the adventure continues ...

hey friends,

after initially struggling to decipher the mysteries of this ancient and mysterious land, i'm happy to report that i am, in all ways - language, culture, customs, dress - an indian ... this is a bit disappointing as i figured it would take no more than 3 days, alas, it took 4 ...

joking, of course, india let me know who was boss when i first stepped off the plane in mumbai/bombay at midnight on sunday. not really sure of what was happening (show passport, give guy some money, get a stamp) and severely jet-lagged, i found myself wandering the very crowded streets outside the airport looking for the domestic flight terminal so i could get a few hours of sleep before my flight to goa. a very nice indian man was kind enough to lead me to his van, take me to a hotel (if it sounds sketchy, thats bc it was) and charge me $45 to sleep in a room with a cot for 4 hours. too tired to argue, i agreed, slept with the lights on and in my travelling clothes ... in the morning, they woke me and took me to the airport, with everyone demanding a tip along the way. i obliged with tips that, unbeknownst to me, would pay for 3 quality meals here. if you're keeping score, thats india: 1, mjf: 0.

i met up w/ mev at the goa airport at 6am ... it was so great to see her. i couldn't imagine getting here and not having a friendly face waiting for me. i had a lot of respect and admiration that she's doing this, after experiencing it myself, i have even more.

happily, the trip took a sharp turn for the better since then and its been steadily outstanding since. we rented a moped in goa and have been cruising up and down the coast to the different beach towns - some commercial, some very hippie, all very beautiful and w/ there own charm ... dad, know that we're using our turn signals, checking our mirrors often and obeying the speed limit - oh wait, there is no speed limit! ahahaha.

as mev previously wrote, everything is incredibly inexpensive here. our beach hut on a hill overlooking the ocean and the beach town of palalem was $9/night. a full breakfast - eggs, fruit, fresh-squeezed OJ, tea - is less than $3.

since heather and i have slightly different objectives and timetables here, i'm willing to spend a bit more for some conveniences. example: a room at our current place was $3 more for a private bathroom with a hot shower (fr 5-10pm). to me, that is no decision at all. yet, it has earned me the title of "moneybag$". so be it. in my defense, i did agree to take the grittiest form of travel there is - the bus. and i sat with my bagpack on my lap for the entire 1 hour trip. there was no AC on the bus. that, my friends, is gritty.

nonetheless, "barbgains" abound. "barbgains", as some may know, are incredible bargains, named after the greatest bargain hunter of all-time: our mom, barb fenwick. bartering is an art form here and heather and i have developed a good routine - $9 birkenstocks for her.

tomorrow we leave goa for delhi, which i'm pretty sure will blow my mind. after that, we're heading to jaipur for an elephant festival, where hopefully i can snag a ride on one ... k, time to explore ...