 Thu, Jan 27, 2005 |
 Thu, Jan 27, 2005 |
 Thu, Jan 27, 2005 |
| This was our building at the Colonia Santa Maria in Baga, Goa. Our room number was 168 I think, and we had a view overlooking someone's back yard. | Walkway leading to our room, this shot is facing back (west) towards the sea (about 1/2 km away). | When I saw this sign, I knew where I had to go to get my massage...Feather Touch, (in cooperation with Lips & Lashe's Beauty Parlour). The massage was great, about 45 minutes long for about $12 US. It was "buck naked" with oil all over...but not "there." |
 Thu, Jan 27, 2005 |
 Thu, Jan 27, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| The beachfront in this touristy area was lined with "Beach Shacks," basically bars with corny names that offer sunbathing in chairs they provide in trade for your drink patronage. I took this mostly for the lettering, which was in a popular style. | One of the features of this beach area was the occasional topless sunbathing woman. Most of the tourists here were Brits. This woman is one of the more aesthetically-agreeable examples...some were kind of scary. | The view from our room at CSM, a Goan backyard with some chickens running around. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| Our bed at CSM. The mattresses in India tended to be thin and not super comfy. Not a real problem for me, just noting that fact. | The living room and entrance (behind Vanessa), with weird little desk nook. And yes, parts of this room had ridiculously-high ceilings. | This masterpiece was the mural that greets visitors in the Reception area of Colonia Santa Maria. Rendered in vivid colors and featuring lavish subjects like naked women kneeling on lions, it's sure to please. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| Dining area at CSM. The first night here we ate dinner to the sounds of The Amazing Joey, a local favorite who looked like a Goan Michael Bolton and treated us to karaoke renditions of several lamentable light-rock/80s soft pop songs. | Seeing coconut palm trees is a real novelty for two midwesterners, so I took quite a few photos of them. | Vanessa pointed out this sign for Big Boss Haircutting Saloon (a typo repeated so frequently that I wonder if it's the preferred spelling there?) while we rode the scooter 2 hours each way to see the Harvalem Waterfall. This was in Tivim I think. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| This was chicken-farm country, and it's too bad that the photo is blurry because this was a great sign. | Some hills in Goa near Sanquelim. | We got lost (maps and signage left much to be desired, but at least the weather was great and the scooter kept running) and stepped into the Step Inn in Sanquelim (I think). We bought a bottle of soda for about 15 cents and the guy gave us directions. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Wed, Feb 2, 2005 |
| The outside is gaudy but the inside was almost like a juke joint, it was pretty awesome. There was only one patron in there and I wonder how much business they ever got...is that an unfinished second-story, or what? | Roadside shack painted up with advertisement for Chota (little) Pepsi. Basically, it's 200ml (about 7 US fluid ounces) for 5 rupees. Since there were about 42 rupees per US dollar when we were there, it's a nice little glass bottle for about 12 cents! | We finally made it to the waterfall, after much trial and wild guessing at the vague map. Thanks to the locals who helped point us in the right direction. There was also a beautiful temple close by, but I didn't get a photo of it. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| Here's the gate at the entrance to the stairs that lead down to the temple, which has stairs leading up to the waterfall. We took a shortcut back up the hill. | More beautiful palm trees and scenery near Bicholim. There were goats grazing down below and two local guys made sure we saw (and took a photo of) that too | Vanessa walked back a ways on the road to try and get a shot of the rolling hills near the road we were traveling, but didn't have a great vantage point. Traffic makes it hard to pull off just anywhere... |
 Wed, Feb 2, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| Panorama of The main highway facing south towards Mapusa, NH-17. | An evening shot of the Angels Resort (we could only spend 2 nights at CSM and had our final night about 8km inland at Angels). The place was nice, but we preferred the beach! | We rode the scooter back to Baga (15-20 minute ride with several roundabouts and turnoffs, thank god for Vanessa's good sense of direction) on our last night in Goa for shopping and Chinese food (weird and not great) at the Pagoda. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| Typical stall selling stuff to tourists, Baga. | This sign had some of the most amazing illustrations ever. I'm sure they were based on real photos. We saw a lot of hefty Brits in Goa that could've been the woman in the middle. | Long-exposure nighttime shot around Saligao, Bardez, Goa. The moon was bright while we were there, it was beautiful. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
| I loved the look and feel of this tile with the raised clear coating. | Some last-minute shopping before we left, here are some more great hand-painted signs at a place that arranged tours. See Itatsu's relatives in the Jungle Safari! | The Stay Longer Guest House and Linger Longer Beauty Salon had excellent signage. The Linger Longer sign was actually on styrofoam, with the weird illustrations burned or melted into the surface. |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Fri, Jan 28, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
| One of the most awesome renderings of Jesus ever on the back window of an autorickshaw. Halleluiah! Lots of creepy Christianity in Goa thanks to the Portugese. | One of hundreds of superb hand-painted signs, this one for Leather Tailor's & Out Fitter's (sic). I'm digging the trenchcoat! | A "goodbye beautiful beach" shot showing water and beach shacks. The Arabian Sea was warm and clean here, fine for swimming even in January. |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
| More of those famous Goan palm trees. We tried fresh coconut on the beach (the kind for drinking, young green one) but I didn't really like it. Maybe an acquired taste... | No photos of our flight because batteries are banned on domestic flights in India (everyone's gotta have their own irrational terrorism shit), so this is in our hotel in Delhi, Claridges. It's a four-star place that was a splurge on the last night. | A shot of the "study" area of our room at Claridges. Super cozy beds and pillows here. |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
| Another view of our room. They provided us with robes, slippers, a minibar and more. | We had a big dinner downstairs at the Dhaba restaurant with Abhi's whole family. Here's Rajneesh modeling the menu (everything is based on a "truckstop" theme, in an upscale way) which doubles as a fan. | Abhi, his son Amit, his wife Richa with Rajneesh's daughter Ritisha, Abhi's son Anchit and Rajneesh's wife Swati. |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
| Vanessa, Rajneesh, Abhi's mother and Anoop at Dhaba. | Vanessa and I at Dhaba. | The two of us again, this time in front of the fake truck in the kitchen area of Dhaba. Some nice painting on this one as well. Jai Hind! |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sat, Jan 29, 2005 |
 Sun, Jan 30, 2005 |
| The whole group, L-R: Anoop, Ritisha, Rajneesh, Myself, Anchit, Mrs. Mathur, Abhi in rear, Amit in front, Richa and Swati. | View from our room at Claridges, I liked the camo pattern on this trailer. They were repainting all of the planters bright orange. | A few of my friends are getting souvenir banners painted by the neighborhood sign painter near Abhi's office. This one is for Ryan. It's supposed to say "Job Boss," but oh well. He should still enjoy it. |
 Sun, Jan 30, 2005 |
 Sun, Jan 30, 2005 |
 Sun, Jan 30, 2005 |
| This is the sign advertising that painter's business. The guy was a champ, and probably younger than me...I should go intern with him. | An Activa scooter with "training wheels" for disabled riders. This is a kit you cna put on any scooter, I think Scooterworks may get a few and see if there's any interest in the US. | Our last dinner in India at a place in Abhi's neighborhood. Dal, a couple kinds of Dosa, Thaili, rice, bread and more. |
 Sun, Jan 30, 2005 |
 Sun, Jan 30, 2005 |
 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 |
| Rajneesh and Abhi Mathur, the two gentlemen who made our stay so easy and enjoyable. Thanks for everything guys! | She Like Footwear...and so do I. | Flying back home was sad, but we missed our cats. I can't wait to go back to India someday. This shot is over Milan as we were landing at Malpensa at dawn after leaving india at 4am. |
 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 |
 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 |
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| This is all we got to see of Europe thanks to solid cloud cover, this is the beginning of the alps between Milan and Switzerland. Breathtaking, these are real mountains. | And the end of the Alps from the other side in France (I think). After this it was all clouds until Canada... Awesome trip. Thanks to everyone, especially Phil, Abhi, Rajneesh and the guys at LML. |