part 2 please!!!

We are waiting patiently Brendan, popcorn in hand waiting for the next instalment

Writing it now.Oh the pressure

After a much needed night of sleep our days fell in to a familiar pattern.We had booked the holiday to chill out so make no excuses for spending large parts of the day at the beach.

A walk out of HBR to be met by the first call of the day"Taxi".Halfway down the lane "Taxi".Bottom of the lane on to the main road"Taxi".A short walk along the road"Taxi".Top of beach Road"Taxi".Punctuated along the way by "good morning"... wait for it wait for it"would you like to look at my wood carvings,jewelery,leather,just looking please".And of course a repeat performance on the way back.

Now the first time this happens you just smile and get on with it but after hundreds and hundreds of times I was heartily sick of it.It really got me down.I know it is a cultural thing but please if I need a b****y taxi I can ask for one myself.If I want to look at craft shops jewellers etc I am perfectly capable of taking the couple of steps from the road.

Of course the wonderful beach made up for a lot of this hassle.We used Bobbys Shack and were well looked after by Sanjay,Kenny and all the rest of the staff.We went to their weekly BBQ that second night.They have food, fireworks and a fireeater show.To my shame I fell asleep during the fireeating.I blame a combination of Kingfisher and jet lag.My better half errs on the side of Kingfisher.

Bobbys does very nice food and I can taste how refreshing the lime sodas were as I write this.Oh and not to forget those banana shakes with ice cream.Oh and did I mention the ice cold Kingfisher.Anyone would think I liked a drink.

I had read about the security guards at Bobbys shack and others in the area to keep away the sellers and beggars and this worked to a certain extent but during our second week we were bothered a lot more but usually a shake of the head did the trick.

At the end of most days we would sit at the shack and sip a cold beer watching the beach day come to an end before heading back to HBR for a shower and out for the evening.It is one of my nicest memories of Goa.

Our evenings were spent enjoying some of the restaurants reccomended by holiday truthers.Loved Inferno and Coyote.Coyote had butter chicken and cheese garlic nan to die for.Even my better half who does not like Indian food was starting to get converted.Had a very average meal at the Stonehouse one night but mostly our food experiences were good.Jazz house did a lovely Tandoori chicken and my wife(Debbie can vouch for the chicken shashleek.I bet this is making some mouths water eh?

Part 3 will follow soon.A few more restaurant stories our boat trip
and any more things I think may interest you all.I will also clarify I hope my tiltle for this thread.Hope I have not bored you all too much.

Boring Brendan ? - No way I am now a fully fledged Goa addict and I await the next bit with baited breath!!

Reading this I'm almost there, look forward to the next instalment
I'm one countdown

Hi Brendan,

Reports great read your report on the Highlands. This year we are staying there for the first time as we could not get the Magnum and flying with First Choice - so good to know FC are so good but little concerned about HBS - oh well we were gob smacked the first time we saw the Magnum so sure will survive but the staff really look after you once you become a "repeater". Felt as it I was at Bobby's by the way - first drink I ever had in Goa was a Cuba Libre made by Sanj! Ahhhh. Can't wait for next report......

well,

you have been to india before so you will not be shocked.Anyway you may get one of the newer rooms which by all accounts are very good.As I hope I got accross there is a lot of good about HBR I just think after all these years dealing with tourists they should be doing better.You will be very impressed with First choice although try to avoid row 11 12 13 14 as these are quite near the toilets.Have posted review in flights section

Have made a start but I am out to the pub this afternoon so will hopefully post monday evening.Hope it is helping some of you.

It is a great report Brendan , I am off to Candolim myself at Xmas and I am thoroughly enjoying this report .

Hi Top report brendan keep 'em coming!

Great report - just returned from Thailand and going to Goa January so it's interesting to see the similarities and differences.

So On to part 3 and the conclusion

Before I forget just before I left I read a post from someone asking about a restaurant in Candolim run by a former Royal Navy chef and his wife.For the life of me at the time I could not remember what it was called as we had had some excellent food there.I resolved to find out on my return.

So we found ourselves one evening at Xaviers beach resort and restaurant."International Chef"Not far from Bom Successo we remembered this fondly.Run by a ex Royal Navy chef and his wife he had also worked in top Hotels and met the Queen.He was very proud of this and loved to show everyone his photographs.

The place was packed every night and as I remember it the food was excellent.

Why we did not twig as we walked in I will never know.The place was dead.Just the two of us.It also looked completely different.Stupidly before we could tune in we ordered a bottle of wine which came and was opened in double quick time.As I looked around I could not see any of the photos or mementoes which Mr Xavier had proudly displayed.

A sense of foreboding overcame us as we ordered and I asked the waiter if Mr Xavier still owned the place.He had sold out and I just knew we had made a mistake.To compound my mistakes I had ordered pork chops.I know I know lets just blame the wine can we.

Long story short total disaster food disgusting they did not even have the nerve to charge for mine which was inedible.So I hope that in a long winded way answers that posters question and serves as a warning.

However that was our only truly bad dining experience.Our two top dining experiences were Little Italy on the way to Calangute.Now Little Italy does a lot of advertising in Candolim/Calangute but nowhere does the advertising mention that it is a vegetarian restaurant.Well I like my meat but the food here was very very good and we both really enjoyed it.Not a budget choice but a really nice treat.

Now,my wife likes the nicer things in life (not that we are loaded or anything)but when she finds a nice restaurant that is it.So We went to try After 7 and that was it.I think we went a total of 3 times.Excellent surroundings superbly, trained staff,Fillet steak almost as good as home,proper liquer coffees good wine and beautiful liquers to finish.Truly excellent by Goan standards.All of this of course comes at a price.Where as we could spend anything between 800 and 1000 rps at any other restaurant depending on wine drinks etc at After seven our bill generally came out between 2500 and 3000.Not cheap by Goan standards but even I had to admit worth every rupee.Met one of the owners and he was a true gent.For a treat go and try it.

It is a few years since we had been to Goa and it has certainly changed a lot.Candolim is now very busy and there are buildings going up everywhere.HBR have a block of apartments going up some of which look like they will either face or back onto the main road. I would not want to own one of those. Thousand of Taxis everywhere seemingly out of control horns lorries buses.

I also read some posts about Goa attracting a different type of tourist and I certainly saw some evidence of that.I saw a crowd of English lads in one of the shacks obviously the worse for wear early afternoon.Now I do not know if it was going to turn in to trouble but those of you who have witnessed similar scenes know what I mean. Sanjay from Bobbys Shack agreed that things were changing and told me a story about a gang of drunken Brits in the next shack urinating on tables and trying to start a fight during the annual party they hold for Bobbys birthday.He was almost apologetic.Very sad.

I could say a lot more and indeed have just cut a large part of text.Posting under my own name not such a good idea

Now I like a drink and have certainly been seen the worse for wear so who am I to judge.Also all Tourist destinations change and just because someone wears a football shirt and has a tattoo does not mean they cannot go on holiday to Goa.I love football.

Goa is still a cheap destination but I certainly found costs rising but this happens in all tourist destinations as they develop.One thing I thought having not been for a few years was that all the tourism does not seem to have resulted in the government putting in a better infrastructure particularly the Airport.

All in all we had a really good holiday and I only have one major major major gripe.Lots of small ones but you already know what is coming.DABOLIM Airport.

Goa is now a major tourist destination and growing season by season.Why then do have an airport set up that would not disgrace a banana republic.Truly shocking is the only way it can be described.From your arrival trudging across the tarmac with aircraft passing in front of you to the truly horrendous immigration queues.You then have to figure out where the porter has hidden your bags and usually find them separated across the carousels.Then a struggle with the porter who wants to carry your bags 20 feet for a pound.

If arriving is not bad enough then a sweet departure it most certainly is not.Take our example.We got a Taxi and arrived early in order to avoid the ridiculous jam at the entrance to go through the first of many security checks.Flying star class premier we were told there would be a separate check in.No signs up so joined the queue with everyone else who had the big yellow labels on their bags.Oh no when the desks opened instead of putting the star class premier sign above our queue they forced about a hundred people to shuffle about like a pack of cards.Clueless.

If this was not bad enough once checked in you have to pass across the rest of the lines to go to immigration to get yet another stamp put on your boarding pass.Only thing is they keep us there for an hour because the next step of purgatory is not set up to receive us in the departure lounge.Hot humid sweaty we all stood with stoical British patience awaiting the next stage.I thought we invented queuing.Wrong it had to be the Indians they love it.Note this not one First Choice rep in sight.Oh no they have seen all this before and have no intention of putting themselves in the firing line

Then it is through to x ray baggage search etc.And woe betide you if you haven't got all the correct stamps.Do not pass go do not collect 200 rupees and back you go to the beginning.They even have a line of immigration officers awaiting you as they open the gate to make sure every thing is stamped correctly.

Now I know all about 9/11 etc but really have they not heard of risk assessment.How much risk is there from a plane load of British tourists just wanting to get home.Don't they want us to come back?Are they trying to make it as hard as they can?I know they love forms and paperwork right from getting your visa to getting on the plane but we have to put all romantic notions of Goa behind us and accept this is a disgrace to be treated like this.A common thread running through my posts has been how long the Goans have been dealing with tourists and they should be doing better.There is no better example of this than the airport.

For those of you still reading this, rant over.In fact report almost over.Have probably missed out loads I wanted to say.Have probably said too much about some things.Hope I have not bored you all.

So to the title:The good ,the bad and the ugly.

The Good:Fantastic weather, friendly people,great flight.The food oh yes the food,Bobbys shack and all the great staff there, the beach,the sunset etc etc etc.

The Bad:Poor infrastructure,too much building,poor hotel standards,the poverty everywhere,the hassle,the traffic etc etc.

The Ugly:DABOLIM.

As we stood in the queue at Dabolim hot,sweaty angry I turned to my wife and said"this is why I am never coming back"a few people around us nodded and agreed.Well we have been back nearly a week and have had time to reflect and writing this has made me realize all the special things about our holiday.But oh that airport.

Apologies for grammatical errors and I really hope not to have caused anyone any offence or too much boredom

No not bored fascinated yes, if this is what Sunday down the pub achieves I shall have to give it a go .
Dabolim sounds so much like a lot of other air ports I have been in montego bay and cayo coco spring to mind.
Keep it up must be a part four boat trip was mentioned

Dreading the airport now but have decided to go to After 7 as we will be there for a special anniversary. Thanks

Sorry,
Forgot the boat trip.First though for OAP.I hope I havent put you off completely.When I was reading things before going I got a bit worried and stressed.It is an awful airport but I think I could have made it better for myself.First of all I am one of those people who has to get somewhere first in case someone gets my seat.Completely irrational I know.I think the best way to do Dabolim is actually to get there last therefore missing all the big queues.Of course not sure if I will be able to do that what if someone gets my seat?

The Boat trip.

First a bit of background.I am one of the few men around who has a wife who hates shopping.So no markets for us then.Lucky me you say.And so I am.Having done most of the other touristy things North Goa has to offer on previous trips we spent most of our time lazing on the beach.Nothing wrong with that.But I get an attack of we must do at least one trip.

Sanjay from Bobbys sold us a boat trip a lot cheaper than we would have got through the tour operator.Full day beer soft drinks BBQ Dolphins island snorkelling.picke dup at 8.15am and taken to Sinquerim jetty.Get on board.Each boat holds about 10 there were about 7 on ours.
Basically we head out past the fort quick look at the prison governors mansion around the headland drop off some lads and all the BBQ gear on a small beach and head out to sea.Well I would not say it was rough but it was tossing about a bit.In front of us sat two very white Scottish girls who were staying at our hotel.They had been there a week but were still white because they were doing what I was doing at their age partying every night.

Unfortunately they both pretty quickly turned green and as they were sitting in front of us I had some very obvious concerns.Fortunatelywe got to the "island"without any emissions.

We did not actually get off the boat to go on the island rather moored up with the other two while some people snorkelled.I did but could not see anything not much visibility.

After about 20 minutes we turned around went back to where we had dropped all the BBQ crew off and spent an hour and a half sunbathing and eating.At about 1.30pm it was back on the boat and heading back to sinquerim.This is where it got interesting.The sea was really quite rough and we were tossed about and completely soaked for the entire journey.The two scottish girls were now thankfully behind us.

Now I would not say I was really worried but this was a small boat with one outboard engine and some quite high waves.I was only reassured by looking back and seeing the crew laughing and joking at how wet we all were.Saw a couple of pairs of dolphins on the way back.

Not much of a tale I know and to the crew it was probably the same every time but boy did it make me think after the terrible events of this week in Bahrein.

Anyway should Sanjay try to sell you this trip it is basically 5 hours on a hard seat at sea 20 minutes of snorkelling and an hour and a half on a beach with surprisingly good food.1200rps each.I actually quite enjoyed it.

Was this trip to Grande Island? Sounds like it might have been.

Anyway, the trip is less interesting when it's windy (even just a strong breeze) because, as you said, the visibility of the water is very poor. The people you organised this with should have told you this, they certainly would have known.

Also, even when it's not that windy and you head North back up the Coast you are heading into the waves and it gets very choppy and very wet particularly in the afternoon, almost like someone chucking a bucket of water over you every 10 secs for however long your boat trip lasts. Anyway, it can still be quite good fun, just that you will get very wet and believe it or not even cold. The most worrying thing is when the crew start bailing out all the water, takes a while to realise this is quite normal.

If you book a boat and part of the journey is heading North they will usually tell you that you need to do that leg as early as possible to avoid this. This can obviously be difficult in some instances depending on exactly where you want to go to. Sometimes you just have to accept that if you want to go by boat you're going to get wet but if you're prepared for it, it usually isn't that much of a problem.

why not try what we did in the airport on arrival, find a seat and just sit and watch everybody stressing out. As horrid as this may make me sound it is actually quiet funny. We do this everywhere we go and i never get stressed. You may be one of the last to get your bags but nobody pushes you or snarls at you and you walk out quiet chilled.

You may be one of the last to get your bags

This is what my other half does, and also is the last to board the plane so we don't have to stand in a big queue for a long time.
The plane won't go without you as you've already checked in and ready to board. its actually quite amusing wathcing people queue up for ages.
But when it comes to getting your luggage ive found you need to be one of the first people there because the porters take your cases then you have to wonder around trying to find them. That is really annoying.
Two years ago we thought our luggage had got left behind at Manchester because we couldnt find our cases on arrival at Goa, but it turned out a porter had took them.