Day Fourteen 30-10-10

In the morning of the 30th of October in Goa we were off to see a Fort in Corjeum.

 

On the way we saw a nice cable stayed bridge ( And I cant leave those bridges un-captured on my camera)

We arrived at “THE FORT”

We drove almost 2 hours to be presented with this AMAZING fort, which ofcourse we didn’t know was ABANDONED!!!!!! Anyway the scenery was nice.

History about the fort we don’t know, so not much to talk only much to see .

Then we looked in the map and decided to go to “Dona Paula” which is a jetty with a  view point and a statue. The statue is of a Portuguese princess and a Goan boy who committed suicide when their love was not accepted by the Portuguese Royal family.

we went there because it is one of the touristic places in Goa, but I was not really impressed. However, driving around in a moped and being free completes the holiday feeling for me . So, I didn’t see much impressive culture however the “culture” on the road entertained me enough.

On the way back we met an elephant, which belonged to a temple. The temple people wanted me to get on the elephant, which I didn’t resist. Liny captured the event and this is the result.

Movie comes later  

In the night, we wanted to check out the “Goa Night Life” so we wanted to go to the “Tito’s” which is a main place here. Liny’s mom didn’t allow us to go drive on the moped because we did not know the way (no thought about alcohol). So we had a driver who brought us!

Before we went in the club we did some pre- drinking . The booze was cheap ( Mojito – 2 euros and Vodka less than 50 cents). Half drunk we went to Tito’s which turned out to be under refurbishment (Bollocks!!). So we ended up in Mambo’s which is a sister company/club of Tito’s. We needed to pay 800 rupees to get in as a couple, if you want to come in as single its 1200 rupees. This is policy to prevent singles coming in to hook up . Therefore mostly couples were there, strangles in each other and trying to dance ( what they couldn’t ) So the night was partly entertainment looking at the people and partly annoyance because of the British hip –hop music that was on instead of the more horrible Goa Trance!!! which is fine when you are a bit tipsy!!!!

After 2 hours of entertainment, we called our driver. during the wait we tried to forget our wasted entrance fee 800 rupees by drinking another one. Luckily our driver was a fan of Goa Trance and had a good sound system in his car. So end good all good!!!!!

Day Thirteen 29-10-10

Around 12ó clock we arrived at Goa Train Station. Because the taxi drivers are a bit dodgy, Liny’s mom sent us a taxi she knew. After 10 minutes the driver was there and we hit the road towards Chapora. On the way I recognized that the traffic was a lot less dense than the other places. Once arrived at our 400 rupees a night room, we got to know Francis( Photo comes later) who is a friend of Liny’s mom. He’s white from Belgium and speaks Flemish, so I could also communicate in Dutch with him. The guy is here since July 2009 and basically living off his retirement as he wanted to go to Goa all of his life.

After dropping and sorting all our stuff in the room, we went for a ride. Liny and I on a moped and her mum together with Francis. They showed us a couple of beaches around Goa namely Goa is a state which is formed like dozens of beaches. I thought that Goa was just a place that has one big boulevard and a massive beach like all the other beach places in Spain, Italy, France and Croatia.

Liny and I were off for a swim in the sea at Anjuna Beach. After coming back from a lunch and a shower, we were off roaming around in Goa. We ended up in Baga beach which is extremely touristic beach where you can do banana rides, para gliding and sit on a speed boat.

After having a nice juice ( Juices are made from fresh fruit like we have the smoothies instead of the syrup juice that we drink a lot in the EU)at Baga we went to Curlies a restaurant by the beach for a curry. The background music at that place was proper “Goa Trance.” I must say that I didn’t like the music which is a bad thing if you are in Goa. But yeah “what can I say!!!!”

The movie that I made in the bus

Day Twelve

Today we have booked a organized touristic trip. Therefore we needed to be ready at 8:15 to be picked up. Once the group was complete we drove to a houseboat.

On there we met British, American, Japanese, Greek and Swedish people. We went for a boattrip that should take around 3 to 4 hours. After a cup of tea we drifted away into the backwaters of Kerala. Underway a guide named Shajaz (what means flower)

talked us through some facts about the area we where boating. 

He told us that most of these little boats

are occupied with mussel fishers. They fishers go to catch the mussels out their boat into the water with their net.

They feel then with their feet whether there are mussels around. They can do this because the backwater has a water depth of 1 to 5 meters.  

These islands join three districts (counties/provinces) and that on each island a couple of families where living without clean water, supermarket, hospital or electricity.

This area is also very important for Kerala as it is the largest backwater of the district (205km diagonal)

After the talk he invited us to come and eat some mussels. To do that we needed to go to one of the local families that he knew there. On the island, while the mussels where being steamed, we where told a bit more about how these people live. So it seems that they have clean water for six months(what they do in the other six months I forgot). That they trade tender coconut’s, 

mussels, chips made from “tapioca” ( looks like a wooden stick)

And raw material for medicine, gain from all different kinds of plants.

Once back we got a traditional Kerala lunch and when in the bus to our next boat trip.

 

This boat was a bit smaller and is why we went with two little boats. Here we went through some kind of jungle where also a few families where living.

Above, black peppers

These families where more modern than the once we just visited. They had basically everything they need. However they where also specialized in making ropes (this is something that is been done at much more places, but we were allowed to take a closer look here.

The base product is coconut fiber.

They peel this of the coconut and let it dry in the sun. Then they put it in a pouch on their belly. From here they twist the fibers, By twisting the fibers, they hook into each other and lock themselves in. A movie will demonstrate how this is done. However due to the internet connection will these be uploaded later on.

After a boat trip of around 3 hours we docked back in and went back to the hotel. This was the end of Kerala. We were now about to leave for the 22:30 train to GOA. For that Liny’s mum booked us a second class A/C train. Liny told me that it is rarely that she goes in such a luxury way of travel. Namely, you have 1st A/C, 2nd A/C, 3rd A/C and no A/C class. Normally they travel in 3th and no A/C class. 2nd A/C class means sockets and onboard dinner and breakfast. The journey took about 12 to 13 hours, and we where having beds to sleep in. How this all worked out is shown in a movie that I made again which I cant upload at the time.

About GOA, see next blog

Day Eleven

After a 12 hour sleep we went out to get some brunch. I choose a chicken 65 curry with vanilla milkshake. The rice that comes along with it was different than what I was used to. The grains where twice the size of normal basmati rice. This rice has its origins in Kerala and is mostly served there as well. Because it’s the size of the rice, it filled me up properly so I was set for the day.

After brunch we went on a ferry to an another part of cochin where some Dutch, British and Portuguese heritage was located.

Once on the other side, I didn’t had a nice feeling about the place. It all felt a bit weird. Maybe these pictures say more:

We went anyways further and visited the Dutch Palace (1st pic), Jewish synagogue (2nd pic) and a church where Vasco Da Gama (the Portuguese guy who discovered India, supposedly) was burried (3rd pic).

After that we went walked to the shoreline where Chinese fishing nets where placed

 

On the walk back we saw some political party making some kind of riot (that was how it looked like, people drunk on bikes screaming and jumping). It seems that politics are quite important in Kerala.

Once home we watched some movies and had an early night because we needed to get up early the next day