Monkey Hotel

I met some girls from New York in Goa and they told me the tale of the of the Monkey Hotel. It was to become a five star hotel hidden deep in the jungle. Unfortunately construction was forced to halt because several hundred workers mysteriously disappeared. The place was considered haunted and no one would dare even go near the place again except for a rabid band of wild blood thirsty monkeys!!!!!* Well; obviously we immediately set off on scooters to investigate the evil place. What stood there was the ruins of a dream, and while the monkeys must have been off hunting for whatever evil they could find; there was of course a tour guide and many scary bats(check out that photo!!)**. It was kinda creepy, but i wanted to see some damn monkeys!!!

*ummmmm, i made all that up - i think they probably ran out of funding
**bat photo by Aoife Pacheco

Goa Bliss

So Goa is paradise. I mean if your idea of paradise is nice beaches, palm trees, tropical climate, hippies, and Europeans; then hell yeah! Me: i love all that, BUT i don't necessarily think it's paradise; but - it was fun while i was there. One thing that struck me immediately is that there were women in bikinis - and even topless at some point(hmmm i don't have any photos of them, but they were there)!!!! This was completely shocking after two months of totally suppressed sexuality. The last shot is the hut i slept in for a week or so, it was about 45 feet from the ocean and cost 10 bucks a night, pretty cool.

Jesus Went To Goa!!!!!

Well, i am not sure if that is true, i can't really make that claim; his people definitely went to Goa though, mostly the Portuguese. In northern Goa there is a place called Old Goa. It has the ruins from the Portuguese time there. Most of these photos are from there. The one thing that immediately struck me as odd going into the church was that I DIDN'T have to take my shoes off. That was strange after all the temples and monasteries that i visited thus far.

The Himalayas

In the middle of winter clouds hang low around Darjeeling. This creates an overall grey sorta feel to everything, and also inhibits the viewing of the Himalayan Mountains. It was kinda frustrating to look at the view and see nothing but a grey blanket covering everything. HOWEVER, if you got up at 4 am and went to the top of this one peak you could see the mountains for about 20 minutes (if you were lucky) Well; I did this - I only slept 2 hours the night before and was a bit groggy for the viewing, but hell; i saw the Himalayas - even if it was just a tiny little piece.

Darjeeling People

The people in Darjeeling look less like Indians and more Mongolian/East Asian. It was hard to believe based on the people and the climate (it was chilly) that it was actually still India, but it is. (for now - they want their own identity).

Trees

Fun with trees.

Dajeeling Tea

Well; i learned a lot about tea at the tea factory. And i realized a lot about tea as well, while it may be tasty and nutritious; it isn't really that photogenic, perhaps some teas are, but Darjeeling tea is a bit bland looking. Here are some shots from the factory that supplies Harrods.