Hello India!

You hear people say all the time, that India is a different world and that it is shocking and unnerving. Sure, it is what everyone says it is but our experience here has been pretty mellow so far except for a few strange events. We arrived in Bangalore at about 10:30 at night and got a prepaid taxi to a hotel that we read about in our Lonely Planet book. The driver took us to the general area, but we had to argue with him, as well as other random people that just happened to be on the street that we stopped at, to take us directly to our hotel. He did not know where it was, but we eventually figured it out and got there only to find that it was closed. So we went to a place next door and it was fine. Bangalore is a city that looks like it is falling apart. It appears that they have started construction everywhere and then just forgot about it. It is very busy and the traffic is crazy as to be expected. All the men wear long pants and collared shirts and all the women wear beautiful saris. I did not see a lot of poverty. Many of the women are quite chubby actually. There are people, mostly children, begging but they don't look that bad off. We saw a could of deformed men begging, but even with their deformity they look like they are pretty healthy. There are cows and chickens, goats and sheep and dogs roaming around everywhere. They have very strict laws about beer. The food thought! We did not know what anything on the menu was but we just pointed to different things and everything that we have received so far has been delicious. We tried to book a train to Goa right away but it was full for a couple of days so we went on a tour to Mysore. It was fun. I mean, it was a guided tour so it was, get on the bus, get off the bus, you have 20 min to get back on the bus. We saw a fort that is 3000 years old, a couple temples and Mysore Palace. Really cool buildings. My favorite stop was at a fountain garden at night with a colorful fountain that danced to Indian techno. The bus that we took back dropped us off in an area that was no where near our hotel. So we had to get a tuk tuk back. Our driver again could not find our place. Before we got in the vehicle he told us 120rps and when we got out a few blocks away from our place, because he couldn't find it, he demanded 175rps. So we got in an argument with him with people from the street again making it their business. We ended up just giving it to him and walked back to our room. It seems silly when you realize you are arguing over less than a dollar. Then, after we had been in our room for only 20 minutes we get a knock on our door. It is two police officers in full uniform with rifles. What?! They were talking to Sky in Hindi and Sky just kept saying " I'm sorry I don't understand. What is the problem?" Eventually they just said goodnight and left. That left us feeling a little uncomfortable. The last thing we want is to get in trouble here. We asked the man at the desk of our hotel the next morning about it and he said that it happens all the time and not to worry about it. I was just glad that we were leaving that city.
So now we are in Goa. Our train ride was a pleasant experience and we chatted and shared snacks with some very nice Indian men that were on vacation. After the train we hopped buses to get to Vagator which was really fast and amazingly easy. It is so wonderful here. It is extremely hot but at least I'm not missing hot showers. There are dreadlocks everywhere, bars on the beach, techno dance clubs and half naked tourists running around the beach with the luckiest cows in the world. If I were a cow I would want to be a cow in Goa. It is very relaxed and friendly and we found a cheap place to stay with a view of a garden and an old fort that we are going to hike to soon. We might stay longer than we originally planned. So for now we are just relaxing on the beach with beers, looking out over the Arabian Sea. :)