Bhakti Kutir Canacona

We arrived in Palolem after hopefully, our final overnight bus journey. Journey was pretty uneventful as always and didn't get much sleep as always! We shared a taxi to the beach with two German guys and set out to find some cheap accommodation. It was only 7am and we were already sweating walking down the beach, its really getting hotter the more we head South. After a few unsuccessful tries we found a great place to stay, its ...

... from climbing (he woke with his left foot) so we got another beer and played some backgammon and chilled out some more, swam again and soon the sun was setting on us, beautifully reflected in the sea, to finally disappear behind the island to the south and west, on the other side of the river. Jon and I went for a walk, checked out the beach at night, and got the vibes that it could potentially be a good party place. Indeed, later on we were met by the sight of fireworks ...

Once again it was fairly difficult to get up as it was quite! We went for breakfast at a bar opposite the hotel. In India, it takes about 30mins on a good day to get a toastie and that is if you are the only ones there otherwise it could take up to an hour :-).

Rita, Kate, Stéphane and I decided to hire Kayaks. They only had one double and 2 singles so the girls took the double. We went round the island, the ...

... I found a nice large rock to lay on away from everything and everyone (im such a happy loner now), sun tan and read, with the ocean at my feet.

Then as dusk broke so did the tide. The water would detract aboot 100m which opened the beach up immensely, with a endless platform of sand and allowed a much larger area to be roamed. So i wandered far oot (the other way on the beach this time), around a bend, to ...

... been confirmed. This meant that we had to share an bunk for the 12 hour journey to Goa. Luckily the guard found us an empty bunk 3 hours into the journey so we both managed to get some sleep. Arriving in Margao (Goa) we we both pleased we had stuck with the train, it's by far the best way to travel. We decided ti head for a small beachside resort Benalum. After a bumpy rickshaw ride and a long march down the beach with our ...

Tarkotuksena oli jattaa Goa sunnuntaina kuten tossa aiemmin uhkailin, mutta niin ku saannot on tehty rikottaviks, on suunnitelmat tehty muutettaviks ja Gokarnaan suuntaan tiistaina. Syy tahan on puhtaasti se, etta Mumbain tuttu tuli kaverinsa kanssa Goaan ja paadyttiin tekemaan pieni paivanmittanen road trip moottoripyorilla Old Goaan ja Etala-Goaan. Hauskaa oli, mutta ei jaksa nyt kirjottaa, joten kuvat puhukoot puolestaan.

So I just realized that when I start a draft of a blog, it can be viewed by everyone. I started a journal entry late last night, and saved it to finish tonight... but alas, it can be read by all. lesson learned. Anyway, to those of you who haven't read this already- read on... India isn't what I expected it to be in odd ways. I ignorantly expected the people and air to smell like garlic and curry. The air actually always smells like burning timber (for ...

... firecrackers are being set off all around you (you really do have to dodge them) it was brilliant, and they also enjoyed us joining them and watching, and then they all pick up their offerings and walk into the sea, and release their offerings to the sea, and then are all singing and dancing in the sea, we went in the sea with them and it was ace, another excellent memory. Then we all went back onto the beach, and the fireworks and crackers were still going off ...

Feeling slightly exhausted after an action packed week, which includede several over night journeys, we headed to Goa in search of a bit of chill out time. With so many beautiful palm fringed beaches to chose from the most difficult task was deciding where to go. We eventually found our place in the sun at The Cozy Nook on Palolem beach, from there we spent a lazy week in a beach hut at about 6 squid a night. Although Goa is fairly westernised on the ...

After Christmas we got a 11 hour train to Goa where we are to begin the volunteering. After terrifying the other volunteers about Indian trains, i was hugely disappointed to see not one mouse nor cockroach on this train when there had been plenty on te ones before. I think they thought I was lying and told me victoriously they thought the train journey was fine and not half as bad as they expected (let's see what to return journey has in store for them, surely it's not just me who ...