Panaji? or is it Portugal?

I arrived in Panaji (the capital city of Goa) a few days ago and immediately loved the place. It used to be under Portuguese rule so all the buildings, roads and alleys look like they've been picked up from a small Portuguese village and placed the hillside greenery of Goa. It's so nice here.

The first day I thought I'd take advantage of the Mediterranean feel and had lunch on a balcony overlooking a street with a nice cold drink and a Greek Salad - which was the best salad I've had in India - they're not really into cold salads here. I spent the afternoon wandering around the city and many churches it has taking photos and enjoying myself really - such a contrast to Bangalore or any of the other places I have visited.

The next day I visited Old Goa, which is where the Portuguese had their capital city, it has some enormous churches and cathedrals and the tomb of St Francis Xavier - which was a glass coffin (you could see him and everything eugh!). I spent a good few hours mooching around before I headed back to the guest house I was staying in.

The guest house is amazing...it's ran by a retired teacher and is so cosy and decorated like an old Lisbon town house plus it had REAL hot water...that was amazing!

Today my last day in the city before I hit the beaches of Anjuna I visited a Spice Plantation (or more so a smaller demonstration plantation next to a larger plantation) which was really good fun, you got a tour of the plantation seeing all the plants and spices and saw elephants and what not before lunch and a small shot of Kaju Feni - this is the strongest drink I have ever had...I'm trying to track down a few bottles to bring home - but lets just say it made me wretch so much that I choked; I then met a family from Cheshire and we talked for a while before I bought a few spices and plodded back to Panaji for a nice siesta (I've been taking alot of these!)

Next post from Anjuna!

Goa.....Go where?

Welcome to another edition of neighbours - just for you Jess :)
Today I am leaving Pune or Poona - depends what kind of a mood you're in I suppose! The train ride here was so much fun, I got to eat curd rice and chapati courtesy of all the Indians in the cabin I was in and I only saw 3 cockroaches and had to smell the toilets 10 or 11 times - that's sleeper class for you! I got here last night at about 11:30pm and mooched up to this place called the Grand Hotel which is ran by some anal old man that thinks he's big time - he asked me loads of questions about my Visa, couldn't understand why I was in Banglore for so long and then charged me Rs 800 for a shabby room that had the BIGGEST gecko you've ever seen resident on it's roof - it was horrible! I checked out this morning.

I should have been getting the Deccan Queen train to Mumbai tomorrow morning, however after a traumatic night of being watched by Mr Lizard and the Gecko (oh and some super cute puppies - they were fun!) I found out that I couldn't get from Mumbai to Goa in the end so instead I am going on a sleeper bus tonight to Panjim in Goa for 1 week. I've booked myself in at the Hotel (hot water, big beds, old house - nice) and then after 2 days I am going to Anjuna in Goa as per a reccomendation by Lorraine - apparently its so peaceful and the beach is amazing so that's my next 5 days lazing around on the sand eating coconut and reading my new book - Freakonomics (which I hasten to add is very difficult to describe in Charades even to English people let alone a poor Finn - Ella!).

So the next update will be from some sun dashed beach in Goa, miles away from General Anal of the Grand Hotel and the horribly boring streets of Poone <<< I merged the two!

Ciao for now.

Bijapur & Badami

Don't worry I am now over the terrible emotional breakdown I had....I spoke with Aneesa (one of the nicest people you could ever meet) and she had a good rant at me about how we all miss people and just to give it a few days....I gave it a few days and now I feel fine as I know I will see them again and I think it was just down to the fact that the first place I visited alone was so remote that I was literally isolated and without anyone around - now I am super happy and the wallet I lost in Hampi.....has now been found in Hampi - I'll get it back soon!

I spent yesterday in Badami (that horrible isolated place) looking at caves carved into mountains and being harrased by monkeys and little kids wanting to show me what a Nandi was in return for a gift - aka Rs 20 :P

Today I arrived in Bijapur, which is a little more city like (I think I prefer Indian cities to the smaller towns and villages...I cannot cope with not being able to talk to anyone, or read anything if it's all in some odd looking script!) - Roll on Mumbai!

Bijapur is beautiful, I visited the Gol Gombuz today which is the biggest domed building outside of St Pauls in Rome and its amazing, when you climb to the top (110 steps - I learnt this for Rs 12 - another gift!) then you can whisper and the whole place hears what you said....needless to say the kids there thought that if they screamed the whole of India would hear.....I certainly did!

I spent the afternoon doing Suduko in the gardens there before finding this amazing internet connection......so fast wow! I'm off to Pune tomorrow on the train, which is a sleeper train for 10 hours - nice:)

Hopefully everything is back to normal now....sorry for not being in touch everyone :)

Dampy in Hampi...

Just finished 3 of the funniest, scariest and most amazing days of my travels in India and am about to leave for Badami (a little town with some caves and shit!).

Hampi was amazing, it was like a monsoon where everything was hilariously funny coupled with the Monday being the hottest I have ever been in my life and loosing my wallet as well as getting the reddest burnt face I have ever had...

The weekend started with us all getting off the Hampi Express overnight train from Bangalore...which was amazing actually and super comfy. The Saturday was Holi (Festival of Colours) so we all donned our scruffiest clothes and got covered in dye and other such staining things ending up with us all taking a quick swim in the river to attempt to clean ourselves - lets just say after a few days I still had a pink forehead and a yellow neck....nice! It was so much fun, everyone was dancing, singing and throwing dye around - give me a pot of paint and some music anytime and I'll now know how to have hours of fun!

The Sunday was a little less exciting, we took an auto tour of all the sites, it was amazing to see all of the temples, old forts and cities but without the sunny weather and literally buckets of rain it all was a little damper than anticipated - still it was great fun with the other guys and we all messed around! I also befriended a few more animals...and some goats whilst the others all got lost....literally lost!

Monday....everyone had left and I started my emotional breakdown....I hired a bike, got terrorised by monkeys, indirectly agreed to Adams promise of not shaving and got burnt before catching a bus to Badami.

All in a weekend hey!

Leaving Bangalore...

Tomorrow I leave Bangalore for a while, I am going with the other guys to Hampi (one of the greatest temple areas in the whole of India, it is the setting for a Hindu story in which Hanuman a monkey god threw boulders onto the landscape and they still sit there all obvious and enormous today!) Anyhow, we're all getting the train 3rd class tomorrow, which means we leave Bangalore at 10:30pm and arrive in Hampi at 7:30am the following day - it's just the way it's done here, and I've still got to pack everything, buy snacks and make sure my hotels are booked for all the other interesting places I have got planned.

So it's officially my last night in Bangalore tonight, I think we're going somewhere - maybe a Salsa club or some Bollywood dance club; either way it'll be good fun but sad to leave (even if it is just for 3 weeks!)

We're going to sample the Indian Coffee Rooms at lunch today; it says the waiters are in turbans and buckled belts and that there is an aged look to the place - just hope the coffee is good and not aged! Yesterday I had a bit of a Western splurge and went to this place called Brio for a nice 3 couse lunch....the most Indian meal I've had....

Pita & Hummus + Pasta + Tiramisu with a cold Coffee (mmmmmm!) - The western splurge cost me Rs 450 though (about 5 pounds!)

Tomorrow day in between all my packing, and arranging we're going to a Tiger reserve which offers an hour safari too, it should be great fun and a nice way to finish my time in the city - by getting out of it.

Finally, I posted a box home today with all the things I have aquired in the 4 weeks I have been here, it was one of the top reasons why I hate the Indian way of doing things....here's how to post a box home to England....

1. Find a box, no where sells boxes here! I sent stuff home in a Milk Box :S
2. Fill the box, everything has to be in a plastic bag!
3. Wrap the box, the box must be wrapped in cloth and sewn closed - tailors did this for me!
4. Write on box, post office won't provide the pen, had to buy a marker and go back!
5. Customs Forms, fill in 2 customs forms (no carbon copy) and they're in French!?!
6. Post the damn thing, pay the man Rs 1500 and it takes 15 days?!

I think that's it!

Another update from Hospet (my next destination!) I think I will be sun burnt by then!

Bye!

Not long now...

Just a few days left before I leave Bangalore on my travels around India. The last few days have been really good fun, a few new volunteers arrived from England. Lorraine, Joanna & Ella are all good fun (Ella is from Finland so the English comment is a lie!).

We have just spent the last few days going out and having a really good time, lots of meals in restaurants and lots of bars. Last night we went to a place called NASA - the bar was literally a spaceship, everything had neon lights, the staff were dressed as captains and what not and nothing at all was Indian - it was all good fun though. I had a 'Moon Walker' some kind of Vodka, Cream & Fruit Juice mix - twas ok.

Today I finally confirmed all of my travel arrangements - I've decided to do my travel in two parts with a stop in Bangalore in the middle to arrange the second half of my travels. You can see what I have planned on the right hand side >>> box 'Travel Plans' so you have a rough idea of where I am.

We've really had a wild past few days, Aneesa & Adam got to drive rickshaws around the city, we watched Fayne catch Gecko's with her hands. I met this super cute puppy that followed me around called 'Moo' - yes I named it; and finally we had the fastest waiters ever at this restaurant where as soon as you motioned to get some rice or pick up something they were there and doing it for you.

More updates soon - probably from my next destination!

Byeeeeee!

Schools Out...

I finished my teaching placement at the school yesterday, it was all very sad and the students had made me cards saying thanks and what not - they'd used some pretty interesting materials that they could find and many of the cards are decorated with Pistachio shells and flowers...I've taken a few photos so when the flowers die...you get the idea.

I spent the day playing tennis with the kids and talking about when I'll come back and basically doing no teaching at all - minus the fact they have an exam in a few days...it was such a nice way to end my placement there and I am surely going to visit again.

In the afternoon, I went shopping Indian style with my teacher to her 'Big Bazaar' it was bizarre to say the least, every few minutes a bell would ring and grapes would be 70% off or Puja trays would be buy 4 get 2 free or something equally as hectic! Saying that it cannot be worse than what followed...

...we got in an auto at about 6:30 just as the rains started, within 10 minutes we were in a foot of water, sewage, chicken feet (eugh!) and other such nasties whilst our rickshaw decided that it would break down in the deepest water around....the poor driver pushed us 1km home for Rs100 (about 1.20 pounds!). I officially hate the rain and the cold - so to come here and be rained on is not nice.....at all.

Today, we've got 2 new girls starting and it's my last week in Bangalore. We're organising a trip this weekend to Hampi (a little town with lots of temples and things) and that will be where my traveling really starts.

I'll keep you all updated on my journey, bye for now - I'm off to make the most of the sun whilst it lasts!

Bangalore nearly no more...

Its true - I've fallen in love so much with where I am staying that I'm going to be in Bangalore another week at least now. The new guys here are great and the place I am at is really chilled and we're having an amazing time - so I've got enough time to take another week and it'll give me ample time to purchase tickets and what not for my next destinations!

This week at school has been a bit all over the place, everything is just a little odd. All the kids are revising for their exams and in between this they're doing the odd bit of drawing or P.E. I played chess against one of my students and sort of lost (I think I lost but he took my king - not really a move!) Also there was a big panic in the playground when a praying mantis thing fell on this little kids head.....sheer pandemonium ensued!

I've got next week off school as I finish there on Saturday, but it has been amazing all the time I've been there, the lessons I have taught and the kids I've met. I am going to write a bit more about the school next week for the gap company so I'll share it on here.

Tonight we're going to The Beach with the other volunteers again - it's such a good place and Tequila shots are about 1 pounds!

Ciao for now.

Dance!

As I mentioned it's illegal to dance in Bangalore but yesterday everyone seemed to be breaking the law...

It was the students annual day yesterday where they all practice for weeks before elaborate dances, making costumes, songs and drama and then present this to their parents and teachers on a Saturday morning like they've been doing for 40 years now.

The whole event was amazing and some of my students were involved in a Cheerleading Dance and a reenactment of the 10 incarnations of Vishnu - all very exciting. It made me want to dance...

...so we decided to! We found this bar a few days ago called H20 which I mentioned about the fish tanks etc well anyhow the guy that owns it has another bar called The Beach which has sand everywhere and water and your sit on logs and stuff...there was an amazing DJ and from outside you couldn't hear the music....so we got very drunk and danced alot....the photos will show this (even though we kept being told that we cannot take photos of people dancing in the bar as it's illegal and they'll get closed down!).

Anyhow today I have got loads of web work to get done, next week is my final week in Bangalore so I've got lots to do before I leave for Hampi.

Horsey Rides...

Woa...I've done so much these last few days!

Yesterday I went to an amazing Riding School about one hour out of the city for a hack with Emma, the horses were all ex racehorses and were really well look after...plus the Hack was in 250 acres of grounds and the weather was amazing....it was so nice to get away from the pollution and just have a relaxed morning.

We got back into town and decided to head and meet the other guys at a Persian place for some lunch, and a cold coffee before our final cooking class.

Anita, the lady that shows us how to cook made the best food last night....Paneer Massala, Channa Massala and then a not so good Sweet Carrot dish whereby you boil carrots and milk eugh! So now I am officially able to cook some pretty swish Indian food.

It's early evening here so I'm just getting all this internet stuff out of the way before we head into the city to try this h20 bar out where apparently and I quote 'every table is surrounded by a wall of water and each table is your own private aquarium' - we'll see :P

Oh a final thing....I had the best fruit I've ever eaten....Pomegranate :)

New Faces

A new batch of volunteers arrived today with us all...so we got the day off work and another luxury lunch at some swanky Hotel courtesy of i-to-i....it was much better than our welcoming lunch!

Adam, one of the new guys is a real nice guy, everyone here seems to be into design though and they're all working at this magasine called Rave - which is like the Indian equivalent to NEM or something. Anyhow he's also pretty obsessed with Coffee too so we've got our own little Coffee Club going on with regular trips to Mocha (the amazing chocolate cake place), Cafe Coffee Day and anywhere else that sells it! I'm currently loving the Rs 5 Coffee from a little canteen next to the school I'm at...it's about 4p a cup!

We took th new guys around Commercial Street and the other areas of the city centre, and I found some amazing shoes which I'm going to get a Kurta (like a long top) made to match :)

Anyhow another update to follow....