Thanks for reading, ladies. I deleted part 2 by mistake and havent had much time this week but i will make a start and see how it goes!
By the way Colleen, we have pineapple breezers in our tesco's so any time you want to visit..............
OK I'm half way through our first week in Candolim and am starting to realise the hotel cleaning leaves a bit to be desired.Yes I walked out of the shower across the bedroom and I definitely have red dust on my feet again. To make matters worse, my friend is in the kitchen wiping down the worktops, she had discovered ants in her wash bag.(Maybe she had been secretly hiding sweets in there??)I think I need to explain that the kitchen area has a large worktop and sink, a wardrobe and a fridge.No utensils of any type. We used the worktops to store all our toiletries and just water in the fridge so no food anywhere to encourage the ants.The kitchen leads off a large bedroom- 2 twin beds, dressing table tv,2 armchairs and coffee table, doors to balcony and to the large bathroom (just a shower though , no bath). I checked the room for signs of how the ants got in but no clues. Nethertheless I spray on extra Avon skin so soft whilst gazingly lovingly at my duty free Issey Myake eau de parfum which remained unopened until i got home.
A little more about the Alor Grande: the hotel is formed of several large blocks built around the small swimming pool. The rooms are on 3 floors and have very large bolts on the front doors which look as though they may have been padlocked from the outside in a former life. Does anyone know what they were before Dom Francisco? They resemble some sort of asylum. There are security guards positioned at strategic corners and they are always friendly and offer a greeting as well as a wave or salute when anyone walks by without exception.The reception staff are also very friendly and helpful.
That night, we changed travellers cqs in the elephant shop opposite Bending Bamboos. 85 to the £- thats more like it.I had a look in the jewellery shop next door called indian Emporium Arts (or similar) as i had seen a bracelet in the window i liked the look of. It didnt suit me but instead i found a silver ring i liked for £35. Only thing is i didnt like the multi coloured tiny stones in it so i paid an extra £15 to get it remade with tiny turquoise chips instead.Paid a £10 deposit (which i thought strange) and arranged to collect the ring later in the week. I was nearly tempted by a Jimmy Choo copy in the handbag section for 2500RS. but then I remembered that on the way here my suitcase had checked in at 23.4kilos and i wasnt sure if my 5 paperbacks and the used toiletries would come to 3.4 kilos.......
They had lots of Radley copies aswell and I am quite partial to a Radley handbag but the fake dogs seemed to have their heads a bit squashed!!Anyway I was already planning on getting the Radley passport cover for £20 on the plane on the way home .Somehow I managed to leave fake Jimmy Choo behind. Now i am home, I wish I had not been so disciplined.
Thought we would give the guys at Bending bamboos a bit of a break that night and wandered along to a different bar called Tiger something. It was upstairs maybe above genuine fakes or if not very close.All the tables were set out in rows like a classroom and there was a crowd at one table really sucking up to the owners saying how wonderful their bar was, the best in the area by far.Well, I beg to differ! Sorry if this was any of you but there was no atmosphere, the owners, two brothers didnt make any effort and the cocktails we had were awful- should have stuck to lager.We didnt even finish our drinks before we left. We would stick to the Bending Bamboos in future.
The first Saturday was our trip to Tiger,Tiger. We chose this one over the Jungle Book tour as we had been to elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka and really wanted to see the Tigers while we still could.Wasnt entirely sure of the itinary though!
The trip was for 3 nights and we didnt want to take suitcases and so we had to cram all our stuff into our hand luggage.My first dilemma: hairdryer or not? I decided to ask Karl, our rep. He took one look at me and said "well if you want to fix your hair you could take it". Poor boy, he is only young, he has a lot to learn! The hairdryer was coming with me!
We were picked up by the tour guide( in the correct place this time!) and taken to the train station where we waited for over an hour for the next train. I think the normal train was delayed because it had to wait for a fast train to come through.Anyway, finally we boarded into the reserved seating area for the group. We travelled for six and a half hours through the most amazing scenery, through little villages and backwaters, paddy fields, bigger train stations packed with commutors . It was amazing.By the time we arrived at Malpe in Karnataka it was dark.We were split into 2 groups, our group only 6 people plus our tour guide.We were taken by minibus to our hotel and although I couldnt see a lot out of the window it did look a pretty run down area. Then we turned a corner and I was so pleased to see a lovely beach on one side and our wonderful hotel on the other. This hotel is in a different league to the Alor Grande.
We all trouped in and waited while the rep sorted out the checking in formalities. There seemed to be a problem. I suspect that we werent actually booked in ! Eventually we were shown to our room and told to be ready in 30 mins for dinner! The room had one large bed and as 2 single girls we wanted twin beds. We went back to reception to put forward our request. We agreed to have dinner while the matter was being sorted out.
We had a set menu of poppadoms and chutney,variety of vegetable bhaji's, chicken korma followed by ice cream. The food was nice, the cocktails were a bit ropey (again!)
After dinner we went back to find our new room.Well, it was so new the plaster was still wet and there was plaster dust all over the floor.We have a double bed each and you could have fit another 3 into the room.Never mind, we were told it was just for tonight and tomorrow we would get a different room. I have to say the bed was so comfortable and no soon as my head touched the pillow then my alarm was going off at 5.45 in the morning to get ready for the day ahead. I got showered and hairwashed and then.....crisis! my adaptor plug that worked in Goa does not fit in Karnataka. Oh well, our old room had a hairdryer in the drawer.......but the new room didnt.Then there was a knock on the door and morning coffee arrived. I took the opportunity to plead for a hairdryer and the man went away saying he would find me one. He couldnt have gone very far because 30 seconds later he was back saying he couldnt find one.
Oh well, I just plaited my wet hair and stuck on my cowboy hat and that had to do.
Back into the minibus and we set off.First stop was a look out point towards some mountains at Agumbe. It was early morning and very misty and a bit difficult to see. With hindsight, I wish I had appreciated the view more but I was very tired and felt like, so what? My friend was almost assaulted by a monkey but luckily the tour rep was close to hand to save her. Next stop was at Tirthahalli for tea and breakfast of banana buns and a spicy (curry) dip.Apparantly, this was as authentic as you can get. I was fascinated by the way the Indians tore their bread and ate their food using only the one hand.I understand why, but i still think its a skill thats not as easy as it sounds!
After this, off the the elephant orphanage at Settihalli.We spent quite some time their and it was truly lovely. First we watched the elephants being washed down, fed them and helped with the washing if we wanted to.Then we were introduced to some of the other elephants and told were their stories, why they were "in care" etc. Lots of photo opportunities here.Then we went up to the Tiger sanctuary. We had to queue for quite a long time but it was so worth the wait. We were seated in a caged jeep and everyone was given a window seat. We overheard the tour guide telling the driver not to give us any "we cant see any tigers today" rubbish -he said he would have to keep driving until he saw some!Of course money changed hands. We didnt have to wait long to see the beautiful animals. We also saw lions, deer and black buck. Again some truly wonderful photo opportunities here.
After the tigers we were taken to Shimoga for lunch. We were all given a tray with about a dozen small dishes of sauces and curries, naan bread and rice. The food was very mild and apparantly especially prepared for English tourists and although it was delicious we kept saying we liked spicy food and did not need to be pampered!! Sadly, as we were all gasping for a large kingfishers by now, there was no alcohol to be had.
After lunch we had the very long and tiring journey back across the mountains to Udupi. Here, we were taken to the famous Sikh temple. Apparantly this is where Boy George visited while he was writing Hare Krishna, or so the story goes anyway.The temple was absolutely packed to the gills and of course we had to dispense with our shoes so our feet were getting absolutely filthy.I felt quite uncomfortable here as we seemed to be attracting quite a lot of attention, i didnt feel particularly welcome. The temple is surrounded by a market area and lots of street vendors selling all kinds of effigies and the like.When we went inside the temple, the tour guide asked me to remove my hat. Of course I obliged but oh my god- my hair!!!It made Russell Brands hair look neat and tidy
By now we were all absolutely shattered and pleading to go back to the hotel.
Fortunately, our 3rd room in the hotel was perfect and you will be glad to hear there was a hairdryer that worked. yay!
Dinner was exactly the same as the previous night - still tasty and still a bit too mild!
The journey back to Candolim the next day was equally as interesting. We were sorry to leave the lovely hotel but looking forward to spending a few lazy days on the beach after this amazing trip.
Thanks for reading. I hope it wasnt too boring. Will try to do some more at the weekend.
Jackie
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Now I've learnt something - I didn't know there was Jamaican passionfruit breezers! Must see if Gemma has tried them 
Its great to know that you took out so much info from here. 
No pineapple ones tho ....
I will just check out if the shack sells them, but I wont be drinking any 
