Goodbye Goa, Hello Himalayas!

We’ve now left behind the sunny beaches of Goa & returned to congested and cold(er) Delhi. Boo! However, it’s not all bad, since we are off up north in 2 days to visit Dharmasala, Manali and Simla near the Himalayas, which I’m really looking forward to – except for having to dig out my thermal & hat again!

Bit of a strange last week in Goa to tell you about. Our last couple of days in Candolim were ace! We met some really nice people in our guest house, & became friends with Julie, who had just arrived from the UK, & we enjoyed a few drinks together & had a good old chin wag until the wee hours of the morning! Geeta and I also checked out the “famous” club Titos in Baga, which turned out to be nothing like it was described in the guide books, but thanks to a good DJ, pool tables, & making friends in the club, we had a brilliant night out! The following day we got up early despite our late night antics, and made our way to Panjim to see the famous Goa carnival – we were lucky to time our trip to see it!

As you’ve probably guessed by now, I also survived the crocodiles! The boat ride was lovely & we saw lots of birds along the way too. We only saw 2 crocodiles, but we got so close to 1 of them that it made up for it – it’s quality not quantity as they say!

Unfortunately I came down with food poisoning/a bug on my last day in Candolim, though I still managed to get our taxi to Colva the following day and then proceed to have an argument at the hotel because they were trying to overcharge us… I was so grumpy because I was ill that there was no way he was going to win! Despite being ill we went down to the beach to check out other hotels, & got talking to an English guy sat having lunch… & discovered that Palolem beach (where we had really wanted to go), wasn’t as expensive as we’d been told! So the next morning we checked out (causing another argument!), & left for Palolem. I was still confined to my bed & so didn’t see much – 5 days of doing nothing & being stuck with only 5 English TV channels was very boring! I managed to get down to the beach on my penultimate day though, and it was worth getting out of bed for the picture postcard scenery – it was by far the best beach we visited in Goa.

From Palolem we headed for Bogmalo Beach near the airport for our last night in “luxury” since we splashed out on a “nice” hotel…. But we were very disappointed when we arrived because the hotel description was misleading (e.g. “by the sea” a.k.a. 3 km walk!) I kept quiet, but when we discovered that we couldn’t even have a shower and would have to use the room next door, it was the last straw so I spoke to the hotel owner, and sparked yet another argument! Unless you are complimenting their services, they don’t like to hear if you’ve got a complaint.. and it seems that 2 young females aren’t taken very seriously at all & I think he thought we’d be a push over. Well he hadn’t reckoned on me, a stubborn Biggs through and through (Hey Dad, don’t you agree?!!). I gave as good as I got, & despite his shouting, I wouldn’t raise my voice. He was so rude & offensive, but I can be a real smart ar*e when I want to be, so when he offered us a full refund in the heat of the argument, I asked him for it when we checked out. Of course, he soon backed out of it, but I was given 25% of the money back, plus we got dinner, breakfast and an airport transfer for free!

Despite the owner being a complete #?!*@# the staff were very friendly & I had a good evening at the hotel playing pool all night. I’m so mean though, I wouldn’t let any of them win, & they kept trying & trying – for 3 hours – until I said that I really needed to pack my bags!!

So my last week in Goa was a little tainted through illness, bad hotels, and arguments with people, but overall I really enjoyed Goa. However, I am definitely ready for a change of scenery & to do some more of the cultural stuff!

Although having said that, in the mean time, I am sat in Geeta’s aunt’s house in Delhi in my Arsenal top, eagerly awaiting the Carling Cup Final between Arsenal and some other horrible team that wears blue whose name I won’t mention! I just wish I could see the match rather than wait anxiously for the result!

Hey bet you’re not so jealous of me anymore after all the incidences I’ve just told you about!

Rach x

P.S. C’mon the Gunners!!!