India! It’s amazing, colorful, and sometimes chaotic. The Goa area is famous for its beaches and was a huge destination for the hippies of yesteryear. The mellow vibe persists today. Every morning, after the Word and coffee, I ate mangos and jumped in the bathwater-warm ocean before venturing out on my scooter.
I was based on Palolem Beach, a long, laid-back stretch of sand in South Goa—a dramatic contrast to my previous trip to the intensity of Calcutta. Even the stray dogs are chill here.
Cows are holy in Hindu culture, which means they can wander wherever they want. So when one parks itself in the middle of the road, traffic doesn’t argue.
The beloved tuk tuk: a three-wheeled chaos machine and the undisputed workhorse of India. They’re everywhere—taxis, haulers, ice-cream trucks—and they squeeze through alleys that seem legally too narrow for humans. Cheap, efficient, and sometimes mildly terrifying.
Gandhi is on every bill in India, calmly judging your life choices one purchase at a time.
This was my neighborhood; pretty comfy and casual.
I ate lots of Indian food, but the chicken tikka masala with naan is hard to beat, although the rumor on the street is that it wasn’t invented in India…
Some more sacred cows cruising downtown…
As I departed, India treated me to one more wonder! Bangalore’s international airport is lush—with waterfalls, palms, and over 3,000 plant species—it quietly flexes on every other airport in the world.
