Okayyy I'm going to attempt to recap my #Pribattical travels in November over a few blog posts. What was #Pribattical, and where all did I go?
Check out this post!
This is more of a travel diary and not an exhaustive travel guide to India (I could literally do a separate post about every city we visited) but I am sharing some details about what we did, where we stayed, as well as restaurant/bar recommendations, mostly because those can be really hard to find in another country! I kinda wish I had been able to find more resources when planning for this trip (though, we managed just fine :), so hopefully this is helpful to someone.
Please, if you have any specific questions about travel to India or anything I didn't cover here, just let me know, I'm so happy to answer anything!
I'm going to try not to make this post SO LONG, but I will note that this was the biggest chunk of my trip.
MUMBAI (or, BOMBAY?) //
Looking back, still a high point (though not necessarily a highlight) of my entire month was walking into my hotel room in Mumbai, after the long trip to India. Which - by the way - was not nearly as bad as I remembered from my childhood! I had braced myself for the longest test of wills imaginable, but it was totally fine. Guess I'm growing up ;) still my room was such an RELIEF after flights & airports, and a dreamy oasis of sleep...so much so that I slept and slept and slept foreverrr (waiting for Carina & Amir to arrive) and then totally screwed myself for the next night. Like I'd never traveled to India before!
Mumbai was initially, a long layover, as the best point of entry into the country, as well as a jet-lag recovery stop. But as a massive city, it was also a fantastic way to jump headfirst back into India. Literally, stepping out of the airport I was hit with a wave of sights, sounds, smells, and HUMIDITY, that felt super nostalgic. Like I had a very stupid emotional moment that second night by myself when I walked outside and was like, oh my goodness I'm in India!!!
We stayed at the Taj Lands End, which was perfect, highly recommend, in the *~hip~* neighborhood of Bandra, also great for walking along the coast and into "Jogger's Park" and even exploring some nearby historic sights. A highlight of this part of the trip for me was going to Toto's, apparently a Mumbai institution, an auto body shop themed bar (vintage Beetle on a jack? check. bartenders in coveralls? check.) where they exclusively played American classic rock - such a trip when you're across the world.
More recommendations in Bombay if you need them: The Bombay Canteen (this feels like a hip "Bombay cafe" you would go to in another country), Pali Bhavan ("Indian Maggiano's), Smoke House Deli (ironically we only wanted idlis & dosas, etc. [Indian breakfast] but the hip stuff was all Western breakfast! This place was cute and yummy!) we actually loved the House of Nomad bar IN the Taj Lands End, and be sure to go to Toto's (the bar!)
GOA //
I mentioned this already but I have had my heart set on Goa since a bait-and-switch stop there in 2004 (thanks, Dad!) I've always dreamed of going back for the ultimate Goa vacation, so I knew when I started planning this trip that Goa would be a big chunk of it!
Goa is India's equivalent to Hawaii or the Caribbean in the states. From the research I did beforehand, South Goa may be known for more beautiful beaches (I mean...they are all beautiful) but is a bit more slow-paced and old school, whereas North Goa is more hip, with better restaurants, and more catered to younger people. We stayed at
the W at Vagator Beach, and loved every minute of it. It's probably the most beautiful hotel I've ever stayed at in my life; we took advantage of the hotel restaurants, and all the amenities (pools! tents! beach access!) and really loved the friendly staff that we got to know throughout the week.
While we had some larger aspirations of day excursions to South Goa or a spice farm, we ended up being so content with pool/beach/pool time, and adventuring locally, straight out the front door of the W. One of the best days in Goa was walking to nearby Chapora Beach, which we learned is a fisherman's beach, and then hiking around the cape back to Vagator Beach
(this link might explain best what I'm talking about?) it was totally secluded and SO beautiful
(second picture down in this post!) On our last day in Goa, we ventured to nearby
Ashwem Beach for the day and rented a few chairs & umbrellas. We DID make it to the Vegas strip of Goa,
Baga Beach, one night, but it wasn't really our vibe ("Guys, I'm a little Baga-ed out." - Amir after spending on hour in Baga, haha.)
Goa recommendations: Like I said, we took advantage of dining at the W, and before you discredit me: Carina, who I trust with my life when it comes to foodie-food because she is a bougie peanut, said, when it comes to fine dining in India, the best restaurants are all at hotels (I'm NOT saying you can't find good food outside of a hotel, but just don't feel bad about eating a hotel restaurant. And do be careful with street food.) We had breakfast every day as well as a couple great dinners (Goan Fish Thali ftw!) at
Kitchen Table at the W, and we absolutely loved our dinner at
Spice Traders. Oh and tbh we ordered a lot of food poolside. Carina really wanted to visit
La Plage beach club but it wasn't open for the season yet! Also, check out the
Anjuna Market for loads of shopping, right on
Anjuna Beach (we could have easily stayed there all day.) Finally
Chapora Fort is a nice hike and an amazing place to watch the sunset/sunrise.