and there is no shortage or high-end establishments to spend your hard-saved Rupees.

In the streets of Mumbai

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November 11-12, 2009 – Day 320-321 – Jodhpur/Udaipur, India

On the way to Jodhpur last night we discovered that India has made yet another attempt on our lives. This time is was in the form of some poisoned desert eggs! Saben nearly croaked on the bus ride but luckily kept his guts about him til we landed in Jodhpur at the trusty Evergreen Guest House (exceedingly clean and wonderfully cheap! Rs. 250 double room with private bath, hot water). We spent the 11th lying flat on our backs fighting the clutches of death again and hoping we really don’t die here.

Fruit beer!, it cures what ales you. (some exclusions may apply)

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November 1-3, 2009 – Day 311-313 – Jodhpur, India

Well, it certainly does not feel like a typical November day for us. By now we would be happily welcoming the cool weather that comes just before a snowy winter. Instead, we are at the edge of the desert in a hot, dusty city enjoying “cold drinks!” as often as possible.

Huge Angry Cow always gets the right of way

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October 21-23, 2009 – Day 300-302 – Mcleod Ganj, India

Today seems like a worthy milestone: our 300th day on the road! The 8 hour bus ride from Amitsar to Dharamsala proved to be less than celebratory but hey, what can you do? We passed the night in a true roach-hotel and fought for our various appendages and luggage throughout the night. By morning we were searching for another place to sleep and did not find one until well into the afternoon. We were saved by a delicious, if expensive, lunch of dal fry and chapati—yum! Spent rest of afternoon and next day enjoying laundry service, fantastic bakeries, and the twilight zone of Mcleod ganj that is neither India nor Tibet.

Saben at the fantastic Shangri La resturant

October 13-16, 2009 – Day 292-295 – Delhi-Rishikesh, India

Well, we were just counting ourselves lucky in thus far not having any dreaded travelers’ illnesses from India and wouldn’t you know, Lin woke up to yak her guts out? Saben was feeling pretty weird too and Lin was going downhill fast. As it always seems to happen, if we are going to get sick, it is always on a travel day. No refunding tickets or sleeping it off in the hotel room. No, we were destined to spend the day wandering around Delhi until our night train to Rishikesh. The day was terribly unpleasant, the train was unpleasant but we made it to Hardiwar…

Besides our room this is all we saw

September 25, 2009 – Day 274 – Sauraha, Nepal

The road from Kathmandu to Chitwan rivals the one from the Tibet border that we came in on. In the short 4 hours it took, we were nearly beaten to a bloody pulp. Being smashed into the bench seat in the very back of the bus (situated over the back suspension for your riding comfort!) certainly did not help. At least we did not crash or die along the way!

Elephant taxi

September 21, 2009 – Day 270 – Kathmandu, Nepal

Well, it was at least good news that we did not sustain any bus crashes today on our journey back to Kathmandu although we did pass 8 rather messy, probably quite fatal and very crunchy lorry and bus crashes along the way. But because of all these other crashes, traffic was at least a bit slower today and that was probably why our own bus did not wreck today. Three cheers for that!

Back in Kathmandu we did nothing but discover that prices have all magically raised in the 4 days we have been in Pokhara and that Kathmandu is still a madhouse.