Mumbai to Goa

Yes, that's Goa...

My time is really short, because I'm getting ready to leave Goa. Here is the latest...

Second day in Mumbai was a blast. Just walking up and down the streets is an experience. You never know what you will see...



















I saw the Gateway of India and made a new friend. Seriously, if you ever want to know what it feels like to be a movie star, just come to India. I have had SOOO many requests to be in other people's photos...

One of my good friends at work lived for a time in Mumbai and had me look up a few of his old friends. They were all very nice and friendly and bought me a coke.

The mattress guys...

Amit the tailor. He's getting married in a few days...

School was getting out as I walked through the Colaba neighborhood...

These guys asked me to take a picture of them...




I visited the docks, where fishermen unloaded their catch and women sorted through it...






That night I went back to the Gateway of India. Across the way is the Taj Mahal Hotel where the 2008 terrorist attack took place...




And the Gateway of India again....



I'm really looking forward to returning to Mumbai. It is a great city.

Next I took a 14-hour sleeper bus from Mumbai to Goa.

Goa was a Portuguese colony up until 1961 and is mostly Catholic and so it almost has a Caribbean or Brazilian flare to it with the old churches and pictures of saints on the buses...

But for most people Goa means The Beach. After finding a nice little guesthouse room, I went out to the beach and relaxed in the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. I was really white...

There are tons of middle-aged European holiday makers in Goa. I'm pretty sure I was the youngest white person there.

Along the beach were I was staying there is a beached ship that got stranded in a storm ten years ago. It's still there and quite a sight to see...

Goa is one of Indians more up-and-coming areas but there are still plenty of poor people including an army of beach sellers selling every touristy thing you can think of...




In the evening I hiked around to the old Portuguese Fort on the rugged bluff...














On Sunday I went to church. It was a very small branch and the numbers were especially meager that day with only nine of us in total (including the two visitors: me and a woman from England). Branch President Kaira and his wife were very nice and welcoming along with the other members. I got to be the accompanist....

On Sunday night I was laying in bed half asleep when suddenly I felt something rather large land on my chest. I brushed it away in a panic and then grabbed my flashlight to have a look around (I was really afraid it was a large spider or mouse). Turns out it was nothing more than a large but harmless cockroach...

On Monday I got a beach bed, had a massage, and just enjoyed the beach. For lunch I sat in a beach shack and enjoyed a Goa specialty of prawns in a coconut curry.

My view...

I got sunburned. The next few days with the backpack will be interesting.

You won't see this in Cancun...

I have plenty more stories, photos, and fun insights, but no time. So let this just be a taster of blog entries to come...

...

Welcome to Mumbai!

Well.... I'm finally in India!

I don't have a lot of time to do an in-depth report, but I had a nice flight from Munich to London and spent most of the time talking to the businessman from Toronto sitting next to me.

I then flew from London to Mumbai with Kingfisher Airways. It was a very nice airline and the flight went well. I sat next to Pooja, a young Indian student girl who was studying marketing in Edinburgh, Scotland and was returning to Mumbai for her sister's wedding. She was nice to give me a few hints and tips and she even let me sit by the window on our decent.

Here we are flying over Iran just around breakfast...

Flying over the slums...

I emerged from the airport to palm trees and a balmy 80+ degree day. My taxi driver spoke no English and the hour-and-a-half ride to my hotel felt like a Disney theme-park attraction. I'm pretty sure the Indians were doing everything on cue as I drove by just to welcome me in their country. The pedestrians fearlessly walking into oncoming traffic (and the traffic not slowing), horns honking, street vendors, kids playing, dogs licking, poor woman begging, cows chewing, kids bathing, young people on scooters scooting--all of it seemed to happen right before my eyes as the taxi driver swerved through traffic. From dirty decrepit slums to fancy modern high-rises, Mumbai has it all and it's all there in your face.

I checked into my hotel and have spent the day just exploring and taking it all in. It's loud, chaotic, hectic, but there's a peaceful rhythm to it all.

The smells are amazing; just walking down the street is a potpourri of humanity: spices, incense, urine, men's cologne, burning, decay, exhaust, and then something sweet.

One thing that has surprised me is how few non-Indians I've seen. It's a sea of Indian faces with only an occasional tourist sticking out as an anomaly. But the people have been quite nice. One woman in traditional dress gave me a good long stare, and a tour guide came up and tried to give me a tour, but other than that, I haven't been accosted by touts and beggars nearly as much as I expected.

Everywhere you step, and every direction you look you see another little portrait of humanity. I'm serious when I say it's like an amusement park.

Here's a bit of the chaos...

The busiest train station in Asia...

Typical street scene...

Cricketers in the park...

I enjoyed the bay and some people-watching while the sun set...

I went to dinner at a highly-recommended (from my friend who lived in Mumbai for a time) vegetarian restaurant. I ordered the all-you-can eat and I had no idea what I was getting into. The waiter brought out a large silver tray with little bowls. Then he came out with some dips sauces. Then he started bring out the food and dishing it into the little bowls. Just as I thought he was finished bringing stuff, he would come back with even more. I had no idea what it all was but it was beautiful. And it just kept coming!

Finally I had a chance to tuck in and, boy oh boy, what a treat!

The flavors were a veritable carnival in the mouth!

I ate like a king, and though I was getting full fast (and some of it was SPI-CY) I managed to finish it all. I walked back stuffed to my hotel and now I'm updating the blog.

Tomorrow I will do some more exploring and then in the evening I take a night bus to Goa!

I'm gonna sleep good tonight...

...

2010 - Year-in-Review

Two-thousand-and-ten began with New Year's in West Valley...

Running around the Great Salt Lake...

Brother Mike was sworn in as West Valley City Mayor...

While I was in Utah, I went with my old friend Alan on a Southern Utah tour. First stop was Bryce Canyon...

That night was classic burgers at Chillzz in Torrey...

And the next morning breakfast with deer at Uncle Ted's house...

Capitol Reef...

And Goblin Valley...

Moab and Arches National Park...

I said goodbye to the fam and went back to Munich...

One of the first Young Men activities for the new year was sledding at Theresienwiese (where Oktoberfest is held)....

Another time we made milkshakes...

And another time we played Risk (we played a lot of Risk this year)...

Spring came to Munich...

I got to go to the Gasteig to see the Munich Philharmonic perform the score to Return of the King live...

In April I went with some Slovenian friends on a road trip. Our first stop was Hall in Tirol (Austria)...

Later that day we came to Liechtenstein, my only new country for this year....

From Liechtenstein we drove on into Switzerland and made a stop at the beautiful Lake Wallenstadt...

And that night we came to the Bern Temple where we stayed for a few days...

We also met up with Lala from Madagascar/France...

One of the days we went into Bern itself and had a look around...

We even visited Einstein's house...

Another day we drove up into the Alps to see the amazing Jungfrau and her neighbors...

We stopped by Thunsee on the way back to Bern...

We left Bern and headed south through the Swiss Alps, paying a special visit to the Matterhorn...

That night we found ourselves on the shores of Lago Maggiore in Italy...

And the next morning...

We made a stop in the town of Bergamo...

And we spent the night in Bolzano in Italy's Alpine region of South Tyrol. In Bolzano we awoke to a street procession...

Bolzano...

And then we drove up into the Dolomites...

We ate our picnic lunch at a mountain pass...

And that night we were in Ljubljana, Slovenia...

After attending church in Ljubljana I took the train back to Munich passing through the gorgeous Austrian countryside...

In May I was invited to spend some time with my German relatives in Franconia (northern Bavaria). We had fun at the amusement park...

The next day we visited the town of Bamberg...

In May I took a lovely trip to Augsburg...

In June the Young Men played Bingo on a walking tour of Munich...

In June I had bursitis in my left elbow and couldn't get around too much and so I enjoyed Nymphenburg Park closer to home...

Also in June my good old friend Katie came with a school group to Munich...

Also in June was the re-dedication of our church building in Munich. I arranged a piano number especially for the occasion and was able to play it as part of the dedication. Here is our ward (Gemeinde München 1)...

Also in June the Young Single Adults had a BBQ on the Isar river...

The Young Men went swimming in a local water hole...

For another Young Men's activity we built a mini-golf course throughout the church...

And then the Young Single Adults had a go on it...

In late June I made the trip to Nürnberg to see what was up...

Saw a few historical sites...

In July I visited the town of Bayreuth. First stop was the opera house...

The grave of the composer Richard Wagner...

And the grave of Franz Liszt...

Wagner's Theatre...

Later in July I went on a grand hike starting with a passage through a narrow gorge...

And up to stunning mountain views...

The next day I paid my taxes. I remember because of how sore I was walking into the tax office.


In August I got to help my good friends, the Tagg family, move from Munich to Switzerland. Here is Joseph and I in Austria (it was a long story)...

Also in August, the Young Men had their Super Activity. It began with a game of Capture the Flag and then Dodge Ball...

Pizza for dinner...

AVATAR...

The Candybar Game...

And a proper American breakfast the next morning...

In September I visited the Bavarian city of Regensburg...

Night on the Danube was especially nice...

Also in September I made the trip out to the medieval town of Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber...

The train rides to and from all these German cities were always fun...

In October I visited Oktoberfest...

And rode a ride...

Late in October I went hiking in the Bavarian Alps with Toni from the ward...

One evening Sven and I went for a photo-shoot at BMW World Headquarters...

In November my friend Peter and I traveled to London and had a nice few days there. We stayed with the Bruces in St. Albans...

The St. Albans Church...

London!

It was most agreeable...

British Museum....

I got to handle millions-of-years-old Stone Age artifacts...

And meet Winston Churchill...

Good curry with some friends...

It was all proper...

Attending Evensong at St. Paul's was definitely a highlight...

Also in November, SRRN Games released Ash to critical acclaim (with music by yours-truly)...




In December I traveled again to Switzerland (the third time this year!) arriving in Zürich...

I spent a few days with the Tagg family, whom I helped move back in August. It was cold but beautiful and a lot of fun...

Megan and I at the Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate factory...

Hot-air balloon over Lenzburg Castle...

From Switzerland I traveled with a ride-share up the length of Germany to the village of Lüssow, where the relatives live. It was frosty...

Fifth-cousin Elias and I made snowmen...

Visited the ancestral home town of Putlitz...

Yummy Boxing Day lunch with relatives...

New Years with cousins...

Not long after I returned home from Munich I was able to release the soundtrack for Ash on iTunes. It is now available (click here)...



And last but not least, I think I've got myself a new TARDIS...

So what will 2011 bring? ....Well, bit of exoticism for starters. This Wednesday I fly away to India for two months for a bit of traveling. I expect to update the blog periodically, though not with full entries, maybe just a photo or two of where I've been. So look out!

...