i guess different people have different expectations.....and i dont think theres any excuse for the airport departure performance ive been to many similar countries & never found such a carry on before ( oh well ok maybe except for aswan in egypt.........but thats another story!!!)
i do get surprised when people mention how awful & shocked they were by the poverty..what do they think '3rd world' means??? maybe spending part of my childhood in kenya has always meant that im aware how a huge proportion of the planet have to live their lives but im always surprised by peoples comments about it in this day & age.
thankfully we always have such a fantastic time in goa that we dont even think about the airport until we're back there in the thick of it again & it doesnt put us off at all......if anything the military mob make me giggle.........how can you take them seriously???? ( i know you have to but its quite hard)

So, John, you've not mentioned the name of this super resort you go to in Goa.
Why don't you share it with us all?

Incidentally, we first visited Goa (Calangute) in Nov 94, so you can imagine the changes that we've seen.

We returned (to Candolim) Feb 03, Nov 04, Feb 05 and Feb 06 and I've read a lot of posts about how busy it it, how many beach sellers there are now etc, but this year we thought there were far less sellers than in the previous 3 years.

Polly

Well said John. In full agreement with you.

I went back for the first time in 5 years the other week, just paid a fleeting visit to the Sonesta for 3 nights, ate at old restaurants like Seashell, Sousa Lobo etc. Sousa Lobo is still stunning seafood and still patronised by the Indians....but i nearly couldn't find it with the stuff that's been built around it!!

It did get me when my taxi driver didn't even know where Bob's Inn was....almost sacrilege for one of the most infamous haunts in Goa no?

Calangute did stun me..totally. It's not the same place, almost unrecognisable. Didn't bother me because i only used to go there in the past for food, haircuts, ciggies and shopping....but it looked more like bloomin Patong in Phuket than the old village i remembered.
Commercialism is rife and i couldn't believe all the new 'concrete' shops...takes the effect away of you're not buying from a tarpaulin covered hut at the side of the road.
As to whether it bothered me...no it didn't. It's just progress. The spirit has gone from almost everything, but that's what you get in the pursuit of big bucks. It's us Brits that have fuelled the explosion with our charter flights and wishing to get cheap holiday homes...we're the reason that it's gone the way it has so there's nothing to complain about. Think how the Goans feel about seeing every spare plot of land being bought by foreigners.......they can either complain and do nothing, or jump on the gravy train themselves.
It's true that when you find a great holiday place you tend to feel a kind of "ownership" or "kinship" (just look at all the threads asking to be mentioned to old names). We all want to be remembered and leave something behind, we all want to feel a bit of exclusivity.

The shack by Sonesta (Bobby's) still has the same staff it's had for 10 years, but they look a darn sight healthier now than they did back then. Their English is now perfect, the stories are all worked out and repeated verbatim year after year, true or not. (My brother's shop, take my brother's motorbike, these elephants i carved myself, i support my wife and child back in Mumbai etc..). They forget what they've told you before, change the stories, tell you it's a quiet season with only repeat visitors and then they whip out a bag of T-Shirts for you. Old Sunny/Sanjay is a master of the game. I met him on his first season when he could hardly speak a word of English and had long hair and a droopy Indian moustache, but he's now the genial host, knows the score and I had a really honest talk to him this time. He's raked it in. Call me an old cynic but they love the game and so do the tourists!
3 days was enough for me i must admit though.

I totally agree with you Chriss. I have been to Goa 11 times altogether my first trip was in Jan 1992 and the place has changed behond recognition. My last trip was only for 1 week in Dec 2004 and we sprnt 5 days in the huts at Ashvem which we liked but have said it has changed to much for us and we will not go back. B