Travel Gear, Did We Need it All?
It has only been three weeks into our trip, but we already have a good idea of what we are glad to have brought with us and what we should have left behind in Canada. Here is a list of the stuff that we brought that we are very grateful to have along the way in India, plus a few of the items that we should have left at home.
The Art of Travel Blogging and Travel
We haven’t been traveling for very long yet and we have many growing pains to work through. Both with travel, technical aspects and with the blog. Finding a story and keeping it interesting. We have never had to worry about how long we stayed at a place before or how often we need to get to the Internet, but now that we are working to become full time Travel Bloggers and professional travelers, we really have to look at our journey in a different way.
iPhone Hook Up Hell in India
Bringing and unlocked iPhone to India seemed like a good idea at the time. We thought that if we couldn’t get to an Internet Café, we would at least be able to check our email. It is three weeks into our trip and we have finally managed to make our iPhone and Data Plan work. Here is what we had to go through to make our iPhone work in India.
A Day in Goa
Everyone says “you’ve got to go to Goa.” So we did. Patnem Beach is a little slice of paradise. The water is warm, the surf is mellow and the sunsets are to die for. It is an easy place to spend time in. Calm waters flow into fine white sand. Days are spent practicing yoga, taking long walks and working on tanning our Canadian white skin. Goa is different from the rest of India. Alcohol flows freely, bikini clad tourists flaunt their skin and vendors are laid back when selling their wares. I can see why people spend their entire winter on these beaches and never venture far away.
Patnem Beach has some Pretty Awesome Yoga
It was supposed to just be a drop in class when we visited Swami Shiva Nand Jee’s class on Patnem Beach. We followed the painted fabric yoga signs to a tranquil hut behind Mountain Palms Restaurant. Three and a half bamboo thatched walls enclose a yoga studio. Large beach mats lay over the sand with rows of yoga mats facing centre. Many people are intimidated by the photos of our instructor pasted on the walls. His body is contorted in all directions. Legs over his head, postures where he is shaped like a pretzel. He’s not going to make us do that is he?
Arrival at Patnem Beach in Goa
It is 5:00 am when we stepped off the train in Goa. The morning is still dark and nobody is around. We seem to be the only people getting off at this stop. The beach is deserted. So we pull up a chair at one of the empty beach bars and wait in the dark., dogs are sleeping at our feet and we look out towards the sunrise to see large mounds in the sand. Are those cows we see? Yes, the cows own the beach in the morning and they are sleeping along with everyone else. It is calm and tranquil.
The Great India Rail Seat Switcheroo
It happens regularly, but foreigners would never notice. For every overnight train trip, payoff and bribes happen with a flurry. You see, the trains in India are always over booked and many times you won’t get the seat that you want or sometimes even what you paid for. In 3AC for example, the berths on one side of the train have six beds and six seats. If you are one of the unlucky people sitting on the other side with three seats and two beds, you are in trouble. Two people on the lower berths will not be sleeping tonight! That side of the train should have 3 and 3, but it only has 2 beds for three people.
India Rail, Train Travel Tips and Tricks
Train travel in India can be intimidating for a fist timer. It can be confusing and overwhelming, but once you figure it all out, it isn’t so bad at all. The easiest way to book the train is online at http://www.irctc.co.in/ Make sure to have a printer handy to print out your ticket. However a trip to the train station is always an adventure. The first thing that you will need to know about train travel in India the class system.
For overnight bookings you will definitely want to be comfortable, here is some information to clear up some of your questions.
Top 5 Memorable Massages in the World
Yesterday we had our first massage in India. It was a memorable experience and you can read about it here. We had the full body Ayurvedic Massage will therapeudic oils. I am sure that we will be having more as we go through our travels. It made us think about the other memorable massages that we have had on our past travels. We love getting a massage, it is a luxury that we cannot afford to have regularly at home, so we take advantage of it wherever we go. Some experiences have been better than others and some stand our in our memories better than others. Here is a list of our Top 5 most memorable massages
Ayurvedic Massage and Indian Bath in Alleppey
I learned how to shower like a true Indian today. How you ask? Because I had a woman bathe me!
It all started when we arrived at Palmy Lake Resort after our houseboat tour. Once we settled into our spacious bamboo bungalow, Marcy the owner asked us if we would be interested in a massage.
Dave and I love massages, but it seemed way too early in our trip to have a massage. We normally treat ourselves to one after we have been suffering for some time.
Travel and Dealing with the Little Things.
It never fails. Dave and I never have smooth travels. Everyone else seems to hop on busses and trains with ease, catch their taxis without fail and be on their way in an instant. Not us. Now I am not complaining, our problems are always very trivial and everything always seems to work out, but we tend to get there the hard way. Here is a list of what went wrong on our first excursion in India and then how they rectified themselves.
Our Houseboat Backwater Tour of Alleppey
We had read that the backwater tour was a must when visiting Kerala. According to The Lonely Planet It may be one of the most expensive things that you do in India, but it is well worth it. So naturally, we booked a houseboat and splurged on a cruise the backwater canals and tributaries of Alleppey. The boat was exactly what you would want for an exotic Asian Cruise adventure.
Canada’s Lack of Cultural Food Identity
One of the things that we are most looking forward to here in India is sampling the food. We have already enjoyed delicious meals of Masala, Palak Paneer and Dosai. Indian food has incredible flavour. As you read this, we are on a house boat cruising the backwaters of Kerala with our own private chef cooking the best of what India has to offer. The other night our hosts at Skylark Guest house in Varkala cooked us a traditional Kerala meal and it was incredible. We have only been in India a week so we really cannot write a blog post about food yet. We aren’t experts and don’t know a lot about the cuisine of this country yet.
Surviving Paradise, One Year on a Disappearing Island
It takes great talent to talk about culture, politics and history while keeping the reader amused and immersed in the book. I am a traveler, but I will admit, there are very few travel novelists that I love reading. I find that I lose interest part way through the book because the author doesn’t have a lot to say. This was not the case with Surviving Paradise. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover.
Passports with Purpose: Helping the Children of Cambodia
Have you been to Cambodia? It probably doesn’t matter if you have or not — it’s likely that if you’ve traveled far or to lesser developed places in the world you’ve come face to face with a sweet eyed child selling you postcards, asking for money, or just roaming about looking underfed. Today is a beautiful guest post from Pam Mandel. We have known that the Travel Blogging Community has big hearts and Passports with Purpose let’s all of us see just how big they can grow. A wonderful group of people have gotten together to help raise funds for American Assistance for Cambodia. It builds schools in rural Cambodia.
Begging in India
Dave and I have a hard and fast rule when traveling. We never give money to beggars. We feel that it only contributes to a begging society and that giving money to people perpetuates the problem. If tourists keep giving people money just because they ask, how will they ever have the ambition to try to make a better life for themselves? However, how can a person not give to a man that is crawling on the ground because his legs are paralyzed, or give to an old man with a deformed foot limping through the streets? We didn’t give to either of these men when they asked and I regret my actions. I stuck to my rule, but felt that it was the wrong decision.
Chill out in Varkala, India
If anyone is worried about the craziness of India or just doesn’t want to start of their vacation with a hassle. We highly recommend flying directly to Trivandrum and catching a pre-paid Embassador cab to Varkala. The trip from Trivandrum Airport to Varkala is about and hour and it cost us 1000 Rupees which is $20 US dollars. We are staying at Skylark Guest house and find it a great value.
Cycling is Such a Great Idea – But can Everybody Have a Bike
Cycling is such a great utilitarian activity many of us take it for granted. And there are people that have one or two bicycles for each different kind of activity. Many of us are so fortunate, living in an affluent society like Europe or North America, to find so many bicycle stores and other suppliers of bicycles in every neighbourhood. Yet we fail to realize how lucky we are. Many of us simply don’t know how hard it can be for a person living in most parts of the third world to have access to a simple two wheeler. People who earn about one-tenth of our hourly wages in a whole week will have to pay the same price as we do to buy the same bike in their places. It is simply not fair.
My 3 Best Kept Travel “Adventure” Secrets
We were recently nominated to participate in Tripbase’s “3 Best Kept Travel Secrets” game by our great Twitter friend, Isabelle of @IsabellesTravel. So here are our Travel Adventure Secrets. The Pinnacles of Borneo, The White Desert of Egypt and Huacachina Peru. These destinations on 3 different continents are some of our favorite adventures. Enjoy these photos and an overview of what exactly each one is about.
Our Top Adventures in Asia
In Six Days we will be in India. While it is drawing closer with every minute, it doesn’t even feel like in less than we week we will be on the other side of the world. We may be starting in India, but we have a lot of countries on our itinerary and we can’t wait to visit all of these destinations. So we want to share with all of you the adventures that we are most looking forward to in our upcoming travels. Will Dave be wrestling in Mongolia or will we find ourselves taking part in a Pilgrimage…Most Likely. We just can’t wait to get this adventure started!
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