i will second that Fiona, I have just looked in the upload gallery and oap has posted some lovely photos

ha ha

Havent got long to type this, but .......

First time to Goa, and what a magnificent experience.Apart from the Prazeres hotel.Basic accomodation, and 'fixing' of bar tabs daily.

We were a large party, 26 of us, with 8 of them regular visitors. So, we had the insight as to where to go, how much to pay etc etc.

An absolute must, is the waterfalls/monkey feeding excursion, followed with a trip to a spice plantation. We saw prices up to £40 per person for these, but due to our 'insider knowledge', we got some taxis and did the whole thing (including the off-roading in a jeep up to the waterfall)for just over 1000 rupees per person, and thats with tips !!!

Totally enjoyed Manadarim beach, very quiet and relaxing compared to some of the other beaches. The others being Coco,Calangute/Candolim/Baga. However, as we were situated in Candolim, we regularly met up at the Big Blue Shack for drinks at about 4pm.

Other trips were the usual ........ The old fort, the prison,Jimmy's palace,the Dolphins,Anjuna market (never again).

The food was fine, although every single one of us got 'the belly' at some point during the stay. 7 of us who dined together one evening, all got bitten by it the next day. Cant remember the name of the place, but it's across the road from Silver Sands, heading towards the Sports Bar, and it has an upstairs area in which to dine. Bloody awful place.

All in all, a great ,great time was had by everyone. The wife and I are booking to go again next December, and will hopefully get accomodation at the Sea Shell hotel in Candolim.It is situated at the rear of the Sea Shell restaurant and looks great. The best food we had was eaten here, and the Hungry Horse.

Well, gotta go.

Most people who go to Goa seem to make a return visit.

Hi
I got back about 2 weeks ago. I had a great time again!! Although I did miss my flight from London, which resulted in Simon and my dad driving from opposite ends of the country to meet in the middle where I was to be dropped off/picked up! I owe them my job lol-considering I stayed a week longer in October with an ear infection-I don't think blaming problems about my holiday is going to get me off work twice in two months. Other than that Nothing else went wrong-thankfully:)

I had a sort of relaxed holiday this time, compared with October when we drove around for hours seeing other parts of Goa.
I met a friend in London and we had access to the airport lounge where we decided to get really drunk-not to mention our flight was delayed from Gatwick for three hours so we sat in another bar drinking vodka with 2 women who were on our flight-we actually had fun in the airport-how often can people say that? Lol. All it meant was that we were still drunk when we arrived in Goa-so the hangover started to kick in around midday

We spent most of our nights in The Bhatti Bar-because the food is so good-and the drinks are so cheap!! We did try a new restaurant called Posh Nosh-which is down past Acron Arcade in Candolim. Michelle had a King prawn cocktail for starters-which we all thought was quite funny. Another place we went to was on the beach road, It was all Moglai cuisine, The restaurant was called Sheetal. It's attatched to the Silver Sands resort-which by the way is gorgeous. We got a tour off one of the waiters-and prices!! I can honestly say I would never be able to afford to stay there but the idea was nice We had a really good night in there, we were entertained by one waiter with magic tricks. I'm 21 and magic tricks should only be exciting for the kids-but it was brilliant!

We also went to Sweet Chilli-which is always guaranteed to be a good night. We saw the African dancers again and there was a singer on on our last night who we met in Panjim back in April.

My friends are now back aswell-after spending three months out there to sort out the sale of their house. Just think how bad we all feel coming home after 2 weeks-they must be feeling a hundred times worse! That is the only bad thing about going in the Bhatti bar-alot of the regulars in there are people who either live out there or are staying long term-so it makes you feel kind of depressed when you are having your last meal in Goa until 2008 and they are spending christmas there!! There was one man who sat in the bar who had come to Goa for the first time and he was staying for months!! It's a good job he did love it from the start!!

Anyway, I have typed on and on again, so I'm going to sign off.

Anyone planning on going this month, I hope you have a fantastic time. (I'm sure you will).

Love Gemma x x x

so when is your next time to Goa Gemma?

Only just spotted these reports hidden away.

How busy was it?

I'm not sure when my next visit will be (Work and holidays are always a problem). I would like to go back in April again, but I don't know if I can wait that long!! It is starting to feel like forever since I was there I quite liked it in the monsoon season aswell because it was so quiet and we got to visit some really nice places.

Back on Friday after three weeks in the Calangute area, just a few observations
Everyone I spoke to is worried sick as to the u.k. tourist numbers, or lack of them this year. Most places from restaurants, to shacks, to exchange places all told the same story of this being the worst start to the season ever. Russian numbers were up however, which did'nt please most of the Goans I spoke to. I was told by one Goan involved in the tourist industry that they expect the Russian tourist numbers to overtake the U.K. numbers next season. I was certainly surprised to see an old Jumbo (747) Jet lumbering down Dabolims runway on Friday afternoon full of departing Russians The other most notable difference is the huge continuing increase in home grown tourists, their numbers swell yearly, and now are not only to be seen at the Calangute steps, but right from the Baga River to Sinquerm
I walked the beaches daily and on the whole they were clean with the usual exception of the area at Calangute steps, where litter, of all sorts, is discarded freely, by the local tourists. I see quite a few tourists from Europe chose to use the shacks around there, not my cup of tea, as the noise of the motor boats, jetskis, and the stench of Petrol fumes would put me off, as well as out of state tourists gapeing at you, and trying to take your photo.
I would say on average prices were about 10% up from last year and with the tour companies also pushing their prices up,slowly but surely, Goa is becoming less and less a good value destination, we go scheduled flights now, and when all the sums are done, its not the bargain destination it once was. The Goans we know and the people we meet up with, draw us back, but more and more old friends are thinking, the times approaching to move on to fresh pastures
I.m sure Goas tourist future will lie with their own holidaymakers, I'm just glad I've known it from the start of things twenty or so years ago
I think you can see a similarity to what happened in the u.k. in the 19th Century, when the workers started to see conditions improve, and the trains took them off from the factories for a few days, at the likes of Blackpool. Now India has reached this level and whats happening now in Goa is just what happened all these years ago during our Industrial Revolution
That sounds a bit heavy, it must be Jet Lag. Alan

What can I say ? got back Sunday night and still too tired to write very much. I will get around to writing something soon. In the meantime all I can say is that it was probably my best Goa holiday yet. Very eventful and different to say the least. Loved every minute and promise to get around to writing about it soon.

Hurry up, we're waiting

My jet lag is wearing off. I feel better today. I'll write some stuff this weekend I promise.