James & Quene travelling around the World

This is definitely the last Post from India.
Yesterday, in Goa, we met a teacher who had a pre-school near the beach. Being Saturday there were only a few kids, but it was good fun, they had only a few toys which were donated by tourists and teachers who come back year after year, pity it was our last day in Palolem.

Guess who…?
Adivina quien…?

 

A couple of local peseant women Prema and Lakshmi:
En la playa de Palolem detras de la cabaña donde viviamos estaban estas mujeres charlando en la puerta de otra cabaña echa de madera y el techo de ramas de palmera y madera, se llaman Prema y Lakshmi:

Quene goes back to school!:

Esta es una de las dos escuelas que hay en Palolem  el indice de analfabetismo es muy alto en esta zona y los crios tienen que ayudar en el campo a sus padres, casi todos los juguetes que se ven detras son de extranjeros que mandan de sus paises o dan dinero para material:

Here’s a few dogs taking it easy on the beach in Goa:
Hay muchos perros aqui, India puedes ver cualquier tipo de animal con completa libertad , monos, vacas , cabras y perros . Hasta tenian sus propias pandillas por la playa de Goa:

This morning we arrived in Bombay (or Mumbai as it’s now called) where we spend our last day in India. From here we catch our flight to Hong Kong (via Bangkok). TOday, SUnday, was very quiet, hardly any traffic, unlike Delhi which was pure chaos, you could even be forgiven for thinking you weren’t in India, with all the skyscrapers lining the seafront! You can see Bombay is where the money is, being the business and commercial heart of India.

So with a big Namaste from India we leave the great Subcontinent of India!
And we will definitely come back, some day!

All the best, next post from Hong Kong in a few days…
Hugs and kisses,
James & Quene

Espanol:
Pues este si que es el ultimo desde India.
El ultimo dia conocimos a una profe que nos llevo a su escuela , era sabado asi que habia menos niños , pero nos lo pasamos bien , apenas tenian juguetes, fue una pena que era el ultimo dia en Palolem ya que no nos dio tiempo a comprarles nada.

Esta mañana hemos llegado a Bombay para pasar nuestras ultimas 24 horas en India y coger el avion a Hong Kong via Bangkok , la ciudad estaba sin trafico por ser domingo asi que no ha sido tan caotico (como Delhi) como nos pensabamos que iba a ser nuestra corta estancia aqui y hemos podido dar unos paseos tranquilamente .

Con un gran “Namaste” dejamos el subcontinente de India!
Seguro que volveremos, algun dia!

Pues recuerdos, el siguiente post sera desde Hong Kong dentro de un par de dias!

Abrazaos y Besos,
James & Quene

Well this may possibly be our last post fom India, sniff, sniff…

Anyway, we’re taking it easy here in Palolem Beach, southern Goa.

Palolem Beach, Goa:
Playa Palolem, Goa:

The beach is lined with “coco-huts” or bamboo huts, which as you can see from the pic are just basic rooms on stilts, made of bamboo, at the edge of the beach and the coconut palms that fringe the beach.

Our gaf:
Nuestra choza:

So we’re just 5 metres from the sea! And I’m sure sleeping to the sound of the sea is much better than listening to my snoring or any monsoon rains for that matter!

As it’s Diwali here in India (main national Hindu festival of the year) which is a bit like haloween, so we decide to head into the big smoke, Panjim, the state capital of a whopping 98,000 inhabitants to check out the festivities!

Church of the Imaculate Conception, Panjim, Goa:
Iglesia de la Concepcion Inmaculada, Panjim, Goa:

31st October is a bit like halloween, firecrackers and stuff, lots of demons roam the streets. The demons are killed by the god Krishna so the story goes, proving that good beats evil!

Demon on the streets of Panjim:
Demonio por las callers de Panjim:

The 1st they celebrate by lighting lanterns and oil lamps and hand out sweets to the kids, again also like halloween!!!!

Panjim has some Portuguese style buildings, as Goa was a Portuguese colony until Indian Independence in the 1950’s. Funny to see shop names, streets, and signs with a familiar European feel…
Panjim antigua colonia portuguesa hasta 1950, todavia quedan nombres y edificios en portugues.

Today we chilled just took a long stroll along the beach to the far end where we saw hundreds if not thourands of little baby hermit crabs, they were so small that all you could see were the shells they use as houses moving in all directions theough the shallow water, so funny. There were some bigger crabs too who could have given you a nasty nip if they were in the mood. After seeing that, Quene is now reluctant to go into the water in case she gets bitten by a crab!!!!

As its holiday season here it’s proving tricky to get a train out of this place… not that we’re in a rush, well we do have to make Mumbai for 7th to catch our flight to Hong Kong, best we could get is an overnight train on the 5th… cutting it tight, not much time to explore Mumbai. But when you’ve seen one big indian city, you don’t realy want to see any more… Mumbai is actually bigger than Delhi, I think one day ther is planty if you ask me! Definitely prefer to chill here by the beach!

Espanol

Goa - Palolem
Sol, playa, mar y muchos palmeras de coco! Se esta tan bien aqui que no nos importaria estar todo el ano .

Aqui estamos de relax en la Playa de Palolem, en el sur de Goa. La playa esta rodeada por “coco-huts” o chozas de bambu, como se ve en la foto son dormitorios simples elevados a 2 metros del suelo, estan al borde de la playa y los palmeras . Asi que estamos a 5 metros del mar. Seguro que dormir al sonido del mar es mucho mejor que escuchar roncar o las lluvias de monzon!

Como es Diwali aqui en India (es la fiesta national hindu mas grande del ano) un poco como halloween en Irlanda, o como dia de los santos en Espana. Curioso que cae en justo las mismas fechas ( si es que al final todo es lo mismo..!!)
Hay fuegos artificiales y petardos, y estatuas de Krishna y demonios ,como representacion de la victoria del bien sobre el mal.
El dia 1 de Noviembre se celebra iluminando con velas y flores las casas , los ninos van pidiendo dulces por las calles y se reza por los muertos tambien.

Hoy hemos estado de relax, andando a lo largo de la playa, como la marea estaba baja se veian cientos de cangrejillos hermitanos que viven en caracolas, habian algunos tan pequenos que era muy divertido mirar al agua y ver a todas las conchas moviendose para todos los lados. Habia grandotes con unas pinzas que si te pillan te dejan sin un buen cacho, despues de verlo, meterse en el agua daba un poco de “pereza”.

Como son fiestas aqui, Diwali se celebra durante 5 dias, nos ha resultado dificil conseguir un tren para irnos a Bombay donde cogeremos el vuelo a Hong Kong el dia 7 de Nov. Al final lo conseguimos para el dia 5… un poco justos para explorar Bombay, pero igual va a ser tan agobiante que Delhi, asi que no nos importa estar en la playita un poquito mas ..;)

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View of Taj Mahal from hotel roof top:
Vista del Taj Mahal desde la azotea del hotel:

Both of us inside Taj Mahal gardens:
Los dos en los jardines del Taj Mahal:

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