India: Goa

Travelling down to Goa we decided to change up our mode of transport and try out the sleeper buses of India. We'd heard pretty good things about them from fellow travellers, and everything seemed promising as we settled into our beds. However the twists, turns and bumps in the road posed a real risk of falling out of the beds and the team of drivers were so loud at the front of the bus it made sleep pretty much impossible. Arriving into Mapusa as three very sleepy wanderers, we were kicked off the bus where we were met with an ambush of taxi drivers offering to take us to our hotel. Even though every inch of us wanted a quick, easy journey to our awaiting beds at the hostel, we decided a local bus would be a a cheaper option so walked just 5 minutes to the bus station. We paid just 15 rupees each for the 45 minute bus journey south to Zostel where we were staying in Candolim. We hopped off the bus and spotted Zostel quite easily as the directions given to us from the website were very easy to follow. We had booked in for just 3 nights - as we checked out we had totalled a massive 21 nights, making us Zostel Goa longest ever guests!

Our first week in Candolim was quite chilled as we basked in the sunshine and enjoyed the warm sea. Most people in the hostel were out partying almost every night, however we decided to give this a miss and explore the wider area of Goa. 

Anjuna Flea Market: Every Wednesday there is a Flea Market in Anjuna which was just 10km away from where we were staying. We priced a taxi thinking it would be a reasonable price and got a massive shock when he wanted to charge us a very English rate for the journey. After stopping and asking a few more taxis it was very clear that the prices in Goa were not like what we had been used to elsewhere in India. So, again we found ourselves packed onto the local bus, which conveniently stops anywhere along the main road. This was much more of a hassle as it meant we had to get one bus back to Mapusa, then change to another bus into Anjuna - anything to save a few pounds! The journey really was worth it, the market was massive selling everything you could ever wish to buy. We bought a few Christmas presents for the family as we were planning to send a surprise parcel home for everyone (you can thank us later :P). Wandering around the market for a few hours we had built up our appetites for dinner. We settled at one of the beach shacks that was playing live music and ordered a mix of pasta and pizza - yummmy! We decided to get a taxi back to our hostel in Candolim as it was getting late as we didn't want the hassle of the bus journey again, I think we paid around 600 rupees for all 3 of us. 

Old Goa: Our next place to explore in Goa was the city of Old Goa which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once a city inhabited by the Portuguese and used as a port for worldwide trading, it is now mostly abandoned serving mainly as a tourist destination for those wishing to visit the numerous churches. The Basilica of Bom Jesus holds the mortal remains of St Francis Xavier which attracts many visitors. We were lucky enough to time our visit when his body is publicly displayed, which only happens once every 10 years! However, this meant that Old Goa was extremely busy making it very difficult to take in the peace of the churches. We soon gave up and found ourselves in Baskin Robbins for an ice-cream treat. 

Panjim: Yet another local bus, this time down south to Panjim, the capital of Goa state. We strategically planned our visit to Panjim on the release date of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, as we just couldn't wait another day longer! We visited Panjim numerous times after this, a few times to pop to the post office to mail Christmas presents and a few more trips to the cinema. 

Palolem: We'd heard a lot about Palolem but was always put off by how far away it was on public transport until we realised how cheaply we could hire a car all to ourselves for the entire day! One of the guys who worked at the hostel arranged for a car to be dropped off to us the next morning at 7am ready for us to begin the hour and a half drive to the South. All of us had a turn at driving the beastly Suzuki Swift which took some adjusting to as India isn't known for it's rules and regulations when it comes to the roads (good job we're not nervous drivers!). Once at Palolem, we were immediately greeted with markets and stalls along the seaside which sold unique things we hadn't seen anywhere else yet. Needless to say, it wasn't long before some cheeky purchases were made and some food was consumed. After a good sing along session in the car as we made our way back to Zostel, we all felt really happy that we had made the effort to explore the South of Goa as it was good to see a different part of the state where there was a more relaxed vibe and plenty of friendly faces!

Our second week at Zostel and with the friendship group (from here they will be known as our 'Zostel Family') growing we found ourselves more involved in the parties Goa has to offer. 

It was so exciting getting all dressed up for a night out - putting make up on for the first time in weeks was a real treat and we all felt like we'd made a great effort (compared to the daily jump out of bed and we're ready routine). We met our group of friends in the common room for some drinks before heading out, which soon escalated to around 14 people playing 'Werewolves' and afterwards, 'Ring of Fire'. With everyone in high spirits we jumped in a few taxis and headed to Club Cubana. We had heard very good things about this place and it definitely didn't disappoint. We had to couple up for entry as they give you a cheaper rate (1000 rupees per couple), which included unlimited drinks throughout the night. Walking into the club it was covered with trees and has a kind of secluded jungle feel. It is split up into numerous sections, one chill out area with large beds, one area with a swimming pool, one large bar area and the main indoor club and VIP section. The club is set high up on a mountain which gives the most spectacular views. We all had such a brilliant time chatting and meeting new people and dancing the night away. We loved it so much we found ourselves in Club Cubana twice more. On a Wednesday they have ladies night, which entitles us lovely ladies to free entry (and free unlimited bar, winner!)

Once Club Cubana got a little same-same we decided to give another place a try. So Monday night we heard about a beach party at The Lilliput Cafe and headed there with who was left of the Zostel family - now a mere 6 people. Entrance cost around 400 rupees, however this didn't include any drinks. We chose a table directly on the beach and were chatting away when we noticed the sea getting closer and closer and bar staff ushering people away and removing tables. It wasn't too long until the sea had completely covered the beach and we were forced inside and straight to the dance floor. The music at The Lilliput Cafe was interesting to say the least - a mix of house, electica and drum and bass. We're usually not fussy about music genre but after a few hours it all got a little too intense so we called it a night. 

Here are a few pictures from our time in Goa - 

Off we go on our bus adventures

Basilica of Bom Jesus

Church in Old Goa

Old Goa

Old Goa

Don't mind if we do..

Palolem shops

Our Car for the day

Candolim Beach

Candolim Beach Shacks

Not a bad place for some 'breaky 

Lets go Partyyyy

Copying Bethans hairstyle

Double bun twins!

Club Cubana

Club Cubana (again)

Lilliput Cafe

Good Night?

Morning Hangover Cure

Thanks for an amazing stay Zostel Goa! Now onto Kerela.. 

India: Jodhpur

We faced our first overnight sleeper train in India for our journey from Agra to Jodhpur in Rajasthan. This was scheduled to take 10 hours, however when we arrived at the train station in Agra we were informed of a 3 hour delay. By this time it was already 8pm so we were not too happy to hear of this. Although there was nothing we could do about it so settled onto the platform and played our favourite game 'how much..?'. This has kept us entertained for hours upon hours during these sorts of times and we were keen to share it with the Spicy Mermaids. It's basically a game where you test how much money it would take for somebody to do something awful. For example, one question was "how much for you to take a bath in henna so you turn orange for a few weeks?", or "how much to shave your head?". We really enjoy this game as it tests how high or low peoples standards are and you get some hilarious responses! After a few hours had passed we noticed the train getting more and more delayed until it finally arrived a massive 7 hours late! We were all so exhausted by this time, I'm pretty sure we were all sleeping before our heads hit the pillow. 

Waking up in Jodhpur we got a pre paid Rickshaw to our hostel. Getting a pre paid taxi service whenever available is sensible as it lowers the chance of getting an inflated price - standard when your a white person in India. We have been told that almost every price you are quoted is at least 50% more than its value. We met one group at the hostel who paid 2,000 rupees (£20) for their journey from the train station, when we paid 80 rupees (80p). It really pays to do some research before heading to a new destination to find out how far away the hotel is from the train/bus station so you know what kind of price you should be paying. Also, barter like hell! If one man wont give you the price you want then there are about 80 others all lined up to take you. Walk away and they usually come running after you with the price you want. 

We stayed for 3 nights at the one and only hostel chain in India - Zostel. We were lucky to have an 8 person room all to ourselves which was ideal! After some home comforts in the form of baked beans on toast we were ready to do some exploring. We were dropped off near the clock tower of Sadar Market, which consisted mainly of textile shops. We got roped into going into one which claimed to serve all the big designer brands such as Kenzo and D&G. They sat us down and proceeded to display all the different types of items we could purchase in store. They showed some amazing blankets/throws and scarves made from cashmere, pashmina and alpaca wool. One of the guys got very into the display, draping the blankets over himself and a friend demonstrating how to get 'cosy' on a winters night, haha! His show worked a treat as our friends bought some souvenirs and gifts for family members.

That evening we got a few drinks, chilled on the balcony of the hostel and listened to music. This was a great opportunity to meet a few others staying at the hostel along with the hostel manager. After a couple of hours and a few too many drinks for some (Sinead crawling onto her top bunk), we were ready for some well deserved rest. 

The next morning we visited Mehrangarh Fort. Inside the fort there are many palaces and one of Rajasthans' best stocked museums. It felt so magical walking around the Fort, the detail in the buildings were exquisite. The palaces were all very lavishly decorated with the most spectacular views across the Blue City of Jodhpur. A guy we met at the hostel recommended we visit Flying Fox for a Zip Lining adventure around the Fort. This cost us around 1,300 rupees  (£13) each for 6 zip lines, lasting a total of one hour. The group felt a little mixed about this experience. If your a total adrenaline junkie then this is quite possibly not scary enough. We didn't dislike the experience we were just expecting something a little more.

Later that afternoon we attended a cooking class at Spice Paradise. We stumbled upon this the night before completely by chance and thought we'd take a look at the different spices on offer. We were met by Rekha, the most grateful, humble lady you could ever wish to meet. Immediately we were welcomed into her family home as if we were old friends and we did not hesitate to book a cooking class with her. Our cooking class cost 1,000 rupees (£10) and lasted 5 hours. We felt this was definitely worth it, we cooked such a variety of dishes including chai masala tea, biriyani, paneer curry, mixed fruit and veg raita, chapatis, garlic naan, sweet paratha and saffron lassis. Rekha also talked to us about each individual spice and its medical purposes and gave us a massive 15 page cook book to take home.

Our day of the cooking class marked the beginning of Diwali - the festival of lights, which is as big as Christmas in Asia! Rekha and her husband Anil could not thank us enough for being their 'lucky charm of the year'. We wish them all the luck for the future, no doubt they will do very well - we will remember their warm welcome and honest faces forever. 

For our last night in Jodhpur we did a home stay outside of the city. We decided this deserved a write up of its own as we did so many activities and had such a brilliant time - keep posted!

Here are a few pictures of our time in Jodhpur: 

First glimpse of Mehrangarh Fort - 400ft above the city

Jodhpur Centre

Jodhpur Centre

The Clock Tower

Deciding on our purchases

Jack jumping on the henna wagon

Mirinda King

Mehrangarh Fort

View across to the Blue City

Palace within the Fort

Young boy singing

Off she goes!

Team Zip Line!

Rekha teaching us all about spices and their medical properties

Ingredients for our Biriyani

YUUUUM! - The silver is for presentation when you have special guests 

Now we're all happy!

Thanks Rekha!

Happy Wanderers 

♥

China: Lijiang

This time our move involved a 1 hour domestic flight from Chengdu to Lijiang. Apparently, talking on a plane in China during daylight hours is a serious offence as when Sarah and Sam were having a conversation, a Chinese man started tapping Sam asking her to 'shhh!!'. After we refused to stop talking, his girlfriend then began kicking Sam's chair and persistently hitting Sarah's arm demanding that they be quiet (even though it was 2pm and she wasn't trying to sleep - ridiculous!). The fun police are definitely on board all China planes! However, we chose this option as opposed to an overnight sleeper train because Lijiang is not supported by a frequent rail service. Being semi-rural you can only get a train there from Kunming (the capital of Yunnan Province) which meant extra time and cost.  

Arriving in Lijiang, we were greeted by the most torrential weather conditions! Rain, and thunder and lightning were prevalent almost every day. We were dropped into the centre of Lijiang and decided to get a city bus to our hostel although within 2 minutes we were literally soaked through from the rain so we gave up and got a taxi. 

We stayed in the Panba Lakeside Lodge during our stay. This hostel is a little out of the main area, however, the view from our balcony made up for the 20 minute walk into town. It is located alongside a gorgeous lake (as the name suggests) and in the distance you can see the famous Jade Snow Mountain, which looks particularly beautiful in the morning. We're sooo glad we chose this hostel; it was truly amazing! The hostel is family-run and all of them were very welcoming - they could never do enough for us. They offered us impartial advice on trips of the surrounding area and one man even gave us his mobile number so we could phone him if we got lost - he was very concerned for us for some reason. He had amazing English and was always around when we needed him - most often to translate everything into Chinese which was required pretty much 24/7. Unfortunately, whilst in Lijiang Sam got quite ill and had to stay in bed for 3 days. The family were always checking in on her to see how she was doing and even allowed her to stay in bed 6 hours after check-out time so she could rest before getting our next train. As small as this gesture was, we really appreciated how caring they were; we felt like we were staying at their house rather than at a hostel which was so different to all the other hostels we had experienced so far.

We were mostly interested in visiting Lijiang because of its history - it was hit by quite a severe earthquake in 1996, killing 322 people and injuring 14,000. Around 300,000 people were forced to leave their homes because of the damage. In the years following the earthquake, Lijiang city had to be completely rebuilt and the Old Town reconstructed. It is now listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. We couldn't get enough of the town - we absolutely loved it! It's a series of alleys filled with cute trinkets, textiles, leather, and food shops with flowing streams running through. It had a very traditional feel, however, with it being fairly newly constructed, it was pedestrianised (which anyone travelling China will know is a massive plus!) and extremely clean. We enjoyed a naxi pastry in the centre of the town - one of our favourite snacks of China (it was basically like a Gregg's steak bake - heavenly) which we enjoyed in a cute little bar with live acoustic music and free lemon juice - win.

Most people who visit Yunnan Province visit Lijiang for the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge. Although in true Happy Wanderer style we missed out on the 'norm'. As previously mentioned, the weather was pretty horrendous which meant the hiking paths were shut off with overflowing waterfalls and rivers. We read that people were having to sign a waiver before being allowed to enter the park because it was pretty dangerous. As a group we didn't think a serious hike would be on our itinerary so didn't bring any good hiking boots. This mixed with the bad weather and torrential conditions meant we had to give this wonder a miss. :( A girl who was staying in our dorm room told us that she had to get carried along most of the way by a group of Chinese men because she physically couldn't do it herself which made us feel a little bit better about missing out though.

On what seemed like a reasonably sunny day, we hired bicycles from our hostel so we could explore a few other old towns in the area. The hostel provided us with a hand drawn map and off we went! Cycling on the roads of Lijiang didn't prove much of a problem as they were fairly quiet and we were glad of the exercise after the amount of junk we'd been eating over the last few days - cookies, chocolate, crisps, and Chinese pot noodles - nutritious! However, after about an hour of cycling and enjoying the scenery, the heavens opened and we were drenched once again - standard Lijiang. Sam resorted to tucking her umbrella into her jacket to make it back to the hostel - skills!

Here are our favourite pictures from Lijiang -

The view from the balcony at the hostel (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) 

One of the bridges on the lake

Lijiang Old Town

Mastering the classic Chinese photo pose

Effortless with this nifty gadget!

Thanks for visiting! 

The Happy Wanderers 

♥