Dec 8 – 13 MUMBAI/GOA

Dec 8 – We left Sri Lanka behind to return to India and meet Manjit in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). We arrived pretty late and it took a while to travel to Manjit’s sister’s home. We showered, packed for our trip to Goa, and went to bed.

Dec 9 – Another new experience in India… getting on to a train in Mumbai, especially when it’s second class non-AC. First, it was crowded and people were cramming on to the train to get to their seats. We found ours, put our stuff overhead, and tried to sleep. The service people come through every 3-5 minutes asking if we want chai, water bottles, ice cream, and lunch foods… so not a lot of sleep going on in there. Plus, we were sitting up and the only air coming in was from the windows outside. After about 8 hours of that we were finally in Goa and off to the hotel.



We checked in and then went to check out the place and went straight to the beach for sunset and drinks.



First impression of Goa… it’s funny to see a resort with so many Europeans in India. And the beachside bars were something out of Cancun. But the water was nice, the beach was clean, and the sunset was nice. We went back to the hotel after a bad try of a hookah that wouldn’t work well and Kim and I felt like our throats had been turned into chimneys it was so smoky and flavorless. Dinner was part of our package at the hotel and dinners were all buffet.



After dinner we headed out to a place called Club Cubano. When we arrived we found out it was bikini night, but we didn’t know, so we paid the cover charge and headed in. I’ve never been a prettier club, not that I go to many… but we had a great time and met lots of people and had a blast.



Dec 10 – We grabbed breakfast before jumping on the bus to see the churches and temples of the area. Goa was a Portuguese settlement area, so there is a mix of old Catholic churches and the Hindu temples. We saw some of each...







It was a nice tour, but we would have rather spent time on the water, so Kim and I got in a quick swim when we returned and had dinner and headed out to a bar called Tito’s. Krishna decided to come to town with some of his friends and met us there. I ended up getting very sick to my stomach, so I came home while everyone else stayed and was glad I left when I did! Nuff said!

Dec 11 – We decided to skip the tour part 2 and went to Baga beach instead to enjoy the ocean waves and sun. We spent the day there and had a nice lunch. Kim and I got stalked in the water by some guy for a while until Kim yelled at him and he took off. I’m glad she said something because we were both getting a bit freaked out. Kim and Manjit had massages on the beach and both enjoyed them. After our day in the sun, Manjit and her bro went back to the hotel to get cleaned while Kim and I walked back so we could go to the silver shop where I ended up buying a great ring for $7. I could’ve done a lot of damage at that market, but I didn’t have that much cash on me and they didn’t take Visa. We went back and got cleaned up, had dinner, went to take naps before heading back to the club, but instead slept until the next day. 12 hours! Bed at 9pm and woke up at 9am!

Dec 12 – Had some breakfast and then watched a movie with Manjit while we got packed up to hit the train again… still 2nd class non-AC. We arrived in Mumbai pretty late again and took showers and went to bed.

Dec 13 – It’s our last day in India. We got on the road with Manjit, her bro, her sis and sis’s family (husband and 3 kids), plus our luggage and a driver! It was a full car!



We saw the city from different angles – the slum lined streets and the fancy high rises. It was such a contrast, but overall, a fascinating city. We went to India Gate and then out on the water to see the city from the ocean.



We would have gone to the Elephant Caves if there had been time, but there wasn’t… next time maybe? They took us to a shopping mall and then a market to get us the last of our souvenirs. Manjit’s sister did some amazing bargaining work. It was hysterical. We just pointed and she did the work. Kim and I got ripped off a couple times on our own, but really and truly… I’m not going to bitch about $1 or $4, though I agree with Kim, it’s the principle of the thing. Still, it was fun. So our last stop was Juhu Beach where we got henna stamp tattoos (mine drew a large crowd, I wish I had the pictures of the people around me while I was getting it done).



We also bought some purses and I sat there and bargained with these kids selling them and had a laugh and we drew crowds again. The kid was tough, but fair and I got Lauren a purse for 30 Rupees and shook the boy’s hand on it which made the crowd laugh. It was pretty cute. I told him he did a good job. We had some water balls and chat at a stand and called it a night. We were dropped off at the airport and thanked Manjit for an amazing time in her country and then checked in for our flights to Singapore and on to Thailand.