hi everybody. got back late last night and thought i would just give a quick report. went out on monarch 7,00pm flight. every thing was fine - good seats(where we requested,even though we hadn't pre-booked) had plenty of room, we are on the short side but our neighbours,who were a lot taller were more than happy with the legroom. staff very pleasant,in-flight meals good,2 drinks runs and they were quite happy for you to request more drinks after this. 2 new films and some other programmes for entertainment.flight actually arrived 20 mins early.so if you've booked with monarch and have read all the bad reviews - dont worry they're not that bad!
stayed at the nazri resort in baga. it is a lovely hotel - the best we have stayed in yet. good position,opposite east meets west. didn't do anything unusal - just a chill out holiday really,as we have done most of the usual trips. went to fransiscos,jo louie, jolly jacks,tom's and sunset beach shacks - all very good. the best though was called cliffs shack. you have to cross over the baga river by silver sands and then walk past sunset beach and climb over the rocks but it is well worth it. there are NO beach sellers or massage girls,completely peaceful. the food and drinks were good,some nice music played not too loudly and the beach there is really clean.it is a sort of cove so you dont get the huge waves and can actually swim. the lads on the shack are really friendly but also leave you alone - if you know what i mean! left our towels there at night and they would put them on the beds for us next day. next year the owner is hoping to build some huts behind the shack which should be lovely. they also have really clean, flushing toilets.
went to the oriental - ok,not very good service and the meal was average. a bit disappointed as our friends who we met there had been three times the previous week and had thought it was much better, so just luck of the drawer i suppose. went to bernards place- very nice and kim fa - very mediocre! suprisingly some of our best meals were actually in the hotel - had a fabulous king prawn red thai curry and hyderabad chicken.also when we fancied 'plain' , chicken in white wine with jacket potatoes. it was really well priced and their wine was not too over priced. went to floyds, flambes and perola do mar in candolim and the waiters remembered us from 2 years ago and the food was just as good. the best restaurant though was the o pescodor in baga, lovely atmosphere, a bit 'up market' and lovely food. we had the hot and sour chicken soup,spicy crab soup,pepper fried king prawns,mixed hakka noodles, king prawn goan curry,and chicken sagg, plus a couple of continental meals as well. their drinks were also really icy cold. sorry, this is starting to read like a menu,you might notice that one of my favourite things about goa is the food! bought some of the usual tat - cant resist it. my husband just lets me get on with it now.
came across a new scam, though others may already know of it. walking back from the beach on a quiet bit of road came across a small boy with his big basket of peanuts,absolutely bawling his eyes out,holding his face. whats the matter? we ask."three men beat me and stole all my money".followed by even louder wailing. we said we must take him to the police at which he beat a hasty retreat.unsympathetic you might think,but our friends who were staying in calangute had already told us that this had happended to them days before.
we never went last year and wondered if we would notice much change. we didn't. its still hectic and noisy and rubbish strewn.there are too many russians, imo. its also hot,sunny,friendly,quirky,has the best food and drink,and imo,still offers the best value for money. there is always something to see or something going on. yes there are too many taxi drivers wanting to take you 200 yards but we just dont take any notice.
my husband had it right when we were sat at cliffs shack watching the sun go down with an ice cold g&t and said "this is as good as it gets"
thats about it really - a bit boring i know, but just wanted to say - i still love goa!!