Goa here we come

The train journey to Goa was great fun, 12 hours in 3AC (which means 3 berths with A/C in the carriage). Was expecting worse but we both had a great rest and arrived in Goa ready for the hard slog of 5 days on the beach.

We got to Palolem and enjoyed a delicious meal. Celia once again had a bout of order envy as my coconut chicken was one of the best meals i have had on this trip. Got the tuk-tuk to the resort we had booked but were so disapointed by the cleanliness and state of the place that we thanked them for holding the room for us and left. We wanted someting closer to the beach anyway.

By this time it was raining againand the search for a room was proving fruitless. All the beach huts that we wanted to stay in were not yet ready for use. I later found out that the resort owners rent out the land (the beach) only for the tourist season. This translates to 6 months, so when everyone is gone in May, they dismantle all the beach huts and restaurants, pack them nicely under a canopy ready for them when they arrive mid October and start assembling everything in anticipation for the tourist trade. They arrive in hoardes from late November right through to Feb. Apparently Goa is a huge rave party town in Season, so beware, if you would like an idyllic time, skip Dec and Jan.

As first days go, this was not the greatest, but breakfast on the second and a beautiful beach hut to answer all our prayers was exactly the start we needed. We were very fortunate as this resort, "San Francisco" as it was called, had just opened for the season and had some available rooms at very reasonable rates. Being South African also seems to be advantageous, as often when you are mid haggle, they ask you where you are from and telling them you are from this proud nation usually gets you what you are after.