Greetings from Goa

Hello from the sunny beaches of Goa! Finally the Intrepid tour ended and Aggie and I have some time to relax and breathe. The Intrepid tour was good - we had the opportunity to go to some really great places that we wouldn't have thought of going. Highlights include going to the opening night of a Bollywood blockbuster, dancing to the latest Hindi hits in Jaipur, going to some really small villages and meeting the people, staying in a beautiful castle and chilling with the king, and doing a camel safari at sunset. I even got to try on a sari and had henna done on my hands! But after two weeks, I was really tired of sight-seeing and running around, and am happy to stay put at the beach and do nothing!

We're in Vagator Beach at the moment. We had originally headed to Arambol, which was supposed to be more chill than the other places, but as it is off-season right now, it was more like a ghost town! Only two restaurants were open! Still, the beach was really lovely...soft black sand and palm trees. Arambol is a really nice little community as well - in the morning you can watch the local fishermen pull in their boats and at sunset, the little kids play cricket on the beach.

It's been one month since I came to India, and one month since I left Japan. I can hardly believe it! I'm so glad I decided to go somewhere completely different...I need some space in between Japan and going home, to get my head 'round things (and where better to do it than on the beach!)