The Goan sun, beaches, and my first sunburn: April 19th-25th

There is little to say about our week in Goa except we spent the majority of our time tanning, swimming, and eating on the beaches of Palolem.

Our accommodation for the week

I got my first sunburn—peeling and everything!

On the 23rd we hired a car to take us to Anjuna for the famous flea market! The market was overwhelming and unbelievably hot— I don’t think I have ever sweat so much in my life!

Anjuna Market

Other than the 23rd our days were pretty similar. We were excited to be able to wear shorts and dresses.

We left Goa on the 25th and flew to Kerala— the southwest tip of India.

In the end we decided that the water could have been bluer, the trees greener, and the sand whiter— lets just say I prefer the beaches of Maine!

Palolem Beach

Palolem Beach

Seafood!

My two beach munchkins

Eating our way through Mumbai: April 18th-19th

As the title says, we spent our 24 hours in Mumbai trying as many different restaurants as possible because Mumbai is known for having fantastic food.

We woke up early the morning of the 18th and flew from Udaipur to Mumbai— I almost threw a mini party when we said good by to Dhib for the final time! We arrived in Mumbai mid-morning and went straight to our hotel for long, needed naps. The heat and bustle of Raj had tired us out.

Around noonish we got up and started our rushed tour of Mumbai. We saw the India Gate, The Taj Palace Hotel, and a lot of restaurants.

India Gate

We went to a famous market later on (which was actually pretty lame) and hopped on a moving bus— I can check that off my list!

Busy Market

For dinner we went to Chowpatty Beach and watched the sun set over the city with all the locals. This was probably my favorite part of Mumbai. The beach was crowded with locals gathering to watch the sunset, playing in the waves, and eating delicious street food.

Sunset and dinner at Chowpatty Beach

On the 19th included more eating and wandering around. In the afternoon, to kill some time, we went to see a movie in a local theater. The movie was an adaption of a book I had read by an Indian author and was in Hindi. The movie, 2 States, tells the love story of two Indians from different states. It was a great movie and even included a few Hindi dance numbers!

After the movie we waited around until 10pm, and then headed to the train station to catch our night train to Goa.

Night train to Goa

Udaipur— The Lake City: April 15th-18th

I decided to be nice and let Annabel write this blog post (more like I begged her to write it because I am too lazy)

So here is my one celebrity blog post by the one and only Annabel Surtees (and a little help from me because as it turns out we are both lazy)


Exhausted from long car rides and changing hotels every other night for two weeks we arrived in Udaipur, the city of lakes on the evening of the 15th.

We fortunately found a lovely guesthouse with spectacular views of the main lake and the city palace. And to Annabel's great excitement a gluten free and vegan restaurant at our doorstep.

We met our friends from Jaisalmer and Johdpur, as well as a few other, for dinner a few time and just enjoyed staying in one place for a three days.

We went on the classic sunset boat ride around the lake one night and drove up to the Monsoon Palace for the sunset the next.

Annabel on the boat

Sunset at the Monsoon Palace

After dinner with our friends the second night we met a group of Indian men and a struggling English author. We ended up hangout and chatting with them until 2:00am two nights in a row.

Our new friend, the English author, invited us to see the vote on the 17th. It was super exciting because this year the vote in India could be historic! It is possible that the Congress, the party in power for the past 60 years, could fall to Modi and the BJP! Our hopes of seeing protests, shouting and posters disappeared when we saw the orderly station where people place their votes. We celebrated the vote with our new Indian friends in a cafe called “Peace Eye Bob Marley Cafe”, chilled, sipped on mint lemonade, and let the lazy day drift by!

Voting Station

Peace Eye Bob Marley Cafe

Peace Eye Bob Marley

Mint Lemonade and a jam session

All in all, Udaipur was by far our favorite place in Rajasthan.