Hi, this is quite lengthy but I thought you might like a trip report from Goa newbies. Here's a bit of background on us first:

We live in Birmingham, have been together for 8 years and are seasoned travellers. We have been to Kerela a few times but not Goa - we washed out of a bucket in Kerela one day and stayed in a 5-star hotel the next so we were completely open-minded to the Goa trip with no pre-conceived ideas or delusions of grandeur! Now I'm not psychic but I had a bad feeling about this trip"¦

Saturday 16th December
Up at 0630 to take the cats to their prison for the time we are on holiday and make sure we have everything we need ie passports, money etc. Drove to Gatwick which took far longer than it should have due to roadworks, dropped the car off and went through to Departures. After the farce of queuing for check in and security we were through. After a while the screens stated that the flight was delayed until 2000, bit of a nuisance but only just over an hour extra. The screens then stated info at 2000 - not good. At 2030 we were told by MyTravel that the flight had been delayed until 1500 the next day and they were putting us up at the Hilton overnight. They issued vouchers which were useless as all the retail units had closed. We had to collect our baggage again and off we went to the Hilton with a big bunch of very unhappy people.

Sunday 17th December
We had to be at check in at 1200 and go through the whole rigmarole again. There were a lot more people to go through security than last night and it seemed to take forever. The retail units wouldn't honour the vouchers as they had the wrong date on them so they had to be re-issued. Nightmare. Thankfully the info came up on the screen to board and we finally got away at 1515. I did say I had a bad feeling didn't I?

Monday 18th December
After an excellent flight with MyTravel we landed at 0610, along with another 2 flights. Mayhem! We didn't get through Immigration until after 0800 - why is there no organisation and what takes so long? We took advice from HT and got a taxi to the Hotel (Dona Alcina) and were really glad we did. The coach was totally empty when we left. The baggage boys were a bit of a nuisance but they did help us get a taxi really quickly and loaded the bags. We had taken 2 extra suitcases out for Children Walking Tall and they were really heavy so they earned their £1!
We got to the Hotel and got our room key. Off to the room which was really good and we passed out for around 5 hours. It had taken approx 44 hours from when we left the UK.
We freshened up, exchanged some money and went to try out a beach shack and look at Candolim. We stopped at the Arabian shack and had some excellent food and made friends with Lawrence and Bernard. We went back to the room to unpack and then went to the Mango Grove. The food was really good, and we were accosted for money by a local orphanage singing Christmas carols.

Tuesday 19th December
Kept awake most of the night by a dog barking in next doors garden. After a coffee we went to see Dr Pimenta at the International Dental Centre in Calangute. First time in a tuk-tuk for a few years! Tim had a tooth extracted and we went back to the room. He fell asleep so I tootled off to the Arabian beach shack for something to eat and a sneaky Kings. I got chatting to John who goes out to Goa for 6 months of the year and he said it was very quiet as over 200 Israeli flights had been cancelled. Got a few tips and hints from him and went back to check on Tim after a couple of hours. I love being able to walk anywhere on my own and feel totally safe. We went back down to the beach later for something to eat - bit difficult for him with his tooth (or lack of it) but not for me! Lawrence and Bernard took the p*ss out of Tim which was really funny!

Wednesday 20th December
Got a late breakfast at Mango Grove (bl**dy dog barking constantly again so a late start) and then got a tuk-tuk to Calangute beach. We walked up to Baga on the beach and tried hard not to get nasty with the constant hawking. I didn't realise that my Indian name was Sunbed and Tim's was Taxi! We mooched around Baga and walked back on the road to the end of Calangute. Grabbed a tuk-tuk to the Hotel and after a freshen up went to Just Chinese for dinner. Excellent food. We then went to the beach for a drink. We were going to the Wildernest for 3 nights at Chorla Ghat the next day so negotiated a taxi price with a pick up in the morning.

Thursday 21st December
The dog is getting beyond a joke, all night barking again. I explained to the Hotel and asked if they could possibly move us away. They were more than accommodating (especially considering it wasn't their problem) and promised to move us.
The taxi driver didn't show so we found another to take us. Over 2 hrs later we arrived at the Wildernest lodge in the mountains and 5 hours later we wanted to come home! The place itself is lovely with fantastic views but there is nothing to do apart from 2 walks. We were under the impression we could go exploring in the forests but you can't. The people staying there were so stuck up and just not our sort of people so we formulated an escape plan.
We told them that we had had a phone call and needed to go the following morning. They arranged the transfer for us and we only spent the one night. We went for a walk in the forest at night and switched the torch off which was excellent, and saw a huge green snake slithering down the tree on our balcony. It was good but we wouldn't have stayed there for more that one night - too quiet.

Friday 22nd December
After a visit to a local school and village in the morning we were on our way back to Candolim. We love being driven around local areas so really enjoyed the trip back.
We were a bit worried at this stage that Goa didn't have much exploring and we kept comparing it to Kerela - we were worried that we were going to be bored. We got back to the Hotel and picked up the key to the new room and were really surprised. They had put us in an apartment at the front of the complex and it was huge. They had even moved the soap we had forgotten from the old room and wrapped it in paper!
We went for a drink on the beach and got chatting to some more Goa regulars which was great.
We were discussing the whole Goa thing and we didn't get it. We couldn't understand how people returned year after year - we had been in Goa for 4/5 days and we were a bit bored. We decided to go out further afield and have a look. We went to Johns Boat Trips and booked the Dolphin watching trip and arranged with the taxi driver to do a Temples and Churches trip. We also decided to go to Old Goa and Panjim tomorrow.
Later we went to Indiana's on the Beach Road for dinner and thought the food was very good - until 3am.

Saturday 23rd December
The day was a complete write-off as I was up from 3am with 'Goa-gut' and I was bad, really bad. So much for the good food. Tim made me try something to eat at about 4pm at the Hotel bar and it stayed down so we called our taxi driver and arranged to go to Ingos market. I wasn't really in the mood but didn't want to spend all night in the Hotel. We thought Ingos was great and want to go back when I have my haggling head on. I was really disappointed that we had lost another day of the holiday.

Sunday 24th December
Thank God my stomach is ok as we are on the Dolphin trip today! It was a good trip, and we found a few really friendly people to chat to from Manchester and South Africa. We saw dolphins which was good, but some of the other boats charged in when they realised ours had seen them and frightened them away. Our skipper was excellent. We had an ok lunch on Coco Beach, and then back to land. It was a bit pricey for what it was (895rps) but not too bad. They also said all drinks were included but they weren't, only one on the boat.
We went to Chandra's as recommended on HT to get a ring. After 8 years of saying we are engaged and will get married one day we made it official with a beautiful 18kt gold and diamond ring. It needed re-sizing so we were told to come back the next day. What a fantastic Christmas present!
Later we went back to the beach for the fireworks and had a brilliant time. I quite like this sitting-in-a-beach-shack thing!

Monday 25th December
Christmas Day and it is so hot! Went to Chandra's to collect the ring and found a mark on one of the diamonds. They told us it must have happened in the polishing and to come back in 1 hour. So disappointed. We went for a drink at the Silver Sands on Beach Road and mooched around and then went back. This time, 3 of the diamonds had gouges and pits on them. I could see them without having to use an eye-glass. The guy tried to deny it at first but then when Tim pointed them out too he conceded that they were marked. After much grovelling to us he said he would make a brand new ring as he couldn't really take the marked diamonds due to the setting. We were to go back on Thursday. Really disappointed and fully expect to have no ring.
Had a fantastic curry for lunch which is something I have always wanted to do - curry on a beach on Christmas Day. We're starting to get the Goa thing now. There is a lot to be said for relaxing in a shack for a few hours, and it's something we've never done. Still don't get how people go back year after year though.
Later we went to the Tree House in Calangute for dinner, very good food. The Hotel had a Gala dinner"¦ Oh dear!

Tuesday 26th December
We went to Vagator today - what a beautiful place. It reminded us a bit of Varkala. It was very cheap, we only saw a few Westerners and chatted to some people from Bombay.
Went down to the Arabian shack for dinner and sunset and paddled in the sea at night - something else I've always wanted to do.

Wednesday 27th December
Went back to the dentist for Tims follow-up appointment and then to Anjuna market. What a fantastic place, absolutely loved it! We thought we would be there for a couple of hours and stayed until it shut.
We went to the beach for dinner and then hand-bag hunting. We are totally chilled out and relaxed -normally we run around at a great speed doing everything we can. We're starting to get the Goa thing.

Thursday 28th December
Taxi driver picked us up for the Churches, Temples and Spice Plantation Tour which we really enjoyed. We chatted to a lovely couple from Northern Ireland and had lunch with them. We also went to Old Goa and Panjim. Back to the Hotel to confirm departure details with the rep and then onto Chandra's to pick the ring up. Absolutely fantastic - it is beautiful, even better than the first one I chose. We are really pleased. We got back to the room and I was on the phone to my Mom when he goes down on one knee and officially asked me to marry him, which I wasn't expecting and neither was my Mom! Brilliant!!
Went for a lovely meal at The Curry House to celebrate. We are so getting the Goa thing now!

Friday 29th December
Went to see Rob at Children Walking Tall with the suitcases of clothes, toys, craft stuff etc and he took us to give out fruit in Karaswada. We felt very privileged and humbled. Back to the beach for lunch, and then I went to Dr Pimenta's for my teeth whitening (BriteSmile) which is one of the most uncomfortable things I have paid money for! Good results though. Later we went to the Tamarind restaurant (Sea Breeze Resort) and I had plain food as I could only eat white food for 24hrs. We packed the cases tonight so we didn't have to do it on the last day as it is depressing enough.

Saturday 30th December
Well, last day. We spent all day at the Arabian shack and we totally get the Goa thing now. It was sad saying goodbye to the friends we had made. We arranged for the taxi driver to pick us up later and went to Ingos market. We stayed for a good few hours and then went back to the room for a final check on the packing.

Sunday 31st December
We decided to get the coach to the airport so if there were any delays we would know about them. The queue to get in was long and took quite a time. The check in took us around 10 minutes and they stringently weighed our luggage, including hand baggage. We had taken a pair of fishermans scales so knew they weren't overweight. We had to wait at immigration as the Monarch flight was departing before ours so they went through first. Once through immigration we showed our passports to the guy 3 foot away from immigration and then the guy 3 foot away from him! Unreal"¦ The flight was only half an hour late leaving due to ground staff being slow at loading the plane.

We found the dogs to be no problem at all, no corruption at the airport and the people in general very friendly. We loved the sights, smells (most of them), food, people and everything.

After not getting the Goa thing we are now looking to go back for 3 weeks over Christmas and New Year! We will be looking for a private rental somewhere around the Beach Road area rather than a mainstream hotel as the 'entertainment' every night got a bit much - not that we were there much though. So many restaurants and shacks to try...!