Goa, November 2015

We'd been in Mumbai since August, and stayed mostly in the city. We figured we'd go to Goa. It's India's smallest state, and one of its more independent ones. (It has a strong Portuguese culture from colonialization which continues today, and they are happy to serve real cow beef, unlike the majority of the other states. In Maharashtra, where we live, you will sometimes see 'beef' listed on menus, but that's code for water buffalo.)

Oh, and Goa is clean, and has nice beaches! The northern beach area is pretty overdeveloped, but southern Goa is a bit more mellow and rustic. We stayed at a small place on the beach (Agonda Cottages, on Agonda Beach). It had about a dozen one-room huts. Everything is open air. 'You don't need aircon. The ocean breeze will come just when you think you need it' -- which was true.

Looking for a fun Indian experience, we took the train down. The overnight Konkan Kanya runs right from Mumbai's main station to Goa's station, and from there, a taxi put us on the beach. We met up with our friends from Mexico (and India), for a nice Thanksgiving on the sand.

The idea was to then fly back. I arranged all the tickets, but unfortunately it turned out that I bought five one-way airplane tickets for an entirely different week than the one-way train tickets. Fortunately, India is served by a multitude of well-run domestic airlines, so we were able to get back at a reasonable time, despite my efforts.

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