India

India 2026: Goa & Delhi

Our first trip to India in May 2026 was part of a two month journey where we also visited Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. The flight connections to the Caucasus are really good from Delhi, so we decided to incorporate some time in India. We have a five year visa for India and hope to explore more of this incredible country in the coming years.

Azerbiajan to India

Our journey from Azerbaijan to India began with our flight from Baku that left at 10.30pm and arrived ahead of schedule in Delhi at around 4am the next day. The good thing about arriving at this ridiculous hour is that the immigration queue is non-existent and you are through in no time at all. Unfortunately that just made us even earlier for our 10.45am flight to Goa, but I suppose that's better than being late.

We booked three nights in Morjim but it seemed very quiet. It was beyond chilled out, it was pretty much dead. Many of the bars and restaurants listed on Google Maps were closed and appeared to have been that way for a while despite having reasonably recent reviews. The beach we visited had a lot of rubbish around and wasn't pleasant at all.

Morjim and south to Vagaotr and Anjuna

We hired a scooty (that's what the hotel manager called it) and rode down to Vagator and Anjuna. Those places were much busier, but it seemed to be domestic tourism. Because of that, it was difficult to find a money exchange and SIM retailer. 

Weather-wise it was extremely humid. It was hot, but the humidity was a much bigger issue. Having the bike was great as it was certainly better than walking in those conditions. 

We decided to move from Morjim to Calangute for the night. A little walk around in the evening showed us that this place, like Vagator and Anjuna, is very busy with domestic tourism.

Arriving in Palolem

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we packed up and took a taxi to Palolem. It's a two hour drive but was about half an hour longer as the driver needed to stop for gas. The line was very long and I guess our driver didn't want to fill up before in case we cancelled. With a full tank we continued on our way south. 

It's great that we have been able to see a bit of north, central, and south Goa on this trip. Morjim was too quiet, and Calangute too busy. Was Palolem to be the Goldilocks location? We booked a slightly fancy resort for three days, so there was plenty of time to check it out before returning to Delhi.

Beach at sunset

We didn't do much on our first full day in Palolem, but we wandered down to the beach around sunset. The little streets here have a certain charm and intimacy that I really liked. The traffic is mostly people on foot or on motos, so it's much more relaxed than the busier parts of Goa.

Agonda and back

We hired another scooty and rode the short distance to Agonda beach. It seems very similar to Palolem but a bit smaller and even more quiet. The jungle in this area is thick and the humidity so high that you could see it in the air at times. It was a relaxing day and nice to see a bit more of Goa. 

Delhi

Returning to Delhi, we asked the hotel to organise a taxi to pick us up at the airport. There is no better feeling than exiting the terminal to see someone holding a piece of paper with your name on it. The taxi hustle can be a very unpleasant experience in this part of the world so we always opt out of it if we can. An Uber would have been about US $7 and the hotel taxi was US $10. Worth the extra $3 any day of the week.

Shopping in Delhi

Our planned shopping day was a bit of a fail as Jeremy couldn't find anything in his size despite every seller proclaiming to have big sizes. I bought a top, two pairs of pants and a pair of shoes for US $6 total. The markets we visited (Janpath Market, Palika Bazaar, Sarojini Nagar) were a lot of fun to wander around, and we certainly left with a better idea of how people are living here.

Chandni Chowk shopping

It was a few degrees hotter on our last day in India, but felt like much more. We went for a look around the bridal market in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi. The gowns on display were remarkable for their detailed decoration and I thought it was interesting that most of the shops selling these gowns were staffed (owned?) by men. 

After the bridal market, we returned to Palika Bazaar where I bought another 20 pairs of pants for US $1 each, most of which I’ll be passing along to others. Jeremy got a new wallet after several demonstrations from stall holders attempting to burn the leather to convince us of its quality. We were at that point of "over it"-ness and possibly heat exhaustion that we found the antics with the cigarette lighter particularly hilarious. Bear in mind that Palika Bazaar is underground, has very little natural ventilation, and is crowded beyond belief.

I also bought some nag champa incense (big box of 12 for US $3.50) and terracotta incense holders for 20 rupees each which is around US $0.20, and a cheap canvas bag that I packed with my Delhi purchases for the flight back to Phnom Penh.

This visit was a great introduction to India, and I feel like if we can handle it when the weather is at its worst, we will be fine when we return at a slightly cooler time of year. Looking forward to our next visit already!