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Balkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸
  • Emma Dizdarevic

Balkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸

A 19-day adventure by Emma Read more
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  • Trip start
    February 10, 2024
    Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    The start

    February 10, 2024 in Sweden ⋅ ☁️ -5 °C

    For me (Emma) the trip started already on Saturday (10/2) in Uppsala when I boarded the train to Lund, after insanely hectic past few weeks. Energy levels were low with a a cold on its way. But it’s all fine, the trip has begun!

    I bumped into two Indian classmates in town who helped her with the bags. So symbolic right?😆

    Now it’s time for family time in Lund (🥰) and tomorrow I’m meeting up with Dora to officially start the trip.    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler
    1

    Reunited and Goa bound!

    February 11, 2024 in Sweden ⋅ 🌬 2 °C

    Finally reunited!! And on our way to Goa!
    The journey to CPH airport went smoothly and it still didn’t feel real that this trip was happening. At the gate we bumped into Dora’s old friend who was on the same plane to Delhi but on her way to Kathmandu to do her thesis.

    On the first plane we sat next to an old Danish lady who has her own guru in India which is where we she was headed. It’s her 28th time in India. 🤯 while the whole plane was asleep in the middle of the night she performed some kind of a prayer-looking ritual that. I was half awake and observed everything. An interesting experience to say the least😅

    On the plane there were feeding us every second it felt like. Snacks, dinner at 11pm and then breakfast at 3am before landing.
    After 2-3 hours of sleep we were in Delhi where we only had a 1.5h layover because of the delay of the first flight. At that point the trip started to become hectic quite quickly….    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler
    1
    111

    Touchdown Goa!

    February 12, 2024 in India ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Like we said, only 1.5hr from when we landed in Delhi until the departure to Goa. The routine is such that we had to claim the luggage, and then check it in again. We said goodbye to our Danish lady and rushed as quickly as possible to the exit, found the right desk and finally our luggage. But then the chaos started when we realized we were nowhere near the next check in desk. The lack of signs didn’t help either. All the staff that we asked for direction told us that we were very late but to hurry!

    And we hurried. Ran through the airport, found the desk, surpassed the “line” and left the luggage. Then security, surpassed that “line” too and run the last bit to the gate to learn that the departure was late and there was no need to rush…

    Anyway, finally we boarded, ate some more on the plane and landed in Goa! The adventure can begin!

    Taxi wasn’t the easiest to find but after some help it worked out. The driver was driving like crazy ofc and drove us to the nearest SIM card shop. There we managed to fight for somewhat lower price and were proud of it. But later learned that Dora’s number is actually someone else’s when she started getting messages directed to a random dude.

    Next stop after more chaotic driving was the ATM it didn’t work. Next one did. Phew! We got charged extra for all the stops but oh well.

    So far we’ve been around the city a bit. It’s very lively and felt chaotic, but maybe because we were very tired. We’re on a hunt for wedding outfits but no luck so far, except some shoes that Dora got. We have one day left to figure it out. Ended the night at a local music festival, at the Samba Square in Panaji.
    Our accommodation is really nice and the hosts very welcoming!🥺❤️    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler
    11

    Dress shopping - Mapusa market!

    February 13, 2024 in India ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Today we went shopping for dresses. First in our city (Panaji) where we found nice Sarees for the temple ceremony😍 a very nice lady at the store helped us and we’re so thankful for that.
    The city felt less hectic today, maybe because we were more rested. It had a summery and festival vibe from all the decorations from the carnival. We love it here!

    After some city shopping it was time for Mapusa flee market! Dora had googled it and it was supposed to have a bunch of stuff that we need. Also Dora’s friends were there so we were looking forward to meeting up with them.

    What a place Mapusa is 😂 People working there walk around and want to talk you into coming to their store. First I fell for it (of course) and started talking to a girl that I thought was nice but soon realized that they are everywhere and she’s not my friend😅
    We were walking around there for good 7 hours, it was hectic and exhausting but still very very fun. But getting the outfits was hard. No changing rooms either obviously. I tried a few over my clothes but they were way too big, or too expensive. Even tho I turned out to be good at bargaining. Dora found one yellow dress (we needed yellow for Haldi) quite fast but I needed much more time. Found something in the end, not very satisfied, it’s too small. But better than nothing. At that point I had to lower my standards. We also had some great local food at the market, for example the huge “crepe”, Masala Dosa😋

    But all in all we had a great time in Mapusa with Dora’s friends! They’re super nice and we hung out until late at night. Strangely, the bars are not open until that long, around 11pm. In Mapusa we quickly and randomly “joined” the festival parade which entailed walking through huge crowds of people and vehicles trying to not get hit. You become one with the traffic.🌟🎊🤘
    Excited for the wedding tomorrrow!    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler
    22

    Wedding day 1 - Haldi & Mehendi

    February 14, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    After a quick stroll in Panaji for shoe shopping and breakfast at our favorite place (our hosts’ café) we finally arrived at the wedding. WHAT A DAY!!
    (The wedding was in two days, first day was the Haldi and Mehendi events, while the second day included the temple ceremony and the evening reception)

    The welcoming at the resort was insane - as we stepped out of the taxi the music and drums started playing and went on for so long that even the taxi driver couldn’t believe it. They were also filming us and taking photos, paparazzi 😅
    It really hyped us up!!😍

    Then time for get ready. The vibe was so nice, relaxing and calming at the resort. All the guests were there and I met the rest of Dora’s friends. Such a nice and vibrant group.

    The outfits from Mapusa turned out AMAZING! Way better than I imagined.

    The ceremony was fantastic. After the bride and the groom made the grand entry we were all dancing together and even played some games. They had a host who was leading the “programme” and it was all very thought through. Then it was time for the ceremony with turmeric paste where all the guest took their turn to put a stroke of the paste on the couple. We also threw flowers in them and they on each other 😅🥰
    In the end they were all covered in yellow and took a dip in the pool. During this ceremony we also has some nice snacks in form of chaats.

    The group slowly moved toward the beachside where the seatings were placed. But there was no seating schedule really, we switched seats all the time bc other people would take our seats haha. We ate some nice food and drinks, danced, got henna tattooes (mehendi part) and danced some more.

    ✨Thrill✨ is the only way I can describe this feeling as.    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    Wedding day 2 - temple and the party🎈🎊

    February 15, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Still blown away by all the impressions and feelings from last night, we started the second day of the wedding with a well needed breakfast at the resort. A lot of us were quite tired and hangover but the pineapples and lots of coffee solved the problem.
    We were so excited for day 2! The first stop was the temple for the religious ceremony. We put on our lovely saris and kurtas and headed to the temple all together in a bus. We had to take off our shoes, cover our hair (the guys wore turbans that they got put on at the resort) and bow at the “altar”. The ceremony was lovely even though we didn’t understand anything. Afterwards there were snacks to grab at the temple but soon we headed back to the resort where a very nice lunch waited. All the food at the wedding was delicious.

    After lunch it was time to practice the dance choreography that we friends would perform. Later it turned out that cousins had their own choreography, and so did the parents and aunts/uncles of the bride and the groom. Such a nice tradition. The dance was cute and I felt like I was on a class trip the whole time since we did all these things together as a big group.

    Then it was time to get ready into our evening outfits and we were off to the party of our lives.
    The reception area was beautifully decorated, we mingled and had some drinks while waiting for the couple. Then we were gathered by the father of the groom, to greet the newlyweds with some prskalice. Harsh and Nina Singh entered the venue dressed up, beautiful and ready to party! They opened with a wonderful dance full of love which made most of us shed some tears. After that, it was time for the Slovenian delegation to shine, because the dance of friends followed - we could say that we are proud of our performance, but we would be lying. Our performance was followed by dances from the family of the couple which overshadowed our performance for sure - luckily we were the first!
    Then the true party/workout began- we danced and danced together to Indian, American and Balkan music and sweat more than ever before, Indians truly know how to party! They were dancing to our music and we to theirs like we do it every day. It was unbelievable.

    This was truly an unforgettable experience that still feels surreal. (The separation anxiety hit hard toward the end….)    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler
    112

    First beach day!🏖️

    February 16, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    The day after the wedding we chilled on the beach all day. All together. It was such a relaxing feeling just sitting down on sunbeds, drinking ice coffee, listening to music, chitchatting and enjoying life. Almost forgot how it feels. And it’s a very weird feeling that it is summer over here. Still trying to take it all in.
    We tried coconut for the first time too! We liked it even tho I expected more coconut taste.
    After the beach we headed to Candolim which we soon realized is BLING BLING. Very touristy and just full of old British and Russian people. Everything was built around it, even the menus are in Russian. There are way too many shops everywhere too, and the food is more expensive than what we experienced so far. (Kičasta Makarska, za vas koji razumijete) Not our vibe in other words.
    Tjaša came with us so we had a cozy evening together with some beer and fries. 😁♥️    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    Saharaki Spice plantation

    February 18, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    The highlight of today was the spice plantation Saharaki. We went together with two of Dora’s friends, Tajda and Jiri. We saw some cool stuff like coffee, cocoa, cardamom, vanilla (which is actually a parasite?), cloves, kokum, and of course cashews. The tour ended with a nice buffet lunch and a bit of spice shopping.
    Today we also saw Old Goa and went back to Mapusa market which was much more crowded this time. The selection wasn’t as good either and according to a lady we met, it’s only the poorer people that sell there on Sundays since the richer ones can afford to take the weekend off.
    The highlight of the day except the plantation was the driver who drove us there. He told us that getting a taxi back would be hard so he waited for 2 hours and then drove us around to the other places. People here are very nice 😍    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    Back in favourite Panaji 😍

    February 19, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    After a few days in a very touristy and annoying Candolim we made our way back to Panaji. We stayed at our old neighborhood with the same hosts. ❤️ We ate our favorite samosas at the café at our accommodation. Even tried their ice coffee this time. Soo so good! At the cafe we also met an older lady who has travelled a lot and told us that she’s been to Bosnia. Turns out she went to pilgrimage in Međugorje where she tasted a tea she liked a lot, forest fruit tea by Franck. She even had a tea bag of that tea in her purse, Šumsko voće!🥺

    Afterward we went for a cocktail in a cool bar next to our stay (Joseph bar), I did some work, and then we had another favourite dish at the café, cheese omelette😋

    Later we took a walk around the city and finished the evening by hanging out with the hosts. They made us a famous Goan drink, Urrak, made from the cashew alcohol Feni. The hosts are amazing and were telling many different stories. Apparently monkeys can sometimes find their way into the cities and climb on buildings. They told us that it happened a couple of times that a monkey came into their apartment and took something, like bananas. They gave us bananas for the trip tomorrow and told us to watch out for the monkeys 😉

    Also a relative of the hosts is a successful biomed researcher in Sweden working in Stockholm Small world. 😊

    A new Goan dish for today was the Bebinca , a 7 layers Indo-Portuguese cake with coconut taste. (Not pictured bc we ate it too fast)    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler
    21

    Hampi time!

    February 20, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    5 am wake up call - time for the train to Hampi!😍
    An old Indian city that used to be the 2nd largest city in the world, capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th century. The ruins that are left are known as the Hampi group of monuments which are under the UNESCOs world heritage protection.

    It was an interesting experience taking an Indian train for the first time. The journey took about 8-9 hours. At first we didn’t realize how we were supposed to sit because some seats were turned into beds and others were normal “sitting” seats. This was also the first time we really regretted taking all this luggage with us… we have 4 suitcases between the 2 of us and it wasn’t the most thought through decision so to say….
    The ride was okay, a bit uncomfortable but a vibe for sure. Unfortunately we missed the Dudhsagar waterfalls that we were looking forward to. Guess we fell asleep.
    We managed to sleep a bit on the top bunk, and I tried to do some work as well. We met a cute retired French couple that are on their 5th week in India. Soon the wife is going alone to Vietnam for cooking workshops. They were so cute. Life inspo. ✨🥰
    There was also this nice Mexican-Italian young couple who have already been here for a month and don’t know when they will be leaving. All of them had much less luggage than either one of us. 🫠

    Arrived to a very hot Hospet in the afternoon and took the first tuk tuk ride to the hotel🛺The hotel is very fancy for our standards and we’re enjoying it haha. For some reason they upgraded us for a better room without cost. Not complaining.😋

    Then we headed to see the sunset in Hampi (20-30 min away from Hospet) but Dora hurt her leg while climbing into the tuk tuk and we ended up driving around trying to find doctors instead. She needed a tetanus shot which she got in the end in Hampi and now it’s all fine. The doctor said we should pay however much we want? Also, it we went to 3 places where the doctors were on a break and I guess there are no emergency rooms here?
    We were late for the sunset but it was still beautiful nevertheless. The driver was humble and felt sorry that it happened in his tuk tuk. He still took us to see some of the Hampi monuments where we saw monkeys and en elephant (!!) but the rest we will explore tomorrow.

    Fun fact about this area. Everyone is obviously staring at us and a few people have asked for a picture. Guess the tourists are not that common here. Even the doctor’s grandson, a 6 year old boy, wanted to see us so we talked with him for a bit. He likes languages and wanted to exchange a few words in English. Cutie.

    Ended the day with a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. Had another pineapple juice ofc😍    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    Hampi exploring!

    February 21, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Today it was time for Hampi exploring. Our driver drove us there and then set us up with a guide. They cooperate so the second we got to the ruins the guide knew who were were and who our driver was 😅
    Thankfully we met an American guy from the train there and could split the cost of the guide with him. The tour was nice, it lasted all day and our new friend was super cool. He lives in LA, works for an evil consulting company, likes India a lot (it’s his 7th time here) and he went to Coachella dressed only a towel.🎊
    In the middle of the tour we had a very nice lunch, thali!😋

    We learned that some of the stone pillars in the temples were used to play music. Depending on how they were cut, shaped and which dimensions they had, they made sounds of different instruments (see the video).

    We went to all the most important temples (will look up the names later), saw a lot of monkeys along the way and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset in the evening. The views are incredible in Hampi. We were exhausted by 7pm, had dinner at the hotel and called it a night.

    Enjoy the pictures!    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    Everyone is staring at us 🫠

    February 22, 2024 in India ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    Today we went to Sanapur lake close to Hampi that we really wanted to see. On the way there we passed some wonderful landscapes with coconut and banama palms, sugarcane and rice plantations with the boulderstones in the background. Very beautiful and authentic for Hampi. And yes, rice needs A TON of water. It basically grows in a pond…

    When we reached the lake we realized it’s nothing special, it was very bare, hot and creepily empty. We took a few pics and then turned around and sat at the first best cafe for some coffee. Turned out super cozy and we met another guy from the train there. He is Slovakian and traveling the world quite literally. He’s been out for 6 months now and plans to stay for a few more months. He travelled to more than 80 different countries so far and told us all different stories. He visited Jemen before heading to Sri Lanka and now India. He even happened to be in Armenia when the Nagorno-Karabkh conflict was at its worst. He said people were crying on the streets in Armenia and there was no music in the bars. Then he went to Azerbaijan where the vibe was the complete opposite…

    The day continued in the village of Sanapur which seems to be a quite rural but a bit hippie area. People were doing their laundry at the river or in buckets in from of their improvised housing. We had lunch at a cozy restaurant called Island Vibes and our American friend from yesterday joined us. Soon after that we parted ways as we had to head to Hubballi to take the train from there back to Goa. Hubballi is the head quarters of Karnataka region and is a very busy city from what we could see in the 5 minutes we spent on the streets.

    What really stuck out today were all the stares we received. It is interesting and we find it funny and cute mostly, we say hi or wave to people when we see that they look at us. Getting those stares while driving in tuk tuk felt like being on a catwalk. People would also try to slow down and drive just next to us to be able to observe us more carefully. 😅

    But it escalated a lot at the train station in Hubballi where we waited for our train for 2 hours to later learn that it was delayed and they were not announcing by platform until the last minute. We were tired, hungry and stressed. Some beggers approached us and just stood next to us even thoughwe told them to move away. So we kept moving across the station with all the luggage trying to escape that. A lot of young guys also approached and wondered where we’re from and why we’re here. They said they never see tourist in Hubballi. Also no one knows where our counties are so we have started saying that we are from Yugoslavia which helps a bit). At some point there were 10 guys around us just observing us and asking questions. In the end I had to tell them to back off because it was getting claustrophobic.

    In the middle of this our stomachs started hurting… we must have eaten something funny. It is not that bad but feels likens defeat that we could go for almost 2 weeks with no symptoms and then the last days it hit us… hope it gets better already tomorrow.

    Our train finally came and we fell asleep on our way back to Goa. ❤️    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    Agonda is our new home👙

    February 23, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Good morning Goa!
    Today we woke up on the train at approximately 4 in the morning which is when we should have arrived to the Madgaon train station in Goa - but, as many people have warned us - one needs patience in India. Instead, we arrived around 5 am, because the train was moving so slowly it could easily be surpassed by a runner😄
    In Madgaon we were greeted with confusion. We were sleepy and our stomach were still cramping from the food poisoning, so we couldn’t wait to sit in our taxi and head to Agonda - but, the patience lesson from before hit us again. WE COULDN’T FIND THE EXIT FROM THE STATION! Everyone told us different information, so you could imagine our frustration dragging 40kg suitcases across a busy station while being tired and sick. But oh well, everything worked out - in the end we found our super nice taxi driver who drove us to Agonda!
    First thing we did there was drop off our luggage at the accommodation, finally we were free😂 Then we headed to the nearest cafe, which had croissants and lots of other pastries (and amazing coffee btw) and we observed how the Agonda village woke up on a Friday morning.
    Agonda seems like a tiny hippie/hipster/chill community with lots of western cafes, but still very nice and not too much bling bling for our taste - complete opposite from the Candolim trauma! But you get reminded that you are still in India: there are lots of nosy cows, stray dogs and scooters that drive on the “wrong” side of the road😅 but it is the perfect detox from the hectic Hampi and Hospet, so we know we will love the next few days we get to spend here ❤️
    After our first coffee we headed to another cafe to meet with Anni, the sweetest Finnish girl ever! She has been staying in Agonda for a month now and she gave us tips on how to make the most out of our stay here (she also gave us some medication for the stomach issues which helped A LOT). She loves India and is kind of an expert in it - SHE SPEAKS HINDI!
    Soon after we finally checked in our accommodation and took a well deserved nap - Emma even went for a dip in the sea which is only 2mins away!
    In the evening we went for dinner together with Anni and her boyfriend and had some pasta - seems like a crime to have pasta in India but sadly our stomach wouldn’t be able to handle anything more🫠    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    The most beautiful sunset

    February 24, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We spent most od the day in Agonda today as I had to study. But studying in a stunning warm place is not at all that bad must say. Dora went for a swim and napped. We had some “real coffee” finally. Agonda place is so European that many places even call the usual coffee that we have back home - “real coffee”. It’s appreciated tho.

    In the afternoon we headed to the Cabo de Rama fort that Dora had looked up to watch the sunset. First we climbed up to the fort and had an amazing view over the coastline and the Cabo de Rama beach. We walked around a bit and kept finding the prettiest and most calming views. We went down to Pebble beach which was one favorite - we were surrounded by palms, rocks and boulders. We reached it by descending a couple of stairs, which we had to climb on our way back! We got a bit out of breath but we surpassed some Indians that looked like they are going to pass out right about now🫠
    After the Pebble beach we headed to the Shetukla viewpoint where we witnessed the most beautiful sunset ever over the Cabo de Rama beach. The view was breathtaking and it didn’t feel real. I kept thinking how India has beautiful places that I had no idea of before and how this trip really made me realize how much there is to explore. I just want more and more now.
    The night ended at a beach restaurant where there happened to be a Kazumba dance workshop. We didn’t feel like dancing but enjoyed watching other people do it, and they were pros. It felt like we were in a movie scene again. Great ending to an amazing day full of impressions.    Read more

  • Emma DizdarevicBalkan in Goa☀️👯‍♀️🎊🌸Traveler

    🥤beach

    February 25, 2024 in India ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today we woke up early to head to Palolem first thing in the morning! But we should elaborate: waking up early in Agonda means 7.45😉
    Palolem is about 30 minute car drive away from Agonda and it is a bit bigger and busier. After taking a dip in the water on Palolem beach we met a talkative and friendly German girl Nina! She is a lone traveler who also recently attended an Indian wedding! After a brief conversation we invited her to join us for Cola beach where we went later in the day.
    An important mission of the Palolem visit was also SOUVENIR SHOPPING, so after chilling in the beach we quickly went to some nearby shops and explored our options. Of course, nothing in these shops has a fixed price, so we tried to bargain as much as we could - and bought some cool stuff!
    We finished our Palolem visit with some lunch and headed back to Agonda - by tuk tuk!🛺
    Later we went to the famous Cola 🥤beach! It was recommended to us from several different people, including the bride! Our new friend Nina joined us and our “Agonda taxi driver” took us there. It is only 15 minutes away from Agonda but the road becomes very rocky at some point, so our driver rented an older car for it, so he wouldn’t ruin his newer one! The beach was beautiful, sandy, but with a few blackish reddish rocks and boulders in between. Of course, there were also dogs keeping us company and we ran in to some crabs!
    The beach was more touristy than expected, but we went a bit further away where it was emptier and the waves were smaller. We dipped ourselves in the water there for a bit, but didn’t dare to swim in it, as there were still some warning signs about the tides and big waves.
    Then the sunset time started to approach, but we still wanted to see the famous lagoon there which can only be visited by a kayak!
    So the three of us rented 2 kayaks, thinking it would be a peaceful journey through the palms on turquoise water with some nice views.
    NO!
    We sit in the kayaks and start to pedal - after a few minutes we realize this is basically Indian traffic on water! People were crashing into each other, falling in and kept getting stuck in some branches - definitely not a peaceful experience😂 Our main concern was falling into water with all our money, phones and passports! Luckily it didn’t come to that - but we were close a couple of times!
    Then we quickly pedaled back to the beach to catch the sunset - we found a quiet little spot and looked at the sun falling into the sea (again)😅 when the sun left us, we quickly headed back to the driver, who took us back home
    In Agonda we met up with Anni and her partner and decided to give Indian food another shot - we got some delicious veg thalis and chatted with the couple about Indian culture and compared it to Sweden and the Balkans! It was a delightful evening and we had a great time together.    Read more

  • Trip end
    February 28, 2024
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