Pahar Ganj

We left Goa with renewed spirits and ready to face the urban sprawl of our last stop in India: Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. Unlike many other more savory areas of the city, this narrow street of shops, guest houses, aggressive street vendors, beggars, dust and cows is a dreaded hub for budget travelers in India. We were surprised to find ourselves really enjoying our time there, however, and learned that we wouldn't even mind living in this kind of urban environment. Downtown Santa Cruz, perhaps?










Ajay Guest House, an old favorite. This is where we stayed.

My friend, Haog. He is officially a refugee from Yugoslavia and supports himself by selling incense along the traveler trail. He has faithfully sent me at least two postcards annually for the past 6 years.

Sunset in Arambol

The villiage where our friends live is filled with travelers with children. Every evening, they all come out for fire dancing, juggling, watching the sunset, and playing on the beach. We loved singing worship at sunset while the children played in the sand and water.

A Tropical Christmas

Early Christmas morning



We celebrated in the morning with our dear friends. They read the Christmas story from our favorite children's Bible and then opened gifts.


Baby loved her presents from the kids - a wooden snake and some ankle bracelets!



We spent the rest of the day preparing for a Christmas party that evening. We invited everyone we had connected with in the villiage and had a sweet time of feasting and singing worship and carols.


Mama making chai and baby waiting for a taste...


for dessert we had an amazing apple pie, chocolate cake, and chai. Yum!

Merry Christmas!!!

Villiage Life

We stayed with our very dear friends in the small villiage of Arambol. After weeks of depending on restaurants for food, it was lovely to be able to cook and share home*made meals once again. Each weekday, we would have a Scripture meditation time together from 11am to noon. After that, we ate a communal meal that we took turns cooking each day. It was deeply nourishing to both our bodies and souls.


It didn't take long to get in the groove of villiage life there. The "bread walla" rode his bike through town every morning selling small buns of fresh baked bread. He had a tiny horn that announced his presence and roused us from bed at around 6am every morning for our daily fix of these tasty little rolls. A tiny shop down the road sold fresh eggs, milk, curd, a few vegetables, and some other basics like rice and flour. The main area of Arambol is a good walk down the beach. Here there is a strip of seemingly endless tiny clothing shops and restaurants that cater to hippie tourists.



We also rented a scooter for a couple days to make trips outside the villiage.


The closest town is Mapusa, where they have a bustling outdoor market on Fridays.