1st Day
We arrived (with no delays) to our waiting taxi driver Sergio (we decided to opt out of the coach transfer, I felt I could live without experiencing that!) and fought our way through the throng of porters with some very firm "no thank you, I can manage" muttered and not a single pound parted with, we arrived at our hotel (hotel review already submitted) after encountering cows, pigs and dogs on the dark roads and some hair-raising overtaking manoeuvres and promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours. We awoke to find the weather overcast and very humid
We ventured into the town for lunch and thought did cross my mind "oh my god why have we come here" when the beggar guy on one leg hopped past and the constant "do you want a taxi", "come look in my shop" and the constant noise. We decided to head back to the hotel for a swim in the pool to unpack.
The following day broke to beautiful blue skies and scorching heat which then stayed with us for the rest of our 2 weeks
Shacks
We decided to spend our second day at the beach and stopped off at one of the shacks and spent the day chilling out in the sun, a lot of the shacks were still being built so there was a limited choice of which were serving food and drinks. We didn't get pestered too much but we were down at the Sinquirim end of the beach which we found to be a bit quieter.
The following day we ventured down to the other end by Claudina's shack where we met Santana and Veejay who looked after us fantastically on the days where we were at the beach, they were lovely guys and we spend many hours chatting we them about their and our lives. We didn't venture anywhere else because we felt disloyal!!
Beach Life
We actually preferred the busier end of the beach, despite the hassle, as the sea was a bit rougher and you could body-board and have some fun in the waves but appreciate this may not be for everyone, OH and I are both fairly decent swimmers so the roughness of the sea was not a problem.
We spent quite a few hours playing Frisbee with the kids on the beach and in the sea and it was great to see them having such fun with something as simple, how many English kids could amuse themselves for hours on end with a Frisbee?!
We mostly ignored the beach traders and resolutely stuck to our "don't buy anything for the first week" mantra. When we did want to buy in our second week, we'd mastered the art of bartering and managed to buy 2 sarongs for 100 rups which I thought was a good deal!
Eating Out
The food in our hotel left a lot to be desired so we ate breakfast at Casa Sea Shell most days and found the staff their really friendly and chatty, Sunny always joked we'd never be as tanned as him! We also had fantastic meals at Gato Loco and Chocolatti in Candolim (thanks Irish Colleen) and The Scirocco Bar in Calangute which all served fabulous food with no after effects, if you know what I mean. The only bad experiences we had were after eating in our hotel, the food never tasted quite right and my OH was very poorly after breakfast there one day.
Health
We managed to avoid the mozzies but took precautions with malaria tablets and 50% deet spray. The tablets made me feel quite unwell so I only took about 4 weeks worth of the 7 week course and then got fed up with feeling ill and stopped.
My OH broke a tooth which we got fixed at the dentist very cheaply (250 rups) and he also ended up with a doctors visit after his stomach problems failed to clear up, again it was very cheap 500 rups plus 100 rups for the tablets. Don't be afraid to call the doctor if you feel you need it, I also found the pharmacy very useful.
Trips
We didn't do as many trips as we wanted because my OH's stomach problems, we did 3 trips with John's Boat Tours and went to Anjuna market with our taxi driver. I found the market to be completely overwhelming, we went about 3pm in the afternoon but the heat was still unbearable amongst the crowded stalls and coupled with the constant hassle, beggars and people trying to stick things in your ears we only lasted about an hour there, couldn't wait to leave!
We loved the dolphin trip, saw loads plus the boat captain took us up the coast, round the River Princess and was full of information, it was sad but the other people on the boat didn't seem interested in what we were seeing, apart from us nobody asked any questions. Saw the guy waving a Welsh flag from the prison window, what a hell hole that must be.
We did a fishing trip and saw the most amazing sunset and managed to catch a couple of fish by the time we got home my OH's fish was about the size of Moby Dick
We also did the croc trip which I thought was disappointing, they later told us we'd gone at high tide and evidently the best time to see them is low tide which is why hardly saw anything. We were warned against the spice plantation this early in the season as evidently there's nothing to see as everything has only just started growing, which makes sense.
Overall Experience
It took us longer to settle in than I imagined, maybe 5-6 days but once we got into the swing of it we both said we would go back and do all the things we didn't do this time round. I loved the cows on the beach, the dogs snoozing under the loungers (we never had any problems with the dogs), the sunsets, the Goan people are so proud and friendly, they're interested in your life and will openly talk about what it's like for them to live there - take the opportunity to talk to them you'll be fascinated. I also loved Gato Loco, it was my favourite restaurant and the owner who's name escapes me was such a lovely lady (she also runs a B&B) and always happy to stop and chat. We bought some Christmas presents and some bling for me and the advice given on this forum was invaluable when knowing what to pay. I even think the constant noise washes over you after a while and you don't notice it. I felt very safe there and we never had any problems in that respect.
I think we will go back but there are so many other places I want to visit I'm not sure when it will be.
Jules
Glad you enjoyed Goa. As you say it is so very different and when its your first visit it does take a while to settle in and the first couple of days you ask yourself why youve gone there!!! Your report was great and made brilliant reading. Merry Xmas x
