Panaji, Goa, India: 4June07

Welcome to Little Lisbon!

We arrived with the disasterious bus trip from Hospect to Margao (not Panaji) that we wanted to go, at the ungodly hour of 4.30am. The bus ride was extremely unpleasant. Bumpy and very hot and again, i was molested by some Indian guy when Matt went to the seat behind to lie down.

When we got settled down at the guest house in Panaji, it was already 1pm. When we got the ticket to Bombay done, it was already late afternoon. We then took the 4.5km walking tour. It was just one hour and the walk was a pleasant one.

Goa has a very different feel from other India cities. At least, they serve beef here. People also tend to not bother you and there was hardly anyone asked us "which country?", "What is your name?" - For some reasons, these questions are 'important' to some very curious Indian. This place reminded me of Macau, the almost same Portuguese influence, with the Portuguese style of buildings and churches. Even the Hindu temples don't look like an Hindu temple at all.

Cost: 692 Rs



Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, standing above the square in the town centre of Panaji, Goa. Built by the Portuguese.



The sunset by Mandovi River, Panaji.



This interesting looking building is not a house owned by some rich people and it is not a wonderland for kids too. :) (It looks like some kind of castle to me.) This is Maruti Temple dedicated to the monkey god, Hanuman. The temple's veranda provides fine views towards the Mandovi River.



One of the city view from Maruti Temple.

Hampi-Panaji, India: 3 June 07

I met Vivien and Mathieu

i am still in a kind of paranoid feelings today. A trip like this is really draining up my energy. i wish to leave here as soon as possible. This whole place is just giving me a feeling of unsafe and uncomfortable. Every Indian if they are not in a group of family would give me a feeling that, they might be some bad guy. Every children and old people if they are not wearing shoes, would look like a beggar to me. If all these are not true, then they must be up to something to talk to me or on the same path as me.

When i had my breakfast by the restaurant at the river side, the young man working there was trying to sell me some statues saying that he needs money to go to school. i don't trust a word about him at all. He also commented that the purple and pink crystal that i were wearing were very beautiful. By then, i realised that, things that looked 'normal' and 'unvaluable' to me could be very valuable to the people here. i took off both crystal later.

i met two Shanghainese girls at a restaurant by the padi field. Both of them are 'professional' travelers. Obviously coming from a rich family in China and don't have to work for a living. So they just travel all the time around the world. They said they felt tired to deal with the people here eventhough they have two. So it must be kind of more difficult for me to deal with all these alone. They invited me to join them in their journey, but i rejected after some considerations. i think the expectation of trip might not be very same for us and they are places that i wanted to go but they have already been.

One decision leeds to another. By pure luck, when i got to the bus station in Hospect, i met a Canadian, Matt and a French, Vivien. i asked to join them in Goa and it ended up that, they both were such a great travelmate that in the end, we traveled for almost 2 weeks together.

Cost: 333 Rs



i met this Indian family when i needed helping hands. i will always remember them. They are fromAndhra Pradesh.



Tungabhadra River.