Wed. 14/02/07
Location: Goa
Staying until Sunday
Next Destination: South of Goa
I'll get a name of a city destination soon.

3) Arnala Beach Resort > Silent Hill Resort, Paighar, India 75.6 km
Silent Hill Resort
Feb. 6, 2007-Feb. 7, 2007

4) Silent Hill Resort > Vapi, India 81.8 km
Vehicle Check Point
Feb. 7, 2007
Police escorted me to Chief's office to have tea, ask me about my travels, discuss India and the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Vapi
Feb. 7, 2007 - Feb. 8, 2007
Vapi "Jay International" hotel.
bring your own toilet paper. bathroom window stays open to allow misquitos in.

5) Vapi > Daman 14.8km
Daman Feb. 8, 2007 - Feb. 11, 2007
Cidade De Daman
Make sure not to get a room above the restaraunt unless you like cockroaches.

6) Train from Daman to Mumbai

7) Bus from Mumbia to Goa

Total bicycle km=263km

I'm in Goa, India and it's not nearly as sleazy as the BBC made it out to be. Everyone said that I should go to Goa and Kerela for a more tropical experience. The land above Mumbai seemed more like Southern California dry brushland, which isn't what I'm in the mood for, so I took the train from Vapi (Wapi) to Mumbai, and then took a bus from Mumbai to Goa. From Goa, I'll ride my bicycle down to Kerela and either to Sri Lanka, or if I feel like it, I'll go to Singapore and ride up Malaysia. I'm leaning towards Singapore.

From India: Silent Hill Resort, Palghar north of Mumbai

From India: Silent Hill Resort, Palghar north of Mumbai

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The train ride down from Vapi was interesting. I got to see India incognito, watching 5 second snippets of life in villages 10 feet from the train. During my bicycle ride I don't really get to see India, what I see are Indians reacting to me as a catalyst, which isn't what I want.

When I reached Mumbai, my bicycle wasn't in the luggage area, fortunately, I had a taxi driver/helper who took care of most everything for me. Arum was his name, and he seemed to take control of everyone other than managers in the train station. He told me what people expected to get paid for their services, he dealt with the parcel director to get my bike on the next train, and, when the 2nd hotel told me they were booked, he came in and talked the receptionist into giving me a room (they weren't really booked). I get the "we're booked" response a lot in India. After getting my bike, Arun took me to get a bus when we found out that the train to Goa was full.

From India: Arum, my "Man-Friday" in Mumbai

I've seen every resort in Goa, and they are all very nice, much nicer than almost any hotel in the rest of India. Unfortunately, I've seen every resort because they're all booked for Valentine's Week. This meant riding down a road for 7 km and back for each resort/hotel. It took me 5 hours to find a sub-par room, after a 13 hour bus ride with no sleep/food/bathroom. I was glad to take the room and it's not too bad.

People at resorts in Goa sit around the pool, they might as well be in Las Vegas. During Valentine's Day, the street merchants were very aggressive. You have to say no 10 times to each merchant every 10 feet, which made me think twice about going out of the resort, but today is much better, more relaxed merchants. I have yet to see much hard-core begging in India, 3-4 people have politely asked for money. San Francisco has more begging than what I've seen in Mumbai, Goa, and towns north of Mumbai.

I promise pictures some day.

Rick