Hello from Goa, the Indian state of sun and beaches!!! Goa is well known for its silken sand, crystalline shores, cocohut culture and laidbackness. It's probably the only state in India everyone in England knows of!

Our journey from Hampi to Goa on a sleeper bus was uneventful! It was a luxury having a bed but we felt every bump and turn. Nick found it a weird experience as we could not sit up and chat without being thrown about however we did manage to get a couple of hours sleep. We got dropped off at Canacona at 4.15am, thankfully there were tuktuk drivers waiting for our bus so we got a tuk tuk to Patnem beach as Helen wanted to stay here due to it's quiet stretch of sandy beach and laid backness, however when we arrived at 4.30am obviously it was pitch black and everything was closed. As we couldn't really do anything until daylight we found some bamboo chairs and chilled out in the dark until Dawn. This gave us the perfect opportunity to watch the local fishermen rein in their catch of the day!

When Dawn finally arrived, we found that nearly everything was closed and they were still working on re assembling beach huts from last season. As we later found out, its Goan law that huts have to be taken down and reassembled every year! We then walked what felt like 10 miles with our heavy rucksacks to Palolem which is more touristy according to our Lonely Planet but at 7am it was dead! We waited around until the coffee shop opened and then decided to shop around for a room, we settled on the Village Guesthouse which is a boutique guesthouse run by ex pats, Janet and Goran (from Ireland and London). We used the opportunity to have a thorough cleanse with a shower that actually worked properly (our bathroom was massive and luxurious) get our laundry done and watch films.

It was here that Nick got to watch the Wales vs Australia game, Nick was disappointed that Wales weren't able to play their game but is proud of how they got on in this world cup and is very much looking forwards to their progress over the next 5 years. As our accommodation was way off our budget we used every opportunity to stay in our room/on the balcony drinking proper British tea and catch up with emails/book accommodation for festival periods. It was also nice to have decent conversations with people we understand and understood us!

Whilst on the balcony we met another couple (the bloke was from Old Swan) and he was ranting about how much seafood he has eaten including shark meat. Helen had to resist saying anything...We went out for dinner, but even choosing a restaurant was difficult as most places served shark meat....we settled on an Italian restaurant, Magic Italy as recommended by Janet. We met more British people on our return to the guesthouse but we decided to watch a film however both of us fell asleep before we knew it. The bed was just too comfortable!

The following morning we regrouped to discuss our plans for the next couple of days and we decided to head off to Panjim, the capital of Goa. Janet and Goran were gobsmacked at our approach to travelling, taking each day as it comes and following the road north! If you ever find yourself in Palolem, Goa, the Village Guesthouse is the must stay place!

Panjim only has a population of 99,000, and is a small and quaint city. We quickly checked into a budget hostel, Comfort Guest House for 400 rupees per night and headed out. Panjim has a Portuguese colonial charm and we strolled the peaceful streets taking in the local sights. We strolled down the shopping district and along the Mandovi river where we saw several casino boats. We were surprised to find that no one was staring as us and that most of the local people were wearing western clothes.

After eating western food the last couple of days, Nick really fancied a curry so we headed to the Upper House as recommended by the Lonely Planet and it's been the best recommendation made ever! We received 5 star treatment as they pull out your chair for you when you sit down and they put food onto your plate at the table. This place simply has the best bread in South India and Nick rates the curry in his top 3 favourites.

A new day arrived and we headed to a cafe for breakfast and we were gobsmacked to see 2 familiar faces, Marta and Clara, the two Spanish girls we met at Mysore and again in Hampi. After a little catch up we got two buses to Mandrem where we had booked 2 nights at a very highly recommended beach resort. Dunes Beach Resort.

Dunes is on Mandrem Beach and there is absolutely nothing you can do but laze on the beach which suited us fine. Our resort was really pretty with huts lining a palm forest like pathway leading to the beach. At night it is particularly romantic with it's globe lights lighting the huts and pathway. We did absolutely nothing apart from laze on the beach, swim in the sea, sleep and eat! We can't deny Dunes the 'try hard' factor, one of the blokes at reception (bless his heart) really tried to communicate with us using his hands even after telling him that we can lipread! Nick thinks he reminds him of Manuel from Fawlty Towers!

Next on our agenda was to head to Arambol, 4 km north as we had tried to book an additional night at Dunes but it was fully booked! Hardly surprising!! We hired a scooter much to Nicks delight, however he had a very nervous passenger! We had breakfast on Arambol beach, and as we could see the beach was not on par with Palolem or Mandrem we spent the rest of the day beach hopping between Marbella, Morjim, Asvem and Mandrem beach!

We managed to nab a room at Chilis guesthouse, Arambol for a measly 250 rupees! The evening was spent searching for a restaurant to eat but nearly all of them had dead baby sharks on display which angered Helen....for all of you at home please support Bite Back, although something needs to be done on a global level. To distract Helen the evening was spent playing gin rummy and eating possibly the best ever falafels at Shimon, an Israeli owned restaurant!

Wednesday was spent seeking shelter from the sun as it was absolutely scorching and we could not ensure access to a shower before our sleeper bus to Mumbai, the capital of the state of Maharashtra. The journey spells the end of lazying on the beach as the next opportunity will be in Thailand (December). Nick is very sad about this because he loves to laze, read and every opportunity to get a tan!

So far, in India we have learnt that being deceitful works in our favour, varying from telling people that we are married to stop the disgusted looks we get when they find out that we as an unmarried couple are sharing a room. In addition telling people that you are from Poland or some eastern european country works well as they don't bother you when they realise you can't speak English and they don't try to rip you off as much! An example is Helen wanted to buy a big wooden elephant and the starting price was 7700 rupees (£105.50) and we didn't say or do anything but the man reduced it down to 1000 rupees (£13.70) after telling him we were from Poland!?!

We are still trying to figure out the Indian people, while they are so proud of their appearance making every effort to have clean homes, colourful clean sari's and some amazingly colourful make up/jewellery. They do not hesitate one bit when it comes to littering. Litter is all over India. We know that Indians have pride in their country but could they not do their bit for both their country and the environment?