Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• In a change of plans, Ben and I went to England last week and stayed for around 10 days. It was really nice to catch up with all his family and friends in Tonbridge and London. It was just a family trip, so I don’t think I’ll have a blog post about it. Hopefully, you caught some photos on my Instagram Stories.
• We moved our Kuala Lumpur trip to April, so that’s something to look forward to!
• Today I boarded a flight from India to the USA! I’m going back for almost three weeks to see my brother’s new baby! I also have to get a visa renewal while I’m back.

Now your story,

I was sitting in the movie theater watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi when I thought “oh, there are some weird things about movies in India I could write about”.

The first good thing about movies in India is that the new theaters have awesome seats in the back for 450 Rs ($7) that recline and have food trays. They are really nice in the Porvorim theater.

The first bad thing about movies in India is how intense security is (in fact, security for everything in India is too intense, you can’t even go into a mall without getting searched). But, they search your bag for lights or any food. That means you cannot bring in snacks from the food court, which is annoying because inside the theater is just ice cream, popcorn, samosas, crappy cheese sandwiches, and some fried stuff (but that stall is never open).

Before the movie starts you have to watch the ads – which are usually terrible. There is a classic ad for no smoking that they play, video below:

One night was out and someone pointed to a guy and said “that’s the guy from the smoking ads” and it was, lol. I was drunk and couldn’t get over it because he was just a normal guy and the video is so old and funny.

Here’s another type of ad they make you watch, which is serious but oh so dramatic, about “mobile phone addiction”. I can’t find the video online, but it’s basically the same drama as above (like really serious and two minutes long). A guy is addicted to his phone chatting with his girlfriend, and he’s being annoying. A girl is walking down the street on her phone chatting to a guy, bumping into people being really annoying as well. The guy gets in his car and is driving while texting and the girl crosses the street – it’s his girlfriend who was also on her phone. She dies, and they zoom in on her face for like 30 seconds saying look what texting does!

Now, before the movie starts everyone must stand for the National Anthem. Indians have a LOT of national pride and actually have fought people who didn’t stand – and some will even stand when the anthem is played during the movie. The go back and forth in court about whether it’s mandatory or not.

This is India!

The post This is India! 157 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I just finished reading The Alice Network about a spy network in France during WWI which would have been good if it were more about history and not about some random romance.
• Are you guys watching This Is Us? I just watched the Superbowl episode and basically have been crying for an hour – how am I even seeing to type this!? This show is devastating.
• Clearly based on bullet points #1 and #2 above, I have not been up to anything of substance. Life has been beach, work, eat, play with dogs… the usual.

Now your story,

I thought I’d share with you about what our utilities are like in Goa. How we get water, gas, internet, phone, and electricity and how we pay for them. I guess this would help future expats moving out here. Based on my reader survey, you want to know more about the “boring” things living in India entails – and this is one of them.

I’ll start with water.

It’s something I never really thought about in the US. Growing up we had “well water” not that I knew what that meant – I just knew it wasn’t “city water” and tasted different. Here in India, we have a well, too. A truck comes around and fills it. Because I live in a gated area with about 5 other houses, this is something our management takes care of and it’s included in our management/rent cost.

Other people aren’t so lucky and actually RUN OUT of water here in Goa during the hottest months. Sometimes it’s hard to get a truck to come out to you last minute (like my friend who’s field was on fire found out). The wells seem to dry up in April/May and in Goa like other parts of India, there can be a lack of water. Because of that, we do think about how much water we use.

I’m not exactly sure how it works but sometimes the water runs out – as in nothing comes out of the tap (which is a bummer when you are covered in soap in the shower) and we have to go out and tell the workers at our complex. They go do something (I don’t know what) and then the water comes. I clearly know a lot about how the water works here, lol.

Next up: electricity

A/C’s here are always split level and stuck on the wall. You won’t find “central air” here in India and the A/C’s are definitely our biggest drain on the electricity. Our bill is maybe 13k Rs. per month which is around $200. Now, being the responsible people we are, we forget to pay our bill a lot. Sometimes it’s been like 6 months and our security guard will deliver the bill and say “you should really pay this….” To this day, we’ve never had our electricity cut off. So, why delay the payment? Because as foreigners we cannot pop online and pay it since they don’t accept foreign cards. We can’t go pay at the electricity department in cash, either. They stopped that earlier this year. You have to instead go to an ATM, withdraw the money, then go to a local bank and get a bank order (like a check) and go take that to the department. As foreigners, we cannot get a bank order, so we have to take a local friend with us to do it all under his name. It’s just a pain and get’s put off sometimes too long.

Hot water is from a geyser, which are in the bathrooms. You have to turn it on about 10 minutes before you want hot water. Our washer (and most people’s) don’t have hot water hooked up so we wash only with cold water. Our clothes don’t always get that clean, lol. The kitchen doesn’t have hot water, so yep – dishes are washed with room temperature/cold water.

Inverters are very important here as we have power outages fairly regularly during the monsoon. The invertor is basically two big batteries (they look like car batteries but I’m not sure if they are the same thing). They charge up and then when the power goes out they will keep some things going until those batteries die. Then when the power is back, they recharge. When they finally die which happened after about two years, they were $500 ish dollars to replace. The inverter is hooked up to specific plugs. Our runs our TV, internet, a few fans, and a few lights. They ran the electricity dumb and it doesn’t cover any upstairs lights or kitchen lights! It wouldn’t be strong enough to run an A/C and that would kill the battery pretty fast.

our electrical wiring is always coming apart and fans/lights falling from the ceiling but this is a standard light in our house before I redecorated and got cute jute-like covers!

Some people have diesel generators, too. We did have one from Ben’s worksite but eventually gave it back. It’s expensive to fill them up and they are really loud. Only rich people seem to have these or hotels/restaurants.

The biggest bummer of power outages is that long ones mean you have to throw away stuff in your freezer. A lot of people who get sick from food in India could be getting sick because mid-range to budget restaurants won’t always throw out food that has dethawed and frozen over and over again in the freezer.

Next is the gas/propane.

We have a stove top which has a gas container under it; it’s a big red thing on wheels. Okay, this might be dumb but I’m not entirely sure what gas it is, but I think it’s propane? I am not good at these things! I just know how to refill it. So, families can have up to two gas tanks: one large and one small (the laws change on this sometimes) but you have to show an Aadhar card (kind of like a really intense identification for Indians and permanent residents) to get gas or refill it.

As a foreigner, I cannot go get a NEW gas canister. I can refill it though. Once a year it runs out (probably says a little about how much we cook) and I have to take it to Mapusa to the gas place and swap it out for a new one. I have to take my landlords paperwork and ID card with me and sign some paper. We can’t get a second container, though, our landlord would have to go do it for us.

We have an oven, which was bought second-hand last year (after four years without one and baking only in a toaster oven). So, we can’t use the oven and the stovetop at the same time… so we have to plan our cooking out to make it work. To change the gas over, you just turn it off and unclamp it from the piping and then roll it over to the oven and hook it up and turn the gas back on. It’s annoying but we’re lucky to have an oven; I don’t know many people who do. Gas is really cheap. I honestly can’t remember but I think like 500 Rs. or under $10.

Gas for your car/scooter

Gas is around $1/liter – to be honest, I never pay attention to this because I will get gas no matter the cost. It usually takes about $50 to fill up the big Bolero (like a huge Jeep) and less to fill up the Omni (pictured above, but currently out of commission). A scooter can last a month with $8 of gas in it if you aren’t driving huge distances.

The guy who sprays your house

There’s this thing… where once a month someone comes out and sprays the perimeter of your house inside and out with super toxic stuff that kills cockroaches, lizards, snakes, and all of that.  After he sprays, we find so many dead bugs and things! Cockroaches are a thing here, I see one or two a week dead in my kitchen or laundry room. I have gotten way too used to it. We have to take the dogs out when this guy sprays because it’s so toxic and the smell is really strong. We are meant to stay out all day, too, but never do. We actually haven’t had him come in a long time because we felt it was too toxic to have in the home and we don’t mind the lizards (they hang out on the walls, usually hidden behind A/C’s and probably eat flies or do something good! They were paid a VERY small amount like $60 to come do this once a month for 10 years. It was pre-arranged by our landlord. The stuff is gross and the day after it dries you have to clean it all up. It does help with ants though, which are bad for a few months each year. Here with the ants and humidity you cannot leave bread or anything out – everything goes in the fridge. Plus, most is made fresh without perservatives so the bread would be moldy in a day if it sat out.

Fiber optic Internet

Internet is a pain here if you don’t get a good company to run a fiber optic cable out to your house. I use Ethernetexpress and they charge about 7k Rs (under $150) to run a cable out to your house but more if you live more rural. I remember when we first looked into it four years ago and it was going to be 22k Rs. If you get neighbors to go in on it with you, it can be cheaper. Then you pay a monthly bill based on how much internet you want to use. Ours is 2,500 Rs and that gets us 100 Mbps for 160 GB then down to 6 Mbps unlimited. It’s enough to use a VPN and stream Hulu, Netflix, and even SkyTV. Ben turned our tv into a computer with an Android PC, so we are legit hooked up!

You could also have BSNL run a line out to your house for internet but the wait time to get them to do it is long and once when I called they told me there were “100 people in front of me”.

To pay the bill at Ethernetexpress as a foreigner, you have to go to their shop and pay in cash.

Cable

We stopped paying our Tata Sky bill like a year ago because we never watch Indian TV. The channels weren’t great and it was maybe $25 per month. We don’t have a landline phone to our house because our complex has one at the security door which we could use if there were an emergency or our cell phones didn’t work for some reason.

To pay our cable bill we have to go to a shop down the road who takes TATA payments and you just give them the cash and the account number. You’re meant to have your TV and box on when you do this for it to work.

Cell phone bill

When you get a SIM card, you should see what company has a good signal near your house (ask neighbors). We have a variety just in case lol, IDEA, Vodafone, Jio, and Airtel. The Jio SIM is for Indians only and is like 500 Rs ($7.75) for a month of the internet that gives you 1 GB per day. It’s SO much data for so little money! An Indian friend of mine got me a SIM card from Jio and I use IDEA for call/SMS. My phone is dual SIM so I keep both in it. Before we had fiber optic internet, we had a Vodafone SIM in a tablet that we would hotspot off of. That was a pain. To pay a cell phone bill as a foreigner, you cannot pay online you have to go to a shop and get “recharge” and pay them cash to top up your phone.

Read more:

• how to pay for stuff in India without an Indian card
• how to get a SIM card in India

Bills in India are cheap overall but different than the USA

I have to say, I miss USA bills where I could just pay online. It was so easy. But, Indians don’t have the annoyances foreigners have here with bills – they just pay online like we do in the USA. The Indian government is known for having a “closed currency” and they are very strict about accepting foreign cards on most sites – for example, I cannot even buy a movie ticket online. Lots of people here hire local people to help them like housekeepers, drivers, and “house helpers” which are dudes that kind of run errands or do whatever you want done. You can send them to pay the bill as part of their job if you have hired someone like this. They can take the cash to the appropriate place and get a receipt. Read more about living in Goa like rent and finding a place here in this article.

This is India!

The post This is India! 156 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• So, I got back from Indonesia and was supposed to do work but instead spent way too much time doing everything but. We met up with friends, went to a reggae festival, and on Monday we took a trip up to Sindudurg to stay at a friends new resort (the same guy who owns Coco Shambhala) which was heavenly.
• I decided to do some budgeting this week and see where my income comes from and where my money goes. Quite a few surprises in there, haha. My biggest income is from the annoying ads you see as you read my blog posts (so kind of have to keep them, ugh, sorry!) and my biggest expense BY FAR is food. Literally, 70% of my money is spent on food. Our rent is covered through Ben’s work so this is actually not an exaggeration. We go out for lunch and dinner most days and I was really surprised when I saw how much we spend. I can’t even tell you because it’s ridiculous. Erm, time to learn how to cook!
• The budgeting came from the fact it’s time to do taxes again (boo) and I was looking over all my income and expenses from 2017. I used to use H&R Block India expat services but now I’ve shifted to using a US-based company; it’s actually another travel blogger’s sister. My taxes are kind of complicated and did you know self-employed people pay an additional 15% self-employment tax? My taxes are really high and I have no retirement fund so this year, I needed to get all that figured out, hence hiring someone to help!
• We are actually going to go to Kuala Lumpur in a few weeks for Ben’s birthday to see his friends that live there. I’m really excited. I’ve been to Malaysia twice I think, but never KL.
• I’m reading the [easyazon_link identifier=”0062654195″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Alice Network[/easyazon_link], a book about a spy in WWI then bouncing forward to WWII and whole other story that in the end will I guess come together in a big way (haha, fortune teller over here!).

Now your story,

Let me start with the fact that I feel like this story is pretty boring, but in my reader survey you guys were all saying you want more stories from India and that find even what has become mundane to me, a little interesting.

Living here as an expat comes with challenges and there are small things that remind you YOU’RE IN INDIA, not the USA and that often comes along during times you are dealing with sometimes customer service and things that involved paperwork (banking, etc).

As a blogger, I sometimes have items sent to me in India to try out, review, or wear on Instagram. I tell brands to send what they want but that I only promote it if I actually like it. I also tell them if they use the regular post, it might not show up. When items come into India, they then use tracked services like DHL and FedEx and usually send it “express” which costs a FORTUNE to make sure it actually arrives.

I deal with this importing packages a lot, and it’s always as annoying as this story is – but since this happened this week, I thought I’d tell you about it.

Getting items through customs and delivered is basically a battle. I do it at least once a month and it’s the worst. So, here’s how it goes down.

You have something sent to India with FedEx (let’s say), then once it reaches Mumbai, FedEx calls you to say it’s in customs and you need to submit “KYC” docs to clear it. So, you email them, the package clears, and it comes to your doorstep where you pay a customs fee in cash.

It never works like this, though!

So, I knew I had a package coming which was sent from California. It arrived the next day in Mumbai.

But, I never got a phone call. So, I asked the company sending something for the tracking number, they replied with the number and said FedEx had called them two days prior asking for my phone number, which the company gave them. The package had been sitting in customs in Mumbai for days. I called up FedEx India who said they didn’t call me because they didn’t have my number – I told them that they did because they called specifically to requests it from the sender. They said, “Oh yes, I do see we have it…”

Okay, so not a huge deal. Realistically when you pay hundreds of dollars in shipping costs for express shipping, they should probably be on top of telling you when it’s reached customs and you need to take further steps.

So, the next step is to send KYC docs. These mean “Know Your Customer”. I have done this so many times, yet there are always issues with my documents. Years ago, I sent them in my name but I needed to show a lease with my name on it and couldn’t so the package was “auctioned off” in Mumbai. Another package was already coming with the same scenario but this time with a letter from “Ben my husband allowing me to accept a package in his home” (could only be permitted from a husband or father) which had to be NOTARIZED I was allowed to the package.

I learned from that and started putting Ben’s name since his name is on the lease. Well, Ben is not the same as Benjamin, so that next package was declined. So, I have to submit Ben’s passport, driver’s license, visa, photo ID, and lease.

After a couple days of back and forths and a letter to the customs agents, my KYC docs were accepted.

The FedEx tracking said the package would arrive the following day, after all, I’m only a 45-minute flight from Mumbai.

Two days later, no package and I called on a Friday saying “what’s going on, when is the package coming?”. They said 1000% it will come on Monday, madam, as they are closed on the weekends.

Monday nothing. Tuesday nothing. I called Tuesday to the Panjim, Goa office where the package had been sitting for two days asking why they didn’t bring it. They explained what should have been obvious to me:

They start work at 11 am, they have to stop at all the places before my house which is an hour away. They have lunch from 1-3PM. Work ends at 8 PM. They don’t have time to make it as far as my house because every day there are more packages to take which are closer to their office before they reach my house.

I asked: “but my package is express – doesn’t that take priority?” They said they just did things this way and no priority ones didn’t matter because how could they get the truck to me faster?

I was told maybe Friday they could bring it but it wasn’t guaranteed (and I was headed to Mexico) so they said it’s best I come to the office and pick up the parcel.

I had to drive almost an hour to the capital to pick it up in person and pay the customs fee. So, hundreds of dollars in express shipping and you get to pick it up yourself.

This has happened before when a package took two weeks to arrive from Panjim (also express) because they didn’t have enough people to deliver to my area of Goa.

Basically, this is just a small thing – getting a package isn’t a huge deal. But imagine this is how most offices are run… from the internet people to the gas and water company making paying bills a lot of fun!

This is India!

The post This is India! 155 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I’m reading [easyazon_link identifier=”1501116991″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Japanese Lover[/easyazon_link]. Like one I shared last month Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this is a love story in the USA during WWII when many Japanese were sent to concentration camps. This is a great book; almost finished.
• I left on Sunday and spent the week in Singapore/Indonesia on an island kind of between the two – more to come but you can check my Insta and FB for photos!
• Ben has a friend coming to town this weekend and there is a reggae festival, Sunsplash, at Riva so I’ll be there for sure!

Now your story,

This is just a quick little story today! I was driving back from Ashwem beach to my house, which is about a 30-minute drive. As I left Ashwem there was an old man by a round-about trying to hitchhike, which is actually really common here. Ben and I pick up hitchhikers but typically it’s old ladies who are headed to the shop or for me, it’s little girls who beg in Anjuna and I take them to a new place (they are happy to go wherever I’m going).

Goa’s actually a really safe place and although it’s pretty irresponsible to tell you guys to hitchhike here, it probably would be fine. Taxis are expensive here because they don’t use the meter thanks to the “taxi mafia”.

Local buses are okay, but not always on top, so locals help each other out by giving them lifts where they need to go.

But, the reason I wanted to share about this is that I feel like only in India would the hitchhikers act like they do – entitled! lol

Basically, I have given people lifts a lot and never ever had someone say thank you. They always act like I’m a taxi driver. Now, at first, I thought this was because I literally drove a taxi (above) but me being a white girl is a pretty clear sign I’m not actually a taxi driver. Plus, the rates are written in the car with white paint on the glove compartment but no one offered to pay, lol, so they know I’m not! Joking aside, they just hop in and don’t say a WORD most of the time.

But this time it was different. I was driving the other car, the Bolero (white jeep in the image below).

The old guy was maybe 70? He was pretty frail looking and I watched everyone turn him down so felt bad and pulled over. There was a fair bit of traffic so he ran to the car and hopped in. I wasn’t even in second gear pulling back onto the road when he said “It’s too much AC. Off.”

I’m literally holding in laughs because it’s just SO INDIAN to say something. Americans would say “omg, thank you soooo much” and would not complain about something. Indians, in general, are known to be a little demanding, so anyway I’m sort of laughing but turn it down and tell him to close his vents.

So I’m jamming out to Sam Smith’s new album and within two minutes he’s like: “the music is too much”. So, I turn it down.

Then he says, “let’s do windows only”. I’m like lol, okay dude – AC off!

Then he’s asking me what I do, and telling me that foreigners have ruined Goa and now there is traffic because of us. I was in a good mood so I’m just going along with it but felt like sharing this story because it’s just really such an Indian thing, in my opinion, to be so outspoken and say exactly what you think/feel even bluntly.

When I’m in a taxi in Goa and they are blasting trance music or I’ve paid for A/C but they won’t turn it on (trying to save money), I’m still too polite to ask them to change something. I feel bad because they are driving me – even though I’m paying them.

So, anyway, the way this car ride went wasn’t unusual at all and is just something too Indian that I had to share! I took him all the way to Assagao and then he said: “can you take me to Mapusa”. I’m like, no, get out! lol. That’s another 10 minutes there and 10 minutes back.

Actually, every time I pick up ladies from Assagao to Mapusa, and I get to the parking area, they are like “take me to ____” and treat me like a real taxi! It’s a hoot, you should try it!

This is India!

The post This is India! 154 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I can’t believe I’m saying this but literally nothing has been going on. I haven’t done a thing! I have been SO sick the last week (actually 10 days). I haven’t left the house except for medicine. I’ve got a bad cough, congestion, migraines, and even stomach aches. Ben is sick, too. We spent NYE on the couch watching Netflix. The worst thing is I’m still hungry (nothing kills my appetite) but I’m so stuffed up, I haven’t been able to taste food for a week.
• I did reach a really high goal I thought I’d share. This month alone I’ve had 636,000 people on my website. It’s pretty wild! I’ve been to sick to work this week and last week I had friends in town, so am relieved that the blog will do okay even if I don’t open my computer for a little while. I think this is the first real “break” I’ve taken in a while.
• I leave in two days for Telunas Resort, a private island off of Singapore. I am working with the resort to get some great images and write an article introducing them on the blog. It looks beautiful and I’m really excited to go. Fingers crossed I start to feel better. I’m doing this trip on my own, and it’s about 5 days counting travel days.

Now your story,

We were out at dinner with our friend, Babu, when him and Ben started talking about it being the smoked mackerel “time of the year”. I was clueless to this, but when I was on a trip last year, Ben and Babu had smoked some mackerel. We decided we’d do it again the next day.

The reason it’s this time of year is that after the crops are done, in India and other places in Asia, they burn the fields down. It leads to pollution and smog (like what happens up in Delhi on a massive scale) but here in Goa isn’t such a problem. I think it’s still pretty bad – but again, I’m living here and enjoying the culture, not trying to change that way they do things!

We rocked up at this random field and bar. In case you ever wondered, that Bolero jeep on the right is our car (along with the Omni which is broken down right now).

The first step is to get the mackerel and clean it. They wash it in tap water in a plastic bag and then clean out the insides of all the guts.

Next, they season with just salt – no other masalas so this isn’t the norm since usually in Goa and India they love to add all the spices they can and a simple curry could have 30 ingredients! But maybe they only added salt because it was men cooking in a field while drinking Kingfisher haha – they couldn’t be bothered to add anything else!? Regardless, the salt was all that is needed. Simple and delicious!

Once the fish are seasoned and cleaned, you have to wrap each fish inside a banana leaf. You then pile them up and they are ready to smoke! Time to burn down a field.

At first, they were walking around with a jig of water containing the fire, but then the owner explaining he was going to burn the field down totally next week but since it was drier than he thought and burning well, he would just let the fire go. We’re like “okay….” but were nervous it would spread. This fire took over the field in 20 minutes. They did end up walking the perimeter of their land and putting out the fire so it stopped.

I made Ben take a picture with me while we waited. We only have like 10 pictures together in all these years, and they are all really random so why not one in front a smoking field, haha!

Once the fire is out, after about 30 minutes, the fish is ready and you have to get it out of the ashes.

The fish is really tasty with the smoky flavor. I don’t think I had tasted smoked fish before this and really liked it. The smoke and debris were all over us and it’s like a million degrees outside but it was still worth doing it. We spent the afternoon chilling out with Babu’s friend and thanking them for cooking for us!

From what they said, this is a Goa thing and you won’t see it other places on the coast. They only do it this time of year when they burn down the fields. When I shared about this on Instagram, my Indian followers, even a few Goan ones, hadn’t seen fish cooked like this! I told Babu he should start letting tourists come do this and charge for it – but then that’s bad for the environment so maybe not a good idea!

This is India!

The post This is India! 153 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Our friends Dom and Massy have been here this week (remember we went to their wedding in Singapore?) It’s been so much fun, on the go, eating everything, and having an awesome beach Christmas.
• I think I’ll do a “this is India” about our Christmas! Coming soon, haha.
• I read [easyazon_link identifier=”006204981X” locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]A State of Wonder[/easyazon_link] and HIGHLY recommend it! It’s about some doctors going out to a tribe in the Amazon to find out how they get pregnant up till they die of old age – like 80-year-old pregnant people is the norm! It was really cool.
• It’s the end of the year for my blog, and I am happy to say I passed all of my blogging goals. Starting this new year, I haven’t actually made any new goals so I think I’ll sit down this week and try to think what they would be. I want my blog to keep growing and not just get stagnant or boring so am always trying to think of ways to mix it up. I added other writers last year, which was really fun – and took some different trips like snow fun in Finland.
• Next week, I head to a private island off Singapore… I’ll tell you more soon!

Now your story,

I was scrolling Facebook when I saw an ad for a guy called Prateek playing at a new place in Goa called Village Studio, in Parra. I was like “it CAN’T be the same Prateek Kuhad on my Spotify “favorites” playlist can it!?” I googled it and it was. This is basically the most exciting thing ever because I never hear of live music in Goa that I like.

Village Studio is a new place in Parra this season and it’s really done up nicely. I didn’t try the food and for this event, they were serving Bira beer only (I think a partnership just for the event). I had lots of nice wine, though!

It was at 7 PM but everything in India happens later than they say and I think it started around 8 – but we got there early to try and find a seat. We totally failed at that, so stood on the edge. It was still amazing and it was cool to meet other people in Goa that aren’t into trance as much and like a more laid-back place. Anyway, it was so exciting that I wanted to share the song.

Can you believe this was just a $6 cover charge? I have like 300 songs on my favorites playlist and I’m not even sure how he ended up there but I have been singing this song constantly for the last year. It was too cool to see him live. He’s really talented!

This is India!

The post This is India! 152 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Ben and I are back in Goa after a really fun time in Mexico. I will be sharing about the many Airbnb’s we stayed at in Merida (bouncing around between them was actually one of my favorite things because they are restored old mansions). I’ll also write a little about Tulum, but not a guide as I was only there two and a half days.
• Not going to lie, after a long trip I love to work on the couch while catching up on TV shows. Right now, I’m on a Shameless marathon
• I ended up reading the sequel to the book I mentioned last week, [easyazon_link identifier=”006185414X” locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Bronze Horseman[/easyazon_link], which is called [easyazon_link identifier=”0061987468″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Alexander and Tatiana[/easyazon_link]. Again, it’s not as much about the love story as it is about the battles between Russia and Germany in WWII. The second book brings in what it’s like in the USA during that time, at Ellis Island. Really enjoying it! There’s a third book, The Summer Garden, so I’m sure I’ll read that, too. For Christmas, I’ve asked Ben for more books which is what I ask for every year.
• This week is a mad rush to try all the new restaurants, shops, beach shacks, bars, etc in Goa to write a post about what’s new this season. It’s fun research!
• The Omni seems to be not possible to repair… our white van we’ve had forever. I want to fix it just for the novelty, but the boot/trunk has actually fallen off and needs welded back on. The brakes, tires, and electric don’t work… the radiator is gone, and it could do with a new gear box. The body has rusted too much which is why the boot fell off, so only 1 door works and two windows. We had been driving it like this (ropes tying the doors on) but it’s hot sitting on the engine and the radiator now makes it kind of impossible – plus, you have to downshift to brake! lol. Luckily, we have the Bolero, so I think we might have to sell the Omni at a scrap yard… for some reason this is really making me sad!

Now your story,

I wanted to show you what a traditional Goan meal might look like! This is a fish thali, which is the perfect lunch in Goa and can be around $2.50 give or take depending on where you get it. This isn’t totally basic though as it’s a big meal and more expensive than just having rice and fish curry (which is part of what goes inside a fish thali).

What is a thali? I don’t know the actual definition but it’s when you get a plate like what is feature below and there are a lot of different curries and dishes on it. It will be different state by state so it’s fun to try when you travel in India so you can see what is the local food of the area you are in.

from left to right: crab, clams, prawns, veggies

So what you get in this thali (at Copperleaf in Porvorim):

• Prawn or Fish curry (prawns or fish in a spicy coconut gravy)
• Prawns Kishmoor (tiny prawns in the shell)
• Tisryo Sukha (clams cooked in coconut)
• Fish Rava Fry (dry rubbed fried fish)
• Sukhi Bhaji (fried veggies)
• Crab Masala (crab curry)
• Rice
• Solkadi (Kokum drink, local, good for digestion, it’s the pink drink in the photo)
• Salad
• Pickle (not an American pickle but pickled veg)
• Papad (thin fried flour based)
• Gulab jamun (dessert, the ball above)

Lots of stuff right!? Here it’s a set amount but in some places they will walk around and refill your thali as you eat. If you like seafood then you’ll love this and each curry will have different flavors but it all compliments each other. For me, I mainly got this to take the picture and share with people because I pretty much like the rava fry fish and the prawn curry – I’m not crazy about crab and clams (but luckily Ben is).

We of course get food on the side, because we are serious over-orderers so I’ll show you some other dishes that we regularly eat here in Goa.

This is Malai chicken tikka, which is chicken marinated in creamy cheesy sauce and cardamom and cooked in a tandoor oven on a kebab. It’s always leg meat so it’s juicy and tasty!

Below, there are rava fry prawns (spicy dry rub on prawns, best with lemon squeezed on top), a veggie curry, and some rice.

The last photo, below, is a papad or as some people say “papadam” and it’s a crispy fried (sometimes roasted) thing – kind of like a tortilla chip in texture but it’s flour based. They are good to snack on while you wait for your food!

This is India!

The post This is India! 151 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I’ve been offline most of the week wandering around the Yucatan with Ben eating tacos, so obviously in paradise!
• I just finished [easyazon_link identifier=”006185414X” locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Bronze Horseman[/easyazon_link] and loved it. The love story stuff was like “eh” but learning about what people in Leningrad went through during WWII was really interesting.

Now your story,

I recently spent a couple weeks in Rajasthan and had the best time ever. I have a bunch of blog posts to share about it but while I was going through images there were a group of pictures that didn’t really fit into any blog post – they are all images of random stuff I saw while in the car!

I can’t sleep well on car rides in India unless it’s my Goan driver that I trust because the roads are insane so I’m always looking out at what is going on. I mean, you could be cruising along the highway and see a camel or have a bull run full speed at your car! It’s always something nuts.

At one point, we were driving the wrong way down a highway for 2 and a half minutes – I filmed the whole thing. The driver was taking a shortcut and we were in the fast lane of a highway (on the wrong side, divided by concrete) and cars, semi-trucks, and everything else had to get over in the nick of time.

I thought I’d share some photos of the road trip!

So this is just the most typical thing ever which you will see all day every day in India: people riding in the back of cars or hanging off of them or 10 people crammed inside sleeping.  When they are in front of you and you’re clearly a tourist (especially in villages) people will wave and say hi.

Two things in this picture… one there are people on the roof which is also pretty standard and not that weird. This bus was going really fast! But the second thing is that that front bit of metal on the car is open – they do this so it doesn’t overheat. It was over 100 degrees there at this time.

Literally, so many donkeys in Jodhpur to share the roads with. Horses, too!

I don’t mind this at all as it’s the way they have lived life forever so I know some people will call out “animal abuse” but these are working donkeys and India isn’t the USA so you’ll just have to accept this is their way of life :)

Traffic rarely stops in India because your driver will actually drive OFF the road to the left or right, wherever there is space, to go around roadblocks. Driving here is a game and the faster you go the more you win. The only time you really have to come to a stop is when there is a heard of animals in the way like those cows above which were getting out of hand and the lady ended up chasing them!

Or when there are some grazing goats wandering around:

There are more crazy things that happen driving, but I am slow with my phone camera, haha which these are all taken on, and would sometimes miss a crazy moment and think “shoot, I should have taken a photo of that!” but people here drive fast and stuff goes by in the blink of an eye.

Just one last photo share….

…of my driver’s nails.

You’ll find in some parts of North India (and outside India too) that men keep their pinky fingernails long. I asked the driver why and he said to clean his ears, then he showed me. Other people have told me it’s a sign that they don’t have to do manual labor. But, he did say he’s been growing it since he was one but that it breaks sometimes.

This is India!

The post This is India! 150 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I’m reading [easyazon_link identifier=”006185414X” locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Bronze Horseman[/easyazon_link] and really like it. It’s from the POV of a girl in Leningrad as the Germans are invading Russia during WWII. Although it’s about the war, it’s also a love story, something I don’t typically read but am actually enjoying this one.
• This time next week, I’ll be with Ben landing in Cancun, Mexico to go explore Tulum then over to Merida and other beach areas and ruins in the Yucatan. Like I said in my newsletter, we aren’t really planning it but just kind of seeing how it goes! I did book one hotel. That’s it so far!
• For now, just in Goa. I’ve been doing a circuit cardio class a couple times a week, we’ve been cooking a lot, going to the beach, and just chilling with friends.
• After so much time using Ebags products, I about fell out of my chair when I got an email from them asking if I’d be a brand ambassador for 2018. It’s kind of a big deal! AHH! It hasn’t started yet, but they did have me put up a Christmas wishlist on their site of my favorite items, which you can see here.

Now your story,

Traveling in India is always an adventure and it’s literally the “traveling” part that is the most exciting – and by that, I mean literally traveling or transportation. On trains and buses or taxis in India, I love to look out the window, headphones in (my fave’s playlist), and just watch. There’s never a dull moment!

In Udaipur (in the state of Rajasthan), my friend Tia and I were debating how we’d get to Jodhpur the next town and I actually remembered that five years before I had taken a driver because there are a few places to see along the way with just a 30-minute detour. I wrote a blog post about it years ago so actually had to go back and re-read it.

While there are a few places to see on the way, we really only wanted to stop at the Ranakpur Temple which is an amazing Jain temple.

We reached early and they weren’t open yet (they open at noon) so we couldn’t go inside but could just peak in. Before going in, though, we thought we should use the toilet. Both of us have been in India forever so are used to the holes in the floor, no toilet paper, no soap, etc and just have gotten used to it.

As we walked toward the worker’s area where there was a toilet Tia stepped in the biggest pile of poop I’ve ever seen that wasn’t cow poop…. we were like “wait, is this human shit?” but then we heard a rustling overhead and realized it was monkey poo!

The thing was, she stepped in it really hard so it kind of splattered up her leg and all inside her flipflop. It was on her new outfit, too!

So, off to the bathroom we went. Here’s what your typical bathroom looks like:

I know it doesn’t look appealing but keep in mind that squatting is meant to be better for your digestive health, lol!

The tap there is to fill up the bucket and then use that water with your left hand to clean yourself after you’re done. But basically, foreigners who aren’t down with this should bring TP with them and just do it the normal way. Obvi Tia and I had nothing useful with us, so she rinsed off all the poo over the loo… but without soap that’s a pretty rough 3.5-hour car ride to continue on!

She was over it and went back to the car and I went over to at least get a picture of the temple. When I came back she had found where the ladies did laundry and was like “I found soap!”

These tiny little pieces were all we had and it was laundry soap, but made due and all was well!

Basically, traveling in India is a lot of little incidents like this. A car journey can turn into something ridiculous really easily when you make roadside stops. When you travel for months in India and change towns every couple of days like I’ve done many times, you spend SO much of your day just figuratively covered in monkey shit.

This is India!

The post This is India! 149 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I was up in Rajasthan and recently got back to Goa so as usual after a trip, I’m catching up on work and getting my articles about Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaipur written. So much cool content coming up for you guys!
• I read [easyazon_link identifier=”1101987502″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]I Let You Go[/easyazon_link] by Clare Mackintosh and it was great, kind of a mystery thriller. I also read [easyazon_link identifier=”0345505344″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet[/easyazon_link] by Jamie Ford. I loved the story which was about what it was like for the Japanese in Seattle during WWII and told true things that I never knew about (or forgot about) like the “work camps” they were all sent to in Washington state. The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver – it’s part of a series and I didn’t like the characters or writing style AT ALL. I won’t read more of his books. He kept re-explaining things as if the reader is too dumb to have gotten it the first time. [easyazon_link identifier=”1501112333″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]In a Dark, Dark, Wood[/easyazon_link] (a psychological thriller) was great, though even if you could guess the truth kind of early on. Reese Witherspoon is making this into a movie.
• Now I’m reading a series called Dorothy Must Die – it’s about the Oz but a new story and I’m not that into it but basically, once I start reading something I can’t stop. Someone recommended it and I didn’t read the intro, lol so I didn’t even know it was about Oz until it was too late!
• We’ve been cooking a lot – all kinds of muffins (did you know they are so easy to make?), American chili, Panera cheesy broccoli soup, steak tacos, roasted red pepper creamy chicken… it’s nice to stay in after a big trip.
• Season is starting here in Goa so the rain has pretty much gone away, tourists are coming back into town, and we’ve been going to Vaayu and the beach a lot.
• I’m here for the next 3 weeks then off somewhere I haven’t been in years… Mexico! Ben and I will be going to Merida, Progresso, Chelem, Tulum, who knows – I haven’t researched it at all. Any advice?

Now your story,

My last trip to the grocery store I decided to take some pictures and kind of show the differences in prices for what I pay for some things here and what we would pay in the USA. Also, the images will just show you what it looks like inside the store. This is Delfino’s in Porvorim and it’s one of the newer, nicest grocery stores in Goa.

This time of year though, the veg is not very nice! Check out the tomato selection:

This next image is of the grains and such you can buy by the kilo.

There is a dairy section and most of it is local but some are imported brands like Danone but you won’t find that everywhere. Something imported like Philadelphia is available at the big supermarkets for around $10 a block. Imported cheddar cheese is about the same price.

While you can get the tomato and most veg from the boxes as pictured above, this image is from the refrigerated organic section. You can get herbs as well as fresh local milk.

I don’t drink the fresh milk, though – I think because I just feel like I don’t know if it’s clean? I drink the boxed milk seen below which has a shelf life of 180 days but only 2 once you open it.

I needed sour cream for a recipe, but man, it’s nothing like a dollop of Daisy! It’s very much like curd or raita and has a very strong taste. It’s not great for toppings but it’s okay if you have to cook with it.

There are the basic same dry goods, too like pasta, rice, etc. The imported pasta is really expensive like everything imported. 

Something like this bag of Hershey kisses will be imported but sometimes outdated and priced at 775 Rs. which is $11.82 USD.

This shopping trip was only for necessities and ended up being about $30 for the stuff we bought. I’ll break down how much stuff costs!

• Twix .76
• Two bundles of organic lettuce 1.40
• 1-kilo rump steak 3.50
• kilo chicken wings 2.70
• processed milk .94
• yogurt 38 cents per thing
• icky sour cream 4.19
• cheddar cheese 7.20

I won’t list it all, but you can see that some stuff is really cheap, like the meat but the cheese and sour cream is a lot. Other things that are REALLY expensive are paper products and plastic like cling wrap, plastic sandwich bags, toilet paper, and paper towels. Cleaning products as well like 409 which is nearly $10.

While veg and meat is cheap here and you could avoid imported things, if you want quality cheese and such, you’ll end up splurging on this stuff. In the end, it balances out, as this was just a trip for two dinners but in general, we spend around $100/week on groceries here including all our cleaning supplies and dog food/treats. I don’t think the USA would be too much different as when I lived in Charlotte, I only spent about $50 on myself per week (I ate pretty much only frozen food but still).

This is India!

The post This is India! 148 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Hey hey!! It’s been a couple weeks, sorry about that but nothing too exciting was going on
• I have been in Goa hanging around and basically playing with random dogs all day which probably sounds so weird. Ben and I have cooked a few fun things but mostly just watched Netflix!
• I’m in Rajasthan this week though – Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaipur. I’ll be sharing blog posts soon but in the mean time you can follow on Facebook.

Now your story,

I WARN YOU THERE IS A GRUESOME PHOTO IN THIS BLOG POST!

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(Adding some spaces so you don’t accidentally see it if you don’t want to.)

My life lately has revolved around dogs! Playing with the dogs around my house in Assagao, and helping out little ones in need here is something Ben and I are always doing and I wanted to share a recent encounter we had with a dog outside Cream Choc in Anjuna plus a few other stories about local dogs!

First I’ll start with the story of the Cream Choc dog.

We had just gotten some Gelato by Orchard Supermarket when we walked outside right in front of the shop was a dog dripping in blood from his paw, licking his leg.

Don’t worry I didn’t see it then just take a photo, this was much later after much chasing around. He didn’t want to be helped and was recognized as a dog that often fights in this area. But, it was clear an artery was knicked and although we don’t know if it was a fight or a car (likely a car or bike though), it was bleeding really badly and just shooting out in sprays. He was licking it, but it was gushing.

It was a catch-22 because if we tried to get him, he ran which caused the bleeding to go faster. Ben ended up chasing him through the houses back behind a church, through people’s kitchens. Finally, we got him and tied a rope around him.

We called International animal rescue which is now called “Hicks” (number: 095525 57632) which is the best place to call in these situations. They said it would be 30 minutes and we all collectively thought he’d die before that. The only other option was to take him to their place which was 10 minutes away.

The guy from Cream Choc had bought some gauze and supplies and Ben tied a tourniquet which did stop the bleeding and wrapped it up.

We put him in the back of the jeep.

He went from nearly looking dead to suddenly very alert because he was in a car (maybe for the first time). Poor guy had blood dripping from his mouth and was looking out the window at the cows and cars passing by.

We got him to the rescue center and they initially said it was definitely be amputated but later decided that would be only if they could not stop the bleeding. They took him in for surgery and did stop the bleeding, but found his leg was broken in a few places. They casted it and luckily for this guy he got to live and keep his leg.

Because he could not go back on the street injured, and could not stay at our house with our dogs who would want to fight him, he has to stay at the rescue center for at least a month to be taken care of.

Once he’s better, he will be dropped back off at Cream Choc and be back to doing what those dogs do: chase scooters and fight. Give him a pet if you see him!

We go check on him occasionally and take him treats and extra food. He looks okay but is really swollen.

The other dogs there are so sad to see, and it’s all just heartbreaking. Here’s how you can volunteer with animals in Goa.

There are so many dogs around that need help in Goa, but it’s really impossible to help them all. Ben and I usually focus on helping just the dogs around our house. There is this little girl, who is the cutest and helps take care of the puppies here.

There was one VERY cute little puppy a couple months ago that we were feeding but that one was sadly hit by a car and killed.

There is a new puppy though, the shoe-stealer who become the black and white dog above’s little buddy – but was terrified of people and wouldn’t even let us come near enough to leave food. Omni, one of our dogs loved this puppy though.

The puppy would go behind the wall behind our house and Omni was on our side of the wall and they would literally cry for each other. Omni would jump the wall and lay with the puppy (and our stolen flip flops). We tried to catch him little dude for a couple weeks, but he was always too deep in the jungle which is thick this time of year.

After some time, he was finally caught and got some shots at animals rescue. How cute is this guy!? We call him Yoda because of the giant ears.

One guy who lives in our complex offered to keep this puppy if we could catch it, but he lives in Mumbai mostly, so we caught him a week ago and have been taking care of him. He isn’t afraid of people at all anymore.

Running in the jungle with my friend Ryance catching this puppy was scary because we have seen pythons and cobras outside our house! My heart was pouding. Ryance was scared too but moreso of the German Sherperd barking at us from the other side of a wall.

Shanti is not happy that this little puppy has stolen her cage, though!

At our house, we still have Shanti the Keralan, Omni the local dog who used to chill outside our house, and Kitkit, who we got in Olaulim.

To top it off, there are always monkeys outside the house making all the dogs go crazy. The house next to ours has a German Shepherd and it actually killed a monkey! They can get crazy, especially when they come onto the balcony.

This is outside my window.

Omni likes to stare out at them. If you look in the top left, you’ll see a big monkey on the wall.

Then, last night to top it off, the dogs were going crazy and woke me up, I looked outside and there were a bunch of dudes outside the house. I came out and asked security what was going on and someone had hit a cow with their car and drove off. So, our neighbors were searching the jungle for the cow, who’s leg was smashed.

Not the cow pictured, but they are all in the streets like this so you should drive safely here.

This is India!

The post This is India! 147 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I am wrapping up my time in the UK this weekend which is quite sad because it’s been great hanging out with Arielle. I do need to get back to Goa and the pets, though plus catch up on work!
• I have so much more to share from our time in England and Dublin!

Now your story,

I don’t know how I haven’t written about this until now! This is something that if you’re from the USA you’ll be surprised, but not so much if you are from the UK.

Ben is headed to LA for work and owns basically no clothes except swim trunks (boardies) so we went to the Goa Mall for jeans. Jeans in India are almost always super slim skinny jeans with loads of lycra. They are tailored differently than jeans in the USA. Indian men like SKINNY jeans. They put a stitch in that kind of wraps around the front of the calf and makes them look kind of feminine.

Ben wasn’t stoked.

He’s more into real denim, no lycra, sort of baggy straight jeans. So, we went into “Pepe Jeans” even though it looked like it would be horrible, there was one pair of straight jeans that weren’t that bad. Ben tried them on and they were REALLY long. The shop guy was like “don’t worry I’ll cut them”.

And then I remembered I never told you guys that in India, when you buy Jeans, they always tailor them for free! From Levi’s to Lees, Tommy Hilfiger, you name it. You pay, leave them and come back in 15 minutes. They measure you and cut them to the right length.

Often, they only have in stock the longest ever jeans so you don’t even have a choice but to get them tailored. I think in the USA, it would cost about $20 or more to get jeans tailored to fit.

This might not be surprising to UK folk, as when I was in London recently the Levi’s store had a tailor in there cutting the length on jeans for people (for free!). They only have the longest factory set length, too. So you had to get them tailored. Crazy town!

Do they do this in your country, too?

This is India!

The post This is India! 146 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Um, so I wrote a guide book! It’s a 169-page insider’s guide to Goa. You can buy it here!
• I ate like a little piggie in the US, and haven’t worked out since February so I googled “gentle ab exercise” because I’m lazy and actually found one I really like so have been doing it 3x per week. It’s Denise Austin which is amazing because it’s so old school.
• I read Norwegian at Night and hated it (sorry if you love it!) and now I’m reading The Kill Room which so far I don’t love… so having some bad luck there.
• Taking a two-week vacation from India to go see Ben’s family in Kent. We’ll also go to St. Ives while in the UK. My BFF from school is coming to visit and finally meet Ben while we are in his hometown. Later, she and I are going to go to Dublin for a few days. So, just a two-week trip then back to Goa.
• Are you guys on Pepo? I’ve been running my channel on there for almost a year now and have been doing live Q&A’s and sharing videos from my travels.
• Be sure to look out for my 4-year blogging anniversary post because I’m doing a giveaway and there is a reader survey on there.
• If you’ve ever wanted to see tigers in India, then you have got to look into these tours my friend and fellow blogger, Mariellen, is running. The dates are March 21-April 2. I’ve been in India so long an NEVER seen a tiger so even I want to go on this tour (but will be away at that time!). All the prices are in the link. The places you will stay look really nice and she’s also going to answer any blogging questions you might have.

Now your story,

With the combination of women not always being treated equally in India and lack of health care in many rural areas of India (and in the urban areas for many people who can’t afford it), I bet you can imagine that women’s reproductive health can be overlooked in some cases.

The first time I went out to find birth control pills here when I moved here years ago, I tried a few different chemists because I wasn’t familiar with the area.

Ben was waiting in the car after I went into one, and I came out totally confused like “Ben, you won’t believe what they said to me! They tried to give me an “abortion pill” (their words) which is the morning after pill and told me to take it whenever I needed!”

So, in case you don’t know they say you should only take the morning after pill twice in your whole life! It’s not the same as birth control in the slightest. So, eventually, I found out that Union pharmacy in Mapusa has Yaz (and only Yaz) and I started buying it 3 months at a time in case they ran out. Many chemists in India will not have oral contraceptive.

Actually, there was a reader two years ago in McLeod Ganj totally panicked because she thought she could get it here and had run out only to learn that no chemist there had it. I bought her a three month supply and mailed it to her from Goa.

I keep seeing ads for a new birth control pill coming out though, and its name is ridiculous: “unwanted”.

Talk about making a woman feel guilty for preventing pregnancy!? You can guess condom ads are not the same vibe.

In India, there are many sad instances of women getting abortions because of pressure from their family when they find out they are having a girl – OR – not knowing it’s a girl, giving birth, and killing it. Most recently, I read of someone burying a baby girl alive in the dirt by a train track. This has a lot to do with dowry and the cost of raising a girl with no ROI for the family. It’s such an issue that in India it’s been made illegal to get ultrasounds and find out the sex of the baby. A lot of the stories you hear about this, in the news, the woman was forced into an abortion by her husband or in-laws. It’s all very upsetting but is the norm in some areas of India unfortunately.

Another thing to consider is that women get their periods every month (shocker). The government decided to tax sanitary napkins and tampons (which are already so expensive here) 12%. It’s essentially a “luxury tax” which is not added to contraception and condoms. As if periods could be avoided? But, as you can imagine there are so many poor areas of India where there is hardly money to eat let alone buy expensive pads – instead, they use anything from cloths to cactus leaves, sawdust… and even “sand filled old socks“.

Only 12% of women in India use sanitary pads or tampons

“Women who do use cloths are often too embarrassed to dry them in the sun, which means they don’t get disinfected. Approximately 70% of all reproductive diseases in India are caused by poor menstrual hygiene – it can also affect maternal mortality.” – BBC

If you watch documentaries about women’s lives in the poor sectors of India, you can hear testimonials of girls who say that they had nothing to use and therefore could not go to school for the week. Their missing learning was not important. At one school where girls were using the sand so that they could still come learn, there were 42 girls who had vaginal infections from this.

It’s a mixture of not knowing how to take care of the “problem”, women being shamed for bleeding (even by their mothers according to the documentaries I’ve seen), and also not having the money to deal with it even if they do know what they should do.

So, if you’re reading this where you can have baby girls in happiness and put in a tampon as soon as you start your period, and pop a pill so you don’t get pregnant, then you’re in the lucky bunch!

This isn’t an issue in just India, if you look this up in many countries who are developing or third world, you’ll see similar trends. So, is there hope? Back in 2014, it was huge news that a man had solved the issue!

He saw his wife hiding a dirty cloth that he “would not have used to clean his scooter” and then realized it was what she used to keep clean during menstruation. Later that week he invented his own sanitary pad because they couldn’t afford one and he wanted her to try it, only to be shocked to learn she bleed monthly and he’d have to wait for her next period.

His invention worked and he had to test it on himself by creating a fake uterus that “bled” since no one would try it. His family was so embarrassed they almost kicked him out. He was the laughing stock of the town and they thought he was possessed by evil spirits. Check out the story to see what happened, it’s pretty interesting!

So, just some food for thought about what goes on here when it comes to periods!

The post This is India! 145 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I’ll start with what I read. I finished [easyazon_link identifier=”0451490045″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Husband’s Secret[/easyazon_link] and it did have a twist – really glad I read it and it’s definitely the same vibe as her other book, Big Little Lies. Next, I read [easyazon_link identifier=”1477824758″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Yellow Crocus[/easyazon_link] and it really was an eye-opening look at slavery in the USA and how slaves helped raise the owner’s children. It was hard to read because it was so sad to think about, but I think everyone should know this story. I then read [easyazon_link identifier=”0812988027″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Girls[/easyazon_link] by Emma Cline which was an intense book about a young girl joining a cult which takes on a Charles Manson vibe. I read this so fast because it was just something you couldn’t put down. I just started [easyazon_link identifier=”0544292669″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Norwegian By Night[/easyazon_link] but am having a hard time getting into it. 
• I got back from Florida and spent the weekend up at Lake Erie with my family. After that, it was just chilling in Ohio, a family reunion in Cinci, and going back up to Erie to go fishing for walleye on my dad’s boat. 
• I’ve started a monthly newsletter that will have some more up to date news since my blog posts are always so far behind. I might stop sending out the weekly emails that sum up my blog posts since you can just come to my blog website and see them :) If you read this from your email, and still want the emails please comment that in the comments of this post so I know.

Now your story,

How have I never told you it’s illegal to advertise alcohol in India!?

India has banned so many things, and advertising alcohol is just one of them. But that doesn’t mean you don’t see advertisements, it just means they are more clever!

One of my favorite ads is a commercial on the TV for a CD you can buy sponsored by Sula Wine… but when you search this CD it doesn’t even exist. 

This is a form of advertising called Surrogate advertising and it’s a real thing.

Surrogate advertising is a form of advertising which is used to promote banned products, like cigarettes and alcohol, in the disguise of another product. This type of advertising uses a product of a fairly close category, as: club soda, mineral water in case of alcohol, or products of a completely different category (for example, music CD’s or playing cards) to hammer the brand name into the heads of consumers. The banned product (alcohol or cigarettes) may not be projected directly to consumers but rather masked under another product under the same brand name, so that whenever there is mention of that brand, people start associating it with its main product (the alcohol or cigarette). In India there is a large number of companies doing surrogate advertising, from Bacardi Blast music CD’s, Bagpiper Club Soda to Officers Choice playing cards.

You feel like everywhere you look are advertisements for alcohol in India, but if you look closely that is not what’s being advertised in the commercial, on the billboard, or well, anywhere. Alcohol brands host award shows, festivals, CDs, mineral water, and club soda. You can read more about it here. 

But when I say they advertise through water, I literally mean they sell water and advertise their brand that way when everyone knows they are advertising booze. Here’s an example for Fosters:

One very popular advertisement is for the Kingfisher calendar. Kingfisher is the local beer and it’s logo is painted on nearly every home and shop along Anjuna. The calendar features a different girl each month. Their whole advertising goal is to team up with anything that seems like “a good time”, their motto.

Kingfisher even teamed up with 5 teams from the IPL (Indian cricket team) and basically sponsors them, and they get advertising (this is kind of like how names of brands are on the side of cars in NASCAR).

This is their Facebook page, currently:

The article above mentions the Johnny Walker Awards for Excellence, which is a way for them to advertise their Whiskey by giving out awards to people for their achievements in their career and life. 

In case you’re wondering, the ad below is for Hayward’s Beer… but it’s all about their new academy and how it will change your life.

But this one is really where it’s at. An ad for Blender’s Pride fashion tour… as they finally say at the end. Lol, I love it!

The post This is India! 144 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I read [easyazon_link identifier=”1439177732″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]I Am Pilgrim[/easyazon_link]. It might be the best book I’ve read, ever. I LOVED this book: it was smart, had so much history and real life stuff in it, so many twists! Please read it this summer! Now I’m reading another one by Lane Mortiary who wrote Big Litte Lies, called the [easyazon_link identifier=”0451490045″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Husband’s Secret[/easyazon_link]. 
• Last week, I headed back to America for six weeks. I’ll be in Ohio, Miami, Orlando, the Keys, and Myrtle Beach while I’m in the USA. It’s a long ass trip feels so good to be back with my parents in Ohio and my bestie Arielle who came to visit for the weekend.
• It was also my birthday on the 9th and I had the best rainy day in Goa with Ben.
• I created a Facebook group where you guys can meet each other and interact. You can click here to join it. You can ask questions in there and meet other people traveling to India; maybe make a buddy to travel with!

Now your story,

No story really, but I guess you’re used to that lately, though, since I haven’t had a story the last 5 This Is India posts. I was in India just two weeks between Greece and leaving for the USA. Goa is pretty dead in the monsoon which I love. Heres a few shots so you can see what the vibe is like.

Of course, I was happy to see my animals but also sad we’d only be with them two weeks before I was off again to the USA. Actually, while we were gone, a new puppy showed up around the house who our petsitter was feeding. We haven’t named him and are NOT keeping him (I can’t have another pet). 

Someone pointed out that Kitkat looks like a llama in this  photo and once I re-examined it and saw that long-ass neck, he does look like a llama! Hilarious (to me, at least). My dogs are pretty cute, too! I mean, look at omni’s face in the next photo.

The best thing about the monsoon is how lush it gets here and when I have my morning coffee and look out the window it’s like getting a boost of happiness because it’s just so beautiful outside!

Something was driving me crazy about the house, and I realized it was the futon upstairs because our dogs jump on it and make the cushion fall over every other second. So, I went and had a new cushion made. $30 at the tailor down the road. So worth it.

The next photo is from my yearly eye doctor appointment. I go to Franks in Mapusa and the Dr. there is great. The equipment at all the eye docs around here is pretty old school. I can order my yearly contacts for around $70 and it’s the same Acuvue Oasis ones. There aren’t many cute frames here though, so I get my glasses in the USA. If you have a perscription from abroad you can send it into Warby Parker and buy glasses online pretty cheap, so that’s what I do. There’s are really cute and they send you 5 to try on before you buy.

The next few photos are from a local restaurant. We were with some of our favorite Keralans chowing down a few days before I left! We had chicken biryani, cheese naan, rava fry kingfish, malai chicken kebab, and butter chicken. 

For my Birthday we pretty much chilled out and like most things in my life, it revolved around food. Unfortunately, I had a really bad cold so could hardly taste all the good food. Tragic. 

But we got everyone donuts to pass out since in India you should give sweets to friends on your birthday (not the other way around). Ben got me a GoPro dome so I can take half underwater photos and a new Kindle case. He also dropped me off to get a mani/pedi. I go to Snips for that and it’s $27 for an hour and a massage is included in that. Best deal ever! For dinner, we went to Habenero in Goa which is good Mexican for India. 

So, back to the USA I go and I’ll be back in India on August 3rd. 

The post This is India! 143 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal of my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Travel has been pretty nonstop lately. Finland, Bali, Slovenia… with stretches in Goa in between. But, tomorrow off again to Alanya, Turkey with Ben. We will be there on a trip with the tourism board to see the best of Alanya for 4 days. Then, Ben and I go onward to visit his dad in Austria (he lives in a cute village outside Vienna – I wrote about this here), then Ben and I are taking a vacation to Greece for a week before flying back to India. 
• I asked on my “hippie in heels” Facebook page if people could give me tips on what books to read before I left for Slovenia. They were such good tips! I read [easyazon_link identifier=”1250080401″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Nightingale[/easyazon_link] and it was incredible! It actually touched on the round up of French Jews by the French police in Paris, which is what the book [easyazon_link identifier=”0312370849″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Sarah’s Key[/easyazon_link] was about, which I read earlier this year. Then I read [easyazon_link identifier=”0307341550″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Sharp Objects[/easyazon_link], another mystery book by the author of Gone Girl and it was very good, highly recommend it. Next, I read Apple Tree Yard which was about a woman having an affair gone wrong. Now, I’m reading [easyazon_link identifier=”1476738025″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]A Man Called Ove[/easyazon_link] which everyone seemed to be raving about. 

Now your story,

Long time, no “this is India”! There are a couple reasons I don’t write these as much. One is that I don’t notice the litte funny things about India as much as I used to. As of May 5th, I’ve lived here for 4 years and been in India traveling since before that – so I’m kind of too used to things. Another reason is because usually when they do happen, it’s someone who I have become close to and I don’t feel right telling the stories in case it seems like I’m making fun of them. 

So, I’m just going to share what’s been going on and a few recent photos of Goa since we are off again. 

This view is from Antares on the Vagator cliff, just next to Thalassa. It’s such a good sunset place. We take friends here for drinks when they come to visit. 

This not so photogenic food below is my favorite Indian meal from Gunpowder…. getting a curry takeaway and watching movies is what we do most nights that we stay in.

This little pup is Chulo and he’s not this small anymore! My friend Jules found this guy on the road and picked him up. He came to lunch with us and she was debating what to do with him… 6 months later, he’s hers! It’s too hard in Goa not to pick up and keep strays. 

dress is from Indian designer Mogra Designs

Ben’s coworkers came to stay for the weekend and I was asking them what they thought was funny about Goa. Bill shared a few pictures with me, that I’ll share with you!

This is how they dry out chilis all over India. They lay them out. This is a tiny batch, usually it takes up the whole driveway. I remember when we had our dog, Huck, and he used to run through them and piss off the Aunties so bad. It was funny but of course, naughty. 

Look closely at the next shot….

Yes, that’s a dude climbing up the tree coconut tree to get down the ripe coconuts. You might have heard before that more people die each year from having a coconut fall on their head than by a shark attack (not sure if it’s true) but it is a real issue. I mean, every restauarnt that has coconut trees has to put nets up to catch them. 

There is a pack of about 10 monkeys that love to hang out at our house and have since I lived here. My parents loved to watch them from our balcony when they had their morning coffee. They do come up really close to us, but they are always reaking havoc so you don’t want them to think it’s okay to come near your house. 

They did once go inside our neighbors house when they left their balcony door open, and you can imagine how that would go down.

That is Bill and Andrew, two of Ben’s coworkers. Andrew has visited often, but it was Bill’s first time in India. We had a really fun weekend! 

Below, is a picture of our pool that the security guard took. I have been floating in the pool before when four have come for a drink. It’s crazy! I wish I knew how to tell a monkey not to drink chlorine haha.

Shanti and Kitkit cuddled up with me early morning before I left for Turkey. It’s like they know! Omni was there, too but I didn’t get a picture of him. If I move too much they wake up and want to go outside. 

I’m actually now writing this at the start of my journey to Turkey. When you have an early AM international flight from Mumbai, it’s tough because you can’t catch a flight from Goa that morning and get there in time, so you have to go the night before. It makes a long airport layover overnight from 12-5 am… not really enough time to go sleep somewhere. 

I have the same early AM Turkish Airlines flight out of Mumbai I took through Istanbul to Slovenia, but this time instead of flying to Mumbai the night before late, and waiting in the airport all night, we came at around 5 pm so we could stay at the JW Marriott next to the airport and wake up already here. It’s honestly so worth doing instead of starting off a journey already exhausted.

If you book enough in advance, you can get rates as low as $150. I just mentally add this to my flight budget so I don’t feel so bad! If you have a travel buddy as well and are splitting the cost it’s even better. Then, since it’s next to the airport you don’t have to bother with traffic to a cheaper hotel further away. In Mumbai, you don’t find cheap airport hotels, anyway. I recenty stayed at a “cheap” one coming back from Slovenia which was still $120 per night (and I slept just 4.5 hours then headed back to the airport).

We ate at Romano, the Italian restaurant in the hotel. Everyone talks about it as the best restaurant in Mumbai and it is actually always listed in the top restaurants on TripAdvisor under basically every category. The restaurant is expensive compared to Goa standards, but all nice restaurants in Bombay are – it’s worth it. 

After stuffing our faces with pork and lamb, pasts and risotto, we passed out! Journey to Alanya — here we go! 

The post This is India! 142 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Literally, nothing is coming to mind… looking back, what did I do for the last week!? I have no idea. 
• I am going to Slovenia in a couple weeks. Does anyone have any tips for there? I’m really excited to see Lake Bled but my flight path is kind of a messy long horrible one that will definitely involve sleeping on the airport floor in Mumbai (again). 

Now your story,

Whenever we have issues with our animals being sick or hurt it is always an issue that we would not have if we didn’t live in India. 

I had just walked up the steps of our house to the front door and Ben was behind me, still on the walkway and not the stairs and goes…

“snake..that’s a snake!”

I looked around and to my left was a skinny long snake with its head up (cobra style) looking at me. *puke* I hate snakes! I used to be completely terrified but I’ve had so many encounters over the years (8 foot pythons and King Cobras in Goa and even a Mamba in Uganda) that I’m a little more relaxed now. 

It was on the side of the stairs, so I had walked right past it without seeing it. 

I first thought to stay still. His head was really small so I was like “hmm he probably wouldn’t even try to bite me because I’m huge and he’s tiny so probably I should just go inside and Ben can walk past him too.”

Then I saw KitKit. 

He always comes to greet us at the front door when we get home and he was coming right at me from the side of the house, and the snake was in the middle. I knew he didn’t see the snake.

Ben and I are both like “Kitkit NO!” but there wasn’t anything we could do except I guess if we thought fast enough, kicked the snake away?

Kitkit full speed pounces on the snake without seeing it and jumps sky high, the snake goes flying, and I grabbed the cat. 

I was checking him for bites because we couldn’t tell what happened in the tussle. The snake was gone but we called for security to help us find it so we could see if it was poisonous. 

Basically, we couldn’t find a bite and the cat was scared but not dying so we assumed it must not have been poisonous and just watched the cat for the next hour. 

If you remember, I had a dog Huckleberry for a year here who died of rabies even though he was vaccinated, and our animals have been through a lot! Little Piso also died from parvovirus. It’s hard to keep animals safe here. My housekeeper just said that her two cats died from a cobra last month. Our cat was bitten by a monkey when it was a baby. So, jungle life makes it harder to keep animals safe for sure… always an adventure!

The post This is India! 141 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I’ve been back in Goa about a week and a half but I have not been working much because we have been out going cool stuff every day with Ben’s Aunt Ness and Uncle Donnie who came to visit. 
• It’s a heat wave in India! I have 5 freelance articles to write, but my A/C is broken and it’s like 100 degrees in my house so getting work done is impossible. Heat waves here are actually really dangerous combined with draught and already lives have been lost. Goa is coastal so it’s not as hot here, although with the humidity feels very hot.
• Ben and I rarely send each other selfies, but when we do this is what they look like: my black eye in Bali and him covered in Holi paint, which is unavoidable.

• What I’ve been reading: [easyazon_link identifier=”0964729237″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Shack[/easyazon_link]. I’ve been doing this thing where I just read books I’ve heard are good without reading the inside cover to see what it’s about, so I had no clue this was about God. I thought for sure it would be a thriller about a pyscho murderer in a shack. I’ll let you know if it’s any good. 
• I’ve been an ambassador for Pepo (an app) now for nearly 5 months. It’s the only social media app I use multiple times per day. I’m going to do a Q&A session this week which is a little bit like a Facebook Live. But, on Facebook, I have too many people who would see it and that’s terrifying lol, so if you have travel questions, please download Pepo, and join my chat ‘Hippie in Heels’ and you can ask me anything!
• My camera lens broke the last day I was in Bali. The gear the twists the lens open broke, apparently. They say this is from dropping it, which with my camera covered in bubble wrap, I can assure you I didn’t do! I took it to Cam Clinic in Panjim, and they fixed it with a new part for 3,800 rs, just FYI if you are in Goa with camera problems, they were really good. They are located just opposite Don Bosco school in Panjim.

Now your story,

I’m going to tell you what we did all week with Ben’s Aunt and Uncle! I love when people we know come on vacation here because then I get an excuse to not work and go out to do fun things for a week or two. 

This is his Aunt Ness and Uncle Donny. Ness is his mom’s sister.

They stayed at Shanti Morada and LOVED it. It’s definitely a cool hotel. Ben and I went by to check out the room and it’s really nice with a giant bed and a standing bathtub + a really cool pool with waterfall. It’s more like a heritage house and has all antique furniture. It’s located in Saligao and is a good choice if you want luxury but not 5 star. 

We took them to lots of restaurants like A Reverie, La Plage, Anand Bar, Brittos, Thalassa, and I think more. 

We also hit up the Wednesday market where they got everything on their souvenir shopping list in record time. 

We wanted to go out on Vaayu’s boat, but it was broken so we tried this new restaurant in the river called Watermark but just for drinks and sunset. 

It was really nice, you take a boat out to their barge and it’s a great location to see sunset. The music is crazy loud though, but they turned it down when we asked them to.

The photos above is Donni’s handiwork who was getting very creative with the sunset looking like a candle in a glass! I should hire him to do photos for the blog :) 

We HAD to have a drink at Happy Bar since anyone who has ever mailed us would see that as a landmark near our house. It’s our local bar and in England, they are really into having a “local”. Ben and Donnie had masala cashew feni at Anand bar which is something everyone should try once, although it’s so disgusting, the guys actually liked it.

One of the first mornings, we went out to Vaayu to rent SUP’s. It was so choppy out, but it was low tide so we couldn’t go in the river either. 

We gave it a go, but learning to SUP in choppy water is really hard. Ben’s Aunt did stand up though, so props to her!

On our last night, we went to Taj Fort Aguada, which is really nice for drinks and sunset. 

I think we did other things, too, but I can’t remember them! They did go to Antares as well, and chill at Vagator beach, as well as explore closer to their hotel the days we didn’t meet them. They had a good time, so hopefully, will go back to England and talk Ben’s mom into coming out!

These photos are all from Ness and Donnie because my camera was broken while they were here, which is a bummer, but the two of them are good with a camera so it worked out!

Goa has so much to do that I always wish people visiting were staying a bit longer, but we squeezed a lot in a week and they had time to lay by the pool and tan which is needed when you have to go back to cold England weather.

The post This is India! 140 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I’ve been in Bali forever it feels like! It is almost a 3-week trip and I spend the first 10 days surfing and destroying myself.. first my knee, then a black eye which I still have now, a week later. I’m writing this from a big fluffy bed at the Alila Seminyak, watching the sun set over the ocean from my balcony window. Nice. Bali is amazing and I lot of content coming soon.
• I recently gave my brother a rolling duffel from TripAdvisor collection (yes they make luggage now!) and you can get it on Ebags for 25% off if you use that link. He’s obsessed with it and he’s hard to please so that means it’s good! You can also use that link to get 20% off most everything on their site if you’re looking for new luggage.
• What I’ve been reading…. Hmm, nothing that memorable! I read Lauren Graham’s book, [easyazon_link identifier=”0425285170″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Talking As Fast As I Can[/easyazon_link]. (sort of a memoir but mostly about Gilmore Girls); I hated the renewal so didn’t really connect to this either! I like reading celebrity memoirs when I travel and I read Anna Kendricks’s book [easyazon_link identifier=”1501117203″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Scrappy Little Nobody[/easyazon_link]. It was hilarious! I loved it! Of course, I had to read a thriller because that’s my favorite and I went with [easyazon_link identifier=”1250121000″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]Behind Closed Doors[/easyazon_link] because it was being rated as the next Gone Girl. It wasn’t. I found the story line really good but it was too obvious to me.

Now your story,

Looking back, this story isn’t that bad but at the time, I was ready to kill someone (not literally, sort of).

So the day before leaving for Bali, Ben was in Maharashtra and things were going crazy at work (a whole other story!) so he didn’t get back until midnight. We had to be up at 4 am for our flight so needless to say we didn’t get much sleep and were off to the airport already tired.

At Goa airport, we had our Air India tickets from Goa to Chennai and Chennai to Singapore before we switched to Air Asia. I’d booked with kiwi.com who have a guarantee if you miss a connection, they’ll put you on another flight.

First. the guy in Goa was clueless, then security was annoying me (as many people seem to have never flown so they don’t understand you have to WAIT in line to put your bags on the belt & walk through the sensor. They just cut and carry their purse through the sensor and have to go back through – but WHY does no one in Indian airports do what they do abroad and have a guy standing there saying: “take off your shoes, belts, and jewelry in the baskets… etc” ANYWAY…

Our bags were Air India to Singapore so were checked onward to there. Chennai airport is a shitshow – and when you fly onward you have to pick up your luggage even though in Goa they strictly tell you that you do not and it will be in Singapore waiting for you.

Basically, Chennai was a mess and we had to go through loads of security again with our luggage.

So, we board the 11 am flight to Singapore that is just 3.5 hours and are dreaming of getting a Burger King at the airport and we start taxing down the runway – only to come to a halt.

After some time we were told the brakes had frozen and the plane was stuck (all four brakes, thank god it happened while we hadn’t taken off yet).

We sat on the plane on the runway with just 3 update announcements for….

FOUR AND A HALF HOURS!

They served us lunch. On the runway.

I watched two movies.

We missed our connection.

Finally, they say that the engineers just can’t fix the problem and to get off the plane. This would definitely be illegal in U.S where you can’t make people stay on a plane that long before take off, but anyway we got off and wandered back to the baggage claim area to see the next steps.

The 2 young girls there and 1 manager didn’t’ know what was next. They didn’t have a computer to look up other flights.

170 people were all crowded around yelling about their connections and the staff wanted us all to give our name and phone # so they could call us later and tell us if there was another flight which could be at any time.

So, that took AGES because as you know in India there are no lines. People were really angry and it was actually nice to see Indian people stand up for the rights they SHOULD have with an airline but don’t because Air India gives you no rights.

They weren’t even pretending to look up when a flight could be. They were just nodding along to everyone’s complaints. Even for India, it was pretty shocking. I should have recorded it! I really thought with this many people all trying to talk at once and crowding them, there is no way we will ever sort this mess out.

At one point Ben realized he left his boarding pass on the plane. He told the manager as they might need it later and the manager looks at Ben point blank and says “how can you be so careless?”

So, that didn’t go over well and I thought about stepping in, but let Ben get his rage out.

I am actually laughing now thinking about it.

They told us to go hotels and there were just taxi guys promising that they were with Air India and to get in their cab. So we did and passed about 100 hotels as we drove 1 hour away from the airport to our hotel. It was around 6 pm.

We were exhausted but couldn’t sleep because we didn’t know when our flight could be.

So, we tried to call the Air India office at the airport which no one answered a few time. Around 9 pm I called the main office in Mumbai and said please update us on this…. They replied with:

“We have strict confirmation that flight took off and landed in Singapore hours ago. It’s in the system”.

I then got told off for using profanity, as one does when they realize Air India literally doesn’t know anything.

Around 10 pm we get a call to Ben’s phone:

“Rajesh (insert some Indian last name)”

Erm, no…

“Oh you aren’t Rajesh from the Air India flight, never mind, bye!”

No, WAIT! I was on the flight, you have my number there – tell me what is the news?

“The flight is soon so come to the airport by 11 pm…”

So, the passengers that were at our hotel all gathered for shuttles back and the flight was at 3 am (so we sat in crappy Chennai airport for hours when we could have slept at the hotel).

The flight was, of course, delayed.

We called Kiwi.com who were the BEST and honored their promise and got us on later flights from Singapore. So instead of a 13-hour journey, it was about 48.

Flight cancellations happen to everyone, but I am telling you, ones in India are worse lol.

When we got to Singapore, we had 9 hours to kill and had missed two nights of sleep, so checked into the Aerotel Transit Hotel in Changi Airport that you can book for 6-hour increments. There is a pool! We slept the whole time though and felt so much better after. I wish all airports had this, especially in India. Then we enjoyed the Plaza Premium Lounge and had some snacks and drinks in quiet before our flight. I love airport lounges in Asia. So affordable!

The post This is India! 139 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• Books: I finished [easyazon_link identifier=”0778317765″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]The Good Girl[/easyazon_link]. I thought it was terrible. Can’t wait to start a new one but haven’t had time this week.
• Off to Bali tomorrow with Ben! Will be at Rapture Surf Camp with him for a week then spending two weeks traveling around the island with a friend.

Now your story,

Ben’s birthday was this week! We hired out the only boat in Vaayu you can do wakeboarding on, Vaayu’s boat.

Vaayu is a place I’ve mentioned on here a few times, like when I shared we went there for Christmas, and as a great place to meet people when you’re traveling Goa alone.

You can hire the boat by the hour and only 4 people (plus the boat driver and his helper) can go on if you are wanting to wakeboard, although 8 can go if you just want to chill and watch a sunset.

You have to go at high tide, and we went at around 330 pm. You don’t meet them at Vaayu, though, because they don’t do this on the ocean. You go on the boat in the backwaters, which are really beautiful in Goa. So, you’ll meet in Morjim by a little jetty.

There’s a cooler on board, so you can bring your own beer and wine or you can also pay Vaayu to supply you some snacks and beverages.

The guys decided I should go first. I hadn’t wakeboarded before so was nervous I wouldn’t get up, and I didn’t on the first go. I let the handle slip out from my hands- I hadn’t realized how quickly and hard it would pull when the slack went straight.

But on the second go, it was all good!

I went for ages on my last attempt and felt my quads about to give out. I was feeling so tired! It’s a serious workout. I kind of went off the side and let myself fall haha, I was shot!

Next up, it was Ben’s turn.

Ben’s more of a pro and tried to do jumps on the wake, but I took mostly video of him in case he did something really cool. He had fun!

Next up, Sharik and Pranav, who are friends of ours, took their turns. Neither of them had much luck but it was fun regardless.

Rahul, who is part-owner of Vaayu drove the boat. You have to have a license so you can’t take the boat out without a driver. A guy came with him to help him get the board sorted and all of that. 

It’s just so beautiful on the backwaters and spending time in a boat is so relaxing. It’s shocking that we NEVER do this in Goa! It was seriously the best thing I’ve done in Goa in ages, and made Ben’s birthday a little more unique than just going to the beach.

When his Aunt and Uncle come to visit, we are going to take it out as well. I think they’ll love it, although not sure they’ll want to wakeboard!

Vaayu is a hotel but also had Prana Cafe in it, which is their popular restaurant. Most Sunday’s we go there for tacos. The chef is a friend of ours and makes the BEST food. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

 Their rooms are a variety of teepees and actual rooms with walls/ceiling, etc. It’s a “hippie” hangout and a lot of that is because they have an artist in residency program so people are always bopping in and out with their artwork and music. It’s part party place part chillout place.

They rent out SUP, surfboards, kayaks, and of course the boat. We rented surf boards on Christmas! Definitely a place to check out – and made for a fun birthday celebration!

After we went there we went to Hillbelly for dinner.

It’s a restaurant our friends own in Siolim and does tasty American style sandwiches + great cocktails. So, that’s how we spent Ben’s birthday in Goa! My birthday is always in the monsoon, or I would want to do this too!

The post This is India! 138 appeared first on Hippie In Heels.