Erika

Stansted to Gatwick is quite a long journey but I would say train is your best bet.

The trains run farily regularly. If you allowed 2 hours to clear customs etc (it shouldn;t take that long) then you could catch the 13.15 from Stansted to London Liverpool Street. There you would need to jump on the tube to Farringdon Station. You'll need the Hammersmith & City line; the Circle Line or the Metropolitan Line. Any one will do and you should find that they all leave from the same platform. At Farringdon you can catch a train direct to Gatwick.

The service runs about every 15 minutes and the whole journey takes 2 hours so you shouldn't have any great problems.

Food and drink at Gatwick ins't very cheap. You can eat McDonalds and that sort of thing if you wish which is about as cheap as it gets. I would budget about £ 10 per head if you want anything half decent.

I would probably take Euros to avoid a double exchange rate but you can always use the ATM's which tend to be the best way to take money out there. Depending on your Bank you should get quite a good rate this way. Don't change currency at the airport, wait until you get to the resort and find an Elephant Shop. There ar eat least two in Candolim

The biggest local markets are Mapusa (a non tourist market) where they sell everything. Anjuna (A tourist market) or one of the night markets that are really the same as Anjuna. There is a fish market at Mapusa but if you want to speak to the fishermen then across the Mandovi River from Panji at Betim (this is the side Candolim is on). It's maybe 20 minutes in a taxi. You can also find fishermen up by Chapora, which is North of Candolim.

I would think the biggest business centre would be Panjim or Mapusa.

I can give you the phone number of a good taxi but you need to p.m. me for it. I can;t really post it here. His Father owns/operates many of the blue boats so he can definitely give you some good local information regarding this - don;t worry about what a blue boat is just yet, you'll understand when you get there.

Panning for salt used to be big business in Goa but as I understand it the industry is very much in the decline and they now import more salt than they produce. Sorry but I don't know where they still pan for it.

Salt... When you drive from Calangute to Apora and you get to that small bridge, that's where they collect salt, on both the left and right of the road is flooded land during most of the season but later on, it dries out and hey presto salt is left... not very exciting though....

Think he replied to everything else... I'd recommend a trip down to palolim for a night (stay in a cocohut - (had the weekend off from the old charity work and spent Sat/Sun down there, took about 7 volunteers and Shermina and I, had a great time, nice and relaxing...) Well worth it!

Fritz, I sent you a pm

if you go to http://www.nationalexpress.com they run coaches between airports and stanstead to gatwick and return is £30 hope this helps

Thank you! But now I have another doubt... the site asks me to define the "north" or "south" terminal at Gatwick... how will I know which one I'm leaving from and arriving at? (is it one for departures and the other one for arrivals? Can you save me the time to look for it? Thanks!)

You'll be South unles you are flying with First Choice in which case you will be North

Thanks, Fritz!
I could also find that info when I was looking for the transfers options at http://www.airwise.com/airports/europe/LGW/index.html
I already booked our transfer with National Express. They had the best timetables for our flights.
To repeat my "new" doubt, as I posted it also on http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=64850 :
Do we need to declare the cameras at Gatwick? Do we need the purchase receipts (they're not anything near to new!)?

poipleshadow,

Thanks for the hint. The salt thing doesn't "need" to be exciting
We think we can get beautiful photos at sunrise or sunset

lots of good chances for good sunsets... Especially at the moment... enjoy the salt watching..

Have fun

By the way, I just found out today about Children Walking Tall and I emailed them to ask where in Goa I can leave some things (I'll see how much I can pack with me within permited weight). I see the link on your signature - are you somehow involved?
Just to think I have my 5 yo daughter's drawer full of clothes she'll never wear enough, I must take all I can with me!

Already starting the mess over here... I didn't realize the correct arriving date for our trip, as we're leaving Goa on 12th March at 6pm, and arriving the next day at Gatwick by 1.25 am and I must have checked the wrong callendar when booking our flights from Stanstead to Porto so now I'll have to change a flight and assume the costs... All my fault, there's no doubt about it. But before paying 50 euro to make this change I wanted to check something with you, more experienced travelers to and from Goa/London.
It seems to me our schedule is very very tight. We arrive at 1.25 am, our transfer is at 2 am and the flight back home at Stanstead is at 6.40 am. The check-in closes at 5.40 am and our transfer takes about 3 hours so we should be there at 5 am. But this is all considering just a very short margin for delays, about 40 minutes, and assuming our BAGS will be out of the plane almost instantly, which we know probably won't happen that way
I've been on some long distance trips but I was never worried about the time like this. I never checked the clock to see how long it took me to get out of the plane and get my luggage. By your experience (and I see many of you go out to Goa more than one time a year or every year) what do you think of our schedule? Will we make it? Are there usually many delays on the flight back from Goa (I know it's usual when we're travelling counter-earth rotation!)?
If this doesn't work, we only have a flight back to Porto by 6pm and it seems to me it will be quite hard to spend a day between airports, with bags and all, after such a long overnight flight but maybe it's best not to run at all?

Kyasbaby.

I wish you luck with all your travel arrangements. You certainly are cutting everything fine.

You said you were a 'journalist'. May I be so bold to ask if you are a 'travel writer'?

Kyas

Sorry to tell you I don't think I have ever returned on time - I don't take too much notice coming home so can't be sure.

Something to do with the wind at high altitude, at least that's the excuse they usually give.

How about everyone else? Do you usually land on time?

No problem about asking. I'm not "specialized", as no one usually is around here. I write about everything and what I plan on doing with Goa is the same. I can either write about the touristic travel or the local problems, the portuguese heritage after 40-something-years of indian rulling, etc, etc, etc. There's the drug problem, the poor villages inhabitants selling their daughters to work abroad, the children on the streets... I am a journalist and am not limited by principle to just one view on any subject.
Unfortunately all the travelling arrangements have been made by me with not the best of minds due to some considerable personal problems, however I am still trying to juggle all the balls and make everything work out for the best. Besides we're organizing this as freelancers for the first time ever (unlike other countries, freelancers are uncommon in Portugal in our area of business) and there are many things setting us back. Also, my partner doesn't speak english so I'm on my own :p (isn't that a dangerous thing, with me being blond and all? LOL)
Correction: I was on my own. Now I found out about this forum and it's been the most helpful - priceless! I can only wish to be able to repay any of you in the same way, someday.

Well, to be on the safe side (counting we don't get any delay over 12 hours) I changed our flights back from London to 6.35pm Now I'm kind of hoping for some delay because I'm not too happy to spend a night and a day in between airports in London It's not as if we would be all fresh and happy to carry our bags along with us all day and visit the city itself

Of course, new questions are coming to my mind...

Having emailed Robert, we found out there seems to be no portuguese charity work in Goa or we just don't hear about their work. It's worth asking if anyone here has knowledge about this?

I was reading an old thread about vicious "things" in Goa (quite a few laughs about it too) and of course someone mentioned the cows running around freely... Can you draw me a picture here? How many cows will I see on the main road in Calangute? Do they just wander around like dogs in Europe? Who feeds them? Do they have owners? Is it safe (not seen as an insult) to tell-off a cow or will this be a violation of their rules? In short, how are we to deal with cows?
In another thread someone asked about using an electron card (visa electron DEBIT card) in ATM's in Goa but didn't get a clear answer. Maybe someone can tell me now if they do work? And what about normal VISA credit cards, are those ok anywhere? Should I look for any symbol on ATM's?

Here cows are everywhere! Because the cow is respected as a sacred animal, it's allowed to roam unharmed, and they are pretty used to the traffic and the rhythm of the city. So, you can see them roaming the streets in towns and cities, grazing unmindfully on the roadside grass verges and munching away vegetables thrown out by street sellers.

Stray and homeless cows are also supported by temples, especially in southern India.

Conserve the Cow

As opposed to the West, where the cow is widely considered as nothing better than walking hamburgers, in India, the cow is believed to be a symbol of the earth - because it gives so much yet asks nothing in return.

re electron cards.
never had one but I understand that they are not widely accepted abroad. Visa credit cards should be ok anywhere but obviously carry a financial penalty.
For myself I take a mixture of cash (I think that euros will be OK), travellers cheques (either Dollars, Euros or Sterling) and Nationwide debit card.
Probably Nationwide is not available in Portugal ao you would prob ably be sfae with the above mix.

your question about cameras and receipts etc, I have never been asked to show proof of purchase when taking cameras and camcorders etc.
I would only imagine a problem if they were new and looked it.
I think that officially you are supposed to declare them on arrival in Goa, but no-one seems to bother.

del949

Just thought I'd update "my" thread here...
I just got our visas and tickets!!!
3 weeks to go... I'm getting nervous... specially because we'll have to handle a few more things than you "brit" tourists do when leaving for Goa... it'll be the first time I fly with Ryanair anywhere, first time in London (and probably not seeing much through the bus windows anyway), first time on Monarch airlines, first time in Goa...
Mostly I'm worried about how my partner will deal with all this. He's travelled before but I'm afraid this time he'll have to rely on my english for mostly anything (good thing he doesn't need the language skills to take great photos uh?) and he may become somehow heavy on me..
I wish I would be going to Goa on vacation like most of you.. I wish I could have booked for 2 weeks instead of just one... but my 5 years old daughter will be waiting for me at home and one week has to be enough... maybe next time I'll just go and take her with me...
Last year we went to Djerba, in Tunisia, for our family vacation and my daughter just loved the plane Taking off and landing was her favourite moments while her dad held on to the seat LOL This is sooo off topic lol
Anyhow I feel so welcomed here I thought you deserved to know some more about me. I sure will give you all huge trip reports as I return

The weekend got me thinking of some more questions... (I haven't read about this on the forum yet though I'm trying really hard to read it all!)

Suntan and insect repelent: which goes first on the skin? Can I really mix them or should I use one or the other?
My skin is extremely dry, specially in my face... I still have to use a moisturising cream, so this makes 3 layers of stuff on my face What would you sugest I put on first? Moisturizer, suntan, than repellent? (I'm thinking I'll be allergic to it )

I just remembered I'll need to recharge my cellphone and I don't understand anything about electric current. I don't even know if portuguese current is the same as uk's to ask you if in India is the same as here and my cellphone plug will work Where can I find that info?

I think I read somewhere on this forum about restaurants in Goa serving "our" food for tourists who are tired of curry and also somewhere where you could have a steak I just can't imagine how I'd feel if someone would open in Portugal a restaurant where people could eat cats or dogs so I was wondering how the local-cow-lovers take those restaurants

Oh and my bank replied to my doubts about Visa Electrom debit cards. They say it will work on any ATM that works for VISA too, with a fee involved (the same for London ATM's). I'm a bit worried though so I won't relly on just a card to get money of the wall