Intriguing Landscape Contrasts in Hampi:

The landscape across India is so varied,it is incredible. Even within a small radius around the town of Hampi, you could find drastically different landscape features. The area was blessed by the Indian government to be granted with the funds to create a dam to help the farmers irrigate their Rice Patti fields. Without, this help one wonders if they would be so prosperous considering all the rock surrounding  the area. I found this remarkable.....



Rocky Passage

If you look at this picture you can see huge rock piles stretching out for miles and miles. You wonder what kind of soil there is interspersed between these monstrous towers of rock.

Lush Green Rice Fields

What a contrast from the parched surfaces on the rock mountains.

 

Intriguing Indian Contrasts: Number One

All through our trip Paul and I couldn't help but notice how India was so full of fascinating anomalies. Now that I am coming to the end of our trip, I wanted to write them down just to maybe help you understand India a little better.
My first comparison deals with the technology in India. All the places we visited were lucky enough to have electricity. The thing is, you never knew when you would instantly loose it. The most dramatic contrast was when we were at the top of the mountain in Hampi waiting to see the sunrise. Paul stood at the top of a massive bolder talking to his mother in Canada as we witnessed all the lights in the town below instantly fade to black. Paul could still communicate with his mother but the people  were temporarily without electricity. I found this funny.....

Lights Out

What a good son!

 

Sublime Restaurant in Goa

When we arrived back in Goa we decided to see if there was a more up scale restaurant to dine at in the evenings. We asked Biri and he suggested this restaurant called "Sublime" It is owned by a young chef who is Indian but grew up in California. His father was a famous actor in India and his mother was Californian. The restaurant was on Ashvem Beach. We enjoyed the food very much so we decided to go back each night we were at the beach. It was a direct route from our hotel so we rented a scooter and Paul drove. He was getting braver on the roads as we spent more time in India. I don't think I could ever get use to the craziness and unpredictability of life on Indian roads.

Sublime Restaurant

This picture is taken from the beach looking in to the restaurant. It was very comfortable and a little up scale from the other places we visited in Goa. The food was great.

Dinner with the Sohdi's

On our final evening in Goa we brought Biri and has family to Sublime for dinner. We figured it would be best if we sat in this tented area on the beach so the boys could roam around a little.

Hammock for four

Leela took the boys to the hammock when they had had enough of sitting calmly at the table. This worked out very well for the boys and us I guess. Although Leela was left out of the adult time once again. That's life with little kids. 

 

The Seat Belt Scarf

When we were leaving on the scooters to go to the Mapusa Carnival Parade, Leela ran back in the house and came out with a beautiful pink and turquoise scarf. It was lovely and it complimented her outfit. What I did not realise was that later on in the evening, Leela would be using it as a seat belt to tie Tejas to her on the scooter. Biri said that there are times where the five of them are on the scooter  when travelling into town. Crazy things go on on scooters in India! Leela said that she can usually handle things when Tejas and Angad fall asleep when they are riding in front of her on the scooter but it gets difficult if Ramka falls asleep behind her. She has to stop and readjust at that point. You just do what you have to do. There aren't as many rules and police in India.

The Seat Belt

I liked watching Leela in the market because the vendors underestimated her. She looks like a tourist but she knows the prices very well. She usually got the price she wanted. The scarf she brought along for the ride was so long that Lena had to pick it up off the ground and swing it over her shoulder. All the better to wrap up a sleeping child with.

Rita in the Carnival spirit

Rita really wanted to feel a part of the festivities so she bought a gold mask. She couldn't wear it the entire parade because it was too hot.

 

Terrifying fish float

There were many floats that represented the fishermen of Goa. There were at least four floats with plump sailors swaying back and forth wearing basically a scarf wrapped somewhat discretely to cover their junk. I will spare you the visual.  This fish does not give me the desire to eat the seafood in the area. It kind of looks radioactive.

 

Carnival dancers

I thought this women was beautiful. If you look carefully at the image you might be able to see that she has applied white makeup on her face. Biri told us that some Indian people do this to make themselves look paler. All of the people on their billboards and TV shows are fair-skinned. We saw it happen pretty much in every area of India that we travelled to.

 

The witching hour on Ashvem Beach

The Yab Yam Resort was very  magical at night. One thing that did surprise me was their technique for helping with the mosquito problem. Every night at dusk they lit bowls of cow dung along the paths to smoke out the mosquito's. When Biri told that it was cow dung, I didn't believe him because it didn't smell that bad. What an inexpensive way to deal with these flying pests. With the number of cows around, cow dung was in abundance.



Dusk at the Beach

Sunset on the Arabian Sea

Biri took us to one of the local beach bars close to where we were staying. We met up with some Canadians who have been in Goa for years and years. They were transplanted hippies. We heard some interesting stories and wondered how they had survived this long considering the 'adventures' they have had. They were actually heading off to a ceremony for a friend who had past away last week from a motor cycle accident.

Respecting traditions

This is why you carry around a flashlight. This picture is only lit by the flash of my camera. I thought it was funny to take off your shoes at a beach bar. 

 

Mapusa Market

Before the parade we walked through the Mapusa Market. It was very interesting to see the variety of products that you can get on a daily basis at the local town market. This was typical of everyday life in India.

Every kid loves a balloon

The first thing that we had to buy was a bunch of colourful balloons for the boys. Kids are the same anywhere in the world I think.



Local Fruit

Ropes of a different colour

I had to take a picture of these ropes. The colours just popped off the pavement. I hadn't noticed the huge pile of potatoes beyond the ropes until I looked at the picture later.

Spices

I laugh when I see this picture. I love the guy posing behind his spices. He obviously saw me taking the picture.

 

Goa's Carnival Parade

When researching our trip to India I realised that our visit was happening during their Carnival Celebrations. I was hoping it would be as colourful as the Carabana parade here in Toronto considering how vibrant India can be on a daily basis. What I didn't factor in was the budget the Carabana parade has. The Mapusa parade was a fun celebration with floats and music and plenty of parade revellers. I think it was more like our Toronto Beaches Easter parade. The presenters were all local people having a great time. I think the activity we did before and after the parade gave me a better feeling for regular Indian life. We visited the local market and risked our lives trying to get home in the traffic at the end.

Parade route Mayhem:

This float was one of the largest and most colourful in the parade. The road was not very wide and there were hundreds of people pouring onto the parade route. If you look at the bottom of the picture you can see the police trying to get the people to back up. It was unbelievable how brave or naive the people were that were standing at the front of the line. Luckily no one got hurt that I know of.

Anti-smoking campaign float

This was quite the float. At first I wondered if it was celebration of the dead like they do in Mexico but no, it was a moving add against smoking. There are no laws against smoking in India, maybe this is a start. Some of these people should have been more worried about dying from being run over or trampled  before smoking would kill them. I also captured the village scape that lined the parade route. It was a strong contrast to the lively vibrant people who live there.

Colourful Costumes

These costumes reminded me the most of our Carabana parade colour.

Watching the parade:

I turned around and saw this guy just hanging out, watching the parade with a huge bag of rice on his head. It is just a common occurrence to be balancing stuff on your head. I guess their necks are stronger that their arms or they might need their arms for something else?

 

Exploring Goa's Ashvem Beach

One morning Paul and I decided to  explore the beach before the sand got so hot it felt like the soles of your feet were burning off with every step. In the heat of the afternoon  the sand is almost unbearable. I would start my walk to the sea and quickly start running because I feared it would cause a burn. Luckily it was just the  powdery white sand away from the water. Once the surf washed in, the sand cooled off.
Paul and I headed south and before we knew it we had walked for two hours. Thank goodness we put sun screen on before we left. There was a variety of restaurants, little shops and resorts along the way. Yab Yam was one of the nicer ones.

Ashvem's fishing fleet

Even though it was the morning, the fishermen had already been out and had returned with their catch.

Lunch on the beach

Indian Pizza and potato patties

Sodhi family trying to stay cool in the hot sun.

 

Beach fun with the boys

To thank Biri and his family for taking such good care of us, we invited them to come and spend our final days with us at the beach. They live in the village of Parra which is not on the beach.  We thought they would enjoy playing in the surf with us.

Sunset on the beach

This is Biri and Leela and the boys enjoying the water.

Playing in the surf

Paul and Ramka spent a lot of time trying the catch the big wave. Paul said that he preferred surfing without these boogie boards.  Ramka just loved playing, he didn't seem to care as long as he was in the water.

Kiddie pool

Angad and Tejas preferred the little pool to the surf in the beginning but eventually they came in the Sea with us.

Lunch at Yab Yam

Leela helped us order lunch for the group. We had many items that I had never tried but they were delicious. One thing you might call an Indian pizza except it didn't have the traditional crust, I believe it was made of lentils and rice.

 

Living in a Hobbit Hut

Our final five days were spend at the Yab Yam Beach Resort on the magnificent Arabian Sea. It was a unique complex with grass huts that reminded me of a Hobbit House, at least on the outside. It was situated on Ashvem Beach in Goa. This resort had a very laid back feeling to it, the perfect way to end our very hectic Indian vacation. http://www.yabyumresorts.com/

Hobbit Hut

The base of this hut was made of cement and the sides were made of fallen palm tree leaves and grass. It was huge inside and very clean.

Our walk to the beach

Just before this gate we had two restaurants and a little kiddie pool.

Spacious retreat

 

Roof Monkeys

The Saturday Night Market was so intoxicating that I did not realise how late it was. You think we would have felt like crashing much earlier than 11:30pm considering we were up at 4:00am. The only reason I thought we should leave the market was because we had the poor taxi driver waiting (we paid him extra!).  When we arrived at our hill top hotel, we had to wake up the gate keeper. He didn't look too pleased. I can't blame him really. It wasn't until we hit the pillow that I realised how tired I was.
At 5:30am we woke with a shock with monkey pitter patter on the roof. They are very cute in the day but not so much before the sun had come out. Because we had gotten in so late the night before we didn't realise how lovely this property was. We were served breakfast outside our villa on the hill. We were only staying here one night before heading to the beach.

No monkeys to be seen

The monkeys are probably sleeping off their early morning party.

A room with a view

What a nice surprise

We did not realise when they asked us what we wanted for breakfast that they were going to deliver it to us at our door. It was nice, Ikept my eyes opened for monkeys and the crows that were squacking at us.

 

Colourful Competition

I loved walking through the market. I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the amazing sites.   There are so many talented people just trying to sell their beautiful things and feed their families. It was difficult to haggle with them because it was so little money for us Canadians. Maybe I will have to go back to India and this time bring an extra suitcase.



Way to breakable

Even if I would have wanted to chance buying one of these lovely globes, they would have most likely shattered in my suitcase the way that your luggage gets tossed around by Indian baggage handlers.

Sparkly Bangles

These sell for quite a bit here in Canada.

Hours of work for so little

Amazing fabrics

I have no idea what this is!

 

The colours of India

I wanted to remember some of the colours and souvenirs from India even if I didn't buy them. When I was walking by a booth spilling over with sparkly figurines of the Elephant God Ganesha, I had to stop and take a picture. The guy in the booth yelled, "Hey, No pictures, give me a dollar". I quickly took the shot and walked on. I kind of wish I would have gotten a tiny figure to remember India by but I was all haggled out. At least I have my pictures, besides Paul and I had travelled to India with travel knapsacks and I really couldn't fit many souvenirs anyway.

How could I chose just one?

Paper Stars

I bought a couple of these for Bailey's room. They are made of paper and they fold up so they are easily transported. You unfold them and put a light bulb in them to create these beautiful designs.

Spices

There were many spice booths through out the market. I never found out how much the spices were becuase you can go down to Gerrard Street in Toronto and get a big bag of spices for approximatley three dollars. We are very luck that way, although I am sure it is probably cheaper in India.

 

 

Negotiating a price

There were so many vendors and products to buy that it was somewhat overwhelming. Leela, Biri's wife, told me that they jack up the price at these markets so I should not pay the price they give me at first. It was difficult because  when you converted the number of rupees to Canadian dollars, the price was very reasonable. I really wanted an anklet so that was my first stop. This is a place where you realise how flexible Indian people are. To get closer to the products you had to crouch down in a squat position which was not a problem for this Indian women but it was a little low for us tourists. She graciously pulled out a small plastic stool for me to sit on.  She told me her mother made these anklets. If this was true, it would be very impressive but I think it was a pitch to pull at the heart strings. I asked Biri what he thought the price might be and I stuck to that. She was not going to go for it but when I was walking away, she relented.

Negotiations

Before I knew it, she had two anklets on me and she was telling me that I looked just like an Indian lady with both ankles decorated. I only bought one. I actually should have bought at least two but I was trying to look tough.

Sari I didn't need

I found and bought a beautiful brilliant blue sarong with beading all over it. I needed a beach coverup and I think I got a good price for it. The guy at this booth really wanted me to buy two of course.  I looked at sari's but I did not need one.  I didn't need one but I  kind of always wanted one so I bought this for six dollars. I really did tell him I didn't need one but when I was walking away he dropped his price. How could I resist. He got me.

 I didn't realise I was being video taped. Look behind me in the picture. Did I look that strange. Maybe my exchange with this vendor is on Youtube somewhere.

 

Potential Land of the Lost

For those who live in Toronto, they will understand this, the 'Saturday Night Market' in Goa is what it would be like if  the 'One of a Kind Craft Show' exploded. There were hundreds of tiny cubicles filled to the brim with stuff.  There were vendors of all shaped,  sizes and nationalities. When we were eating we noticed three blond  kids with numbers printed down their arms in permanet marker. We eventually figured out that it was their parents cell phone numbers in case they got lost. Although I am sure they knew the place way better than most. I do not have pictures of this because I could have been mistaken for a stalker. Paul and Biri were being very supportive, following me around, bobbing and weaving through all the people.  I knew it was like sticking needles in their eyes. I told them to go to one of the bars to enjoy some drinks while Rita and I went exploring. This way we would all have a better. Rita was impressed when I navigated around the labyrinth of alleyways to find our way back to the men. Thank goodness for cell phones. The poor cab driver had to wait until 11:30 pm for us to emerge out of the crowd. We paid him for his time and patience of course.

Vendors as far as the eye can see:

I am taking this picture at the top of the hillside overlooking tons of vendors. Most of the pathways were much more crowded that this one.  The temperature this evening was pleasent but I was sweating walking amongst all these people.  It was worht it though, I really knew I was in India.

People everywhere, all potential buyers 

 

Goa's Saturday Night Market

When I researched our trip to India, I went to the website for Goa's Saturday Night Market. It looked so festive,I realy didn't want to miss it. Before we left for Tadoba we arranged for a driver from the hotel to pick us up at the airport in Goa to take us to the market.  We met Biri and Rita which was no easy feat considering the mass of people and vehicles congregating  on one spot.  Paul and I were starving because we really hadn't eaten much since breakfast and it was around 7:00pm. Biri told us we should eat something from one of the vendors. I was leary because it is basiclly street food. We decided to have Dosa which is a lentil crepe with potatoes in it. We were hoping it would be safe. We made it this far without getting sick so I didn't want to tempt fate. We did it anyway and lived to tell the tale.

The entrance to the Saturday Night Market

It was unbelievable. The colours the smells, the heat, the people all added to the charm.



How would you possibly find your scooter.

This was the make- shift parking lot for the market. All the scooters look the same.