[Oops... I wrote this last week but it didn't get published. We're both home safe now!]

We’re still here in Goa (which should be re-named “paradise” because it pretty much is). For all of you who are enjoying the snowy streets of Michigan or New York, we’d just like to let you know that it’s 30 degrees Celsius/85 degrees Fahrenheit here (yes, that was gloating you heard).

We’ve been trying very hard to relax here (poor us). I seem to be a lot better at this than Jamie — I found a smutty romance novel at the resort “library” and am tearing through it while lounging poolside.  Jamie can sit for about ten minutes before he gets antsy and wants to try something new.

One of today’s “new somethings” was waterskiing (I should clarify that Jamie waterskied while I took photos from the speedboat).  He was actually pretty good, and even managed to dismount onto the beach very gracefully! The onlookers were very impressed.

 

However, it would be remiss of me not to include this glorious video I captured of one of his wipeouts.  Do enjoy — I certainly did while filming

The tropical paradise portion of our trip is coming to a close, as we wait in Goa’s maddeningly chaotic airport (chaos caused mostly by obnoxious European tourists who are either too rude, or too high, to wait their turns in line) to catch our flight to the megalopolis of Mumbai. We’ve had a wonderful three days in Goa, a much slower-paced, easy-going enclave which seems to have taken after its former colonial power (the Portuguese, up until 1961).

Yesterday we left the not-so-real-world of our resort (which was absolutely lovely, and for whom we have Lataa and Shyam to thank a million times), and took an auto-rickshaw to the state capital, Panaji. We indulged in some very spicy Goan cuisine (chicken xacutti… Mmmm!) and snapped a few photos of the main church. The Portuguese seem to have been much more successful at spreading Christianity than the Brits, with more crosses erected across the countryside than anywhere I’ve ever been and a couple “Jesus” bumperstickers (just like Michigan!).

From Panaji we hitched a ride up to the famous party beaches of Goa (Anjuna & Vagator), but as it turns out the party seems to have ended after a decade of government crackdowns and post-Mumbai security precautions. We rented a scooter and managed to remember to stay on the left-hand side of these slightly more manageable roads, though I would not say I conquered my fear of two-wheeled motorized modes of transport. From behind the handlebars we saw many, many European tourists doing the same thing (though the high ratio of dreadlocks would seem to suggest they might have been more disappointed to discover that Goa had passed it’s prime as a hippie haven), as well as beautiful scenery (plush tropical forests, sandy beaches, and a sunset over the sea). Shortly after dismounting, a meandering cow charged at me with its horns, but no one seemed to notice this mildly embarassing episode and I have no injuries to report.

Looking forward to meeting Ramya’s family in Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai in the coming days. As always, we’ll get some new photos up as soon as we find our way to a computer!

After exploring Northern India at a frenetic pace for the past week or so, Ramya and I are unwinding at a beautiful resort in Goa. They also have decent internet here, so we’ve finally managed to upload some more photos and videos. Check them out on the map, or click here for the Flickr feed! (We’ll try to get Taj Mahal photos up ASAP but we’re having some technical difficulties with that camera!)