Goa was kind of cool...
I'd say that Goa lived up to my imagination, but that wouldn't be honest. The parties in Goa were a lot of fun, but right now the cops are really cracking down on the party scene. There are local noise laws that shut a lot of the bars down at 10pm. Before 10pm, the place is awesome. As more people pour into Goa for the Holiday season, I can see how it ends up being a great place. But right now, the cops are killing the vibe. Bars will be sporadically open because the cops will randomly shut places down. My second night was party free, because lots of bars were closed, and some of us figured that trackign down a party was going to take a long time, and it just wasn't worth it.
The next morning (after something in excess of 12 hours of sleep) I headed off to the train station, and made my way to Bombay. The train from Tivim station in Goa was an hour late, when you figure that we were the second or third stop, it didn't bode well for the timeliness of the trip. The train was supposed to leave Tivim at 10:56am, and was due for arrival in Mumbai at 9:30pm. We rolled into the station some time near midnight. I checked into the hotel, and after grabbing an internet connection I booked a room in Delhi (the city is full up on conferences) and went to the hopping hotel bar.
The bar was filled with Bomaby's pretty young things, all dolled up and ready to be seen. The dance floor was really funny. Just like bars in Canada (or more appropriately grade school dances) the guys were no where to be seen on the dance floor and seemed intimidated by the dancing thing. Until Hindi flim songs came on of course. At that point then entire floor looked choreographed as everyone re-enacted a scene from the latest Bollywood hit. I thoughtfully backed off the floor when I realised that there was no way for me to keep up. After the Hindi flim songs stopped, the local guys went back to standing off the to side. I decided, after dancing for a while longer, that some of the looks that I was getting probably weren't good, so I left the bar and went to my hotel room to crash (it had been an incredibly long day).
From Mumbai, I proceeded to Delhi, where Expedia had managed to fail to inform the hotel of my arrival. I had to run off, find an internet kiosk, print out my reservation, and then come back to the hotel. I wasn't that impressed with either Expedia or the hotel (who should have given me a room, and let me find the reservation later). But it was just 1 day in the hotel, and then an incredibly long flight back to Canada.
I had checked out of the hotel at noon, so I had 14 hours to kill before the plane left. I used the time wisely. I sat and killed an hour getting coffee. Then I did some shopping. Then finally, I tried to get to the National Museum, but settled for the National Gallery of Modern Art. After that I headed to Humayun's Tomb. Humayun was the second Mugal Emperor, and the tomb is magnificent. From the tomb, you can start to see some of the architectural features that became a part of the Taj a few generations down the road. The tomb was peaceful and serene, and the land around it allowed me to enjoy some peaceful serenity without hearing honking horns and shouting drivers.
On my way out of the tomb, I tried to chase a peacock for a couple of photos, which I didn't really get. I never knew up to that point that peacocks could fly. They aren't as graceful as the hawks that seem to be soaring everywhere in Delhi, but they certainly can fly off the ground to get up into trees and over walls. It's quite the sight, I just wish that the photos reflected the magisty of the magnificent bird. Now I know why India has it as the national bird. I never did see a bird fan its feathers, but even taking flight is an amazing sight.
dilip
The next morning (after something in excess of 12 hours of sleep) I headed off to the train station, and made my way to Bombay. The train from Tivim station in Goa was an hour late, when you figure that we were the second or third stop, it didn't bode well for the timeliness of the trip. The train was supposed to leave Tivim at 10:56am, and was due for arrival in Mumbai at 9:30pm. We rolled into the station some time near midnight. I checked into the hotel, and after grabbing an internet connection I booked a room in Delhi (the city is full up on conferences) and went to the hopping hotel bar.
The bar was filled with Bomaby's pretty young things, all dolled up and ready to be seen. The dance floor was really funny. Just like bars in Canada (or more appropriately grade school dances) the guys were no where to be seen on the dance floor and seemed intimidated by the dancing thing. Until Hindi flim songs came on of course. At that point then entire floor looked choreographed as everyone re-enacted a scene from the latest Bollywood hit. I thoughtfully backed off the floor when I realised that there was no way for me to keep up. After the Hindi flim songs stopped, the local guys went back to standing off the to side. I decided, after dancing for a while longer, that some of the looks that I was getting probably weren't good, so I left the bar and went to my hotel room to crash (it had been an incredibly long day).
From Mumbai, I proceeded to Delhi, where Expedia had managed to fail to inform the hotel of my arrival. I had to run off, find an internet kiosk, print out my reservation, and then come back to the hotel. I wasn't that impressed with either Expedia or the hotel (who should have given me a room, and let me find the reservation later). But it was just 1 day in the hotel, and then an incredibly long flight back to Canada.
I had checked out of the hotel at noon, so I had 14 hours to kill before the plane left. I used the time wisely. I sat and killed an hour getting coffee. Then I did some shopping. Then finally, I tried to get to the National Museum, but settled for the National Gallery of Modern Art. After that I headed to Humayun's Tomb. Humayun was the second Mugal Emperor, and the tomb is magnificent. From the tomb, you can start to see some of the architectural features that became a part of the Taj a few generations down the road. The tomb was peaceful and serene, and the land around it allowed me to enjoy some peaceful serenity without hearing honking horns and shouting drivers.
On my way out of the tomb, I tried to chase a peacock for a couple of photos, which I didn't really get. I never knew up to that point that peacocks could fly. They aren't as graceful as the hawks that seem to be soaring everywhere in Delhi, but they certainly can fly off the ground to get up into trees and over walls. It's quite the sight, I just wish that the photos reflected the magisty of the magnificent bird. Now I know why India has it as the national bird. I never did see a bird fan its feathers, but even taking flight is an amazing sight.
dilip
posted by Dilip Andrade at
4:07 p.m.
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