Travels: Hampi

After Agonda beach (Goa) I headed to Hampi, stopping overnight at Hubli on the way. (Hubli is my cheapest night yet and so it wasn't very nice, but the first 5 places we went to have no vacancies, and it was late).
As I left Goa I met a French girl (22yrs) and we teamed up for Hubli and Hampi.

Hampi is a really touristy spot ... the most touristy spot I have been to in India, aside from Goa. Tourists were dressed inappropriate for India, and with a splash of cleanliness and western food it too isn't like the real India.

Most people I spoke to seemed to have arrived into Mumbai, spent some weeks in Goa and were now spending weeks in Hampi. These people were really seeing a different side of India to what I was. They were also taking plenty of drugs.

Most people, myself included, choose to stay across the river in Hampi. Yesterday as I caught the boat across for the last time a young woman (with her man) was dressed in a boob tube and capri's with a shoulder wrap. The young Indian man who drove the boat gets to see a lot of inappropriate dress, but this was too much and he told her that she shouldn't dress this way in India. Good for him, but likewise I think that we should tell the same to those wearing burkas in Australia (because bank robbers only show their eyes).

Hampi deserves being on the must visit list for India. The landscape is captivating, and in it are impressive ruins from previous times of prosperity... Although I fail to see how the terrain could ever have supported the half million people the books tell of.

Accom: Manju's palace. Rates from Rs70 for space on the roof to Rs700 for a pleasant room for 2. I liked Manju's, but the crowd wasn't for me.. All smoking, and sitting around instead of travelling.

Photos: Goa (aside from Carnival)

 Markets in Goa... same stuff as elsewhere on the tourist trail.

Goa is cleaner than other parts of India... but still filthy in many parts.

But, Panjim (the Capital) is nice for it's old houses:

 

Then, Agonda Beach... the beach huts...

 

my beach hut:-

The street:

 

Photos: Goa Carnival

The Carnival in Panjim had everything to make a great carnival... aside from the Indian audience looking bored and unappreciating.

 

Some displays were big and colourful.

 

 

Some displays seemed politically incorrect.

This little display is just the girl and her dad. Her shirt says "Stop Child Labour".

 

An anti-smoking float "Journey to Death"

In other parts of the world the girls are barely dressed in carnival, but in India it's the men who bare their bum (showing a traditional work method).

 

And finally, it seemed that some ladies were dressed more carnival like (in cheer leader type clothes), but they had full beige body suits on under the sexy cloths, and were also protected behind a screen. Only in India...!

 

Many displays were for public improvement.

I spent a couple of hours watching the parade, then I wondered where the other foreigners were. I found them at the pub, covered in coloured powders. I left them to it and went and found the dancing.

I found the dancing. Mostly male. Some of them were annoying, 

but security made sure I knew they were there to help me if I needed help.

Travels: Goa

When I arrived in Goa I was really confused as to what to do. I had had a sleepless night on a comfortable overnight bus from Bangalore, and didn't know what to do. (Sleepless due to road conditions and driving method).

I had breakfast and bought a ticket to travel north, got on the bus and met a fellow traveller who said I shouldn't just leave Panjim immediately, as it was worth a few days. So I abandoned my 20c ticket and got off the bus.

Indeed he was right, Goa's little capital Panjim is a lovely spot. And carnival was scheduled for the weekend so I ended up staying 4 nights.

Highlights for me were visiting a Spice Plantation and being there for the fun of carnival. I will explain carnival with so photos some time.

After Panjim I headed to Agonda Beach. It's a lovely place. As I'm not really a beach person I planned to spend just 1 night there, but ended up staying for 3. Just relaxing, reading, swimming, walking, eating.

But, as they say... Goa isn't the real India.

A love story, or not

I've just spent a week in Goa. I had a wonderful time in the capital Paniji (Panjim), and on Agonda Beach.

At Agonda beach I saw many young Indian men with foreign women; both young and older. I even had a Kashmiri 9 years my junior insisting I should drink chai and take long walks on the beach with him. It reminded me of the history of an old friend. I'll tell you this story. Names are changed.

Jill was in her early 30's and travelling around the world when she went to Goa. There she met a fit young man from Nepal who was residing in Goa. They started a relationship (or holiday fling). When she left she vowed to return. She was in love.

When she told me about it I was skeptical about his intentions, although I hadn't met him. She said he could get a visa to the UK without her assistance and so she thought his intentions were fine.

She returned to Goa. They decided they would be together, in her home, in the UK. But, it turned out that getting him a visa wasn't easy. They had to get married, show lots of proof of the relationship, and wait considerable time for the application to be approved. Jill was happy to do this, she was in love.

After 2 years he was entitled to citizenship (or was it residency?, but it was enough), and he recieved this. Almost immediately after this he told Jill that he didn't want to live in the UK anymore, that he wasn't happy. She reluctantly signed the paperwork for the divorce, as they agreed that it would be even more difficult for her to live in Nepal. He returned to Nepal.

Then, a few months latter he returned to the same suburb of London to live with his new Nepalese bride.

The End.

Sad huh? Of course many will say better to have loved and lost but it keeps me being extra skeptical.

Sorry Mr Kashmiri, not a chance with me.