Ashok Plaza Hotel Panaji

... heart, I walked towards thee depot, where a few men with moustaches established it was not a Porvorim bus, and in the next hour that I spent there, they made a few phone calls, and based on the ticket, unbelievably, they worked out the bus number, conductor and his phone number, saying that it will be in Mapusa at 15:30 – 16:00. So I thanked them and went back to Mapusa, where I sat down for an egg biryani, and proceeded to stand for two more hours in the burning sun ...

... grandly named Park Lane Lodge (which was essentially someone's home, with family running about and heirlooms proudly on display), I set out to explore for the afternoon. A great way to kill some time, the city was charming and completely unlike anywhere else I've visited. Like Lisbon in India. Actually, scrap that, now I think about it it was not dissimilar to Luang Prabang (if you replace Portugal and India with France and Laos). There was ...

... se tadey moc nedeje. Nam chybi prekousnout este dva dny a pak pres den v Bangalore. Letadlo leti presne v jedenact vecir a to vopustime Incredible India. Potom nam zbejvaj tri dny v Singapore a pak domu.... Vsimnul jsem si ze sem zapomel dve dulezity veci. Jednu z Hampi a druhou tady, v Arambolu a vlastne i na vsech plazich Indie: nejsou tu rackove!!!! Zato je nahradily hejna cernejch vran. Krakaj vod rana do vecera a i potom.Bejt tu vo mesic dyl a pit hodne piva, asi by se ze me stal ...

... was a twelve hour journey and you don't want to be doing that on your feet! Anywhoo I get there (Old Goa train station, fact fans!) all sweaty and tired and hungry and immediately leap on these English looking people to share a taxi to Panjim. They turned out to be a very nice Austrian couple (his name was Wolfgang and hers was unpronounceable) and they were all about the share idea. However there were only the tiny tuck - tuck motorbike taxi things there ...

... Windows open or else it gets far too hot. Slept reasonably well considering. The train driver seemed to do the whole journey with his hand on the horn, or whatever train folk call it. Must have been telling all the other trains to get out of his way I suppose. The bloke on the top bunk opposite Catherine insisted on showcasing his wet snore all night to the annoyance of everyone else on the upper ...

... away at granite and marble carvings: the four heads of Brahma, Krishna, Lakshmi, Shiva, elephants, sprites, bangles, necklaces, pendants. The tradition lives. Carvings are of the highest quality, and can be found in temples and private homes around India - and the world, goes the local boast. Then hit the beach, and find the strange, magical line between the haves and have nots, the outsiders and insiders. Lining the back of the beach is the ubiquitously expected string of ...

... I climbed on my berth to sleep. I was tired from not sleeping much the night before. I slept very good and was mpressed how quiet it was. The sound of the train was covering the snoring so it was good. At 6 am sharp, the caterers started going up and down the wagon shouting "chai" or "coffee". Every 3 minutes someone was going by. You can't starve unless you want to. The only problem is that I had ...

... to the beach, they were singing and playing drums and the children were dancing as they walked, they were letting off fireworks and firecrackers, so we followed them down to the beach, it was ana mazing sight, hundreds of the locals arrive on the beach with their offerings and they lay out food and fruit on the offerings and statues, which they carry on wooden cases, then they dance and sing and play music by their offerings, whilst at the same time fireworks ...

... day we were both pretty much horizontal. Each morning we do chores. These consist of such taxing enterprises as buying soap and shampoo; getting money out of the ATM; and in Rachel's case, getting waxed in preparation for bikini-wearing. This means we have the rest of the day free to read, swim in the sea, and eat the most incredibly fresh and delicious seafood a few Rupees can buy. The most exciting thing that has happened to ...

... we wanted playing? Fine, perhaps an opportunity to redeem themselves. So, suggestion 1 was Elvis, no. Suggestion 2, Buddy Holly, no. They'd never, as long standing musicians, heard of, nor knew either Gigantor or Buddy. They then proceeded to play the same song previously played to another table. There has been a distinct lack of beer or liquor consumption since Saturday and I feel I will probably have to do without until Monday evening at the earliest. The study ...