Palolem to Hampi

Today I arrived to Hampi after spending a week on a very nice beach in
Goa called Palolem. I've been spending longer than usual in
places... and it definitely has it's benefits. For example, the
corner Samosa guy that makes kick-ass somosas and Indian-Portuguese
egg sandwiches knows me by name. The food is amazing here... and I've
gotten pretty adventurous... eating stuff like Goan chorisso. But
I've also been amazed at how good (and easy) it is to be vegetarian
here... malai kofta has definitely became a staple.

The overnight sleeper bus to Hampi was really bad... but I got some
sleep once I got here. On the other hand, I just found out that the
town is closing down tomorrow... so I have to leave town. All because
the president of India is coming to town... hopefully I'll find some
accommodations nearby... and come back here in a day or so.

Walk Around Sighisoara, Romania

In Sighisoara, Romania, I went for a walk to find some "trees" that people said were really cool (and old)... but managed to find nothing. 5km into my walk I decided that I'm probably going the wrong direction, so decided to go into the forest to see if I there is anything. I turned on the GPS (homing in on my hostel)... put on my ipod and started walking through this enchanted forest. The hike was semi-strenuous, but very scenic... and at some points a little scary... thick forest and then all of a sudden... you get to a cliff's edge. There were a few moments that I had one foot dangling in the air.

So here I am walking... haven't seen people for hours... and just like in the horror movies... when the soundtrack is all nice and mellow... all of the sudden you see something run across your field of view at full speed. I'm usually pretty calm, but that scared the #$%@! out of me... especially having no clue what it was. The rest of the hike in the forest was quite rapid... but I finally got out, although in a pretty shady part of town. Lots of homeless kids living along side the railroad tracks in half destroyed buildings. As I continued to walk back to the hostel, I realized that quite some thought has been put into "hiding" this part of town from the tourists and travellers... this kind of stark contrast is not what most people want to see on their trip to beautiful Sighisoara.



Some rather uninteresting photos from the walk around Sighisoara can be seen here.

POTD 5

When I was in Sighisoara, Romania, I was told that #11 (Green door) on something or other street rents bikes.  I knocked on the door and waited for 10 minutes, but nobody showed.  I decided to take a photo just so I can ask the guy who told me about this place if it's the right door. I was later  surprised that the photo actually had some merit on it's own.

Poiana Brasov, Romaina

So I'm going to post some stuff from my Eastern Europe Trip before my India trip... and I found a website that allows you to post treks (from GPS) along with photos from flickr, so check it out... my Poiana Brasov "trek". I did this climb of a ski resort with Sarah and Maggie... we thought we would climb to the top and then get the gondola down, but we missed the last gondola by 5 minutes or so. On the other hand, we got to spend some time with a wild donkey on the way up. Here are the photos from that trek. And here is a pdf with detailed info from Brasov trek.

Arambol, Goa in India

So I'm back on the road. 

I got to Arambol, Goa two days ago, and it's been really nice nd relaxing here.  I'm traveling with Ifat (ee'f-aht), my cousin's friend. We've been getting along pretty well as travel partners... given that we only met in the airport in Israel! We found a hut on the beach which is quite comfy and cheep... no mosquitos, but we've had some monkey visitors (meaning real monkeys) in the middle of the night; but they couldn't figure out how to get in :)

The weather is amazing... the water is so pleasant, and the food is delectable... I'm just waiting to get sick :( 

I found a group of volleyball players here on the beach from everywhere in the world including India... and it's been a blast to play after taking such a long break from the sport.  A nice dip in the water is also something you don't get to do while playing VB in Central Park.

I also got one of the vendors to sow me a "sleeping pouch".  Just a huge sheet folded in half and sown most of the way up.  Maybe it will buy me some protection from the mosquitoes, as I have decided not to take anti-malaria pills right now. Knock-on-wood.

I have no Idea where I will head to next... probably south a bit.

Heading to India

So I've decided to continue my trip... on Monday, Jan 14th, I'm going to head to Goa, India, to start my travels again.  I'll start my blog up again soon.