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...

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