It feels as though I have only been away from the UK for just a couple of weeks not, nearly 3 months, the time went past so quickly that before we knew it, it was time to come home again.

We arrived in Mumbai on the 1st of December we had just two hours to get across to the domestic terminal to catch our Kingfisher flight to Goa. We did it easily and with time to spare, Kingfisher, have now been granted international status, they have already bought two planes capable of flying long distances, they are hoping to have the flights running to America and London by the end of this year.
We were on the kingfisher flight for only 1 hour and the service was excellent, we were served a hot meal, the knives and forks were metal not plastic, and there was real china instead of plastic bowls. If the price is right I will certainly travel from London with them it is the best airline that I have ever travelled on.

We got a prepaid taxi from the airport to Candolim it cost 700 rupees which is just under 9 pounds it still works out cheaper for those of you on the charter or package tours, as they charge 15 pounds per person for the airport transfer, so imagine 4 of you paying 60 pounds for a transfer coach instead of 9 pounds for a taxi, there are now many larger taxi's at the airport which can take 4 passengers and luggage. The taxi drivers and the tuk tuk drivers in Candolim have gotten very, very, greedy, I can remember just 6 years ago, when you could hire a taxi and driver, for a full day, for just 6/7 pounds, now the tuk tuk drivers, want 150 rps to drive to Calangute, to go to Mapusa it is 350 rps one way, or if you want them to wait for a couple of hours 450rps, 150 rps to get to the ferry to go to Panjim, at first we thought that it was just a couple of drivers getting greedy, but we soon learnt that they have all gotten together and fixed there prices, every tuk tuk driver gave the same price. To show how greedy they have become the same taxi ride from Calangute to Candolim is 60 to 80 rps, from the ferry to Candolim 80 rps, from Mapsua to Candolim 200 rps one way. Needless to say we boycotted the taxi's and tuk tuks on this holiday, the taxi drivers charge more than the tuk tuks because they have air conditioning (Ha ha) for the first time, in all the time we have spent in Goa, we travelled on the buses, it is truly an experience, the driver and conductor try and get as many people as they can onto these buses, so 9 times out of 10 you end up swinging from the straps on the roofs, we had some really good laughs on these buses, but a word of warning don't wear any thing white, because god knows what colour it will be when you get off the bus, people are so tightly packed together, it amazed me with what the locals actually carried onto the buses, I have seen a garden bench, (which four people were actually sat on whilst the owner was jabbering away in the local language trying to get them off the bench) There are cages full of chickens, and hens, one woman actually brought onto the bus a large basket which stunk to high heaven, it was full of dried fish which she was taking to Calangute market to sell. It stunk so much that we had to get off the bus, because the smell was making us feel sick. The bus fare is 4 rps to Calangute, 7 to the ferry, and 14 to Mapsua, Some of the buses if they see you are a foreigner will charge you a bit more, or not give you change if you pay with a note, so I always made sure that I had the right money. Up until now if I was given change in a shop I always gave it back to them, but this time I hoarded all the change that I could get. If every one decided to use the buses instead of the tuk tuks/taxi's maybe they will lower there prices. (but the greediness will over rule the common sense)

This year I have also found that the shacks are charging more than the restaurants, compared to the prices in Xaviers restaurant in Mapusa, they are nearly treble on some items, we found a small restaurant/ bar, near where were staying it was called the Seagull, one night Tom and I between us had , One sweet and sour noodles, one omelet and chips, three honey bees and coke, three fenni's and coke, the final bill came to 120rps, which is one heck of a difference in prices, from buying the same in a shack.

The local shop keepers, restaurant owners and hoteliers all complained that there were not many British people over this year, it it had been taken over by Russians and Norwegians who do not spend a freely as us, the Russians especially they will go to a bar/restaurant buy a soft drink and fill up with vodka which has been hidden hidden in a handbag. They are very loud when they are drinking, I have never before seen so many people drinking spirits at 10 o'clock in the morning, whilst having there breakfast, how they managed to last until the night time I don't know, if it was me I'd have been paralytic by lunch time. I explained to the locals that there is a shortage of the British due to the messing around with visa's and a lot of the British have realised that the prices are going up and up, so they have decided to go to cheaper places. Once they have gone to the places like Vietnam Cambodia and Thailand they may not return to Goa, as they can get far better hotel accommodation, for cheaper than Goa prices, also the food and drink is cheaper.

Newtons supermarket are really taking the p***, there prices are unbelievable, they have added extra money on practically every thing that they sell. 90% of goods sold in India have a manufacturers retail price on the packaging, but Newtons put a white sticky label over the price and charge what they like.
Just last year they were taken to court by the Indian version of the Trading Standards, and fined many laks for over charging the customers, in there shop, which is between Calangute and Candolim, but it doesn't seen to have taught them any thing as they are still doing it. I suppose the extra profit they make by over charging is more than covering the fines. We have always used the local supermarket by the Candolim market, and so we can compare the prices, but I was amazed by the amount of British people who were going round the Newtons supermarket, and filling there trolleys as if they were in Asda's, the difference in cigarette prices, between the Newtons and Elephant shop was 150 rps, I think that many of the people I saw shopping in Newtons, were first timers, as us oldies know where to shop for the best prices.

I am afraid that I have done it again, and bought more furniture, this time it is a bed and two matching side tables, The whole lot plus shipping cost 750 pounds, I would be lucky to get a decent pine bed in the UK for under 500 pounds. The bed and side tables haven't even been made yet, as I wanted a design that was completely different to those they had in stock the headboard and bottom board has carvings of elephants going around the top and meeting in the middle, then there are three panels with dragons, on them, dragons down the side panels, and the side tables are the same design. I expect that we will receive them just before we return to Goa, as we were warned that it would take approx 6 months, to make and ship. It is well worth the money and waiting time. But i have promised hubby that that is the last of the furniture I will be buying. Our house looks like an Indian furniture shop already with out adding to it. I will have to close my eyes every time I walk past a furniture shop. I love it so much, that I don't think until it has been shipped home, where the heck am I going to put it? We will have to sell our mud/water bed now, that will pay for the mattress that we still have to buy.

I have loads more to write, but I will finish for now, as this is quite a long posting.

Gayle