As we have now been home for a couple of weeks and I have got my head around ‘normal' life again I thought I would do a quick trip report. This was our ninth visit to Goa and like a lot of other people I did wonder what we were going to find upon our arrival this time round. We had a good flight with Monarch and as we checked in quite early we were given seats with extra leg room which was nice as we hadn't paid extra for these. We were also interviewed by a TV crew asking us where we were going and why we went away at Easter and had we been away at that time of year before. Everything was on time and our usual taxi driver met us at the airport. Now the airport is a definite improvement to what it was when we first arrived 9 years ago. Less queues, less chaos and less porters pestering the life out of you. We stayed at Senhor Angelos Hotel and arrived quite early and as we wanted a room with air conditioning we had to wait until after 11 a.m. for people to check out and have the room cleaned which messed our plans up for the morning somewhat. After unpacking and freshening up we walked up to Calangute to the supermarket to stock up on drinks for the room, the chemists to stock up on anti-malaria tabs, contact lens solution, eye drops, etc., then the heavens opened. As we only had on flimsy dresses we sheltered for a while but as the thunder and lighting continued we decided it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. I left my sister sheltering with the shopping while I quickly nipped round to the dentist to confirm our appointments for Tuesday. We then decided to run for it and gave up and got a tuc-tuc back to the hotel. We had made up our mind we were going to our usual beach shack for lunch (Beach Queen) and we weren't going to let the rain stop us so we donned our plastic macs - more like plastic bags with a hood - that we had bought in Benidorm for €1 and headed for the beach. Everyone wanted to know where we had bought our macs and we got some peculiar looks but we didn't care we kept dry. As the shack was so full because of the rain, after saying our hellos to everyone in the shack again and catching up with gossip, they had to run around finding us a table and chairs to sit at. So against all odds we settled down to late lunch and watched the rain. At least it was a first in Goa. We went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening although I had to wash my dress as it had got red mud splashes all over it and it was the only day wear I had which was suitable for going to the dentist and optician. After showering and getting changed we headed off to Panjim and the Deli Darbar. I think they thought we were lingering a bit over the meal as they asked us to move to another table for desert and coffee as they wanted ours for a big group. We enjoyed the meal but didn't feel the service was as attentive as our first visit last year. As we were tired and it was now 11:00 pm we decided to call it a night and went back to the hotel to catch up with some sleep.

Sunday we were hoping for a long day lying in hot sun but it wasn't to be. We did lie out and slept some more but the sun was a bit sparse but who cares it was warmer than England and the food and Kingfishers at the shack were good. We had to leave the beach early anyway as we had to get changed and head up to the Sportsmans Bar in Calangute to watch the ManU Liverpool game. It was great to see all the lads in there again, as soon as we got out of the taxi they all came over proudly wearing their ManU shirts. Needles to say we had a great time in there as we won. We then headed off for Mermaid restaurant. Again I didn't know what to expect as I had read some negative reports about this place before we left but we went there all the same as we have gone for the last few years and never had a bad meal. We had steamed mussels and steak with blue cheese followed by banana split. Everything was good. In the meantime our taxi driver headed off to find Mai Thai for the meet up. Fortunately we didn't have far to go it was only round the corner where at long last we got to meet up with Gemma, Irish Colleen and Polly and their other halves. It was great to put faces to names and it finished our night off nicely although we were a bit worse for wear by the time we got back to the hotel as we had been drinking since early evening, still ManU don't win Liverpool every day only twice a year! I know all the Liverpool fans are now going to remind me of all the times they have won us over the last 50 years.

I won't bore you with days on the beach as you all know it is all drink, sleep and eat and more drink.

Monday was dentist and opticians. Fortunately no treatment was needed by either of us so we just had scale and polish and headed to the opticians. He didn't trust our prescriptions and insisted on doing his own eye test which was free anyway. That was our morning gone so we headed back to the hotel, got changed and headed to the shack for lunch. In the evening we went to East Meets West. We met up with our friend Di who spends 6 months in Goa every year and she had dinner with us. We spent the night catching up on all the Goa gossip and filled her in on what is happening at home. Once again we saw Gemma, Irish Colleen and Polly in there although they saw us before we saw them.

On Tuesday evening we went to Roma Italia as it had been recommended on here. We usually go to J&A's Little Italy for a pizza but thought it had got a bit expensive last year so decided on a change of venue. Unfortunately we chose a night when the Brits from hell were in there. There was a party of 12 aged between 35 and 60ish who were stripping off to their thongs which wasn't a pretty sight as none of them were under a size 16 and that's being kind. Not what I want to see when eating my meal. They then began throwing the waiters into the pool. I was beginning to think all the reports about the Brits in Goa were true and we wouldn't be coming back again. Fortunately, we are not that easily put off and the good made up for the bad. When our taxi driver arrived we were the only ones left in there everyone else had paid up and made a quick escape and left the revellers to it. The taxi driver had heard about it before he even got to us.

Wednesday we ate at O'Pescador where the food is always good and cheap and the service is also good. We then headed up the road to the meet up at Lazy Days where we met up with Irish Colleen and Polly again. We also met Robbie. After another good night we headed back to the hotel.

Thursday we went to Benaulim beach in the South for the day. We had a nice peaceful day down there. We have visited various beaches in the South before but had never been to this stretch.

Friday we ate at Seashells where we had another great meal and one of their Baileys and Khalua coffees which is to die for.

On Holi day (Saturday) we told the taxi driver to take the day and night off from us and enjoy himself and we flagged a taxi outside the hotel about 5 pm and went to take clothes to Candolim Boys Home. After a bit of asking around and following the directions we had been given we eventually got there. The boys all came rushing out to shake our hands and we met the people running the home. It is very poor here but the boys seemed really happy and very well mannered, could show the boys in England a thing or two. We were worried we wouldn't have enough T-shirts to give out due to not having any excess luggage allowance but to our great relief there were more than enough for one each. As Puma had donated them they were all the same style and colour so there was no difficulty in deciding who got what. We ate at Kebabs and Curries then went to the meet up at The Carvery where we thought we were going to meet Fiona but as Fiona says that's another story, but we did meet Lin, Sleeps, Colleen & Polly. Robbie arrived and told us ManU were on the TV playing Villa, we thought it was Sunday; obviously it had been changed so we got the waiter to change channels and saw some of the game. Unfortunately we had to leave before it finished as our friend Di came to meet us to go on to Paradise Village which was another big mistake. We first went there when Mark and Simon ex of Eden opened their club in there. It was okay then but this time it was horrendous. Full of drunken Brits, locals and Indians again all absolutely out of their heads. It is the only time I have felt unsafe in Goa. I couldn't get out of there quick enough.

Sunday another beach day and evening at Tony's Place which was very good value and good food, I agree completely with Gemma - our first visit on recommendation from our taxi driver, will definitely go again.

Early Monday morning Di picked us up and we went off to Arambol beach. We stayed there for two nights, Di stayed one. We got a room for 300 rps for the night. It had a room with its own bathroom. It was up a hill which we had to climb in the pitch black at night. Fortunately we had a torch and had a few laughs climbing up and down. We didn't get offered any drugs although everything seemed to be very open there; it was certainly different staying there and a different experience. They do now charge for use of the mud baths at the lake although there is no charge for swimming in the lake, so we gave the mud baths a miss this time.

On the Wednesday morning our taxi driver came to pick us up and we went to Morjim beach for the day. We met up with the lads from Café del Mar shack. Although they had closed their shack the week before we arranged to meet up with them at one of the lads brother's shack where they cooked lobster and crab for us. This is a ritual with us when we go to Morjim, they always cook lobster and crab for us, not the usual cheap meal but worth it. When it came to paying the bill we didn't have enough money on us as the lobster has gone up in price a lot this year. Our taxi driver footed the bill and added it to our tab. I know everyone goes on about taxi drivers but ours still charges the same as he did 9 years ago and always tells us to have what we want and not to worry about money, he will lend it to us and we can pay it back next year. We did have it at the hotel though. We didn't want to take too much money to Arambol as we had nowhere safe to keep it. We headed back to Calangute about 5.30 pm after lots of goodbyes and photographs. In the evening we went to Pagoda Chinese restaurant in Bagga. We have always enjoyed the food in there but didn't think the menu was as good so are looking for a new Chinese restaurant if anyone has any recommendations. We know about Kim Fa and have been there. We then went to the meet up at Lazy Days. At first sight there didn't seem to be anyone in there and there was no board up. Whilst we were questioning the absence of the board Catweasle heard us and came over and introduced himself. No one else turned up but we had a good night listening to all his travel stories. We arranged to meet him for dinner the next night at Casa Portuguese. He is over in India for 7 weeks and doing some travelling.

Thursday we went back to the opticians to collect our glasses and contact lenses. On the way we once again came across Catweasle eating breakfast on the Calangute road. We did some last minute shopping for presents on the way. Upon arriving at the opticians we found our contact lenses hadn't arrived so after desperately ringing around they said they would bring them to our hotel before 4:00 p.m. Friday as we were leaving very early Saturday morning. We then proceeded to try and pay the bill but the card machine wouldn't work so we all had to get into a taxi while they took us to the shop in Candolim to verify the payment. What we thought was going to be a half hour job turned out to take nearly half a day. We then went to buy loads of cashew nuts and a supply of Honeybee, Old Monk Rum and Stag Whisky to take home with us. We also paid a visit to the Tibetan market and bought rings. We eventually arrived at the beach in time for lunch. In the evening we went to Casa Portuguese and Catweasle joined us. It was the quietest I have ever seen it in there. We were the only ones in there all evening, we certainly had a nice peaceful dinner. About 12 Di came to meet up with us together with our taxi driver, we said goodbye to Catweasle and headed for Mambos where we danced the night away until it closed just after 2:00 a.m.

Friday we enjoyed a nice long last day on the beach and watched our last sunset. When we got back to the hotel we expected our contact lenses to have been delivered but there was no sign. We tried to ring the opticians but there was no answer. In the end we decided we would leave it with Di to sort out for us and she could bring them back to England for us as it was spoiling our last night. We got ready and went out of the hotel at 8:30 p.m. to find the optician outside with our contact lenses so all worked out in the end. He was quite a cute guy so we couldn't be mad with him. We headed off to try another new restaurant - Over The Flames - to try their famous steaks but when we arrived there it was karaoke night and we couldn't face that whilst eating dinner so we headed over the road to After 7 another new one to us. We loved it here and will definitely go back. Leo told us about Posh and said that from October it will be opening in the evening as well as breakfast and lunch so we will try that one on our next visit. There our holiday ended.

Much of our time was spent on the local beach although we did spend one day on Bagga beach. We went up to St Anthony's shack to see Barry who sat next to us on the plane when we went home last year. Unfortunately he wasn't in so we never saw him. We had a drink there and moved on to Big Banana to sample the steak burger that Rob from CWT raved about. We stayed there for the rest of the day but it was a bit too crowded for me. I do like a bit more space around me.

I could see where a lot of the criticism was coming from this year but we still love Goa and will be returning for 3 weeks in December when we hope to travel up to the Taj Mahal etc for 5 days which will make it different for us again. This year is the first time we have never gone to any of the markets and I have to say we didn't really get pestered on the beach by anyone to buy anything so we came back minus the usual 10 sarongs and numerous necklaces, bracelets, earrings and toe rings. I think we could set up our own market stall.

We did discuss with Catweasle about having a meet up in Leeds for any HTers in that area to do some kind of fund raising for the Candolim Boys Home as they are wanting to put showers in the home this year as some of the children got malaria last year because of the standing water. So when I have time to get my head around it and when Catweasle is back from his travels we will try and arrange something. We spoke to a few people who we met in our shack from around Leeds and they were interested in joining us.

That's it until December.