Some last pictures from Goa

I am on the Philippines so the updates on the blog is a bit late, but I had some more pictures from Goa that I wanted to show you;-)

Last days in India

I believe that I did a good job planning Stig's two weeks in India. Unfortunately he can not verify it as he spent half of the days being ill and not leaving the bed. If you ask him about South India he can tell you a lot about the quality of mattresses in different guest houses and food that for him did not taste anything. (Stig's comment to my writing; “Heim te mor!”) He can not tell you very much about beautiful scenery, tea gardens and temples and how to explore them. Well, I can not either. It is not too much fun to wander of alone when he is in bed with 39.7 °C in fever. Poor Stig!

But still I believe that I did a good job in planning the trip. (Stig being ill was not a part of the plan.) I even think that I can recommend other to follow the same plan. (Being ill is still not part of the plan!) If you have two to three weeks in India this trip will take you from the beaches of Goa to the network of lakes and channels in the Backwaters of Kerala. It takes you from the lush, green Western Ghats with its tea plantations to the rocky hills of Hampi with its ancient ruins after the Vijayanagara empire. Sounds tempting? Of course you do not get all this without some hours on trains and in taxi/bus and two weeks might be a little to short time. :-)

We had 18 days and this is how we did it:

Day 1: Flight from Oslo to Goa via London and Mumbai

Day 2: Arriving Goa, 1 ½ hour taxi drive to Patnem beach and Bodhi Eco Resort. Since I have walked from the northern point of Goa to Colva and also been to most of the beaches south of Colva, I think that I can say with a certain authority that this is one of the most idyllic places to stay, though the price do not fit a backpacker budget.

Day 3 to 7: Enjoy swimming in the Arabic ocean, the food and atmosphere at Bodhi Eco Resort and maybe join an early morning class in yoga. At 5 pm on day 7 you take a taxi to the railway station in Madgaon and enter the train to Ernakulam, Kerala at 7.30 pm.

Day 8: When arriving in Eranakulam at 10 am you find a taxi outside the station and drive about 1 hour to Alleppey. This is where you find the houseboats for a 24 hours journey on the Backwaters. Choose a small boat with a nice crew (driver and cook) and they will take you to the small channels. I usually do not use the word exotic, but I do find it quite descriptive for this experience.

Day 9: Check out from the houseboat at 9 pm. Take a auto rickshaw to the taxi stand where you pick a taxi with a driver who you find trustworthy your life. It is a 5 hours drive up to the fresh air and green hills of Munnar. Here we stayed at a resort called Aranyaka with a view to the Attukkad Water falls. This resort has bungalows with hotel standard and good service and there is nothing to complaint about, but I missed some intimate charm. A place called Rose Garden Guest House sounded nice, so check it out. You find the smaller resorts and guest houses 5-10 km before the town of Munnar.

Day 10: Arrange a whole day hiking and sightseeing with a guide through your guest house and spend this day wandering through tea gardens and coffee and strawberry plantations and enjoying the splendid views from some of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats (approximately 2200 meter above sea level).

Day 11: To reach the train that will take you back to Goa from Kerala you have to take a taxi at 7.30 am from Munnar. This is a 3 ½ hours drive and the train leaves Eranakulam at 13.10 pm.

Day 12: You reach Madgaon, Goa at 3.30 am and you board the train to Karnathaka again at 7.30 am. The train takes you to Hospit at 14.53 pm where you take a rickshaw the 13 km to Hampi. When you arrive do not go for “the first and best” guest house. Ask the driver to drop you by the ferry/boat to cross the river and then you have many nice places to choose between on the other side. We stayed at Shanti Guest House and can recommend it. No hot shower, but you get your own hammock outside your bungalow.

Day 13 and 14: Hampi is a historical site where the glories of earlier empires is evident in the numbers of temples and ruins of king palaces. I do not know how to find a good guide here, maybe the tourist information can arrange one for you, but I guess that the best thing you can do is to read about the site before you leave home, or maybe use the hours at the train to update your selves on Indian history. Even if Hampi is a place where you can run from heritage monument to tempel to ruins the whole day is the atmosphere here “Shanti, shanti”; “no problem, take it easy”. Take your time to relax and enjoy the sunset or sunrise from the Hanoman temple on the hill top.

Day 15: The boat to cross the river do not begin before 7 am, so if you do not want to change your accomondation to somewhere on the right side of the river you have to take a taxi at 4.30 am to reach the railway station in Hospet to reach your train back to Goa at 6.30 am. We went back to Goa this day to join a opening party for an English school in Colva this afternoon. For everyone else I would recommend to spend one more day in Munnar and then the return back to Goa will be at day 16.

Day 16: Chill out by the pool at the hotel in Colva and buy travel gifts in the shops in Goa.

Day 17: Stig's flight back to Norway, via Mumbai, Delhi and London, left at 7.30 am from Goa airport. My flight to the Philippines is scheduled to 16.15 pm.

Day 18: Back home:-)

The are two drawbacks with this trip. The first is the taxi drive to and from Munnar, but this is so beautiful that I find it worth it. Just choose your driver carefully. And if you have the possibility you should stay here one more day. The other is the four hours you have to spend at the railway station in Madgaon between the trains from Eranakulam and to Hampi. You arrive Madgaon 3.30 am and board the train towards Hampi at 7.30 am. You easily find somewhere to sit down and the station is a safe place, but just not very nice when you rather wish to be asleep in a bed somewhere.

The price for this? A backpacker would turn over in her grave if she heard how much we spent on 16 days in India, but for one who is home in Norway it is quite a nice price. In total for two persons (except flight tickets) we spent 71.000 Rupee/10.000 NOK/1.250 EUR. The reason why this would make a backpacker cry out is that it would be possible go to the same places for one third of this price. You could manage with approximately 23500 Rupee (or for sure less), but then you have to travel by public transport and you do not get your own houseboat or hot shower. We managed to spend so much money because we for example chose to travel by taxi to save time and we slept at more expensive resorts.

But do not get ill! Because then you will miss the hiking in Munnar and the historical sites in Hampi, and it is just not nice to be in bed with 39-40 °C fever far away from home and mom.