He usually gives you a quick wave and a thanks when you are leaving. I guess by that time he has your money and doesnt care tho

Gaz, we are up that way next week.I will have to pop into the Shack wearing my Birmingham City shirt (never know might get preferential treatment).

John

If you have got a SWEAR blues shirt, get yourself home and they will give you a game

I Think that was all the restaurants we used this trip - oh apart from a trip to ashwem beach - we used a shack that appeared to have no name - it looked very ramshackle even as a shack - the breakfast and drinks were ok but the lunch we had - chicken tikka and a butter chicken with garlic nan were very greasy - the shack was in a good location richt next to the lagoon and there sunbeds were placed between the lagoon and the sea..still i didnt really like the feel of this beach - so we never returned again - choosing to go to mandrem a few more times.

other days out we did - using our taxi driver we visited Old Goa - not a great deal here unless you are into the Cathedral and Bom Basillica's history - certainly worth an hour or two of your time - but its a bit manic where the taxi drops you off...loads of sellers all thrusting stuff into your hands - once you get inside the monuments though there are none and its very peaceful - you can wonder around at your hearts content...i found it all very interesting. When we left Old Goa we made our way to a spice farm - the same one we went to last time but i had just about ran out of the stuff i bought and needed a top up and i found the spices i purchased here were far superior to anything i had bought from elsewhere. again an interesting tour - you get a guided tour around a small part of plantation - showing you the top 5 spices and a few rare plants fruit etc..this lasts about 45 minsutes - you then get a buffet thrown in - about 5 or six dishes with rice and popadums..not bad..all served on a banana leaf to save the washing up! - this was all 300 rupees each by the way - our driver charged us 800 rupees for the complete trip - MD to Old Goa - Spices - MD...not a bad deal at all considering there was quite a bit of driving. Also at the spice farm but at an additional price are some elephants - you can ride and wash - we had done all our elephant activities here last time and whilst in Thailand so we never bothered this time but you take as many free photos as you like.

One afternoon we took our taxi into Panjim where we spent the afternoon shopping, gifts from the Levis shop and pepe jeans for our 18 year old and i got my dads glasses prescription done complete with some designer frames all for £25 - he had been quoted £90 at home just for the lenses alone so he was well impressed. After the shopping and a hard earned coffe at the coffe day place over looking the centre of panjim we headed to the jetties where we had bought tickets for a sunset cruise on the paradise catamaran - 150 rupees each...we boarded around 16:45 and set sail at around 17:15 - if you have not done one of these i can highly recommend it. you make your way to the top deck where all the chairs are laid out for you - there is a stage at the front with a live DJ pumping out some Chooonz and what happens is inbetween the professional dancers that come on they invite the audience to dance and i am not kidding you it was hilarious - they come up in groups so for instance first they had the kids - then the couples, then the women and then the men - and they all really go for it - it was all indian folk that were up there - no sign of a european on the dance floor at all - the men were so funny - they took themselves all so seriously but imaging a dance floor full of drunken dads at a wedding and times it by 10 for embarrassment....and these were all sober - i dread to think what they are like with a few beers in them!...anyway - an excellent time sailing up and down the Mandovi - got some fantastic sunset pictures which i will post when i get a chance. about an hour later we docked again and jumped back into our cab to head to the Delhi Darbar restaurant in Panjim - I really like the food here - we went here three time on our last visit..the food is your standard indian fayre, good quality and excellent service - and i think very reasonably priced. During your meal they come round and take a phot of your party, then at the end when you pay your bill they present you with a free framed copy of the photo - a nice touch i thought - bill here for three courses each with kingifshers and a bottle of chenin blanc wine and irish coffee including a tip 2000 rupees. about half what we spend at home for a similiar meal.

The only other 'excursion' we took this year was a crocodile spotting trip - last time we went with Jake the Snake but this time i took the recommendation of a fellow HTer and used a different boat - this was a smaller boat than jake the snake and the trip lasted about 3 hours. All your drinks are included as many as you like, along with fruit, warm snacks and rolls, the cost for this was 995 rupees each - but i thought was good value..the crew are excellent full of facts for you along the way and we managed to see about 6 crocodiles including one about 4 meters long!...the scary thing was this one was spotted just yards away from where some workmen were bathing in the river! the taxi charged us 700 rupees for this trip. The crocodile boat starts and finishes just outside Old Goa.

I am coming to the end of things to report from this trip and i hope to supplement it with some photos and maybe a couple of small videos later but i thought i would just comment on my thoughts regarding Goa this year.

Having last visited 2 years ago - i can honestly say i saw very little change, the prices were very similar for everything - yes they had gone up but considering 2 years worth of inflation nothing to get wound up about. The place had the same amount of deprivation as last time - same amount of litter in the streets - the beaches if anything were cleaner, and most definitely quieter we went to Calengute one saturday afternoon and it was deserted...there seemed to be more wild animals this year, more dogs, more cows and even more elephants around the streets, i even saw 4 snakes this year where i didnt see any last time. Those who compare Goa to the Costas have obviously got no clue, they have either not been to Goa or not been to the Costas because there is no resemblance at all, the type of visitor in goa during my two weeks appeared to be respectable couples, small parties of friends, there was no evidence of any large single sex parties, or even many families with children in fact children were a rare sight this time around and as for the russians, heard them occasionally but certainly never experienced them in any number anywhere we went.

As much as we have enjoyed this trip and i have no complaints about any aspect of the trip at all we will not be returning certainly in the short term as we feel the novelty has now worn off..the novelty of cheap food, cheap drinks, beach shacks etc...following our first time we felt we needed to experience this again but not this time, we feel fulfilled. The world is such a big place with many other places to see and visit. Thank you Goa and your people it was fun whilst it lasted.

PS If anyone wants the number of Jack the Taxi Driver from Baga - PM me - he is v good - reliable - cheap - safe - and very friendly.

Really enjoyed your report Gaz, great reading, you are right though , the world is a big place and I am off to Goa next Xmas , however I have decided not to book another one until I return from that one as maybe 4 times is enough? there are so many places on my list i.e Nepal , Sri Lanka , Mauritius , Barbados, Langkawi, Rajasthan, Zanzibar and many others , I only get 4 weeks holidays off work a year so while I am visiting Goa I could be trying somewhere new , fell into the trap of visiting Thailand 7 times as we were absolutely crazy about it , but there are so many other places to go where are you off to next Gaz?

in the Short term just have the one place booked at the moment - thats a week in Dubai at the end of July - now that will be hot! I am looking forward to the contrast in expenses with that one i can tell you - it will be all bloody hell you could get ten of them for that price in Goa i expect!

Still its nice to have a bit of 5* Luxury every now and again..as for long term - We usually travel long haul at Easter time and this time I think we are going to look at the Carribean or Far East again - maybe a multi stop - always wanted to go to Hong Kong and Singapore so might try and combine these two with Malaysia..Then again I like the sound of Vietnam and Cambodia so who knows - I have a habit of booking on the spur of the moment so you can never tell

great report. Looks as if I might be seeing you on the Far East forum then

Your report was great Gaz. We still havent made the sunset boat trip in Panjim and ive heard so many good reports, so its definitely on our to do list!
Where did you see the 4 snakes we did see a few in the water at the Spice Plantation, but thats all.
Dubai is fabulous, I am sure you will have a great time.

Great report Must do the sunset cruise next time, everyone seems to love it.
x lassi

Great report, we saw a snake again this visit, in the Marinha, just over the bridge at the second lake on the way to the annex, right beside that Christmas Rose. I had walked past it when OH stopped, I just immediately knew, it wasn't a dangerous snake, although long it was skinny and much more nervous of us.

I definately made sure my flip flops made lots of noise after that!!!

all the snakes we saw were at various places around Goa - didn't see any at the MD though - first one was on our way from the airport to the hotel just as you pass the big ship building yard - it was a large black one slithering across the main road - the driver swerved massively in the road to avoid hitting it..second one was by Ingos market again crossing the road - a bright green thing this time - the driver came to a skidding halt this time i wondered what was happening as i was half a sleep from a hectic day at Mandrem beach - the hindus will not hurt any creature it seems if they can help it - despite nearly having a queue of traffic behind us join us in the front of the car! Another was by the crocodile boat in old goa slithering along the curb side...a little stripey thing - orange and black and the final one was on the road by the MD just by the money changer - going across the road - it was getting dark so it looked brown in the cars headlights...as i said we never saw any last time so it was a nice reminder that they exist in the wild here....

we saw a snake at the wedensday market in march it was up a tree and everyone was all round it

We saw one at Christmas as well, on our way in the Taxi to Ingos, just turned left by Aubergine Restaurant (the one along the road from the MD) it was a brown/black snake, quite large crossing the road heading towards the restaurant! Kishan had to stop the taxi bit like your guy!

Will need to keep watch on our next visit!