oops. forgot to add that the driving is worse then ever, there's loads more cars and everyone has been watching 'Ice road trucker, most dangerous roads' and have decided to outdo the drivers there by trying to overtake as much as possible on blind bends.
Food is about the same price although strangely we ordered some king prawns from the shack without asking the price, had a bit of a shock when I looked at the menu and was then charged half of what it said on the menu itself
I wasn't complaining and he'd written the correct dish on the bill.
Father in law is loving Goa especially the home cooked mackrel with masala. No-one seems to be paying much attention to the election drink ban, this is Goa after all and anyway have stocked up with boxes of beer and bottles of cashew and coconut feni.
Flew Jet Airways via Mumbai and the leg room was actually better than Qatar who we flew with last time and the food was excellent, as good as some on the Indian Restaurants back home. The only pain is having to do customs and immigration in Mumbai. The queue was quite long for immigration. They were x-raying everyone's bags until they got to us and just waved us through, haha. The transfer bus is fine, it just scoots around the airport perimieter and then there is the slightly long wait for security in the domestic terminal. If you have a long wait, there are about 10 'slumber' chairs upstair which are quite comfy and face the electronic departure board. 3 hours is more than enough time for a transfer even with the long waits.
Wasn't asked for any money for the porters and we used the taxi booth outside Goa airport which is 200rs cheaper for some places than the place inside. The money changer in the airport is still a rip off though.

Thanks for popping in to see us vrbarreto. Enjoy

Thanks for the report hope its not cold when we arrive
annx enjoy

Thanks for the report VB good of you to take the time to call by ... save us some beer for when we come over in a few weeks ....Say hi to you father in law form all us on HT ...colleen

irishcolleen wrote:

save us some beer for when we come over in a few weeks

From what i'm reading, there will be plenty for eveybody, but it be will after the elections

Thanks everyone. Having loads of fun. Quite cold last night, had 2 bedsheets and a blanket, but then again the Mrs at home has the central heating up at 30 degrees at night

Really starting to prefer Carmona beach to Benaulim. I can't swim so am being taught by inlaws and the slope is much more gentle at Carmona and it's a lot queiter. Seems to be mostly very quiet Russians. Am going to an all days fishing and beach trip on Tuesday, 9 to 4 pm with food and drink provided along with them cooking whever fish you catch when you get to the beach. A reasonable rs1,800 each which is I suppose is £25. Tomorrow is going to be a trip to Old Goa and then up North to Mapusa with the trusty Nano.

14 mosquito bites so far and I've killed 10 of the blighters so they're up at the moment. The zappy tennis rackets aren't working so having to tempt them in manually with feni laden blood and then bash them when they try and have a sip.

vrbarreto great reading again today I shall call by everyday to read all what your getting up to ..where is the beach you mention Carmona never heard of that one ....you will see a lot of mad things in the North esp the drivers .. Colleen

Hi Irishcolleen

Will keep you all updated with the goings on. Carmona beach is a little bit further south on the main road that the Leela is on towards Mobor beach. We didn't know about it but was recommended by some relatives who go there in the mornings. Old Goa tomorrow, yipee.

Hi vrbarreto how far is Carmona beach from Cavelossim?would it be
close to Varca hope you enjoy Old Goa
annx

Hello!! Carmona is about 10 minutes walk south from the Leela part. If you drive south on the road that connects all the beaches, there is a sign to the right towards Carmona beach.
Old Goa was fun as usual. The Mrs was a bit miffed at being asked to have her photo taken with quite a few of the out of state tourists. Old Goa is well mantained but being my 10th trip it was a quick show around for the Father in law. Then went up to Mapusa for some lunch and then onto Saligao to see my cousins new baby. Just got back and glad it was just before dark.
My God. The standard of driving is attrocious. I almost had 4 crashes from idiots pulling into the middle of the road to overtake and thinking that if they turn their lights on then you will somehow disappear from the road.
The Mrs was employed on 'giving the finger' duty and she performed it well. Almost ran over an idiot who decided to cross the road without looking but in fair Star Trek fashion he jumped one way and I yanked the steering wheel the other. It was like poetry in motion slightly spolit by him standing in the middle of the road looking upset and the Mrs hurling abuse at him.
Off course there's a power cut at the moment and amazingly the only thing working is the internet, oh and the laptop.
The driving in Goa is significantly worse that last year. There's more cars and more idiots mostly driving tiny ancient Maruti 800's. The solid white line in the middle of the road must be some sort of affront to their miniscule manhoods so they seem to want to overtake as soon as they see one.
Anyway shopping trip to Margao tomorrow for spices and then getting ready for the Saibinh. Have a splitting headache and was almost the first example of road rage in these parts. Hoping the power stays off for a little bit as I fancy seeing the stars without the light polution that seems to be everywhere these days in Goa.

Good to hear from you vrbarreto your reports brighten up my day I would say fumes give you the sore head a little honeybee with help ease the pain ....was Mapusa bust this is the bust day at the market ......kepp the MRS in her new job if she is doing such a good job with that finger of hers Colleen

Well, today was dreaded Goa guts so didn't go anywhere. To compensate parents got 3 chicks to look after. They've gone to sleep now and we're going to make them a house tomorrow. Talking about tomorrow we're getting the hosue ready for the procession of 'our lady'. A statue of the virgin mary is taken from house to house in the evening and you have it for one day. They sings songs (imagine a cat being waterboarded) and then sweets and drinks are given to everyone who comes. usually about 50 people turn up and it's in typical goan fashion a competition to see who can lay on the best food.
Forgot to mention yesterday that some idiot met us on a narrow road and made us reverse so he could get by. It was 50 meters for us to go back so he could get by but only 2 meters if he had done so. Off course he refused. I reversed and gave him just enough room to squeeze by. In the process he managed to scrape his car against an electricity pole. Oh well, never mind.
The father-in-law went by himself to the bazaar and despite not having a word of English or Konkani managed to buy some vegetables and also went to a bar and made some friends there. It seems that drink has no language barriers.
Only a week left and it is very cold at night. Def blanket weather.

Hello thanks for the information on Carmona beach shall give it a try
While in Cavellossim,enjoying reading your reports,is it really that cold
In the night ? What is the day time temp ?
Thanks
annx

Hi Annx,

During the day it's nice and pleasant about 25 degrees. Pretty hot between 1 and 3 but not searing. Evenings are really nice but starts to get cold about midnight and coldish until about 8 am. First time I've ever used a blanket to sleep in Goa. Neighbours have commented that it is unseasonably cold but I quite like having a cool night and not too hot day.

vrbarreto thanks again for update,we arrive in 10days so hopefully it will be the same
temp,that will suit us as we can sleep without the A/C on.
annx

The procession of 'our lady' sounds like something we do here in Belfast I remember my mum and grandmother used to have the statue stay in their house overnight ..boy that was a long time ago ...

vrbarreto hope the Delhi belly does not last its not a nice thing to have Take some of the little orange tablets thats should do the trick ...look forward to read your posts every day gets me right in the mood for Goa ..only 14 days to go colleen

Yes keep up the great reports we leave for Dubai next Sunday so it's
Count down for us,7 days to Dubai 9 days to Goa
annx

Pretty quiet day today. Doctor's order to drink copious amounts of feni sorted out the delhi belly. Went to Carmona beach in the morning and it was pretty much deserted. The shack owner was wondering where everyone was. Had a long chat with one of the beach sellers about the police and them taking their goods and demanding rs10,000 to get them back
Bumped into a couple from Boston who were looking at buying a Tata Nano and ran them through the benefits, etc. Never thought I'd be doing the car salesman bit. Looked after the chicks who were at one point in danger of being eaten by a kite that was flying overhead. Managed to grab them just in time before it swooped down for a 'light lunch'. Had the procession of 'our lady' from the neighbours house. Was quite nice that our Hindu neighbours got involved and to them Jesus and Mary are just more reincarnations of God and just as valid to worship, etc. Gave out hamburgers and drinks but slightly overstimated the number of people who were coming so having tons of hamburgers for dinner, I'm not complaining. . Almost had a relgious incident where the father-in-law gave one of the little hindu neighbour boys a beef burger to eat but we managed to prevent an 'incident' The explained to the FIL about sacred cows, etc. Plan for tomorrow is to go to Margao tomorrow morning to get some spices, especially stock up on tamarind to take home. Lots of village gossip to catch up on, especially who hates whom and who's being snubbed this week. Actually today wasn't very warm and there was quite a cold breeze in the morning. It seems that there must have been a storm out in the Arabian Sea as the sea was very rough but I managed to chicken out of another swimming lesson. Hope everyone is well and looking forward to coming to Goa

One of the poor chickies was eaten by a kite We had them out to scratch around and it swept over our shoulder and before we could do anything it grabbed one of them a flew off. The Mrs is very upset and having a huge debate about sanctity of 'chicken life'. She made me drive round to a place that makes metal work to build the two remaining chicks a house Also she decided to try and get some revenge so she made a chick like ball out of cotton wool, tied a long piece of string around it and made me drag it around the compound whilst she followed me round with an airgun. If the kite had turned up there was a higher chance of her shooting me than it
Went shopping in Margao which is much more civilsied than Mapusa and stocked up on Xacuti masala for when we get home. Also got loads of Bebinca for the neighbours. Fishing and beach trip tomorrow that Keith is quite interested in so will let you know how it goes. Apparently they take you fishing, then lunch of goan curry and rice with a case of beer on a nice secluded beach and they cook any fish that youv'e caught. Looking forward to it, just hope the boat is not a River princess II. Still very cool in Goa.
Also had the coconut man turn up so busy afternoon helping gather up coconuts and fronds and the other bits and pieces for storage. Really nice to have tender coconut water from your own trees as well as having a nice store cupboard full of coconuts from 30 trees which haven't been harvested for over a year. The man who goes up the tree is a real expert, he goes up so fast and cleans the trees so that they can keep producing a nice harvest of yummy coconuts to make yummy curries.