Out of Gatwick with Jewel in the Crown inside the Monarch Premium cabin. Excellent food, but still pretty cramped and not quite so good as Thompson Premier. Filled in all the paperwork in between gin and tonics and naturally didnt have a clue about hotel address and phonenumber. New addition was big green and white affair about swine flu. Landed at Goa whilst still dark at 5 in the morning and sailed through immigration inside 15 minutes. Swine flu form collected by gloved and masked individual who stamped it without reading it. Fended off the usual collection of porters and got taxi to Candolim and the Whispering Palms hotel, arriving as dawn was breaking.
First time at this hotel for me and its several levels above the Highland Beach where I stayed twice last year. Its all inclusive deal encouraged people to stay around the pool during the day and eat in at night and watch the big program of entertainment. In other words, it felt alive and friendly. Be warned:- all inclusive deals encourage you to drink like a fish. A beer when you return from the beach, a G and T before going out to eat dinner, and and Irish coffee when you return. It all mounts up. I had a nice room and the hotel had a nice atmosphere with staff very efficient and not a scrap of surliness from any of them. Lots of management in evidence. Clientele was half charter and half Indian, although many of the Indians were from the UK. Pretty much 100% occupancy.
3 mins walk to beach along path which drops you right in front of the River Princess. All huts up and running to some extent with much evidence of building going on. Sunbeds, drinks, and shady bits all working, but got the feeling that cooking facilities were not really ready yet in many cases. What was surprising was that none of the hut owners seemed to be fretful over the situation, being laid back about it and simply waiting to hear about the final decisions this week. Owners who already owned beach land and usually built out onto the beach with their sitting area were worried that new comers winning the licence lottery might plonk down in front of them.
Weather perfect all week and seawater and beaches clean as always.
I didnt eat in the hotel for dinner and went to my favourite restaurants. After 7, Jardin, Banyan Tree and the Stone House all excellent. Didnt try anywhere new and if the proof is in the pudding, stomach was 100% all week. Appetite was helped by the fact that I took the risky decision not to take any malaria tablets. This was because I didnt see any mossies at all and wasnt bit by anything. A special thanks at this point to Chris of the Stone House for once again being an excellent host on the many evenings I ended up there to listen to his music.
I felt that tourist levels were quite a bit down on last year but that everybody I spoke to were enjoying their stay. Not as many Russians as I expected. I didnt go to Anjuna or the one open night market. Candolim/Calangute seemed to have sprouted more upmarket shops and although I said earlier that there didnt seem to be as many tourists, the main road certainly was bustling with life at night.
Return journey went well with the flight leaving Goa on time. Pre trip thoughts about perhaps this might be the last year for me entirely blown away so am already looking for cheap deals in March/April.