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Published: January 2nd 2012
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Paradise Sunset
That's Russell - yeah right but it looks good. A short flight from Delhi with a brief stop over in Mumbai found us in Goa. We were a bit uncertain as to what to expect but were delighted when the pilot informed us the temperature in Goa was a pleasant 32 degrees - yay!!
For our first few nights we stayed in a little hut on Mandrem beach (North Goa), it was basic but perfect for us and it was such a relief to arrive somewhere so warm, quiet, laid back and of course, right next to the beautiful Arabic sea!
We discovered a beach front restaurant (well a large hut with a kitchen) and spent a few lazy mornings and afternoons hanging out there, in between swims and walks along the beach.
We had planned to stay 4 nights in South Goa. The taxi there was going to be pretty expensive so we decided to take a local train. It was fine apart from being 3 hours late and so dirty I didn't want to sit on the seats (the idea of hanging off the side suddenly became very appealing). We did meet a local family who were really friendly to us after we gave their
Go the coconut
Informed by some English tourists coco nut milk is considered the new super food in the UK. little girls some stickers; However it delivered us to paradise - Agonda Beach. Picture a 4km white sandy beach, dotted with huts and restaurants. By Goan standards it is a fairly quiet beach but the road which runs adjacent to it still has an interesting variety of clothes and handicraft stores, restaurants and little stores offering cakes, croissants, icecreams etc. A real foodies paradise (and incredibly cheap also).
We made a rule never to eat in the same restaurant twice for any meal and then on the last day we would eat in all our favourite restaurant. Would you believe you can get a bad Indian meal in India? It's like having a bad BBQ in New Zealand. Yeah we know you wouldn't think it was possible right. The strangest was ordering Chicken Korma and getting chicken in a Pineapple and Mango sauce.
We filled in our 4 days by exploring the neighbouring beaches by scooter - (luckily the driving here is a lot more sensible), swimming and checking our the local restuarants etc.
We checked out a local fort - yep another one. This one was almost completely in ruins with the exception of the walls.
The best thing was the views which were stunning.
Russ bravely tried parasailing and had an awesome time. There's a before and after photo. The one of me looking like an ant in the air is the after photo. The only problem is that it ended far too quickly. It cost 1380 rupees which translates to $27.50US - so I thought it was a good score. Despite being a third world/developing country the ropes at least on the sail looked remarkably new.... which gave me some reasurance of the safety standards. That and they were sending a staff member up with me so I figured if he was willing it was all good.
Off to Mumbai this afternoon on an overnight sleeper bus (11 hour journey). We have heard some positive things about Mumbai but we also suspect the poverty will be very apparent, particularly judging by the slums we saw when we flew in for the stop over. It looked like acres and acres of shacks directly underneath the approach for landing planes - I would think a place where no one else would want to live due to noise / safety reasons etc....
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