Just landed in Goa.

[ABlaine]

I'm going to start leaving philosophical notes on rubbish I see dumped around the streets and country lane of Kent pointing out that it is the height of stupidity to object to nig-nogs flooding into the UK, when they are more uncivilised than the third worlders taking over their jobs and houses.

You can complain about having an ass-backwards immigration policy and how much your neighbors suck at the same time. Unless the British have yet to master the art of complaining about multiple things at once. :p

[Greg]

I wonder why the 3rd world is so behind?   The Mark of Cain??  Hellish climates?  Both?  My mother is from Bavaria which is a fairytale wonderland compared to my wife's homeland (which is very 3rd world but I still love it).    Was staying at a nicer hotel in the Philippines.  Woke up one morning to see a one foot wide wolf spider (that's what I call it) staring at me from the other side of the room (I suspect this is a common experience in many parts of Asia).  No exaggeration.   Knowing if I scared it away,  Id be too arachnophobic to stay in that room, so I crawled very slowly across the room.  10 minutes later I killed it.  Then I was told this is common, and people don't often spray for insects. Gotta love the adventure of the Orient.

I'd add more to the thread,  but I gotta Goa.   

Might just be a time perspective thing.

Based on our 80 year life they are "behind".  Based on 500-1000 year period it's like comparing an old tree to a young tree.  Both are the same tree.  The old tree will eventually die and rot and the young tree replace it.  How did our cultures look at the time of the Anabaptists of Munchen, Salem Witch Trials, when Rome invaded Britian, or when trial by battle or ordeal were ways of guilt and innocence bring determined?

Look how China has developed in 40 years.  When I was young they were complete peasants.

I visited a spice plantation yesterday.  Interesting for me, because I eat these spices but had no clue about how they grow or what they look like in the wild.  A banana plant takes 2 years to grow.  It produces one banana flower in year one and then a banana bunch and a flower in year 2.  Then they cut it down and a new banana shoot comes from the root stock.  Cinnamon is the bark of a tree.

Black, green, red and white pepper are all the same.  Just treated differently to maintain the colour or change the colour.

A coconut tree lives 200-300 years.  I had no clue they were that old.  I thought 20-30 years max.

[Greg]

Leaving in 24 hours.  Back to UK then next stop Cambodia and Vietnam in April with a detour on return leg to Burma.  I need to borrow a private jet because those long hauls are painful.

General impression of Goa is pretty good.  Only negative is stray dogs, but they are pretty calm and contented.  Saw no dog fights or aggressive behaviour.  Roaming wild cows and some littering, but nothing like the rest of India.  I went to Panjim today 45 minute away and it was much cleaner with very little litter.  Reminded me on Malaysia 20-25 years ago.

Haven't had the shits or any illness at all, and I have eaten a wide variety of stuff in a wide variety of places.  Weather has been fab all week.

There is definitely the civilising influence of Christianity here, you can feel it, and no sprawling slums or anything like that.  If you're going to visit India - this is the place to come and not have to face utter third world squalor.

It is a perfect example of my maxim that if you want to know how civilised a place is look at the state of public toilets.  If they are clean and functional you have a civilisation, if not a "shithole", which will have other anti-social failings.

[Elizabeth]

Americans are to geography what ISIS is to Quantum Mechanics.

Goa is part of India.  It's mostly Roman Catholic.

It is a place that the USAF has never bombed.

I sure as heck didn't know. 
But I have heard troubling things about human bathroom habits in India.
edit: I was hasty posting this before reading the thread.  Relieved you were in such a good hygienic  area!!!!  (germ hater here)
I love this travelogue; I hope we all start doing this here in the forums.

[Heinrich]

Americans are to geography what ISIS is to Quantum Mechanics.

Goa is part of India.  It's mostly Roman Catholic.

It is a place that the USAF has never bombed.

I sure as heck didn't know. 
But I have heard troubling things about human bathroom habits in India.
edit: I was hasty posting this before reading the thread.  Relieved you were in such a good hygienic  area!!!!  (germ hater here)
I love this travelogue; I hope we all start doing this here in the forums.

Most people in India don't know Goa.

[dymphnaw]

[/quote]I sure as heck didn't know. 
But I have heard troubling things about human bathroom habits in India.

[/quote]

In India it is common to see people squat on the street and defecate. That's just the way India is.

[Greg]

I saw no open human defecation in the state of Goa. I did see men urinating by the side of the road however.  About half a dozen during the week I was there.

Still you can also see that in Britain, after the pubs close, in many market towns.  And in France it used to be a very common site to see people pissing at the side of the road.  The only difference in India was that they make no real attempt to hide.  They just piss in any patch of wasteground or verge without any shame by simply turning their back and pissing.

Goa is said to be one of the cleaner states in India.  Which suggests that some of the rest are downright filthy hellholes.  The tourist spots are tidied up daily and the beaches cleaned very well too.

[Heinrich]

Were there many Europeans there? Chinese?

[Greg]

No hardly any from EU or mainland China.

British, Australians, Indians (it's a popular beach destination for them since it has lifeguards and most Indians cannot swim very well at all).  Where we stayed there were lots of Russians.

[Frank]

No hardly any from EU or mainland China.

British, Australians, Indians (it's a popular beach destination for them since it has lifeguards and most Indians cannot swim very well at all).  Where we stayed there were lots of Russians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Heart_of_Mary_Church,_Kemerovo

Funnily enough I was looking up the Russian city which had that awful fire
and loss of life and realised that Goa is quite a logical place to fly to from central
Russian towns like Kemerovo. It was interesting to walk up the main street on
Google street view. I was surprised how European everything looked.

[Greg]

When have you seen Pipework like this in Europe?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.3376798,86.0672746,3a,60y,330.99h,93.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6ZRClWwIGquNep8L8aHo-Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[dymphnaw]

A parish in Goa was attacked with stones during the Easter vigil.

[Vetus Ordo]

A parish in Goa was attacked with stones during the Easter vigil.

Hindu radicals?

[dymphnaw]

A parish in Goa was attacked with stones during the Easter vigil.

Hindu radicals?

Most  likely, yes.