This weekend I traveled to Goa
It's costal state about 12 hours from Hyderabad
We took an overnight bus to get there.
It was a nice bus, but hard to get comfortable in
Also, the Bollywood movie they played for the first THREE hours of the trip was the most annoying, excruciatingly loud thing I've ever heard in my life.
Not much else happened on that bus ride.
We tried to sleep, and some Indian men called me hot.
It was an interesting ride...
We arrived in Goa and made it to our resort
There was 95% humidity the entire we were there
but it was such a tropical paradise we didn't even mind.
After breakfast we headed here:
The Arabian Sea!
We saw some hot Indian lifeguards
(I'm being facetious I promise)
We walked the beach, laid out and swam in the pool
We couldn't swim in the ocean because of monsoon season
The tide is too high to swim for about three months
We still felt the water though
Later we went to the capital to see a movie
X-Men was pretty fun to see...and the Indians LOVED it
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| Lexie and me |
The next day we went exploring
On the end of this peninsula there is a fort
We assumed we could get there by walking along the beach
We thought wrong.
Should've been a no brainer.
Forts are made to be impenetrable
Even 400 years later-
you can't just walk up to the thing.
So we took a safer path to find a taxi
Instead of a taxi we found two Indian guys on motorbikes
They gave us a ride to the top of the peninsula for free
They really got a kick out of how much we laughed on the way up
The fort was amazingly green
They wouldn't let us up into the lighthouse, but it was still really cool
And the view was AMAZING
On the way back we hiked through some jungle and met some wild boars and lots of disgusting insects
To recover we spent the rest of the day by the pool
The next day we avoided motorcycles and just rented a taxi
Our driver took us to an amazing Hindu Temple
It was right along the banks of this river
Then he took us to a spice plantation in old Goa
They gave us a tour of the plantation
They grow all sorts of cool things here
These chillies are the the 4th hottest chili in the world
And they are only about 1/2 inch big!
I'm smelling a cinnamon tree here
And these are pineapple bushes
I've never seen the actual plant before
I learned that pineapple plants grow boy and girl pineapples.
We normally only eat the girl pineapples
because they are rounder and sweeter...
Go figure.
After the tour they fed us lunch
...and then it started pouring rain.
The monsoon season is amazing here
It starts pouring without warning and you are drenched within 10 seconds
After the rain we walked around a bit more
And THEN...drum roll please...
I RODE AN ELEPHANT!
This is Babu
and he is SO COOL
I was more than a little excited to ride him
Even with the grumpy little man in front of me
He loves bananas
Please forgive the English accent...it's so easy to slip into here
Definitely a highlight of being in India
After our spice plantation adventure we visited some amazing Catholic churches and cathedrals
Portugal ruled Goa for 450 years and you could see signs of Christianity everywhere
This church was a the top of a hill
With amazing views from the top
The next three churches and cathedrals were in the same small area that also happens to be a world heritage site
We were exhausted when we finally got home
and decided to eat at the restaurant in our hotel
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| Lexie, Aleesha, and me |
The next day we flew home
I was in such good company the entire weekend
and
India is truly a beautiful place
Now- back to work!
Love,
Ale
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