Blimey , 1 day delay !!! which airline were you with? , hope you enjoyed your holiday, can't wait to hear all about it

Sorry to hear about your delay Adele.

As we have been to Goa several times, we usually set aside some rupees to cover such an emergency.

During one of our stays, we were told by a representative that one family who arrived in Goa had to be put up in a 5 star hotel for the night (they had booked and paid for a 2/3 star hotel) because there had been a delay on an outbound flight and the posh hotels were the only ones with spaces for the one night.

The family thought how brilliant it was to be put into a 5 star hotel and thought whoopee. They knew the holiday company were only going to give them a few hundred rupees for a meal and water, but when they ate in the hotel's restaurant, it didn't occur to them to look closely at the prices on the menu. Apparently, the meal for 4 of them with drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic) and taxes came to £120. They were most upset because as they were on a budget it ate into a large chunk of their spending money. The rep did not say whether they had a credit card.

I think that holiday companies should give more to people who have to stay overnight in different accommodation as not everyone can afford to eat or drink in some of the hotels they are put into. I cannot remember which hotel I was told about, but a bottle of Evian is £10.

will update you all later,

So I suppose you are asleep now while we all wait with baited breath.Come on tell all.

Papa

welcome home adele

Hi Adele

That was all you needed with your fear of flying, it was good to meet you both and hope the flight business has not put you off Goa too much and that dispite the flight delay you both had a good time.

Look forward to seeing you again.

Mike

thanks mike, it was great to meet you too we had a fab time at the meets..

well you wanted a report so here it is, part 1, must warn you its a long read so grab a brew and when your sitting confortably i will begin...
week 1

we arrivedat gatwick on saturday 3 jan,im not agood flyer and as time went on i culd feel myself get more wound up,eventualy having walked aroung the duty free for what seamed like hours it was our time to go and board the flight to goa,all on board and the door shuts, were off, even though i have a fear of flying it was a great flight, the food was good, cabin crew exelent,the only fault i had was the couple in front of me who drank all night,and started fighting with eachother(im not joking either) but nothing you can do, we landed at 8.50 am goa time,and there waiting for us was our taxi driver kindly arranged for us( a big thanks to you ) off we were going to our hotel, so far nothing had changed,the buning grass, cows and people walking on the road, the heat all brought back fond memories of last year..not wanting to be rude i so wanted the taxi driver to go faster so we could get to our hotel,we were so excited i had the day planned, ,
our first impresion of the palmarinha resort wasnt good,it looked very run down and unkempt,but we had been droped of at the staff area,walking around the corner i wsa pleasntly surprised, it was realy nice,better than i had expected, we checked in and were show to our room, it was nice wit a great view looking over the feilds and road to mapsa,
dumped the cases on the bed, washed and changed in to something cooler, then of we went, first call was a taxi into calangute,and we stopped of at anands a local cafe were not many tourist would go,but its realy nice, the food is cheap and very good,we had our samosa and badam milk, then walked down calangute high street, nothing had changed on first appearance but i did notice that it was quieter than last year, i put it down to it only being 11.30 am,and a sunday,
we headed for the beach and to a beach shack that we used last year, got a bottle of water and relaxed for the rest ofthe day,we ate at the hotel that night, the food was nice but a bit more expensive as there ws taxes on top to pay,and taxes on drinks too,
for the rest of that week we went to the beach and into panjim on the local bus..that is a must even if you only do it once,while in panjim we ate at a resturant across from bombay bazzar(i forget what its called) but it does the nicest chilli cheese nan i have ever had,
i did find it confusing though that when i asked for it the waiter said its realy hot madam are you sure you want it,(i can eat hot /spicey food and theres only i place where it has beaten me,but thats another story) i said yes,and they all stood by an watched me eat and shook their heads in slight disbelife,
we went to the wednesday meet at the carvery,not wanting to b lated and forgeting what time people met we arrived there for 7pm,orderd our food an waited for the others to turn up, we had a fantastic night with nightnurse and OH, mike,chilly,and OHs, we realy enjoyed meeting up,some i have forgot im sorry but it was nice to meet you,sian? who had toured india for a year it was nice to hear about it too,
the £ was realy low 67rps, and most things hadgo up a bit,not by nuch maybe 5rps, te biggest increas i noticed was the taxi prices but we cured that and hired a bike outside the hotel,they are 150rps a day but the owner wanted 250rps, i haggled with him and was walking away after i had politly told him i would go into calangute and get one for 150 when he agreed,

on sunday we met paul and james at our hotel, got along realy well,
we had hired a bike... it was cheaper than a taxi and well worth it and monday morining after breakfast we took to the open india roads, with paul and james...

week 2 soon.
adele

Brilliant Adele. Looking forward to the next bit

HI Adele,
that was a good read for myself, a potential Goan newbie. I've been researching different countries for next Easter but keep coming back to read the Goa forum. At the moment, it's back at the top of my list. I've even been pricing up holidays and the Palmarinha is one that's well within our budget. Glad to hear there weren't any major problems - unless they're to come in week 2
Look forward to your next instalment.

Hi I've just got back tonight from week in Goa, stayed at Nizmar - had fantastic week. This was 6th trip and as fantastic as always - even escaped Delhi Belly for 1st time ever!
might even get round to doing a trip report at sometime, though probably not very exciting - beach beach and more beach - ah well, may put my brain into gear when I have had some sleep - just supping a honey bee to help me rest and get back on track - ha ha!

C'mon Adele - I'm waiting!

Hi Adele, good to read your report and was great to meet you and Andrew at the cavery, we really enjoyed our first time in Goa, sorry we didnt make it to the second meet at the cavery but we went down south for a few days.
Its a bit depressing at first when you get back but it doesnt take long to get back into the swing of things, keep looking for a good deal for next January. Looking forward to hearing about your second week.

ok guys n gals heres week 2,
monday morning, we had breakfast, the usual indian cuisen of , eggs... any way you like, im getting a bit fed up of eggs anyhow,we met paul and james outside the hotel, james is a hairdresser and told us of a fab place to visit, he had visited several times, we being a bit green on the bike followed him, to a plce way up north called morjim,otherwise known to locals as turtel beach, i have got t admit with not being on te back of a bike for many a year i was a bit scared, but i overcame that with the views i saw, i cant belive that i missed so much by not getting a bike before, we stopped at a little shop in siolim where to my amazment we bought petrol, (you may see it about its orange liquid in water bottles) the man who owend this shop was very friendly as we found out later, after a coke we got back on the bike ad of we went,long winging roads with people walking about going to and from shops ,work etc we even stopped by a bill board to say hello to some gypsies who lived there, happily waving and weaving baskets to sell,the on we went ,what seamed like forever but it was only 40 mins from our hotel to morjim beach,the place we went to was goan cafe, a small family run sack that doeasnt sell alcohol but you cna take your own, james introduced us, and they happily showed us around, instantly i loved it and booked to stay 2 night later in th week,they showed us the shack we were to stay in,yes it was very basic 1 bed, toilet sink and shower, that was it.. we stayed for dinner and made our way back following james and paul,
tuesday, we had booked a taxi to take us to te bondla zoo, well i realy thought placed like this didnt exist anymore,i was horrifird to find that wolves were alone and distressed, the bear was trying to get in his cage out of the heat, no food or water for the animals, the leopard was very distressed pacing up and down, i will say that ifyou care about amimals dont go.. i was not ready for what i saw.. after that i went to a spice farm to ride and elephant,500rps each,i would say its a must i realy enjoyed the ride, not what i expected either, very slow but a gently sway from side to side,
wednesday came and we packed ready to go, we gt to the shop in siolim and went for a coke,they owner saked us if we wanted petrol but we didnt need it, 10rps for 2 cokes, i only had 50 rps change ad he didnt have any change,its ok he said you pay later,well im not like that i like to pay straight away,i explained that we were of to morjim for 2 nights and wouldnt be back till friday, thats ok you give it me then, i couldnt belive he was so trusting,
of we went and arrived at morjim,we wre given a drink and took to our rooms, we chnged andheaded fo the beach,there i had to stop in my tracks because i just couldnt belive what i saw,it was virtualy empty, 10 sunbeds which was for residents of goan cafe only, 1 mins walk to the left was a few more sunbeds and a couple of shacks, 10 mins walk to the right the same, i was in awe, we walked down to the bedsan sat down, we satyed for ages and wasnt bothered by a soul, the sea was calm and very inviting,it was very hot but just after 1pm a light wind got up,(if you got do be aware that this can lead you into a false sence of security) this was very cooling i totlay forgot that it can burn too, we swam in the sea and just relaxed for 2 whole days,
day tow at morjim i woke to the best view ever,the sun and sea nothing to spoil it,just coming in was a small fishing boat, we walked down to the beach to see, went back for breakfast and took another walk back the men were pulling in the nets by hand,and using poles,the wives came an hour later and lined up to see what had been caught, befor i knew it i was helping them pick small fish up, i loved that place so much that i realy didnt want to go back,
friday after breakfast we made our way back, stopping at the shop buying another coke and petrol, the owner was also a baker and i just couldnt resist buying a cake, 100rps for a kilo, i only wanted a small cake andhe gladly sold me half even cut it for me,he charged me for the goods but forgot to add on the drinks we had befor, i reminded him he was so nice and said that he didnt want paying because we had bought petrol and cake twice he was greatful for our custom, ( what a realy nice man) i couldnt argue with him as he vanished into the back and as we were pulling away he appeared and waved us off,
we got back and sared the cake with some of the hotel staff, i have never tasted cake so nice...
we had met a couple who took us to a great bar,later on, gill and gordon, we told them about morjim and how relaxing it was,
that night we went to the redonda in calangute for evening meal, this is a great place and very reasonably priced too, steak for 300rps, and you got steak,4 pieces to be exact with baked potato salad and veg..the desrts are to die for, esspecially the honey walnut pie...
after we went to a beach shack for a drink,

saturday gill and gordon asked if we would like to join them at the tibeten kitchen,they had been befor and recomened it, we went and had a fab time,its a real nice place to go, great food good prices,but g et there early because it gets busy,after they took us to a local bar, and i mean local...4 honeybees and 2 cokes 70rps..(yes you read right)
i have to say honeybee goes down rather well....
sunday we stayed by the pool and met more great people who took us to some great places....

part 3 soon, hope you have enjoyed reading this..

adele

Great report adele, cant wait for next bit. gel

Great stuff!! Sounds like you've had my type of holiday! Only 4 days to go now! So excited!!

Its a shame to hear about the Zoo. I certainly wont be visiting there

Brilliant report.
So sad about the zoo. I hate hearing things like that.
We went to Morjim beach in Decmeber, brilliant and very peaceful. Will definitely return in March/April.
Keep it coming. Looking forward to the next part

I'm looking forward to the next instalment Can I just ask how much in GBP is 70 rps please? I'm not up on Goan money, having yet to visit for my first time. It sounds good for those honeybees

Shirley in round money it's about £1.00 anywhere between 68 -70 rupees to the £ at the moment.
Hope you have a fantastic time. !

Hi Dave's wife. When I told hubby that it was only £! for 4 honeybees and 2 cokes he said to book the holiday now!