Bombay and Goa

Mumbai

Even though we both love the snow and skiing, I can't say that we weren't excited to leave the cold behind in Kashmir and travel down to Mumbai and Goa for a little warmth. 
When we first arrived we were super lucky to have our buddy Nick, who grew up in Mumbai, invite us to stay at his parents place for a few nights so we didn't have to worry about finding a hotel. His parents live on one of the upper floors of a skyrise near the ocean in the northern part of the city with fantastic views of the Arabian sea. It was nice to see the ocean again after missing it for five months or so. The best part about staying at Nick's parents place was getting to eat Nick's mom's amazing cooking. I could easily spend the rest of my life eating her cooking and would be much healthier for it. Everything was really flavourful and fresh while being fairly simple at the same time.

View from the Joshi residence

The first thing we noticed after landing in Bombay was the heat. All our jackets and fleece pants were instantly transformed from a necessity into a burden. Hence, one of the first things we did was send back all the stuff that wouldn't use from then on, seriously lightening our load. I don't even have a sweatshirt anymore even though I recently realized I might need one when we return to the mountains in Darjeeling.

A lot of our time in Bombay was spent running errands and procuring things that we needed for the rest of our time in India and Southeast Asia. In reality we just wanted to get out of the city and down to Goa as soon as possible. Before leaving though, we did manage to go on a late night mission with Nick and his friend Shams to South Mumbai to see the city and some of its sights. Night is a good time to get around town because the lack of traffic means that a ride that might take you 2hrs in the day will take you 30min at night. Mumbai was absolutely massive and the number of people living there blew my mind mind. Along the way, we saw some of the sites that were targeted during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. It was unimaginable to think that something so horrific happened in those places.

Another evening, Kiersten and I took a stroll down the beach in front of Nick's parents place. The beach was filled hundreds of people from every part Indian society. Among the people were tons of kids playing cricket and soccer, and even a guy renting out his horse to people who wanted to ride down the beach. Kiersten decided that a Bombay beach ride was an opportunity too good to pass up.

Sunset on the beach

Horse for rent

Barefoot beach soccer is always fun

About 5OOm down the beach you arrive a massive slum that spills out onto the sand. Here you start to encounter even more people, many of whom are just living their daily lives and doing household chores. The slums look chaotic and messy but they are often well organised and the rent for some of the shacks is actually quite high, especially for beachfront.

Beach slum

Goa

We didn't waste much time before getting on night bus to Goa and leaving the big city behind. Nick came down to Goa with us and to meet up with one of his friends whose family lived down there. Kiersten and I just picked a random beach that sounded nice and beelined it straight there. We ended up at one of the state's northern most beaches called Arambol. It was much more laid back then some of the other beaches in the area and definitely had a big hippie vibe (mixed with a large Russian presence). There was even a nightly drum circle 5min down the beach. It made for some interesting people watching.

We settled in nicely to small hut at the south end of the beach. It didn't take us very long to get used to the lifestyle. Goa was a bit like a time warp - 4 months there would probably seem like 4 weeks. We stayed just over a week and it felt like nothing. Get up, swim, eat, relax, and repeat. We could of easily stayed a month but we wanted to move on and see more of India before our visa ran out.

Our little hut

One fun thing to do in Goa is to rent a scooter and explore the different beaches up and down the coastline. The roads are super fun to rip around on and the scenery is lush and amazing.

Cow sitting out front of the Olive Garden restaurant where we ate many a meal chilled out.

The best mode of transport in Goa

Nick was staying at his buddy Vardhan's family's place which was pretty much a dream home complete with a massive infinity pool. Kiersten and I spent a couple days chilling there and enjoying the sun with Nick and Vardhan. Vardhan also happened to be the chief editor of Lonely Planet India magazine so he was a good guy to talk about travelling with.

X-treme pool sk8ting

Abandoned building at one of the beaches we visited with cool graffiti

Near the cliffs on Arambol

Random Indian arm-wrestling

Many years of Portuguese rule in Goa lead to many of these

Finally time to shave off the Gulmarg beard

Goan fishing boats

We're in Hampi now and it's sweet. Pics to follow soon