From Mahabaleshwar, we booked a double berth on a sleeper-bus to Panaji (or Panjim) in Goa. We’re starting to figure out that getting to a place in India is usually an adventure all of it’s own! We headed off down the mountain for the hotel which served as the sleeper-bus pickup point at about 7pm in a huge shared 4x4 with 2 other couples and their children. They were our age and one couple had been married for 8 years, the other for 13! As they were from Bangalore (very cosmopolitan city) they spoke English very well, so it was great to have a proper chat with some locals! Gita, one of the girls, explained that they were Jain, which is a really ancient religion which forbids harming any animals (you can’t even purposely kill an ant!) – which unfortunately meant they couldn’t join us for dinner at the pick-up point as it wasn’t a pure vegetarian restaurant. The sleeper bus arrived at 11pm but unfortunately, as we were the last pick-up, the luggage stows were completely full so we had to pile our backpacks into our compartment (essentially a 4’ x 5’5 mattress with walls around it!) with us. The next surprise was the loo stop about 4 hours in (I was really needing to go by this stage!) – the bus stopped in a built-up city street, everyone dashed out and between two falling-down old buildings and, by the time I’d realized what the deal was, were sprinting back with a night watchman in hot pursuit blowing his whistle! The getaway was foiled completely by me standing bewildered outside the bus so the night-watchman triumphantly received his 200 rupees ‘baksheesh’ from the driver for not to going to the cops. For any of you still wondering about my bladder – the driver made another special stop for me in a forested area about half an hour later and, in front of a busload of onlookers (although hopefully hidden by a sarong held up by Nige), I peed on the side of the highway. A very low point. We will be getting the train next time. So, finally arrived in Panjim at 6am, creased and tired but looking forward to chilling out on the beach for a while! We booked into Al Fonzos Guesthouse in the Portuguese quarter and headed upstairs to the roof-terrace overlooking the river and a small whitewashed church and had an omlette and coffee – bliss! The Portuguese ruled Goa for about 400 years and it’s got a very different feel to the rest of India. We like it so much here we decided to stay for a few days and use it as our base for exploring the beaches in North Goa (we’d already decided to spend the bulk of our time in the south, where it’s quieter). We found the local bus station and found a bus (you just have to listen for the correct destination which the conductor who’s hanging out the door yells over and over, ie, CalanguteCalanguteCalanguuuuuute!) which made the hour trip north to Calangute (for 5 rupees – about 7p), had prawns and beers on the beach, then Nige got a haircut and while in the barbers got approached yet again and offered ganga! We then wandered further north to Vagator and explored an old Portuguese fort – all very easy and relaxed here, palm trees and beaches, smiling people and considerably less beggars and lepers! Yesterday we went to see the old capital Old Goa, not far from Panjim. It has heaps of huge old churches and museums – the most interesting one was the Basilica of Bom Jesus which houses the remains of the incorruptible body of St Francis Xavier – this guy died in 1552, was put in quick-lime to decompose his body to be sent back to Rome, they kept checking him but he wouldn’t decompose – finally in 1556 after they chopped off one of his arms and sent it to the Pope, he acknowledged it was a miracle! Old Xavier’s still not in bad shape today – we didn’t see him personally, just photos, but they bring him out every 10 years for a viewing…nice!