The Goa airport is about an hour’s ride from Baga by taxi. I quickly learn how to repack my things so that I still only have one check in and one carry on. With Maxine as my primary carry-on I board a flight to Delhi and arrive in the afternoon.

I arrive in Delhi in the height of rush hour traffic. I guess traffic is always pretty bad here but right now its evening and people are getting off work so it is even worse. I find a nice hotel near the main train station and do a little exploring of the area. In the evening I wait for Christine who is coming from Rishikesh to Delhi by train. We will spend one day in Delhi and before heading to Agra and then Jaipur, thus competing the golden triangle.

The next day we get up early to head over to the Chinese embassy where we will be turn in our passports for a China Visa. After looking up the office hours of the embassy we arrive at the gate to find that it actually doesn’t open for another two hours. And since we rushed over to make the opening time, we both skipped breakfast and are starving. Once the gate finally opens, all the Indians rush ahead of us with blatant disregard for a queue. And once we start to queue inside for the windows the same things happens and one guy cuts right in front of me. I wait until we are next in line before saying “Hey asshole, there’s a line here” and point him to the back. At first he doesn’t react and to make sure I get my point across I push him back and stand in front of him. He finally turns and heads to the end of what is now a really long queue. The rest of the people in line give me an approving nod.

I feel like we rushed through the rest of Delhi. For such a big city with tons to see a single day was just not enough. However I was able to see the red fort, the Muslim quarter, the subway and many of the smaller attractions, none of which was that amazing. What did surprise me was how clean the subway was here. As soon as stepped down the stairs it felt like I was in another country. The place was actually clean, there were no homeless people lying around, no beggers, no trash, and everyone actually queued; well actually mostly everyone.

Christine and I reach Agra in the evening. A lot of the restaurants are already closed so we are quite limited to where we end up eating. I don’t remember the exact name of the place, but it was on a rooftop and by far one of the worst places I’ve eaten Indian food. Christine and I have been experimenting and eat as much street food as we can. During this phase we are always joking about how we’re going to get sick doing this. At the restaurant, she orders a banana lassi and mentions how this is going to do her in. It was really ironic because later that night I awoke to Christine puking her guts out in the bathroom.

The evening was actually really interesting. I didn’t get much sleep and kept waking up. At one point there was a dog outside barking nonstop. So I decide to out to our balcony and throw something at it so it would leave our hotel area. I threw a rock and it did the trick. I turn around on the railing next to the door going back into our hotel room sits a monkey. That thing scared the shit out of me. And for it to be so close to me I quickly jumped inside and slammed the door shut.
The next morning only I wake up early enough to see the Taj at sunrise. It’s only later that morning that Christine finally made it out of bed to join me. Getting into the area to see the Taj Mahal was a huge hassle too. You cannot bring any food, books, or a pocketknife as I found out. Furthermore I even had to argue with the guard to let him take in a backpack. I had to go back to the locker area three times before I actually cleared the entrance area.

The beauty of the Taj Mahal is indescribable and all the pictures that I’ve seen of it doesn’t really do it justice. In the morning the whiteness of the building is tinted in a glowing light blue and fades slowly to orange and then finally white when the sun is fully out. It was an amazing transformation to watch. In the morning the fountains are turned off. That is the time to get a perfect reflection of the Taj Mahal in the waters.

The next day we have a night train to Jaipur and then followed by another night train to Delhi. Jaipur came and went quickly with not much that really stood out in my mind. With the combination of Christine being sick from her banana lassi and my lack of sleep from the overnight train ride, we are pretty sluggish throughout the entire day.

In the evening we met up with some Americans that were doing a spring break India trip. They invited us to join them for dinner which we happily accepted since their driver would give us a ride. Their driver who is also their tour guide selects a restaurant for us. This place is the most expensive restaurant I’ve ever been to in India. It is definitely geared towards the package tourist. The drinks were the prices of a typical meal that I am use to eating. Furthermore after we got our overpriced food we found out that the portions were tiny and the taste not so great.

The last night train from Jaipur to Delhi was surprisingly cold. With nothing by two changes of clothes that I packed for this 3 day trip I don’t have much to keep me warm. During the night I resort to wearing all my clothes and using my extra dirty Tshirt as a blanket for my legs. The train was probably the dirtiest I’ve been on. Even after wiping my bench with a towel I end up with dirty clothes of the journey. We actually woke up to an empty train and all the lights turned off. Initially I thought we had stopped at another station for a little bit but then I happened to glance down to see empty bunks. I wake up Christine and we quickly realize that we have already missed the main Delhi station and have end up at the end of the line.

A rickshaw ride to the hotel to grab our main bags, then another rickshaw ride to the Chinese embassy to pick up our hotels and finally a third rickshaw ride to the airport and we’re ready to say goodbye to India.

Goa has much in the ways of day markets, night markets and just markets and gatherings in general. Here you can find all sorts of goods from clothes, sculptures, to spices, jewelry and Tibetan made items. There is so much traffic at these events its easy to figure out where and when these gatherings occur. I love going to these things as I get to meet new people and check out the live shows. The parties in Goa are getting less and less crowded as the main tourist season comes to an end.

The first market I go to is on Wednesday. This is before I had my scooter so I ended up taking the footpath over the ridge to Ajuna beach which is just north of Baga beach. With my foot injury from Hampi it takes me a little over an hour to reach Ajuna. There are small tents as far as the eye can see and it is here that I buy a lot of souvenirs to send back home. There are hand carved chess sets that I really want, but they weight too much and would cost too much to send back. So I opt for lighter things.

I hear about a night party from Raluca. She has been here in Goa for the last three months. I take my scooter there and party into the early hours of the morning. The party scene has been policed heavily as of late so the location and times of the parties are released at the last minute. A lot of the times people are riding from beach to beach trying to figure out where the parties are. Since I’m on a working schedule I can only attend the ones that are on the weekend, which is find for me as these things are really overpriced anyways.

2. Shape nut and saddle

3. Final sand everything
4. Add strings
5. Adjust frets if needed

Progress after day 14:

3. Sand and prepare everything for spray

4. Spray

Progress after day 13:

2. Microsaw frets
3. Hammer in frets
4. File and sand fret ends to length

Progress after day 12:

Today after working on the guitar I jump on my bike and head into Calangute to run some errands. On the only intersection that I pass a group of kids covered from head to toe in multi-color powder pants blindsides me with handfuls of color power thrown at me. I quickly become the canvas in what looks like an Indian rendition of modern art. The same scene is seen throughout the town and as I ride down the busy streets I quickly become covered. In town I discover that it is an Indian holiday called Holi and this activity will continue for several days.

2. Saw fretboard

3. Saw head veneer to fit trussrod
4. Insert trussrod
5. Dry fit fretboard and then glue on to neck

Progress after day 11:

3. Bend purfing on heated pipe and glue on

Progress after day 10:

3. Chisel the braces to an arc

4. Clean inside the guitar

5. Glue on back

Progress after day 9: