HOME AGAIN

This is what we went to see.  And this is the photo we took!

This is the last post in this blog as the journey has ended!  If you aren't familiar with blogs, this is the end.  The start is at the bottom of the list. There is navigation to the right of you. You will have to click on Jan at bottom right (or  'More' on a mobile device)  to get to the earlier posts.   Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  

Checked in at the smart new airport terminal in Mumbai. (Still called Bombay in many places, including the 3 letter airport code: BOM).  Feels like we are entering a luxury world, miles apart from the last five weeks.

Been home 24 hours now and jet lag beginning to fall away.  Time to plan the next one.  

Would we go back? Yes of course but maybe a bit differently. Base ourselves in the corner of Goa we found, use that as a base, then do trips from there. Goa has an airport so you can fly across to the other side easily. We still have places around Chennai (Madras) and Madurai that we want to see. And Moira needs to go back to the rip off tailor who pinched half her fabric while making her top.

Best bits?  

• Hampi. 
• The Ooty steam railway.
• The colours of Rajasthan. 
• The Taj Mahal. (There is nothing like it).
• Kingfisher Beer. 
• The Hindu religion that allows monkeys and cows to take priority over traffic. ('Because they were here first!) 

Worst bits? 

• Being ill. We had the flu at the beginning.  Then a bug at the end.
• Understanding tipping. (Got better at handling it eventually).
• Varanasi (Benares)  Perhaps we just didn't get it. 

THE NIGHT FROM HELL!

Well, the room was quite clean and the ac and fan worked, if noisily and you can't help the proximity of them to your head when sleeping in an 8 foot cube - I was so tired after so little sleep in the past few weeks that I was just happy to lie there in a comatose state until morning  but no it was not to be - because if you have heard of the witchfinder general from the movie you will understand when I say that John is the mosquito finder general- if there is the slightest zzzzzzzzzzzzz! noise - he is out of bed like a mountain goat armed with a towel and he is whipping the ceiling,walls, bed, floor, companion and telling you about the mountain of blood in each squashed one- he got one big bite and he had to get the whole first aid kit out with repellent, after bite, electric clicker gadget etc - he ran down to reception and got a smoke bomb type coil he set up in the toilet, causing me to have a coughing fit and then kept the light up, sitting up to swat anything- he had to put the coil out after it nearly choked us so we spent the night in a choking fog in an 8 foot cube and for me it was like being locked up with a rabid monkey for the night as he jumped around the room effing and blinding....anyway thank god it's nearly 8 and we can get up and get out of here- the monkey has finally calmed down and is lying beside me- exhausted...he is convinced he has malaria now - I know the symptoms are definitely rabies- can't wait to get on that plane!

John adding to the wall design, squashing blood filled mosquitoes. (All night) 

Do these pics give you a flavour of the evening?

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

We swam in the warm Goan seas last night for the last time and paddled along the beach at 7:00 am this morning - that is Goa at its best.  Last night we sat in the moonlight - full moon on the beach in a bijou little beach shack called Be@One.  We had amazing tempura tiger prawns followed by steak for Moira and kingfish for us - absolutely divine!

Had a hot airless night again last night - but sat out with the other fellow inmates of Heaven Goa Guesthouse and learned a lot more - that next time we would fly to Goa by Qatar Airways via Doha with a 2 hour stop there - apparently an excellent service.  Also learned one of our fellows lives near Whitby - so may visit him next time enroute to Scotland in caravan.  Also learned another couple are a musical partnership who work a lot around Whitby and their following there are mostly goth pirates! They are called Serenity.

Had our final breakfast in Benaulim village at Dinah's and got back to find our flight time had come forward 2 hours!  New terminal at Goa airport in Dabolim - nice in Air con.  Saw a few more parts of Goa enroute to airport and felt we need to come back to give it more time when we are fully fit.

We are ok but not daring to stop the tablets until we reach uk for fear of recurrence.  Flight to Mumbai by Goair was fine - one hour duration.  It is drier heat in Mumbai and comfortable 32 degrees - more like Spain- clothing and hair no longer stuck to you. We quite like Mumbai though we know many hate it.

Taxi met us to take us to hotel and stopped outside a slum street- 'this is it' said our driver - we looked in disbelief -a joke? Moira refused to enter - looked like a dead dog covered in flies on the bottom step we had to step over - turned out to be alive and waiting to be stroked!  After the shock of climbing the grubby stairs - the receptionist seemed to be trying hard to please - when shown the rooms in the slum - they had no windows but a clean double bed, AC and fan and wifi - can't really complain - so Anjali Inn is ok really.  Went across the very busy main road taking our lives into our hands (shut your eyes and just keep walking!)  From there in a nice cafe over coffee and a somosa we planned our next strategy - got a tuktuk across town to a 'nice district'. This involves the most hectic tuktuk ride ever for 40 minutes in Mumbai rush hour.  Imagine driving down the M1 in an open sided threewheeler with large trucks thundering past on each side and pedestrians leaping across your path on their mobile phones. Everyone hooting their horns as loudly as possible. But, unusually, no cows.  Moira at one point said 'tell him to slow down'. We said to Moira:  'He's the driver, Moira, just don't look'.  40 minutes later and for the princely sum of 115 rupees (£1.10) we arrived at the best cocktail bar followed by the best 5 star restaurant in the district - a pina colada later and a glass of wine and we were feeling better - had a nice Indian meal in Caravan Serai and then tuktuked back to the slum to sleep - passed lots of interesting bazaars and shopping areas but pity there was no time to shop.  In the morning we will have a leisurely breakfast after risking the motorway crossing again and then off to the airport and home.  So this is India calling and India signing out after an amazing, interesting, gruelling 39 days - what an adventure!

This is what we left behind this morning in Goa...

Early morning walk on the beautiful beach with blood heat water

This is what John brought us to in Mumbai! our street and our hotel on the right - and yes that is old corrugated iron as a fence on the right next to our hotel!

even the crows prefer to go elsewhere!

This is the frontage of our hotel...

And this is what Moira looked like upon arrival

Anyway - suffice to say we are in our little beds along with a host of mosquitos that John is trying to swat while I write this - and we only have to survive the night - if we can stand the noise of the fan and ac working at once in the 8 by 8 foot room with flooded bathroom smelling of drains - but this is India folks - warts and all.  See you soon in old Blighty!

A FEW PICS

Early morning walk along the beach before breakfast

£2.50 shirt!

STILL ALIVE!

Each day we get a bit stronger - despite not sleeping well.  Last night we went down to the beach at around 6:30 hoping to have steaks and chips but the restaurant was having problems - probably luckily considering our recent stomach problems.  Anyway we enjoyed the red snapper and chips in the next restaurant instead and the slight wafting of air on the beach was more pleasant than our hot, airless rooms.  We walked back in the dark and used our head torch to help a broken down tour bus!

This morning we walked along the beach in the cool at 7:00am and it was Goa at its best.  A few people had artistically striped their faces with colour for holi - but a few of the local teenagers had done it properly - all over.  We had poached eggs and orange juice again in Dinah's bar for breakfast and walked along the tatty market stalls - John bought a couple of cotton shirts for £2.50 each - big spender!

The sow who made the nest to have her babies in is still in it 2 days later - our guesthouse owner put her some water out and she drank some - we have seen 2 little piglets so far- but they all stay so silent because the area is full of wild packs of dogs who would take them.  It was amazing to see her building the nest with palm fronds and twigs until she was totally invisible and silent.

We are just starting to acclimatise to the heat here in time to leave!  We have to pack our bags tonight and leave for Mumbai tomorrow - I hope we can fit in another couple of swims in the sea before we leave.

Our guesthouse owner, Sunil got bitten by a tick off one of his cats today and his leg swelled up - at least we were able to help with Piriton and Antisan cream.  Generally the chemists here are very good and you don't need to bring a big first aid kit like we did.  If I came again I would bring the little fan and extension lead to tie to the bedpost inside the mosquito net - another idea from an inmate here so you can get an air flow within the net.  Luckily for us there have not been many biting insects around here yet so hopefully having to stop taking the anti-malarials won't matter.  Next time you can buy them here for a fraction of the cost and only have to take 2 tablets per week instead of one every day and 4 on the first day - lots of people have reported feeling ill with the tablets we are prescribed in Europe.

Moira was going to have her sore shoulder massaged today but Sunil's tick bite put a stop to that!

FISH AND CHIPS, MASSAGE AND HOLI

Those antibiotics are working wonders and we are back on solid food again. Fish and chips on the beach. Just like Hayling Island (almost).

Yvonne and I walked along the beach this morning at about 7:30 which is the coolest part of the day and I was still not feeling well so we stopped off at this little breakfast place in the village and sank a pint of fresh orange juice which brought me back to life. Yvonne had poached eggs and coffee. We will be going there again.

We have chatted to a variety of travellers staying here in the last couple of days. Each one a fascinating story. Most of them come here every year and many for two or three months. Some travel for two months then rest here. Others just stay here. Saves them fuel bills back home. Especially in Norway with a high cost of living.  A few have settled here all year but tend to go away for at least some of the monsoon season.

A blogger, Michael, has been here and said it is tempting, but stay here too long and your life would just slip away. You get that feeling a bit sometimes. I would need a project. Writing a book or something.

Anyway. Moira has her massage booked for 10:30 tomorrow morning. Let's see if Sunil can do something about the dodgy shoulder she has had for ages.

Yvonne's ankle has also frozen. It is one of the things on the list of side effects of our antibiotics so it could be a choice of either the ankle or back on the bog for another few days. Tough decision!

Tomorrow is our last full day here and it is the Holi festival when people throw coloured power at each other. Must remember to wear old clothes when we go to breakfast in the morning!

ANOTHER SICK BAY

Typical John to post that we were just feeling a little off when in fact we have not been able to move from the toilet for nearly three days!  Moira managed to ride a bike to the chemist between bouts this morning to get us some more Dioralyte - interestingly it comes in one litre packets here rather than the piddly little packets they give you at home - we have thrown cares to the wind, stopped taking the anti-malarials and have started the stomach antibiotics - hoping these will kick in to give us a respite before we come home or at least that we will feel strong enough to pack our bags before we have to leave.  We haven't even seen the sea for two days - though it is only down the road - hope we'll be feeling better soon.

The monocular we brought has been a godsend because we have spent quite a few hours on our balconies watching the water birds in front of our rooms in the marshes - we have our own squacco heron as well as numerous other herons and storks as well as dippers and brown eagles and several kingfishers.  It's interesting to see how the bird-scape completely changes at different times of day and how the mother sow and her piglets wallow in the mud.  We also hear regular blood-curdling squeals in the night in the wild area beside us and we have no idea what is causing it - we do know that there is a real issue here with packs of hungry wild dogs who at the end of the tourist season do not get enough to eat and hunt around in packs - apparently they often go for the little piglets and there are also some packs of wild jackals about... one of our inmates here had been attacked by 4 dogs- that is the reason the locals go down to the beach armed with a wooden club!

SICK BAY!

Spent all day in bed!  All of us feeling dodgy, but not a serious bout, just too hot and full of lassitude.  Trying to work out if it is the Anti Malaria tablets we have been taking this week or the slightly uncooked chicken we ate two nights ago in the dark.  A day lying about in our rooms under the fans has at least rested us. 

Tomorrow is another day!  

FIRST FULL DAY IN GOA

We took it easy today as we had not slept last night with the lack of breeze and humidity.  It is easier to sleep in late morning or late afternoon.

John and I swam in the pool and bird watched from our balcony and talked to the guesthouse inhabitants.  We learned more of the long-term living of Europeans in Goa to avoid Winter.

We walked into Benaulim village and used the ATM successfully and saw a supermarket for the first time in India - a small Tesco Express size but with lots of Western goodies.

John had a 70 pence haircut and looks less like the wild man of Borneo.  We went for our first swim in the ocean in Goa this afternoon and it was a good surf and like a warm bath.  Spent a couple of hours sitting in a beach shack to hug the shade.  Moira and I have yet another bout of the Delhi Belly today after the tandoori chicken last night so we are sticking to Dioralyte and boiled rice and dry toast today - so far John has escaped.

Tonight we feel it's too hot to go to bed - probably stay up all night

 This was our guest house for the week in Benaulim. And here is the communal area with a few fellow guests.

Now I know the true meaning of the phrase 'like a pig in clover'as it wallowed around in the water eating the clover and other greenery.

Also saw some very bright mating shield bugs today

ARRIVED IN GOA

We had a fairly horrendous 9 hour train trip from Hospet, near Hampi but the taxi to the beach went well and now we are in our final resting place of Heaven Goa guesthouse at Benaulim beach, which is truly a heavenly place where the season is coming to an end due to the heat but the beach is still as beautiful but fairly empty and our guesthouse is full of older seasoned travellers who love India - have done all the sights and now just come straight to Heaven Goa every year just to chill out for anything up to 4 months of the year - which is feasible at £10 per night for a double room.

Had dinner on the beach last night for £7.50 for 3 including beer and tandoori - great place.

Only problem is the heat which is very humid at night and difficult to sleep - will have to alter my sleep pattern and just sleep in the day and stay awake at night!

We have a little swimming pool in our guesthouse to chill out and a very nice sitting area in the shade - our rooms have a nice little balcony in front of them.  We could get to like it here.

Moira and John outside our rooms

Our little swimming pool at the back

It is just a 10 min stroll down to the beach front and about the same into the village- view from our balcony towards the beach including wild boar

This is the view from our balcony towards the beach including our own foraging wild pig and a squacco heron - however you spell it.  There are beach shacks on the beach selling lovely seafood - 

looking forward to a few days chilling on the beach - sea is pure white sand and no stones - so lovely for swimming.  Used the headtorch last night and saw sand crabs and the birds fishing for them in the dark.

Moira got up at 6am and went for a beach walk and said it was glorious.  There is little or no hassle of tourists here.

Outrigger boat for fishing pulled up on the beach

The view down our road to the beach

POST-SCRIPT

I had just finished typing the last blog entry and casually looked up to see a very sneaky red faced monkey (the aggressive type) just heading into Moira's open bedroom. I screamed which got the entire restaurant opposite out onto the balcony to see what was going on - luckily John ran after it and chased it onto the roof - I can't imagine what would have happened if Moira, who was reading on her bed, had looked up to find the monkey in the room with her - I don't know which one would have been the most lary - probably Moira would have won - having seen the way she now deals with the touts trying to sell us stuff around here.  Have to sign off now because it's so hot even the computer is wearing a tulip hat to keep it cool..

CHILLING OUT EVEN MORE IN HAMPI

Slept really well in the air con last night and after a delicious breakfast of homemade yoghurt and muesli and fresh juice, we made our way along the ghats (steps down to river) to the ferry across to the other side.  On the way we came across these little beauties being dried for some purpose (elephant)

Then we got to the water's edge and met all the chaps taking off their loincloths and having a bath in the river.... then we met the ladies in the water in their saris doing the daily wash and putting them on the steps to dry.  While we waited for the ferry which John quibbled about paying 10 pence for,we watched an old chap sitting on a rock with a bit of line catch a fish like a carp about 10 inches long and add it to his bag of other fish- Beside him the rest of his family wallowed in a shallow rock pool and mum washed down grandad with a few splashes of water over his head - well you know how smelly these old folks get!

Finally when there were enough customers to fill the boat, we were picked up and ferried 2 mins to the other side.  The other bank is much more laid back with little settlements of banana leaf huts and hammocks outside - lots of young hippies over here.  We walked past a lush green field of ripening rice still waterlogged at its base - then took a left to Laughing Buddha guesthouse and restaurant which also had huts and hammocks and the restaurant was like a colombian dope smoking den that I thought our boys would be proud to see us sitting in - we didnt have any 'special lassi' here but a diet  coke and a snack in the cool riverside breeze where we easily wiled away 4 hours before coming back to the busy side for yet another rest - life is really slowing down here in preparation for Goa.

Hampi is a great place - you could easily spend weeks here doing nothing...

Looking back over the river from the restaurant towards our guesthouse with temple in middle

Laughing Buddha restaurant - a great place for hummus, felafel and chips!  Yes that is John in the tulip hat - his latest head-wear for 50 rupees!

The restaurant is just beds with crashed out hippie types...

rice field....

There were so many kingfishers around, frankly it was boring - oh for a robin! and even the grapefruits looked more like a woman's buttocks!

As you can see - the weather is frazzlingly hot....

The huge rocks in the river are covered in beautiful carvings and there are holy statues on many of the rocks - it is a very sacred place here for many people.  It is totally laid back and we don't feel at all hassled - we sleep here tonight and leave on the 6 am sleeper train for our 8 and a half hour train trip to the ocean tomorrow - looking forward to it!

EARLY MORNING IN HAMPI

We got up early this morning and caught a tuktuk in the cool about 10km up the valley to another temple complex.  We had a long stroll up to the entrance path and had to wait for it to open - only us and the birds - not more kingfishers! and plovers and green parakeets.

Inside we had the place to ourselves and saw the famous stone chariot with working wheels and the musical pillars which if you hit them play different notes -except you are not allowed to now.

Then we saw some statues in the little museum and went to the Royal compound where our favourite was the little lotus mahal building set in a lush garden - then the elephant stables were really beautiful - they treated their elephants very well in those days!

The elephant stables

We came back mid morning and rested in the cool bedroom then went across the road for egg and chips for lunch - delicious!

This evening we will walk up the hill behind the village to see the amazing view- loved the big bats flying around the temple last night. - this is a really special valley - very atmospheric.

Tomorrow we plan to cross the river and look at the temples on the other side - generally take it easy before our 8 hour train ride to the beach at Goa.

Moira has taken in her Mysore silk to be made into a tunic in town - £2.50 for the making up!

John was just talking to our landlord about the pesky monkeys who come to steal leftovers - the man said you can't do anything about it because this is their place - we are their guests - you see this is the birthplace of Hanuman the monkey god and they have a big temple to him overlooking the valleys.  It's a different world order here - man is not necessarily top of the pile.

HAMPI - UNESCO World Heritage site

We have only spent our first half day here and already we are bowled over by the size and grandeur of this place.  It is like a mixture of Cappodoccia in Turkey with the same strange landforms with a lovely river and then South American style pyramid temples - reminds me of Walt Disney's Jungle Book with the monkey king in his monkey temple in the jungle.

The riverside is stunning - seen loads more birds today including the most stunningly blue kingfisher ever.  Saw big coracles made to get you across the river and you can just freely explore the huge city complex as if you are discovering the ruins for the first time.

It is a very laid back place with lots of young hippie types as well as a few oldies like us- prices are quite good.

We had to report to the police to register this morning and when there we passed a young teenage local smoking his cigarette provocatively by a temple - next we saw him marched in by 2 middle aged policemen and hit about the face for breaking the law and smoking in public - Moira misunderstood and thought the police were asking us if we had any cigarettes so she pulled hers out to offer one to the boy only to realise that was why he was in custody!  He had mugshots taken and hauled in front of the boss for a telling off - Moira was really worried about him - but happily we saw him an hour later having been released - he looked really scared at the time and they get £30 fine for smoking in public here - it's an effective way of stopping smoking and drinking in the streets by locals here!

We are getting up early tomorrow to catch a tuktuk to visit the biggest temple complexes before the heat sets in.  Amazing place!