Goa: Excursions from Agonda

Here at last is the final post about our most amazing wonderful time with Aaron, Isaac, and Annika in India. In the previous post, we shared Agonda Beach. Here we share separate slide shows for four special excursions we made from Agonda. So be warned, in an effort to document it all, this one's a "super post", with four slide shows and a video!

The first slide show shares our visit to Cola Beach. Cola is Agonda's neighbouring beach to the north. You cannot drive all the way, so Cola is even less developed than Agonda. For us, getting there was half the fun. We went as far as we could on a rented motorbike and scooter. Then we hiked down for breakfast and some fun on the beach. Then we followed a marvelous trail back up to the bikes.

Our next outing involved another scooter ride. This time to Palolem Beach, a little more than 10 km north of Agonda. Palolem is a much busier beach than Agonda, but it's still beautiful with ever so much to explore. With his eye always alert to the rocks, Aaron again found something to climb. The Palolem bonus was that we were there as the sun set over the Arabian Sea.

Our third outing involved an hour long car ride, but it was well worth the drive. We went inland to a spice farm. The instructive tour that showed us the ins and outs of growing cashew, cardamom, coconut and such was most interesting. The time with the elephants was even better. The children got to help bathe an elephant in the river. Then, much to their delight, the elephant gave Annika and Isaac a shower. There's a video here in addition to the slide show.

Finally, here's a slide show that shares another outing on scooters. This time we just went exploring, and meandered about 20 km up the coast. Our first stop was Cabo de Rama, an old fort that pre-dates even the Portugese period in Goa, and that began in 1510. Then we visited a little known smaller beach that is visited mostly by Goan families. So, here is our final slideshow for the totally memorable India visit by Aaron, Isaaac and Annika.

Goa Holiday on Agonda Beach

Goa was a fitting finale for our month with Aaron, Isaac and Annika. We spent 6 delightful days on Agonda Beach in South Goa. Agonda is quieter and less developed than most other Goa beaches have become. It's almost a throwback to the Goa we enjoyed when we first brought Aaron as a 10 month old baby, and again when he was about 7. Now, in January of 2015, we enjoyed another wonderfully relaxed respite in Goa--this time not just with Aaron, but with his two beautiful and adventurous children. Isaac and Annika made the most of their Agonda holiday.

We've decided to create two posts for our time in Goa. This one shares images only of our time at Agonda. The final post documenting the Aaron family visit will be about the memorable excursions we took from Agonda. 

Goa Holiday on Agonda Beach from paulhami

Train Ride to Goa

It's taking longer than anticipated to get our blog caught up. Our train ride to Goa also took MUCH longer than anticipated. We got up at 4 am in Hampi for the drive to Hospet so we could catch a train that was scheduled to leave at 6 am. The train eventually left at about 10, and it fell further behind schedule as the day progressed. We eventually arrived at Margao sometime after 6:30 pm.

It was a very long day, but again our grandchildren were terrific travelers with hardly any complaints all day long. Enjoy the slide show. I promise, we'll get our delightful time in Goa documented eventually...

Train Ride to Goa from paulhami

Hampi Visit

Our previous post shared some of the fun we had on the long day's train ride that took us to Hampi. This post focuses on the four days we spent in Hampi. We stayed in the delighteful "Mowgli Guest House" with it's thatch roofed cottages that looked out over newly transplanted rice fields. It was hot in Hampi, and Mowgli provided welcome respite from the mid-day sun. Isaac and Annika were intrigued by the countless industrious ants on the premises, as they went about their business.

As mentioned last time, Hampi is primarily about climbing for Aaron. Unfortunately, Aaron wasn't feeling well for most of our Hampi visit. Still, despite feeling lousy, he did get in some bouldering on Hampi's impressive granite. As a bonus, while in Hampi Aaron met up with three Vancouver Island friends and fellow climbers--Kelly, Christine and Scott. 

Grandparents and grandchildren crossed the Tungabhadra River by passenger ferry one morning to visit a temple and watch the temple elephant have her daily bath in the river. Visiting Hampi's extensive ruins will have to wait for another visit...

The slide show embedded below includes pictures from the unexpectedly long time we spent on the platform at the Hospet Railway Station. All our train trips in India with Aaron, Isaac and Annika became adventures, and the last one that took us to Goa was no exception. After getting up at 4:00 am to catch a 6:30 train, the departure was delayed until after 10 o'clock. Once again neither Isaac nor Annika complained, even though neither of them was feeling all that great.

We think there are some pretty good pictures in our Hampi slide show. We hope you enjoy them too.

Hampi Visit from paulhami

Traveling to Hampi

We called our last post "Delhi Stopover". Lynn and I are back in Delhi again, but we've traveled many miles since that stopover. This time, we are without Aaron, Isaac and Annika. Last night they boarded a Lufthansa flight here, and are now winging their way back to Vancouver Island.

We've been moving too fast to keep up with our blogging. So we'll try to put up a relatively quick series of posts over the next few days to finish documenting our most marvelous family adventure. This one shares our convoluted route from Delhi to Hampi. 

Hampi is a village in the South Indian state of Karanataka that is notable for ruins dating back many centuries. Hampi is sacred to Hindus for its numerous temples. Hampi is revered by rock climbers for its world class bouldering. Our son Aaron has known for years about climbing in Hampi, so he was keen for us to put it on our itinerary.

We left travel arrangements for Hampi a bit late, so reservastions on the most direct routes were not available. We enjoyed Air India's great service as we flew from Delhi to Tirupati in the state of Andhra Pradesh. After overnighting in Tirupati, we caught a very slow all-day passenger train to Hospet, the railhead for Hampi. The slide show embedded here is mostly about our long and mostly enjoyable day traveling "2nd class sleeper" on the Hubli Passenger. 

Delhi Stopover

After leaving Agra, we spent two nights in Delhi, and took advantage of our time in India's capital to visit a couple of its many attractions. On our first afternoon, it was the National Railway Museum. The next day, we experienced the only rain we have seen since Aaron, Isaac and Annika arrived in India. Despite the rain, we spent some time on the soggy streets of Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk and visited the Red Fort. 

Another highlight of our Delhi time happened on a sidewalk where we were charmed along with some snakes. Immediately below is a video that shows Isaac and Annika's brave interactions with a couple of these scaly reptiles. Then there is a slideshow that includes time at the Railway Museum, the Red Fort and in the domestic section of Delhi Airport's impressive new Terminal 3 on our way out of town.

We are now in Goa after having spent time in Hampi. Hiopefully, there will be a Hampi post soon and one about our time in Goa after that.

Agra with Aaron, Annika and Isaac

Fog played a major roll in our visit to Agra with Aaron, Isaac and Annika. We got up very early in Delhi last Tuesday morning to catch the Taj Express, but that train was canceled because of the heavy Delhi fog. We managed to get seats in 2 separate coaches on a later train that took nearly six hours instead of the scheduled three. Lynn, Aaron and Isaac were in one coach, while Annika and I travelled in another. That's why the photos show only Annika.

The fog was still with us when we arrived in Agra, and that flavoured the pictures we took that afternoon--of the tomb of Etimad ud Doulah and then of the Taj from across the Jamuna River. It was also bitterly cold in Agra--only 2 degrees when we got up on Wednesdeay morning. Fortunately, the fog was no longer with us for our second day in Agra, with visits to Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj. This meant we got some pretty good pictures. It may not seem like it, but we've only included a few of our Agra pics in the slide show embedded below.

We all agree that our favourite Mughal visit was the Etimad ud Doulah tomb. We arrived there late in the day, and had the place almost to ourselves. Fatehpur Sikri is also truly amazing, but we didn't have time to do it justice. Fatehpur Sikri is the incredible city built by Akhbar that served as capital of the Mughal Empire for only 16 years. 

Having visited the Taj in an era when visitors were relatively few, we were almost overwhelmed this time by the crowds there! I remember visiting the Taj with grade some 11 classmates in 1967 when we were the only visitors inside the Taj. This time there were hundreds, and it felt like thousands.

The slide show embedded below shares our Agra adventure, and includes a few episodes not mentioned here. I hope it illustrates how wonderful Isaac and Annika are as travelers and tourists They have been absolutely fabulous all along the way. I'm posting this from Hampi, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, so our amazing grandchildren have had a great deal more opportunity to demonstrate their cheerfully adventurous spirit since Agra. Stay tuned for more of our fabulous family journey...

Agra from paulhami