Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Going to Goa

Wednesday, january 18th
Once settled into our guest house, we had lunch and wandered down the beach until we reached the wednesday Anjuna Flea Market. The market starts right on the beach and had so many vendors with spices, jewelry, cloth, pashminas, and trinkets. The market feel was very hippish. The place was packed with people everywhere and there was so much to look at! After a few hours we wandered back along the beach and sat on chairs under umbrellas to people watch. Really enjoyed seeing all the cows sunning themselves and enjoying the ocean breeze! Watched an amazing sunset with a Kingfisher beer at Guru and had dinner of stuffed crab and prawn curry with cheese garlic naan.

Thursday, January 19th
Slept in and had an American breakfast with coffee at Avalon. Included with the breakfast were amazing potatoe chili fry.. Anything chili fry we are in love with. Took a taxi to Calangute and checked into Castle Guest House. Wandered through town and hungout on the beach under umbrellas to people watch. Had an amazing lunch of shark chili fry, chicken masala, and cheese garlic naan. The restaurant was on the second story right on the beach and we had an awesome view of the the beach and lifeguard tower. Had a quick dinner at the guest house and Surain helped us plan the next day and made us try Palm Fenney, which is fermented coconut juice that is taken as a shot. Wasn't too bad..

Friday, January 20th
Slept in and Gregory our taxi driver for the day took us to the Sahakar Spice Farm. We were greated with flower necklaces and a very fragrant lemon ginger tea. We briefly read through the medicinal purposes of each spice and were led on a tour through a small part of the 135 acres to see how the plants and trees grow, what they're used for, and how they're processed. After the tour we had a very nice buffet lunch. Then continued our drive with Gregory to Mangeesh Temple because we heard it was very pretty. We got as far as taking off our shoes and washing our feet before the guard told us Sarah couldn't go in because of her shorts. Instead we walked as close as we could to see what the inside, appeared to be tons of hanging glass chandeliers with a marble floor. Then there was a second door we couldn't see past. Got back into the car and went to Old Goa to see Basilica of Bom Jesus (built in 1594) and St. Francis of Assis Cathedral (built in 1661). Went back to Calangute and had dinner at a restaurant along the main road and had barracuda garlic sauce, noodles, and our first fruit salad! LOVED the barracuda dish!!! (Sarah did too!!). The rest of the evening we hung out with Surain and planned our next few days.

Saturday, January 21st- Monday, January 23rd
Slept in and had a great masala omelette and of course the instant coffee everyone seems to have. I think it may be growing on me, of course condensed milk helps..... There is the sweetest white kitty that walks around like she owns the guest house. We of course became fast friends and she always purred when I came around. The guys running the place picked on her a bit as if she was the younger sister thats always around. Very nice to get my kitty fix! We mostly see dogs around and TONS of cows! We met up with an organization we found through First Baptist Colleyville and were able to spend a few days learning how they are helping the women and children in the slums of India, specifically in sex trade industry. We met alot of amazing Americans who are serving and are very passionate about their faith and building relationships with people. We had an amazing time getting to know them and were very sad to leave!!!!! After we said goodbye (today, monday) we headed to the airport to catch our flight(s) to Sri Lanka. Our first flight to refuel in Bangalore was an hour long, second flight to Channai was only 30 minutes, and we're hanging out at the food court until our next flight to Colombo at 1am. Giving us great time to update the blog!!













1 comment:

  1. So amazing! Every time I read about the food it makes my mouth water...post more food pics please :)
    Absolutely love the tunics that you and Sarah are wearing and love reading your blog!

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