JAN 1, 12 .. GOA .. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 ..

Sometimes a photo IS worth a thousand words .. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 ..

Since I do not really know what to call this .. I am going to call it a KITE .. I watched as part of it was put together here in Arambol at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church .. NOT knowing what it was they were busily making.. I did NOT photograph it .. in the photo below I am 'sneaking' in one last photo of the church .. if you will look closely to the right edge of the photo you will see the KITE as it hangs in front and to the side of the church .. I LOVE THIS CHURCH..

Again .. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 .. to you ALL .. with much love.. cap .. 

DEC 28, 11 .. GOA ..

On November the 27th.. I ventured north of Arambol Beach to see what lay beyond the main beach to the north .. of course I had heard that there was another beach up there (somewhere) and a somewhat mystical 'hidden' lake there as well .. well on that day .. I got to the next beach .. I now know this beach is called 'Sweet Water Beach' and .. on November 27th .. I ONLY briefly noted 'some water to the east of it' .. when I tried to go past the sandy portion of 'Sweet Water Beach' back on November the 27th.. I ran into trouble .. I did NOT have (1) hiking boots on and (2) I did NOT have raw hide gloves with me .. I only had beach sandals .. so I was TOTALLY UN-EQUIPPED to really (safely) go too much further north because I ran into an extremely ROCKY section .. and I (sensibly) retreated and headed back to my apartment .. thinking .. maybe one day I will return fully equipped (hiking boots.. raw hide gloves.. water .. etc ..) to do what I wanted to do .. I also did a post .. FWIW..  78.. November 27th ..


Well it took me one full month to go back north .. but last Monday .. December the 26th .. off north I headed .. EQUIPPED .. hiking boots.. raw hide gloves .. water .. electral for de-hydration .. beach sandals in case I got into tidal waters and had to do some serious wading ..  towel and wash cloth to wash my feet IF I got into the sand and water and wanted to put my hiking boots back on .. etc ..


And on Monday .. the 26th .. I achieved one goal .. I got to 'Sweet Water Beach' and really looked at this mystical 'hidden' lake .. to the POINT of having climbed up a (mountain) small hill and photographed the lake from high above it .. I also photographed Arambol Beach from the top of this (Mountain) small hill and down I came .. TOTALLY EXHAUSTED from the climb up the (mountain) small hill .. and I headed straight back to my apartment .. to have begun to put one foot onto the rocky section north of 'Sweet Water Beach' would have been insanity for me.. I was 'toast' .. I have talked to some others who have climbed the (mountain) hill and they agreed with me .. it is difficult and tricky and dangerous .. oh yes.. by the way.. I snapped (more than a) few photos ..


Tuesday .. much to my surprise .. I felt fine and fit and so off I went back north in the early morning mist .. COOL mist .. and I accomplished two goals on Tuesday .. I got as far north on the rocky coast as I wanted to and I got to the Banyan Tree .. another mythical feature of Arambol Beach .. as in .. "Oh you MUST see the Banyan Tree" ..  and by the time I finished that exploration .. again .. I was EXHAUSTED .. climbing around on the rocks and up to the Banyan Tree really took a toll on me .. and back to my apartment I went .. having taken (just a few dozen) more photos .. (lots more) ..


So here I sat Tuesday night with a lot of photos .. a lot got edited out believe me .. and I got to work posting some of (18) them .. FWIW.. 114 to 116 .. of my journey to 'Sweet Water Beach and Lake' .. I also (since I was at it) posted (9) photos of some of my favorite shops in Arambol Beach .. see FWIW..  113 ..


Well .. wonder of wonders .. today .. Wednesday the 28th of December .. back I went yet again to 'Sweet Water Beach and Lake' and to the rocky coast north of the beach ..


So in FWIW.. 114 to 119 .. I have managed to post 36 photos .. including FWIW..  113 .. 45 photos in the past two days .. 


I have done the best I know how to do .. in an ideal world I would have laid them all out.. and in proper order .. posted them .. the problem is THIS .. you do NOT want to even think of trying to post anything even closely approaching (for me the number is 10) this number of photos in one post .. the web site does odd things and suddenly .. I have this happen .. I have lost photos I had SAVED .. and had them jump out of place for me .. so you end up having to post the photos BACKWARDS .. since YOU will be reading them backwards also .. you will start here with FWIW.. 120.. and go down .. so since I am posting only six to eight or so a post .. to take you chronologically in order I have to start with FWIW..  114 .. as the end of the line .. and FWIW .. 119 as the beginning .. 


The photos in my camera are NOT in the order I will post them .. so it is a real challenge to get something even closely approaching what I would like to have .. so as you read down here .. you will see a few photos several times and some will be out of order .. today the 28th I took more photos but I had written and published FWIW.. 114 to 116 last night .. so I just plopped them into FWIW.. 117 to 119 .. out of order .. IF I had gone back and inserted them into FWIW.. 114 to 116 .. I risked losing the entire post .. I would have had to delete some to do what I wanted to do and just was not going through the  hassle ..


I DO sincerely hope you enjoy the results of my past three days (daze) .. in order or out of order .. some of them are really nice .. well I like them .. much joy and much love.. cap ..

Well what's another photo .. this was taken in Agra Cantt back in October .. I mean I think that I 'have the hang of' posting photos ! 

DEC 28, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

Below .. in the early morning mist .. is a photo facing south and looking down upon Arambol Beach .. it is not the best photo that I have ever taken .. but it was the best I could get with the misty conditions I had to deal with ..

 To get north and past the main part of Arambol Beach .. you walk north and past the rock outcrop you see to the left side of the below photo .. this rock outcrop DEFINES the north end of the main section of Arambol Beach .. we will see it several more times ..

Here is a closer view of the rock outcrop at the north end of the beach ..

Yet another even closer view of the rock outcrop ..

And a view looking down from the top of the hill overlooking Arambol Beach .. this photo below shows you how the ocean shoreline changes from a sandy beach to rocks once past the rock outcrop shown above.. it will return to a sand beach at 'Sweet Water Beach' shown below.. I mean just look down at the JUNGLE below you in the below photo !

A shot of the shoreline as you have passed the rock outcrop and are heading north for 'Sweet Water Beach' .. note the white home in the photo.. this is a real landmark going north ..

A close up look of the white home.. it is STUNNING to see and walk past .. I really like it a lot..

And shortly after you pass the white house shown above .. you come to  'Sweet Water Beach' shown below .. I am going to continue this walk in FWIW.. 118.. below .. I have to tell you this .. 'Sweet Water Beach' is really a nice beach..

In the center of the above photo.. you can see the water body that stretches to the right and out of the photo .. this is 'Sweet Water Lake' .. I will show you more of this 'hidden' lake in following FWIW photo series below.. but want to show you now what looking out upon the lake looks like ..

'Sweet Water Lake' is really 'idyllic' to sit and contemplate .. 

DEC 28, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

Here we go .. in the below photo .. where the sand ends you see the north end of 'Sweet Water Beach' .. I am going to go past this point and explore the area beyond.. climbing on the rocks past the end of the sand beach .. you also see the rocky area in the photo below .. I will get all the way to the gray colored outcropping in the ocean at the top of the rocky stretch ..

No matter how hard I tried to show them in FWIW..  115.. below  .. I had to come back today.. the 28th of December .. and get more photos to show you the size of the rocks I was climbing over ..

Today the 28th of December .. the tide was coming in and was near the high point .. you can see in the below photo that .. at high tide .. you can not safely skirt the edge of the rock formation to get around (only some) the rocks..

I just can't emphasize enough the size of these rocks ..

And the difficulty it is to cross them .. you literally must 'WORK' your way north over the tops of them .. you can NOT photograph the forest as a whole when you are amidst the trees .. this is what I am up against trying to show you their size ..

And once you finally get to the gray rock outcrop and look north .. below is the view .. and I did NOT even think about going further north.. NO WAY .. period.. I had had ENOUGH .. 

Again .. you will see some of these photos in FWIW..  115.. below .. this has been a three-day effort to show you this area of Arambol and Sweet Water Beaches and Sweet Water Lake ..

DEC 28, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

Today was my third day in my mini-Odyssey to explore 'Sweet Water Beach' and especially the 'Hidden Lake' at the beach and the area north of it here in Arambol .. because climbing the hills and crossing the rocks is very risky and poses some real danger .. I try to stay in cell-phone contact with Patti.. BUT this is impossible because  the area is remote and off-the-radar for cell phones .. today .. at 'Sweet Water Beach' I saw a local woman on her cell phone .. I asked her IF she was actually talking and she nodded "Yes" .. shortly she was 'dropped' and she then moved to another spot .. I followed her and was able to call Patti .. so I PROMSIED PATTI THAT I WOULD show her the scene I was looking at as we spoke this morning .. Wednesday the 28th of December.. MY day and MY morning time .. smiles and love.. cap ..

In the above photo.. and it is much clearer in the below photo .. there is a 'gunsight' to orient you to the above and the two below photos .. 

And below you can REALLY see the 'gunsight' I am talking about .. NOW just look at the beauty of the ocean and think back on our cell phone call .. smiles and more love .. cap ..

Ah-h-h .. would you believe that I had to shoot .. more than a few photos .. to get the water crashing against the rocks .. all worth it .. I would see a wave 'developing' then 'guess' when I thought it would crash against the rocks and produce a shower of ocean-spray.. I 'caught' it a time or two..

DEC 27, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

In the below photo .. we are looking north from the southernmost end of 'Sweet Water Beach' .. this beach is also called the 'Hidden Beach' because it is totally hidden from the main beach at Arambol Beach.. to get to 'Sweet Water Beach' you have to walk past the rock outcrop at the north end of Arambol Beach and walk about ten minutes north .. the name 'Sweet Water' is taken from the lake that is a FRESH water lake .. fresh or sweet .. so there you have it .. some say it's mixed sea and fresh water .. 

This photo looks north up 'Sweet Water Beach ..

 To get the views looking DOWN on the beach and DOWN on 'Sweet Water Lake' .. this lake too is also known as the 'Hidden Lake' .. I had to climb the hill you see behind the beach huts in the below photo ..

The below photo down on the beach is from the top of the 'hill' shown above..

 So we have 'Sweet Water Beach' and 'Sweet Water Lake' .. both also called 'Hidden' Beach and Lake ..

DEC 27, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

In the below photos .. I have gone past the north end of 'Sweet Water Beach' at Arambol .. (see also For What It's Worth.. 78.. November 27, 2011.. where I began this walk that I completed on  December the 27th).. the below photo (taken from above the beach) shows the north end of the beach .. it is past this north end that I walked to go further north than I was able to do November 27th.. I got to the large gray rock outcrop jutting out into the ocean you see below and shot a photo looking north of there .. so now I realize that there are NO beaches immediately above Arambol's 'Sweet Water Beach' to the north.. Keri Beach is MUCH farther north .. at the bottom right of the below photo you see a restaurant .. I walked past this restaurant heading to the right to get to the Banyan Tree you see in FWIW.. 114.. below ..

 

 Standing as far north as I was able to walk .. the below photo looks north up the coast of Goa towards Maharashtra .. looking down you see the gray rock outcrop I mention above ..

 The below photo looks back south towards 'Sweet Water Beach' .. again .. I am standing upon the gray rock outcrop I mention in the first photo above ..

It may not look like it .. but the going was really a challenge .. a teen-ager may have been able to nimbly skip from rock to rock .. not me .. I felt my 75 years .. this photo faces south ..

It just does NOT look that difficult in these photos .. but trust me.. EVEN the younger back packers I have seen were NOT racing across these rocks .. on November 27th .. I did NOT have (1) hiking boots nor (2) raw hide gloves to protect my hands .. the gloves are critical because you tend to need to brace yourself against the rocks as you move along and they are very volcanic like sharp .. one (1) mis-step and you twist a knee .. twist an ankle .. twist a shoulder .. twist your back .. jam a leg into a hip .. and you are suddenly in a HEAP OF TROUBLE out here amidst these rocks with few (zero today) people around to assist you .. they are much LARGER than they appear in these photos ..this photo also faces south ..

What beauty the rocks are in the final analysis .. what beauty the ocean is .. looking west out to sea .. the tide was coming in while I was out .. so I was lucky to get back just ahead of it closing me off for awhile ..

So now we all have an idea of what lies past the northern most beach ('Sweet Water Beach') .. at Arambol Beach ..

DEC 27, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH ..

In Arambol Beach there are some 'urban' legends about the 'Hidden Lake' behind 'the OTHER' Beach in Arambol Beach .. and .. taa-daa .. myths surrounding .. THE Banyan Tree .. so I decided to really explore them both ..

This other beach is named 'Sweet Water Beach' and you have seen it above in FWIW.. 115 and 116.. and in photo 5 of For What It's Worth.. 78.. November 27, 2011 .. and it is simply another beach you get to by going past the rocky point jutting out into the ocean at the extreme north end of the main beach at Arambol Beach .. and walking some distance to this next beach .. 

 Standing on 'Sweet Water Beach' ..in the below photo .. looking east inland .. you can see immediately in front of you the downstream end of 'Sweet Water Lake' a hidden lake inland from the beach and the ocean  .. notice the 'floats' to the left of the red flag out on the lake .. now we are going to walk (CLIMB) up the hill which is to the right of the below photo and look down upon 'Sweet Water Lake' .. or 'Hidden Lake' .. I see it called either .. the Banyan Tree you will see in photos 7 and 8 below is going to be ahead of us on the left side of the lake shown below .. this is primaily a fresh water lake NOT sea water .. thus the name 'sweet' water ..

Below is a photo (taken Monday December the 26th) looking down upon the lake .. you can see the floats on the lake I mention in the photo above .. the building you see in the below photo is a beach restaurant .. and to get to the Banyan Tree we are going to walk beside this restaurant and follow the lake around its farther side (the north side) to the right and further past its head water entrance .. I was so exhausted after the climb to shoot this photo that I returned to my apartment and continued the Banyan Tree project on Tuesday the 27th .. but while up on the top of this 'hill' I shot several other photos you will see in FWIW.. 115 .. above ..

 Although the below photos were taken the next day .. Tuesday the 27th of December .. I am showing them below since you can orient to them as described above.. in the two below photos we are walking through the 'jungle' so to speak .. to get to the .. taa-daa .. Banyan Tree ..

 What these two photos do NOT clearly show .. is that we are climbing up and going down .. but the path is pretty clear .. the path on the climb to look down on 'Sweetwater Lake' was extremely difficult to ascertain for probably 40% of the way ..

 I could NOT resist photographing this magnificent stone bowl .. it is on the hill just below the Banyan Tree .. 'Give if you can' .. this too is FAMOUS locally and a part of the destination walking to the Banyan Tree ..

 'Take if you have to' .. very nice.. it was empty when I came upon it .. I had mixed feelings about that .. but I did NOT put any money into the bowl ..

 And below.. IF you can even begin to 'make it out' is the .. taa-daa .. fabled Banyan Tree .. in my humble opinion .. much ado about NOTHING .. I had expected it to be on the top of the mountain .. in a cleared open area .. and to stand .. solitary and alone .. in magnificent splendor .. instead it is mixed into the jungle and impossible to even ascertain where exactly it is .. and I was 'toast' after this climb also ..

In Arambol Beach .. in almost every restaurant .. there are signs posted saying .. no smoking .. "Lovely" I thought my first day or two here .. then I found that everyone that wants to smoke totally ignores the signs .. then I learned that there is smoking .. and there is ..  s m o k i n g  .. in the above photo you see steps up into a clearing under the Banyan Tree .. in the below photo is a shot in the clearing ..

 "Why" ..  I wondered silently .. "When it is in the 90s .. do they have a fire going ?" .. and .. "Why in the world are they bundled up ?" ..I did NOT ask and will never know .. BUT .. believe thee me .. they all were ..   S M O K I N G  ! ..  smoking is Marlboro's..  Lucky Strike's .. Camel's .. Pall Mall's .. and ..  S M O K I N G  .. is what they were doing .. very friendly .. they offered me a pipe but I declined .. I was so exhausted from the climb I DID stay with them for awhile .. they DID confirm for me that .. "YES.. this IS the Banyan Tree ! " .. so out and off went gimme-some Roy .. to the land that knows no time.. down a trail no man could conquer .. to a cliff no man could climb .. (from the Search for the Perfect High.. by Shel Silverstein..) .. smiles and love.. cap ..

DEC 27, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH SHOPS

I am not down on all the stores here in ARAMBOL BEACH at all.. in fact many I really enjoy passing and just looking in as I walk by .. here are but a few.. 

The World Peace German Bakery is one shop that  I actually patronize regularly since Niklas from Sweden got me turned onto buying bread .. in fact Niklas took me here .. very good bread and a good selection of other products as well .. as you can see  by studying the below photo .. it is a bit more than only a bakery ..

 The below two shops are just a kick ..  one beside the other .. a contrast in products you would say for certain .. I need say no more .. smiles ..

 The below spice and tea shop certainly is a favorite of mine although I purchase neither .. IF this shop was at home I would be a regular customer .. the spices are on the left (see photo below this one) and the teas are on the right (see the second photo below this one) .. "Cap what is it you love so much about India ?" .. the man who owns or runs the shop politely stepped outside for me to snap the photo although I sort of wanted him IN the photo ..

 Can you smell the spices where you are .. I enjoy smelling them as I pause ..

 How about all of the teas .. can you taste them .. they almost make me want to become a tea drinker ..

 Herbal and holistic Ayurvedic Medicine is an ancient and widely practiced and well respected art here in India ..

 If you have IT .. they have a cure for you ! .. this is a close up of the sign in the above photo on the left front of the shop ..

 Moving right along .. IF music and DRUMS are your thing .. well trust me .. they have one just for you here in Arambol Beach .. how about a guitar to go with your drum .. they have them also .. how about a gourd to 'shake rattle and roll' with the drums and guitars .. they've got 'em too ..

 I thought with the below close up photo .. you might want to reach into the screen and plunk one of the drums .. 

 

 Trust me on this .. as with all of India .. there are NO free rides .. each of the above shops have a number of competitors .. yes there even is another German Bakery further up the street almost to the beach .. and the 'daily needs stores' also have EXCELLENT bread delivered to them from outside of Arambol Beach bakeries .. competition here in India is brutal ..

DEC 25, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH .. CHRISTMAS ..

A photo IS worth a thousand words !  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL ..

I saw them building this and told Patti .. "They are building a kite" .. I wish now I would have taken a photo of it in progress .. just another example of the LOVE I see at the church.. 

DEC 25, 11 .. GOA .. ARAMBOL BEACH .. CHRISTMAS ..

To supplement the two below photos .. I posted two writings at ..  http://babakaps.net .. just in case you are interested in more details about the Christmas Eve Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church .. you may wish to visit my other web site ..

Below may very well be my final two photos of the church .. I can not seemingly snap too many photographs of it .. what a truly magnificent church here in this tiny village of Arambol in Goa .. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was built in 1780 ..

This is my Doxology to my God of Abraham .. as Meister Eckhart has stated .. If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you.. it will be enough .. through the act of praying .. I have been given the following words .. several of which are from a Roman Catholic Priest friend of mine.. Father 'Mac' .. 

THANK YOU GOD

For your gift 
To the world
Of your son
Jesus of Nazareth

LORD AND SAVIOUR
HE IS RISEN 

This I believe
Help my unbeliefs
Strength my faith
GOD I pray .


I have shown the below crucifix because .. JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON .. 

And I show the crucifix because I so HONOR and appreciate the completeness of this wonderful church .. as I have written .. built in 1780 .. they have had time to GET IT RIGHT ..