Going to Goa

This weekend I traveled to Goa

It's costal state about 12 hours from Hyderabad

We took an overnight bus to get there.

It was a nice bus, but hard to get comfortable in

Also, the Bollywood movie they played for the first THREE hours of the trip was the most annoying, excruciatingly loud thing I've ever heard in my life.

Not much else happened on that bus ride.

We tried to sleep, and some Indian men called me hot.

It was an interesting ride...

We arrived in Goa and made it to our resort

There was 95% humidity the entire we were there

but it was such a tropical paradise we didn't even mind.

After breakfast we headed here:

The Arabian Sea!

We saw some hot Indian lifeguards 

(I'm being facetious I promise)

We walked the beach, laid out and swam in the pool

We couldn't swim in the ocean because of monsoon season

The tide is too high to swim for about three months 

We still felt the water though 

Later we went to the capital to see a movie

X-Men was pretty fun to see...and the Indians LOVED it

Lexie and me

The next day we went exploring

On the end of this peninsula there is a fort 

We assumed we could get there by walking along the beach 

We thought wrong.

Should've been a no brainer.

Forts are made to be impenetrable

Even 400 years later-

you can't just walk up to the thing.

So we took a safer path to find a taxi

Instead of a taxi we found two Indian guys on motorbikes

They gave us a ride to the top of the peninsula for free

They really got a kick out of how much we laughed on the way up

The fort was amazingly green

They wouldn't let us up into the lighthouse, but it was still really cool

And the view was AMAZING 

On the way back we hiked through some jungle and met some wild boars and lots of disgusting insects

To recover we spent the rest of the day by the pool

The next day we avoided motorcycles and just rented a taxi

Our driver took us to an amazing Hindu Temple

It was right along the banks of this river

Then he took us to a spice plantation in old Goa

They gave us a tour of the plantation

They grow all sorts of cool things here

These chillies are the the 4th hottest chili in the world

And they are only about 1/2 inch big!

I'm smelling a cinnamon tree here

And these are pineapple bushes

I've never seen the actual plant before

I learned that pineapple plants grow boy and girl pineapples.

We normally only eat the girl pineapples

because they are rounder and sweeter...

Go figure.

After the tour they fed us lunch

...and then it started pouring rain.

The monsoon season is amazing here

It starts pouring without warning and you are drenched within 10 seconds

After the rain we walked around a bit more

And THEN...drum roll please...

I RODE AN ELEPHANT!

This is Babu

and he is SO COOL

I was more than a little excited to ride him

Even with the grumpy little man in front of me

He loves bananas

Please forgive the English accent...it's so easy to slip into here

Definitely a highlight of being in India

After our spice plantation adventure we visited some amazing Catholic churches and cathedrals

Portugal ruled Goa for 450 years and you could see signs of Christianity everywhere

This church was a the top of a hill

With amazing views from the top 

The next three churches and cathedrals were in the same small area that also happens to be a world heritage site

We were exhausted when we finally got home

and decided to eat at the restaurant in our hotel

Lexie, Aleesha, and me

The next day we flew home

I was in such good company the entire weekend

and

India is truly a beautiful place

Now- back to work!

With love, 

A