aarond you can tell them at Francisco's they are famous on the internet now then! haha! Marvin and Siegmund were fascinated by me writing in my journal and found it incredibly funny that I pointed out their names in it!

Friday 11th Feb
Leo met us this morning to take us to Mandrem beach. The drive took about 40 minutes and we went through several small towns and villages. Mandrem beach is lovely - much quieter than Candolim and the sand is softer and finer. However, the sea is very very calm, making it far less exciting to swim in than Candolim. As we'd arrived early the beach had few people on it but it quickly filled up around us/ The shack came round to take our lunch order and we felt pushed to chose something on the spot. At 1 o clock we headed over to the shack. My king prawns arrived with the most ridiculous amount of rice - it could have fed xi people. As we were eating, we saw several herons and tiny kingfishers on the bridge going over to the beach. After lunch we decided we'd had enough of Mandrem and called Leo, who promised to pick us up at 3.30. At 4.30, Ahmed, a new driver, turned up to collect us. We paid the bill and for the first time in Goa we were charged for the use of the sunbeds. Ahmed drove like a maniac and we narrowly missed an accident with a concrete post.

Once back at the hotel, we quickly showered and I went to the local hairdressers for a haircut, pedicure and to get my eyebrows threaded. Ouch! 850 rupees for the lot - bargain! I met hubby at the bar on the corner for a couple of drinks and then went to Coyotes for dinner. The waiters remembered us and asked hubby how his tummy was and we had to reassure them again there was nothing wrong with the food last time we were there. To hammer the point home, he ate a huge portion of fish and chips - Goan style - king fish in batter. After dinner we had a couple more drinks at the bar and went back to the hotel for a drink there. Ajay gave us the aniseed sweets he'd managed to buy and the packets were a bit larger than we'd imagined - 500gs each! Good job we'd lots of weight allowance left in our suitcases.

Saturday 12th Feb.
Last day in Goa and we'd decided to spend it down at Francisco's shack on Candolim beach. As we approached we were greeted by the shack's dogs. We lay out our towels and went up for breakfast - although hubby's tummy still wasn't too clever so he just had a glass of coke whilst I plumped for pineapple juice and French toast. We spent the day sunbathing and I finished reading my fourth book of the holiday. One of the other holidaymakers chatted to us about fishing as someone had caught a catfish on the beach with a line that morning. Then we heard some awful news from Francis. Leo, our driver, had been in a head on collision the day before and was in hospital with a broken leg. We saw pictures of the state of the car and to be frank, he was lucky to be alive. At the end of the day we had our final drink at the shack and wished the shack boys goodbye.

We went back to the hotel for the obligatory shower and change and went to reception to get some money from the safety deposit box. The boys at the bar asked us where we were going for dinner and when we told them Angaara one of them said he was working there later so booked us a table (away from the TV so hubby couldn't watch the football haha!) We wandered up Beach Road to look for some gifts and bought a couple of pairs of sandals, then went off to the restaurant for dinner. The meal there was lovely and when I asked the waiter to explain what Bebinca is he brought a sliver of it from the kitchen for me to try (it's really really sweet - I wasn't keen). We went back to the hotel for some drinks and took some photos with the hotel staff. Hubby would've been happy to sit there drinking Honeybee all night but by 10.30 I was wiped out so we went back to the room and he had a beer on the balcony as I went off to bed.

Only one installment left folks.... the trip home.

Brilliant report, enjoyed reading it very much.
Pity you didnt manage along to the HT meet at the Carvery on the Wednesday night. Its only 2 minutes walk from your hotel!
Do you think you will return to Goa?

Sunday 13th Feb
We fly back to the UK today. Our room boy woke us at 6.30 with coffee which we drank on the balcony. We showered and dressed - it felt very odd to put proper shoes and socks on! We tied the room, stripped the beds and packed the last bits and pieces. We weighed the cases and incredibly they weight less than on the way out - which considering we've bought books and gifts is amazing really. I'm not quite sure how we managed that! We left a final tip for the room boy (we'd been leaving 100 rupees a day) and went down to reception where we tipped the night receptionist 500 rupees and had another cup of coffee.
The coach arrived and we were glad to hear that our hotel was the last stop. The drive to the airport was smooth but we discovered that one of the Russian flights had been delayed that morning so there was more chaos than usual at the airport. We had to queue to get into the airport and then queue for AGES to go through immigration. Once through there we had our hand luggage scanned and then sat at the gate for an hour to wait to board.
The journey home was horrible. I have to say the staff on this flight were the best I've ever had on a plane - friendly, smiley, helpful and nothing was too much trouble for them. However, the inconsiderate people in front of us reclined their seats fully for 10 hours! We tried hinting by bashing their seats a couple of times but they didn't get the hint. We couldn't recline ours as the people behind us were the last row and had a wall behind their seats so were unable to recline theirs and we didn't want to take up all their space. They didn't even bother to sit up when we ate - until a nice member of the cabin crew told them to. An hour before the end of the flight the man in front of me shouted at hubby to stop kicking his seat - which had actually been an accident and hubby blew his top and told him if he and his wife were going to lay in our laps for 10 hours he'd kick what he effing well liked. I had to calm hubby down as I thought he might actually lamp him! The man was sensible enough to be quiet from then on, and when we finally got off the plane he and his wife stayed in their seats whilst the rest of us disembarked, which is just as well as hubby was all ready to have it out with him in the terminal! If you are the couple that were sat in 8 F and G on TOM053, you are inconsiderate and rude and should think about having some thought for your fellow passengers in future.
We went through passport control and our bags were almost the first off the carousel. We met our cab driver and went over to her car and then she drove us home.

When we got to the front door, I asked hubby for the keys. At this point, we discovered that he'd left his hand luggage behind somewhere. The lovely cabbie took us to some friends who luckily have our spare keys as they were feeding our cats. Hubby managed to get in touch with Gatwick this morning and AMAZINGLY our bag is there in lost property! All the contents in it including the keys, our disposable camera with loads of holiday pics on it and all our duty free - hurrah for honest people!

So, that's all folks! We had a lovely time but 10 days was enough for me. If you want a place where there is lots to see and do then Goa is not the holiday for you. If you just want to completely chill out then this is the place to go. We spent £800 in 10 days between us - and as you can see by our report we were not particularly extravagant, although we probably did pay too much for some things. I would recommend the Silver Sands - you can't find a better location in Candolim and it is very clean and friendly. I also would recommend Franciscos if you want a quiet-ish shack. I wouldn't bother with the spice plantation or waterfall trips as I felt they were quite expensive and not that great. The night market is definitely worth going to though.

I completely forgot about the Carvary meet until we'd eaten on Wednesday night and then I had an attack of shyness so didn't just want to walk in! I also didn't manage to find Del or Colleen or any of the other HT people who were at the Silver Sands - but if you saw a bald bloke and fat girl with very long dark hair then that was us!

I would go back to Goa, but it's not a place I could go to year after year like we do to Turkey and there are other places that I would like to go and see first before we return. I haven't put it on the blacklist with Cyprus and Australia though - I'd never go back to either of those!

Really enjoyed that trip report,let's hope we have more like it. well done!!

Thank you, really enjoyed your report. Goa has a way of catching up on you, give it two or three months and I will be very suprised if you aren't at least 'thinking' about going back

Gooorooo..... reading this has really got me in the right mood for going back ..you say you never got to meet me we dont go to the 26th of Feb but look on the bright side there is always the next time ...
where is the shack you liked so much Franciscos how do we get to there from where we go on the beach it sounds nice and its one we have never been to ..its so good to see you liked it sometimes on HT you find the oh dear oh dear folk so its smashing to see you had a super time ...colleen

Thanks everyone! Ah Colleen no wonder we didn't meet you then

To get to Francisco's, out of the Silver Sands go right past the chapel, then when you get to the sandy tracks take the left hand fork - that will bring you out on the beach between Spotty's Shack and Bobby's Shack. Turn left and it's about 8 or 9 shacks down, next to Vincent's shack. Walking towards the River Princess.

Fantastic report Goorooo just makes me want to be there even mpre "if that is possible'

Mike

A very interesting report,

But i must say that there is much more to see and do , than you managed in your limited time. Like a day in Panjim, to Ponda for the Hindu Temples, Old Goa, The portuguese mansions in Chandor, Up north to the Tiracol Fort, Numerous lovely beaches, Mapusa for the local market, I could go on for ages.
Everyone has their favourite destinations, as you say you enjoyed Goa, but wouldn't rush back. I've done Turkey twice, and that was enough, it's a good job we all don't want to go to the same place

Best wishes for your future travels xx lassi

I regret not going to Mapusa. We did plan to but never seemed to get round to it. We drove through Panjim and Ponda on our way to the waterfall but didn't stop there long enough to see anything.

It is a lovely place for a beach holiday - but 11 hours is a long time on a flight to lie on a beach when you can do the same thing in Turkey, Greece or Spain for less than 5 hours flying.

I am glad we went, and we did enjoy it but it's not a place to keep repeating for us. We think we'll probably try Thailand next year - after our holiday to Turkey in May this year, as I am keen to see more of Asia and I would be interested to compare it to Goa as lots of people seem to be going there instead of Goa lately.
When I work out why I can't log into the .tv site I will put my photos up. And I will write a hotel review too sometime this week.

Your report is amazing Goorooo , thanks very much, I stayed at the Silver Sands a few years back and really liked it, I remember Ajay too (like you say he has a distinctive voice) , every time we go to Goa we visit the Aangara at least twice, love the food there

I love Goa and have been 7 times , but I do agree it is very much a beach based holiday, for more to do I would definitely recommend Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia

Fantastic and detailed report but I cannot be the only other Goa regular who is horrified by how much you are tipping.

I know you say its your money but do you realise you are giving in some cases one or even two days wages as a tip.

Do you tip the waiter in you local restaurant £100.

This actually makes it far worse for the rest of us but as you say its your money.

Papa

There was no guidance on tipping on here or anything else I read so like I said, we were making it up as we went along. At the shack we were tipping 200 - 300 per day, and our bills were 1000 - 1500 so it was about 20%. We also tipped about 20% in bars and restaurants. The harder tips were things like taxis, room boys and other hotel staff. For the room boys we left 100 rupees every day and were well looked after. I think £1.20 a day is worth it for good service don't you!? In fact we felt quite mean!

I actually resent being told that we are tipping too much. If we were under tipping then I would understand others being horrified, but we tipped what we thought was fair and if other people are meaner with their money that's up to them.

I agree with Lassiegirl there is so much to see and do in Goa. In January we returned from our 12th visit and after 3 weeks still didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted. We are going to Turkey though for 16 days at the end of April, our first visit for many years. I am sure we will find lots of changes. Will have to look on the Turkey site to see what it says.

Gooorooo have just read your travel diary really enjoyed it We are having our first trip to Goa in November this year so I'm reading as much as I can about it and from your report I'm really looking forward to it so thanks

OK for anyone interested here is my guide for tipping in Goa.

Again not trying to hijack the thread but bringing some reality into the tipping situation may help others.

Shack bill: 10% of the daily total. If the owner does not share with his staff so be it.

Restaurant same 10% of the total bill.

Room boy 100 rupees per week is more than enough and a figure I was given by a local guest house owner when I asked what to tip. Beware the classic room boy story af telling you they are going home or are being moved by the hotel.

Taxi drivers: Nothing they are already overcharging you anyway.

Papa

Hi goooroo,loved your trip report,we have been going to goa for years,but have decided on a change for next year,as we have found ourselves doing the same things each day,we too used to give our room boy 100 a day and then a good tip at the end. we also always tipped our taxi a couple of hundred if we had beeen out for the day.we have booked for Thailand next year,but i really will miss goa.