The Blue City, Photos and Being in a Mixing Bowl.

So I left off with James and the Dutch checking out the city while I stayed back. I also went to bed early that night while the others stayed up.

The next day (which was our last day)  we went for a walk through the city streets.  I really wanted to go to the Blue City where everything is ...well, blue!

I really enjoyed walking the city streets!  It was wonderful.  Because we were in a local area nobody really bothered us.  No one was trying to sell us anything at all, they just waved and said hello.  The best part was all the photos we got asked for...not of us but of them.  We would be taking pictures of buildings or dogs and they
would ask or show with their hands that they wanted photos of themselves and then would ask to see them.   One woman fixed her head scarf to show her earrings and after I took a photo of her a woman walked up to me and asked for hers to be taken.  Another man wanted his photo with Anouschka and I after we took pictures of puppies. I usually don't take pictures with the locals but he was really sweet and then offered us free chai masala - my angel drink so it was well worth it.

We saw some children playing at a doorway and asked them for a photo and they ran behind their gate, but their mum came out and made them stand for the photo.

Two men eating in front of a doorway asked for their photo to be taken, another woman asked me if I would take a photo of her after I took pictures of the spices in the shop she was sitting at.

I hadn't felt this relaxed since being in the cities.  I am not a city person but India is full-on so its a completely different experience than any other city.  I felt calm and happy and really enjoyed meeting the locals and loved that they wanted their pictures taken.

I was really excited about the Blue City...blue is my favourite colour so it was like blue heaven for me.  It's not as blue as you would think but it is still pretty blue.

After wandering the streets we found a nature park with awesome view points of the Fort and the Blue City.  We wandered the pathways and climbed up towers - which wasn't fun for my vertigo but the pictures turned out great!

We were back by 3pm and I hopped on my computer to teach and then James and I headed to the bus station for our 32 hour journey down to Goa!

It wasn't  too bad.  He had a sleeper bus so we had our own little cubbies... it's not a the best sleep but
it is heaps better than sitting in a seat all day and night.   Stretching my legs was the biggest bonus, it was definitely more comfortable for my legs.  My head however, was a different story.  My ceiling was weird so it came lower which means I couldn't really sit straight so I always had to sit half up.  I also didn't have a curtain in my cubby so I had to make shift a curtain with no hooks and my scarf and succeeded.

The next day we had a stop in Mumbai.  After an hour I asked why we were waiting so long ... we arrived an hour early so we had to wait.  Okay that's fair, but then we stopped again and just sat there, not moving. "Get off the bus! Now" You get off!"  There were only 4 of us on the bus and they wouldn't drive to Goa with just four of us on the bus so they were changing us to another sleeper bus...but they didn't even want to give us enough time to put our stuff together, they were in a hurry.

James and I had to share a bed....well,  this is how it works.  He could share with me or, I would take one to myself and he would have to share with someone else.   When you book a double you only book half of the sleeper, but if a woman books a double and a man books the same bed, the man is not allowed that spot.  So with only two spots left on this new bus these were the options so we decided to share.  We were at the back on the bottom and it was just a curtain not a door and it was bumpy as fuck!!! I felt like I was a bunch of ingredients being tossed around in a mixing bowl.  I was lying down just being thrown around in a circular motion and I swear I even got a little bit of air underneath me.  I just giggled, I found it entertaining and made things a little more active for our long drive.

Due to the switch of the buses we were now on the new buses schedule which meant we didn't have a food or bathroom break for about 10 hours!!! Ughh.   And no, they don't have toilets on the  bus, they usually stop every 3 -4 hours but we got on this bus at 7 so it was 3 hours for them, much longer for us.

We arrived in Goa tired but excited!

The beach, after weeks in the cities and mountains I need to get back to the sunshine and  sand.

I have adjusted perfectly to the life here in Arambol Goa.  I have rented my own hut on the beach and... well, you are gonna have to wait till my next blog post.

                                                        - My Beautiful Life-