We left Manali on a long night bus down to Delhi, we were lucky and got a semi-sleeper which gives you a bit more room and the freedom to put down the seat a bit more. We also got to watch a bollywood film DABANGG full blast. When we arrived in Delhi early in the morning to pick up our train tickets, we were set to leave later in the afternoon from Agra. We figured we should have plenty of time to get a taxi to Agra see the Taj Mahal then head out. The taxi ride took a gruelling 6 hours, I think 2 of those might of been spent just getting out of Delhi. So we got into town with 15 minutes to catch our train, which was running about an hour late so we ended up with lots of time. So we caught our train to Aurangabad but missed the Taj Mahal.

We were heading to Aurangabad so we could see the Ellora and Ajanta caves. Aurangabad is a good halfway point and place to stay while you do that but there is not much in the town. We did Ellora Caves the first day since they were only a 40 minute rickshaw from town. Ellora caves are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples and monastaries carved into the rockface of the Charanandri hills. They were built betweeen the 5th and 10th century. This blew our minds, it was unbelievable walking through these temples and monastaries and trying to picture what they were like back then. The sculptures at some of the caves were so detailed I can't imagine how they could of constructed it with the tools they had at that time. Just mind blowing and beautiful. Definately a must see if you are in India. We did Ajanta caves the next day, these are buddhist caves that date back to the 2nd century. These caves were filled with paintings everywhere, covering the all of the walls and ceilings. Absolutely phenomenal.

After seeing the caves we got the next bus out that night to go to Goa. Even though the roads were a bit less bumpy then what we are used to I think this was the most uncomfortable bus ride yet. We had a AC tourist night bus and the AC was on fullblast all night long. So cold and uncomfortable the whole time we couldn't sleep at all. When we arrived at the bus stop we had a 45 minute autorickshaw journey to head up to Northern Goa to Arambol Beach. Friends told us this would be a great place to stay if we wanted to rent a place in Goa for december. So we decided to check it out and see if we could find a place. We took one day to catch up on sleep and not be so miserable then started house hunting. We walked around, called some numbers, spent a bunch of time on the internet looking but ended up finding our place at the end of the day walking around town fed up with people trying to get us to look in there shops. Everytime someone said come look, looking is free, we would tell them no thanks and ask if they had a house for rent. We were only kidding around at first but this worked. They would yell to friends at the next shop or get on the phone, next thing we know we are taking scooters and taxis and seeing places. We found an amazing place, just finished being renovated, 2 bedroom, huge kitchen, two bath, a few balconies and a massive dining/living area which we are sure to turn into a room for friends to sleep and party. Now just to brag it is only a minute walk to the beach, so cheap for what it is and where it is, fruit and veggie stand out front and liquor and food store next door. Couldn't ask for more... just need to find ways to rig up some hammocks.

We stuck around Arambol for a day more and met up with Jay and Ella once again. Then we all decided to head to Ajuna, since we heard it was a good party place and had more nightlife. From the first night we made friends with the owner and all of the staff at one of the beach restaurants. They were celebrating one of the guys birthdays and told me we could do my birthday there and anything I wanted would be possible. Why not, everything is possible in India, at least this is what everyone says. The owner even offered 10 naked dancing men for me and each of my friends if we wanted. Marc and Michelle came down the next day and we decided to stay in Ajuna for my birthday then head out to Palolem. We went out with friends of Marcs that night, the night started with us all standing around drinking in the street infront of there house. We weren't going to head to the bar until around midnight since the bars are quiet until then. We were talking with the guys and found out two of them worked for a wildlife organization and they would go and catch crocodiles and snakes from peoples yards and houses and release them into the wild. They ended up bringing out a wild cobra and let it out in a field to show us. This thing was pissed off and crazy but seemed to be mesmerized by the guy moving his foot back and forth infront of it and would just sway back and forth watching him ready to attack. The markings on the back of the snake were amazing, I had seen it in photos but never in person, just looks like a pare of eyes. After the cobra they brought out a baby crocodile for us to hold and then a huge python for us to pet. I travelled through Australia for three months but never got to hold a crocodile until India?! After this we went out to the bar for a long night of drinking and dancing.

My first birthday abroad was amazing, notice that I put first, I think I may need to try and make this happen more often. We spent the day drinking on the beach, swimming and relaxing then got dressed up and had dinner, drinks and cake at the restaurant. Was an amazing and very eventful night that ended with some great live music.

After taking a day to recover we filled all six of us into a taxi van and headed to southern goa, Palolem Beach. For those of you who have seen the Jason Bourne movies, it was used to film part of one of the movies. Beautiful beach with some amazing restaurants around. We were there for Diwali, the festival of lights. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be, apparently Rahjastan is the best place for it. Was still wicked, there was lots of firecrackers and fireworks which we joined in on. Kids made huge papermache gods and danced around the streets wearing them and fighting them with each other. At midnight they burned them on the beach. The next day was Ella's birthday which we bought almost the rest of the fireworks in the store for. Our two and a half weeks in Goa were pretty amazing. Party and Relax.