GOA
Goa is not my cup of tea...
still if u find your way here... here's something for u.
*In Arambol beach I'll recommend u to stay in the area of the sweet lake and not inside the big noisy market.
*Also in Arambol beach, I have to say, there's an amazing shop and cafe called La-muella. The Israeli couple who runs the place will welcome u with a great food, homemade pasta, amazing coffee and clothes and jewelries any women would kill for. The space is well designed and have a cute part for the kids to run and play.
*Another nice place I really liked is SAKANA sushi in Chappora (the meaning of SAKANA is danger, in Hebrew, it mostly means BEWERE-this-amazing-sushi-will-danger-your-pocket...)
A place of a Japanese women (who make the delicious food) and her Israeli husband which run the bussines part (as a good typical Israeli guy).
Very classy and, for being strictly honest, one of the best sushi I have ever tasted (and I'm picky!).
The parties in goa are not what they use to be. Goa was an underground paradise for trance lovers and now it's not underground at all, so in my eyes, it's not that good... If u're in the mood of hanging out with a cop crushes into your party, or to be squashed by a big drank sweaty Indian/Russian guy, be my guest...
There's a quite beautiful and virgin place 20 minutes norther then arambol, called paradise (not Paradise in Gokarna). There's only 10 hats there so u'll probably have to go to Arambol before and try your luck finding availability there.
I haven't been in the quiet beaches such as Patnam, and Agonda, because arambol gave me nausea so big I run away. But I suppose if u really in the mood of goa. Go there.
GOKARNA
Main beach-
Wide beach, not touristic at all.
Only few people knows about this piece of land, since in order to get here one must really think out of the box.
When u reach to the main beach from the market, don't jump into conclusions and turn around! instead, turn right. and keep on walking till u think there's nothing there... And then, walk a lil' bit further... Then u'll notice some restaurants starts to appear.
Congrats! You are in the right place.
Here you can have a big wide beach just for u. Surrounded by few hippie people, Cheap accommodation and even nice waves for surfing!
*Sandeep would love to teach u how to surf (1500 rp for 2 hours), or let u rent a board for 1000 rp.
*On the last restaurant the french chef Christof and his israeli partner would never rest until u'll get the perfect meal. U can find there also nice baguette and amazing espresso coffee.
Kudlie beach-
More crowded then the others, but full of hippies.
A lot of things Is going on during the day and night.
U will never be board but still u can get your privat place to chill in the sun.
Every sunset, a wonderful jam session is taking place and many hippie travelers sell their pieces of arts they make during traveling on the beach.
There's many restaurants and sport activities, and if u get lucky u will notice a rave on the beach or even catch some waves.
*Nice place to stay and to eat is SEAROCK cafe. And if u wanna make things a lil bit mellow ask for the special Lassi from the amazing Didi who runs the place.
Omm beach-
It's must be a coincidence that the shape of this Shanty shore is a shape of an Omm.
Omm beach is a quite beautiful beach, the only thing is, that most of the travelers who choose to stay on this beach are Israelis. The meaning of that is mostly the Trance music and the BOOM BOLENAT blessing u'll here from the balconies, and for sure, the amount of frisbees u'll probably see on the beach. Except that, this beach is so laid back u'll get up tired...
#In order to get to the beach the taxi/ricksha will drop u on the satires point and from there u should walk down and cross the beach. Not a lot of ricksha drivers knows about the other entrance-just behind the Omm-shree-Ganesh guesthouse & restaurant.
*For accommodation I'll recommend on the Ganesh (there's 2 places, one is Om-shree-Ganesh and the other one is just Ganesh)
*for the best food I'll recommend about the Om-shree-Ganesh (the one on the bridge). -if Rana is still there (tell him I said hi!), u'll have the best service (although, still, it will take forever until I'll get food. like any place on this beach).
*Nice sunset view u can see from the 'lonely tree' on the rocks placed on the left side of the beach.
*nice to take a kayak for few hours. U can do it from a place called Dolphin which placed just between the 2 rounds of the Omm.
*if u r a Tandoori lover, or just really want to spoil yourself by fancy accommodation. Go to the first resort next to the stairs, Namaste
Half moon beach-
This small beautiful beach of course has the shape of the half moon, and moreover, It's small just like a moon seems from earth. U can find here 2 restaurants, few hats and a beautiful privet beach.
In order to get here take a boat from kudlie or Omm beach, or take a beautiful walk on the rocks/in the jungle.
Paradise beach-
Like half moon, u'll need to take a boat, or a walk in order to get to paradise beach.
Here u'll find nothing but a nice Baya who would like to make u chai or cut a pineapple for u. Sometime u can ask him to collect woods for the fire for u (for 160 rp) or bring u food from Gokarna market, because you'll never want to leave the beach.
There's no guesthouses and no restaurants. Your hammock/ your loongi is your bed and the fire is your kitchen.
Now go get crazy and make your Robinzon Kruzo's adventure!
One thing I got to know just now when I finally organized my recommendation...
There's a beautiful place called Nirvana beach right in front of paradise beach. I have to say its so Virgin I really wanted to keep it to myself. But, i would die for my readers! So here's the hottest scoop u'll probably ever hear about this area.
There's only one place to stay and it called nirvana beach resort. Go there and make me proud, or jealous (make sure u send me some pics and a thank u postcard!).
http://nirvananature.com/
MYSORE
Mysore is a big city, you can expirience it by two different ways.
The first one, will be very touristic. Just find yourself a ricksha driver who will show u around all the touristic stuff that they make in Mysore.
-They make biddy (natural cigarettes) they make oils and incense, and many more. In each and every touristic place they will irrigate u with chai till u'll drop.
Make sure u go to see the beautiful palace on sunday between 19:00-20:00 when it's lighted and have some kind of a classic music concert (u'll feel like u're in diesny land)
On the other side of the city, there's Gokulam. A wonderland for yogis.
A lot of schools for yoga and for yoga teachers.
A lot of organic cafes, such as Anokhi.
But Beware !!! This scene is not really for the hippies!
This fancy neighborhood doesn't seem like India...
Most of the yoga places will ask u to commit for a month or so.
-Except mystic school of yoga. The wonderful owner is Shashi who will welcome you in open arms and beautiful hospitality to his amazing school & boutique hotel.
They ofer yoga classes, pranayama and meditation (the pranayama and the meditation classes are given by Shashi himself,which was a student of Osho, and they are the best!).
Try to book in advance a room in this amazing place (Mystic hotel), because probably it's gonna be fully booked when you'll arrive.
On the roof you can chill after a good session with a tasty fresh food, and have a nice conversation with the adorable Tibetan waiter, Sam
VATTAKANNAL
A secret place inside the woods that travelers which are not Israelis, barely knows about.
Most of the tourists stay in the city Kudaikannal, what they don't really know, is that a piece of heaven is out there, 5 minutes drive from the place they sit and drink their chai.
This crazy-clouds-view-valley was conquered by the Israeli "Hummus Road". But still, u can find your peace in one of those shearing apartments (there are also small ones for 2-3 ppl), and have a nice experience cooking and sitting togheter by the fire at night.
So do yourself a favor and take a taxi strait away from the Kudaikannal bus stand. Don't let them cheat u! Pay less then 200 rp!
*Go to the Tibetan market and buy yourself a nice and beautiful sweater for 100 rp (in UrbanOutfitters it will coast u way more)
Auroville
Auroville is a global village. It means that people from around the world are coming to share their life in peace and happiness together in the same place.
To be honest, this old hippie beautiful idea if not really what's going on this days.
The community is kind of snob and the vibe is very strange.
Though I would recommend u to come and expirience the weirdness of this place.
The perfect way to do it is by volunteering.
I volunteered in a lovely bakery & farm of an amazing Tamil family.
Ganesh bakery.
It's beautiful, the stuff and the family is so generous and the work is really a piece of cake.
For 4 hours of volunteering u will get a simple accommodation and one meal a day.
*For volunteering Ganesh bakery is Highly recommend!
*For raw food cooking classes and for an amazing raw food meal go to Anandi's restaurant, next to the Ganesh bakery. (Also a nice place to stay if u're not in the volunteering-mood).
*there's an amazing organic grocery shop right next to the Ganesh bakery.
*For good and expensive coffee go to the Solar Kitchen (u can use there only the Auroville credit card, yes, it is weird!) or go to the Visitor Center
*For renting a bicycle, volunteering info or visiting the big meditation place called Matromandir (very beautiful architecturally but a lot of bureaucracy bullshit in order to get inside, seriously, I gave up...) go to the visitor center.
*For getting an Auroville credit card and for sign up for your volunteering go to the town-hall.
*For socialize or just nice local food go to Dinesh dabah.
Tirubandamalai
Very spiritual city. Make sure u arrive on the full moon in order to join the locals for the volcano rounds with their crazy mantras.
Go to see the beautiful unique temple. And visit the famous ashram Sri Ramana Ashram. U can stay in the ashram only If u are some kind of believer. But u can find on the same road many small ashrams and places to stay.
Don't be lazy and climb up to the meditation caves. It's worthwhile.
Don't forget to visit also Gingee, which is the city next to Tirubandamalai, to see the crazy rocks.
PORT BLEIER - ANDAMAN ISLANDS
When u land in andaman islands u'll land on the island called port Bleier.
If u land late and miss the fairy (last fairy at 14:00) u're gonna spend the night in port Bleier. Don't u cry, it's not a bad thing.
Make sure u go strait to the fairy office to buy a ticket for the next day fairy. (the office closed at 16:00. And there's a lunch brake between 13:00-14:00).
In port Bleier there's a nice big and comfortable home stay called Aashiana, the wonderful family will host u well. Another advantages of this home stay is the breakfast-to-bed they offer and the 2 minutes walk distance from the fairy port.
To entertain yourself wile u're in port Bleier call Salvam the ricksha driver and he'll take u everywhere.
*fresh milk in the islands it's a big deal. They use pounder milk most of the time and the sweet taste of it will make u fall from your feet! There's only one place in port Bleier that serve coffee with fresh milk (trust me, I checked them all) and Salvam knows where it is (it's a fancy hotel. I don't know the name).
(The second pic is also Anji-coco & Fat Martin)
HAVELOCK -ANDAMAN ISLANDS
This touristic island is very expensive. But the food here will make u lick your fingers. I wouldn't recommend to stay here, but for diving courses it's a good place to be.
*Dive India and Barefoot, from what I've been told, are the best for diving.
*for breakfast go to Fat Martin. Ask for the Devine muesli and cold coffee (many people also liked the Shakshuka with Melawah)
*for dinner don't u miss the most tastiest tuna fillet u'll ever eat at Anji-coco (for side dish order steamed veg!!!)
NEIL -ANDAMAN ISLANDS
Welcome to PARADISE
I would recommend u to take the fairy striate here!
This small island is only 7 km from one side to the other.
There's few cute and cheap guesthouses and extremely fresh and amazing food everywhere. The simplicity of the village people will never let u leave.
There's few beaches, each and every one of them has its own magic. Cycle around and enjoy the disconnection from the world.
*For accommodation go to Kalapani guest house, or Gayan garden.
*For amazing homemade pasta and fresh great coffe (with fresh milk) go to Brake water (fresh milk u can find also in Gayan garden and one place in the market)
*Other good restaurants are -blue sea and elephant and not far from the Gayan garden there's one Didi who make the best idli on earth!
*The food making can get up to 3.5 hours. Make sure u order at sunset and come back later.
*theres no ATM, no phone service and no Internet.
FORTCOCHI
Beautiful colonial place. Full of great sweet cafes, galleries, art and beautiful home stays.
*for accommodation go to Mother tree
*For great breakfast in a colonial building go to Solar cafe (try the otada! Kerala breakfast was never that good!)
*For great gallery and coffee in a sweet garden go to Pepper house
*For nice (but a lil bit expensive) jewelries go to Indo bazaar or Kerala village crafts
*For nice chai and some Internet time go to Fort Muziris (they also have fancy expensive accommodation)
*For beautiful dresses and nice books go to Walton's boutique.
ALLAPPY
U would probably think u landed in Venice, but a coconut soon will drop on your head and u'll understand that's what Allappy is all about. The back waters between Allapy, Kotiam, and Kulum are amazing. There's a few ways to experience them.
The most expensive is to take a houseboat, it's including food and 22 hours of boating. But, I have to be honest, it's a big tourist trap. Try the canoes instead. U can also take the cheapest option- the government fairy (it's like a bus between Kotiam and Allepy, but on the water).
*For accommodation go to Palmy residency, or Lemon dew.
*For boating contact the Lemon dew stuff (the nice owner and his friend Oscar)
OLD MUNNAR
Munnar will make u fall in love. With the crazy tea plantation u can think u r in a Teletubies episode.
The best place to stay is in old Munnar, very quite and small, that's the main reason it's fully booked most of the time.
*For accommodation go to Aida home stay. The fanny owner and his extremely nice family will make u feel at home in their wide clean rooms.
*For food go to the Hot Kitchen just in front of all the guesthouses.
*The attractions in Munnar are not that good as the astounding ways u need to pass in order to get there. So just take a ricksha or a jeep and travel around!
VARKALA
In my eyes, if its not off-season don't go to Varkala. But if it is, go to chill on the quite black beach (the sand of this beach is black! and it's really spacial!) or hang out on the main beach and on the cliff. Theres a lot of Yoga classes, shopping, and good food. And If u get lucky u'll catch some waves.
*For accommodation go to "Hostel Yoga India" home stay, Dilip, the owner, and his family will take care of u. With wide colored rooms, kitchen, green garden, and a roof top with yoga classes every morning, you'll have the best experience.
*For good fruit juices and giant great cold coffee go to the juice shake.
*For dinner go to Abba or cafe del mar (like most places on the cliff, it will be deliciously expensive).
*if u're in the mood of saving some money, the coffee temple (the first coffee shop on the cliff) offer the possibility to work for 5 hours a day, as a waiter/waitress and get accommodation and food! ..they also have nice coffee and muesli.
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