Interlude

We were in India February to April 10, 2014. With a lot of help from Sandy Hall, we were able to start our blog. Re-live the India days below and get ready to follow us to Panama in 2015.

India Week #8, Colva Chandor

Only 2 more sleeps and then the journey home. Vacations are like life, the closer you are to the end, the faster the time flies. But, this week has been spent in Colva, original stop for North American hippies in the '60s. The caregiver at our present abode, remembers that when he was 10, a lot of Canadians were here. Natives in Goa are known as Goans, and it is said that the influx of Indians in the area are significantly changing the original beauty and peacefulness of the beach and surrounding. The Colva Beach is in constant need of good quality sanitary technicians even though the government employed ladies filling wicker baskets with garbage are doing their best. The beach strip of Goa starts at Mobor in the south and stretches over 20 km north. Proud to announce that we have walked the full length several times ....not all in 1 day though! :)

There aren't as many cows roaming the northern part of the surf although we did enjoy watching a water buffalo wade into the sea, lay down and roll onto his side so he could be completely underwater, head and all. He probably would have stayed there all day if not for his handlers who came to fetch him back to work. Everyone seems to have a boss I guess!
Our pool is a real life saver, cooling off and allowing us more time outdoors. Even the locals yesterday were wiping their brows from the humidity. A couple from Glasgow came to Colva to buy a diamond engagement ring. We've heard quite a few stories about good prices on gems but I'm not knowledgeable or trusting enough, nor do I really need to, part with my rupees on diamonds and such. But if any of you want me to pick up a trinket, let me know! Would be happy to spend your money :) .

Yesterday we took a taxi to Chandor and toured a 350 year old Portuguese style home. It is deteriorating nicely, and still beautiful. We have seen a couple our age walking on the beach the past week and always say hi, so today we stopped for a chat. They have 2 children in university and tomorrow night we have been invited to their home for an authentic Goan meal. After 8 weeks of restaurant food I hope we can act civilized and control ourselves.
This will be our final draft of our fabulous trip and we will be catching up with everyone in person real soon...can't wait to see you all.

India Week #7 Colva

As this past week was spent in one location, our days have become even more routine, relaxing and quite civilized with walks on the beach, breakfast on the balcony, naps in the afternoon, lunch, dinner, reading, Boston Legal, bed. We found a little cafe on our route back from the beach that sells a veggie somosa type pastry (10R each) which we started picking up to have with the fruit for breakfast. Added a nice flavour of grease that has been missing from out diet. Our lunch locations have been divided equally between a local Indian diner on the outskirts of town and, when it's too humid to drag ourselves there, we take a quick stroll for Chinese noodles, sweet and sour veggies and steamed rice. Dinners are more varied but because lunch can be at 3:30, we sometimes saffoncify ourselves with bananas and cookies. One evening we had a lovely Italian spaghetti flavoured with fresh herbs and "an olive oil so virginal it must have taken a vow of chastity". 

On Friday morning, we took a riverboat cruise that took a short detour out into the sea  in search of dolphins, of which we spotted 4. Magnificent. The boat held about 60 people, with an upper deck and the lower deck was our choice for the shade. For $16 each, they plied us with our choice of beer, alcohol and pop. Bill sipped on beer and I had gulped my fill of G&T with a twist. They provided us with a previously requested veggie lunch (regular lunch was shrimp and fresh caught fish) which was quite good. On our cruise of the river we saw many species of birds including fruit bats hanging from trees, sleeping in broad daylight. A couple took flight and showed a 3' wing span. Ugly, but impressive creatures. The river was calm and cool with only an occasional gusty breeze bringing in the smell of geriatric fish. Lol
Yesterday while enjoying breakfast, we watched with great interest men removing clay tiles from the roof of a neighbouring building. 5 men working in unison handing tiles down to each other, 1 on the roof, 2 on a ladder and 2 stacking them on the ground. Barefoot, barehanded, no safety nets! Then they repaired any damaged or twisted boards on the frame, replaced the tiles in reverse order and were done the one side in less than 8 hours. The tiles have a lip that fits on the frame and rests on adjoining tiles. No glue, nails, caulking ..they just fit tightly together.  

Today we leave Cavelossim and taxi 15k north to Colva. These beaches are on the same stretch of shore so we should be able to continue our only real program of exercise, morning walks.

India Week #6 Mobor Cavelossim

Still in Palolem Beach and booked a cooking class to learn about Indian spices, Marsalas (combination of spices, and there are a lot of varieties, but our chef suggested making a basic one and then buying the rest already prepared in a box from the supermarket. Now who would have thought a chef would cheat!) We shared the experience with a couple from Warsaw, Poland. Fun evening and we ate what we cooked and got to take recipes home with us to share :). There are few bars and nightclubs in Palolem because they have a noise restriction law. So a couple of creative club owners have "Silent Discos" that offer patrons headsets from 10 till midnight so you can still dance away, not sure how that works....we didn't give it go! On the beach they had a Laughing Yoga class, we watched and it was very hard not to laugh and enjoy their fun. All beaches have lots of stray dogs. They run together, play together but also fight and growl if one of them crosses into their territory. They walk into the open restaurants looking for scraps. 

Some times things get tense, but no attacks on tourists thank goodness. Cows roam freely on the beach too. So sometimes you have to watch where you step. High tide does a great job of beautifying the beach twice a day. In between the beach and our room are many huts where locals live with free range chickens and wild pigs with piglets, they are very cute but skid dish. Our last evening we dined in an outdoor theatre eating fire oven cooked pizza, watching "Osage County" with Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep. We didn't see the ending as the electricity went out with no promise of when it would come back on. On Wednesday, we moved 7km north to the Monsoon  Guest House on Agonda Beach. Our accommodation was beach hut on stilts = 1 room with balcony and an outdoor bathroom down below. As you can tell by pic, toilet paper is blowing in the breeze and if you're going to spend any time here, wear a hat and sunscreen. Shower didn't work so we  took bucket showers, with cold water. No place on Agonda Beach or area offers air conditioning due to poor source of electric power. Hence we were unable to stay connected to wi-fi and send and receive e-mails other than on Bill's cellphone. We slept under a mosquito net, more to protect us from cockroaches then Mosquitos. It was hot, humid and because of inconsistent electric power the overhead fan only worked sometime. Agonda is not a good place to swim  as the beach drops about 2 feet at high tide with undertow. 

At night instead of being lulled to sleep by the waves, they roared and crashed, it was almost scary. A couple from Scotland suggested taking a 10 min taxi ride to the LaLit Golf and Spa, pay -1500R ($26) to use their pool for the day, so we did. It was beautiful and decadent. Suites go as high as $400 a night, so we looked like high rollers! Lol. On Friday we had an appointment with Dr Mirashi at Ayurveda Clinic who suggested we would  benefit from a 10 day complete detox body cleanse...we passed on the purge and were happy knowing we were in good health. Our body types are both dominant "fire" with my second being "air" and Bill's being "earth". We're a hot, flighty and grounded couple.

Saturday brought us north to  Mobor/Cavelossim Beach with 5 star resorts starting at $100 a night. We found a great place, Casa de Cris for $45 a night, a/c, balcony overlooking gardens, breakfast and wi-fi included. A 5 minute walk to a 20 km beach, wide, hard sand for walking, very few people and great for swimming. We booked here for 10 days so leaving on April 1. Bill stopped in at the barber today on our walk back from lunch and got a great cut for 100R, $1.80. It was sooo cheap Bill gave the guy 100R tip. A bit tired of eating out so we bought a pineapple, grapes, oranges, bananas for $2 total and a large mango for $1.80 for dinner and chocolate cookies too! The restaurant across the street has live music every night until 10:30 so we sit on our balcony and enjoy the entertainment. 

India Week #5 Palolem Goa

t's getting more routine and relaxing as we are staying longer on the beach which doesn't offer a variety of activities. Boring to read about so let's just say, eat, beach and sleep. We left Tina and d'Mellos Saturday morning at 8:30 and had the driver stop at Dudhsagar Waterfalls. It was a 45 min. drive in a jeep from the entrance of the park, extremely rocky roads, thru 3 shallow rivers and no a/c. I can't ever remember being so hot, our clothes were soaked with perspiration by the time we got back. 

The falls are 603 metres high, Dudhsagar means white milk and as you can tell by pic, a suitable name. Ones that went swimming said the water was cold. While we were there a train crossed on the tracks blowing the horn so was kinda cool. Since my Grandfather was a conductor on CN in early 1900's, I have a love of railway sights and sounds. Maybe I was a hobo in a previous life! 

We arrived at Palolem Guest House at 4:30ish. This was the first bed that had a regular thickness mattress and was not 2 beds pushed together. It is also the first time we ventured into the sea as other beaches were very rough with strong undertows and people only ventured out in water up to their knees. Here people are swimming out into the bay, protected at both ends by large rock formations.  This area is more secluded, no big grocery stores or specialty shops just huts to buy beach clothes and souvenirs. We found beach huts you can rent for 500 rupees, didn't look too bad either. Season ends just when we are leaving April 11 and places are winding down their business. After this past long weekend of celebrating Holi, it should get even quieter and less crowded. 

I'm writing this from our balcony where Bill is standing and the bright pink bougainvillea flowers are falling like autumn leaves. Love to hear your adventures from home, especially when you tell us the weather is getting warmer! 

India Week #4 Hampi

What a difference a day makes. Hampi, a backpackers, budget-travellers delight of over 500 monuments, temples and ruins. After spending the day across the river and seeing the ruins (overcrowded with hawkers) we needed a break. It was very hot as we were on a rock plateau with only shade coming from within a ruin. We were invited to a wedding, offered something to eat and not surprised at the friendliness of Indians. They give unsolicited help and advice and are generally concerned with your safety and comfort. I've seen them help tourists reluctant to cross the busy streets, 2 guys waded into the river to rescue 2 elderly ladies (meaning over 65 of course) struggling to cross against the current and if you need to find a place near by, they walk you to your destination. Motto here....."if you're happy, I'm happy". 

But our best times in Hampi were walking the roads on our own, enjoying the majestic boulders, rice paddies and numerous birds and plant life. And yes, the peace and quite away from the tuk-tuks and motor cycles. We took a different route everyday. On the third walk we ventured thru a small village starting their day with dropping kids off at school on the front of their bikes, scooters or auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuk). Cows, goats, dogs wondering the street, women washing clothes by the creeks, slapping the garments on rocks, scrubbing soapy fabric using rock for the washboards.....can't imagine how the fabric can take the abuse! These are real rural villages, one house close beside another. 3 walled open shops selling water, pop, cookies and cigarettes. Open tables with oranges, bananas, grapes for sale and even a welding shop. Men were excavating around a home, dredging with hoes, carrying the mud in a large flat pan on their heads and dumping it to make a bank. No machinery, just man and animal. Private homes didn't have any form of plumbing but a large hand pump in centre of village supplied large jugs of water to carry on the head back to the house. But now we are in North Goa. Beautiful long beaches, beige sand, lots of restaurants to choose from, Italian, Portuguese, English (Sunday's menu was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with roast potatoes and veggies), Thai and German Bakeries. Our accommodation couldn't be better. Penthouse (third floor), a/c, 1min walk to beach which we view from our balcony while standing beside the hot tub, large room with a 3 head shower in modern bathroom. Our hostess/owner, Tina, is great making sure our room has fresh flowers and advising us on sight seeing excursions, market days and best place to view the sunset and panoramic view of the beaches. 

Our days are getting routine. Walk the beach, have coffee and fruit or bake goods, take a shower, read from and write our loved ones, do hand laundry, walk for lunch and pick up 3 bottles of water, come back to room, shower, watch sunset, decide on place for dinner, come back to room and watch TV, fall asleep and dream of another day of sand, surf and palm trees. What a life!

India Week #3 Mysore

We caught our Government run bus on time, thinking we would be starting our descent of the mountain. Instead we climbed even higher on a one lane paved road. We made a few stops in villages to pick up passengers (all men) and 2 boxes of bananas. Total of 12 people in a 45 seater.  The public buses were very crowded. At one point during our ascent there were 27 hairpin turns up the side of the mountain....view was nice if you didn't look at how close the bus tires were to cliff. As the bus made the tight turns, slowing down to almost a stall, the monkeys came out of the trees as the conductor on the bus had the door open and he was handing them each a banana, not for our benefit but for the monkeys. What a nice guy. Saw a sign that read "Elephant Crossing", but no animals. 

Arrived in Mysore and stayed at a great hotel with 2 restaurants, a bar and an outside swimming pool on roof. We visited the Zoo, saw my first giraffe and Bengal tigers, (no football helmets though). Next stop Maharaja's Palace. Had a tour guide who was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history and construction of this magnificent compound. There was a large Grandfather clock Queen Victoria had gifted to the Maharaja. She always gave clocks, reasoning that you could receive money and lose but earn it back, but time once lost was gone forever. That evening we watched a movie on TV, because there was one..TV! All Indian movies are in Hindu and no subtitles, but English movies had subtitles.....in English. 

We did another day of tourists' stops and then the overnight train to Hospet and taxi to our present destination of Hampi (pronounced Humpy, like our pillow :) ). Did I mention most of our beds are 2 singles pushed together, with 2" to 6" foam mattresses on plywood. Our present bed is about 4" of foam but the pillows are a wee bit hard. The restaurants are all outdoors and filled with kids that wish they had lived in the 60's. Lighting up a joint while waiting for your meal is acceptable. It's a groovy place for sure

India Week #2 Fort Cochin

Tuesday Feb 18- still at Citrus. Good news is housekeeping did our laundry for only $4, bad news, whites came back pink...lol. Took a water taxi to town of Alleppey where we walked the spice market. Smells were incredible, but streets were very crowded and was too hot, thank goodness we were wearing our hats :). Then back to Citrus for a swim. In evening we sat outside with our neighbours, a retired Indian couple .. We now have a place to stay in Bangalore. Next morning. off for a 3 hour canoe type ride up backwaters where big boats can't travel because of narrow canals. We got up close with locals living along the banks. They all work hard, doing everything by hand. Washing, shoring up banks with mixture of mud and mussel shells, making wooden boats with crude hand tools and all the time willing to smile as we paddled by....we weren't actually doing the paddling, we reclined under a tarped roof, relaxed and content like a young couple on their honeymoon.  At dinner that night we ate with mother and daughter from Zimbabwe taking 28 day Ayurveda treatments for arthritis and daughter for a number of problems. They raved about Ayurveda, mother has been coming to India for years. They also get direction and advice from their dead father/husband of 20 years and believe if you talk to your food your body will tell you if it's good or bad for you by leaning into it or away from it.....she leans away from chocolate so I figure something's not right here! 

In the morning at breakfast we ate with a very normal family from Sweden. Then taxi ride to Fort Cochin, Kochi and Heritage Ballard Bungalow. On the way we stopped at a beach and watched a man climb up a palm tree, whack the heck out of the trunk to extract Toddy to sell for drinking, we didn't try it. In Fort Cochin we went to an old Kerala theatrical performance called Kathakali, where they paint their faces, wear large head dresses and use mime to express a story. Other than the fact the 2 men pounding on drums made us loose hearing for several hours, it was quite entertaining. Fort Cochin is our favourite town so far. Lots of tourists, shops, restaurants, narrow streets, goats walking down the middle of the street being narrowly misses by drivers and an antique dealer with 25 stores of old wooden doors, ceilings, carved wooden figures and tons of stuff. 

The most fun was walking through Jewtown, where in the morning it was alive with trucks full of sacks  of different spices, teas and products being unloaded and transferred on the heads of men or by large push carts to the docks for export. It was as if we were transported back in time to 1920's. On Saturday morning we lined up for tickets to take a fairy to city Cochin (Kochi). Ladies in one line, Gents in the other. We then sat in a holding area waiting for ferry to arrive, ladies in one area, Gents in another. Sat on the ferry, Gents up front, ladies and tourists in back . We met a lady from Japan who is travelling around the world with a backpack and 1 suitcase. What an adventurer. We visited the Kerala Folkart Museum (prince Charles and the Duchess had been there). It is owned by a man who has been collecting for 25 years and reminded us of Ed's Warehouse in Toronto. We decided to try taking a public bus back to the ferry but we needed help from 3 local young ladies to get on the right bus and then to get off at right stop! Cost of tuk-tuk had been 160R, bus ride 12R (22cents)...gotta save somewhere!! Again on bus, Ladies and  Gents sat separate from each other. Except us, we were stuck like glue, afraid of losing each other in the crowd. Next day, Bill had arranged a driver to stay with us for 3 days. We drove 141 km to Munnar, took us 5-1/2 hours. Our destination was a resort high in the middle of the tea plantations and the roads although paved, were narrow, steep and very windy. There were no guard rails and it would have been impossible to drive at night as the edge of the cliff was only metres from the pavement. But the views were breathtaking. Everywhere you looked was spectacular, you can't imagine the number of fields of tea plants. We spent the next day relaxing at Moutainside Resort then today our driver brought us to Coimbatore, 160 km, 6 hours. Gas is $1.30 litre, no savings there! Tomorrow we jump on a bus (Volvo bus) to Mysore and the start of another great week. 

Hope you enjoy hearing our adventures,

India Week #1 Allepey

Greetings from Alleppey, Citrus Spa Resort: we are really spoiling ourselves for 3 days =air conditioning,swimming pool and just finished a complimentary foot massage. I was relaxing but Bill was beside me going "ouch, ouch, OUCH!" which only made the Thai girls laugh. Quick recap on our week, Varikett Heritage in Trivandrum was run by 74 year old Colonel Roy who was full of stories, riddles and was so charming we felt like family. He walked with us for hot oil massage, held our hand  as we risked our lives crossing the street of scooters and tuk-tuks, drove Bill across town to get a SIM card for phone, introduced us to eye clinic for free eye exam and prescription glasses at 25% of cost at home. We went to an open market with fresh fish, veggies and live goats waiting in line for chance to be someone's dinner. Roy even took me to a clothing store to buy baggy pants and light tops. Our cottons are too hot for this climate so now I feel like I'm wearing my pj's...too cool eh! Our next stop was Gumnut home stay in Varkala. It was near the beach and is a Hindu culture centre. Every morning on a section of beach, priests sat on sand with people who came with ashes of a deceased family member. When someone dies, the body is cremated by fire, (in your backyard is ok place), ashes are put in an urn, buried under a Jack Tree (everyone has one of those, no?) and after a year you dig up the urn and take it to the priest who performs a ceremony and then you release ashes into the ocean. It seemed a calm, gentle way of saying goodbye.  

A quick hour taxi to Kollam where we had lunch at a hotel with set menu. We sat in a small room with 4 tables. 12 men and 2 Canuks. Waiters came in with tin plates with 2 cups of veggies then unceremoniously plunked a big scoop of rice from a bucket on our plate. Then brought 6 more small cups of sauces. As locals eat with their right hand, I tried it but didn't quite get the knack of hand mixing veggies, rice and sauce and squeezing it into small balls to plop into my mouth, most went into my lap and as there are no serviettes it wasn't pretty. The waiter than kindly, or out of sympathy, asked us if we wanted a spoon. After lunch you line up at a sink by the door and wash up, no towels but for 20 rupees each what do you expect.....converted that's about 35 cents Canadian. Best deal ever! Food here is beyond delicious and cheap. Large bottled water is 30 cents, 650ml of bottled beer $2 in a seaside bar, breakfast over looking  Arabian Sea of toast and jam, bananas,  pineapple , coffee for 2 was $4, no taxes, no tips. All great but too expensive :)

Yesterday, Sunday, was an 8 hour ride on barge through backwaters. Lots of children on the shores smiling, waving and throwing kisses while standing in front of shacks nestled in Palm trees. Women were twisting fibres by hand from coconuts to make rope, washing clothes by hand in river water and scrubbing charcoal from cooking pots with sand on rivers edge. They call this area Vienna of South India, but that's stretching it. Men also do washing, work in rice paddies and fish by casting huge nets into the water only to be rewarded with a few small fry. We met a couple our age who were also travelling by backpack on budget from New Zealand. They travel for a year, go home for a year and off again. Their mantra "it's not what you have but what you do" so they sold their home, downsized to a cottage and put furniture into storage. Good news of this story is we now have a place to stay if we go to NZ

Panama 2014-2015

Getting ready to leave for our trip to Panama. Bags are packed, suntan lotion,hats and sandals.

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