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South GOA Beach - Modor beach Nanqi You
South GOA is known for it relaxed life style and its beaches. It might be surprising to some that Steve and I are not really beach people though we keep going to beach towns. GOA fits us extremely well because it really doesn't offer a whole lot to do other than its prestine waters and soft white sand beaches. Even though we don't go to the beach, staying in the resort by the pool without feeling quilty about not "touring" is what I learned to love.
This is Friday, the last day we are at Karma Haathi Mahal. We took a morning walk on the beach and circled back from a road 500 meters from the beach: 6 miles total. Great route. We witnessed once again the extreme luxury such as the Leela resort neighbored by extreme poverty - houses without running water.
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Burners on the South GOA Beach Nanqi You
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Leela Resort South GOA - luxury resort Nanqi You
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Steve and Nanqi on Modor Beach South GOA Nanqi You
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Entrance from sea to a river on the left Nanqi You
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Shells on the south GOA Modor beach Nanqi You
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2' tall shore bird. It was catching small fish in the shallow water, but I was never quite quick enough to catch it in action. Steve
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Although I couldn't catch the bird catching fish, I did manage to capture the human casting his net. Steve
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The fisherman netted a few Steve
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GOA fish market Nanqi You
We never know Indian food well enough to even comment. This trip is even more challenging with GOA in the mix. GOA was a Portuguese colony until 1959, 14 years after India gained its independence from British rule in 1945. The cuisine in GOA is unique in the sense it is heavily influenced by Portugese cooking and he cuisine its Hindu roots.
Staples are rice and fish. Kingfish, seabass, modso (lady fish), tamso/tamsoshi (red snapper), shark, sardines, crab, lobster, shrimp, squid, you name it, they are here in GOA. They do have distinct Goan dishes. The general impression is GOAN dishes are a little milder and sweeter than the other Indian cuisines. Fresh coconut meats and juice are used in Goan dishes but you really don't taste them. They blend the other flavors together and make the dishes less sharp and milder.
The way they prepare vegitables - if they ever offer vegitable in a dish - is very stingy or soaked in sauces unlike the way Chinese or other Asian countries prepare it.
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Sharks Nanqi You
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Kingfish steaks Nanqi You
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Whole seabass with lemon and ginger, Naan bread for $12 at Kinara Nanqi You
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Kingfish steak and calamari plus 2 cocktails for $12. They are good at Palm Grove Nanqi You
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Espresso martini and long Island ice tea for $4 each. They are super good. Only in South GOA Nanqi You
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Upma: Indian breakfast: fried semolina simmered with vegetables, mustard seeds, green chilies, peanuts, and dry fruits Nanqi You
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Of course the Kingfisher beer. Cheap and always hit the spot. A liter costs $1. The rich and the showoffs drink Budweiser. Nanqi You
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Elephant ride in GOA Nanqi You
Steve and I share the conflicting feeling about elephant rides. Are we abusing the animal for our pleasure. In GOA, where we did get a ride, they use elephant to transport people and goods. I guess you can argue, if they are not giving rides to people which brings lots of money to the family, they will be used to transport goods. They are not pets and they are already in captivity.
It costs $72,000 to purchase an elephant. Each ride costs $10 and lasts 10 minutes. They normally put 2 to 4 people on each ride. The farm we got our ride has 2 elephant: mom Ganga who only sits in the river and gives tourists baths, and daughter Deja who only gives rides.
This ride is right ahead of us. Deja almost flooded the property.
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Getting on from a platform Nanqi You
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Deja is cool with family of 4 share a ride. See her crossed legs? Nanqi You
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Mama elephant rests between washing the tourists Nanqi You
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They advertise that you wash the elephant, but it looks more like the elephant washes you. Steve
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The Taj Mahal - The magnificent Nanqi You
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In the same city where the Taj is, sewer water is on the street Nanqi You
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Workers moving compost on a spice farm Nanqi You
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Fish Market in GOA Nanqi You
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The cow shares the street in Jaipur with Steve and his piggy backing giraffe Nanqi You
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Beautiful food beautiful people Nanqi You
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They ride like this on the highway Nanqi You
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Exactly the bike I had growing up in China Nanqi You
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It is now Sunday morning, nearing the end of our first week of travel. And my first opportunity to kick back, relax, and post a few words here. Our original plan upon arriving in India was to chill for a day and recover from jetlag (remember, to get here took waking up at 3AM Monday to catch the 5AM flight out of Walla Walla. Then going from Seattle to Vancouver to Tokyo to Delhi, finally landing in Jaipur about 10PM on Wednesday - we didn't make it to bed until after midnight.) Well, that plan of resting for a day got nixed in hurry. Turns out there is a mosque on the Taj Mahal grounds meaning that the whole place shuts down on Fridays, which was the day we planned to go there after our day of rest on Thursday. So after a short and restless night, due to our internal clocks being about 12 hours out of phase, we headed off to Agra early on Thursday. Although on the map it doesn't look that far from Jaipur to Agra, it took more than 5 hours to get there. Visiting the Taj Mahal was worth every second of lost sleep - it is simply indescribably magnificent!
So maybe a little rest on Friday? No no no! The manager at our inn said we MUST see the beautiful city of Jaipur. And again, we had a wonderful day wandering through palaces, forts, and museums - just not much rest.
Saturday morning we are off again, but this time just to catch our flight to Goa. Fairly uneventful, as we all want our flights to be, except for arriving at the airport and discovering a misplaced passport. Holy s..t. But after 5 frantic minutes,which seemed like 2 hours and probably took a year off our lives, it was located!!
About 6:00 yesterday afternoon we arrived at our new (and kind of fancy) digs here in Goa. The only energy we've expended since getting here was to wander the streets enough to find a great place for beers and fresh seafood. And a quick stop at a produce stand and market got us set for breakfast today without having to get dressed or step out of our room.
Other than enjoying yogurt, bananas, and mangos we have done NOTHING but chill and a bit of stuff online. A much needed (and deserved?) rest will continue for a few more hours I hope.