Goa

---

It's All a Bit Slower in Goa. 22nd Oct to1st November

We eventually heard that we were on the 6.25am train from Hospet to Madgoan, thank goodness. It was more than an hour late arriving but at least we had got seats. The train had actually started at Ara (Calcutta) and some poor souls had already been on the train for 40 hours by the time we got on. People were just waking up so finding our seats was a bit of a joke amonst all those beds and blankets. Fortunately we managed to squeeze in to a compartment with a young Isreali couple who were really friendly, so the 7 hours to Goa passed quite nicely.
Like all Indian Railway stations Madgoan was a bit of a rugby scrum to get out of but we managed to get a tuk tuk down to Benaulim which was only about 6kms away but from what the Footprints Guide said it seemed like it might be OK for us, not too crowded.. Actually, it described the place as having the feel of a sad Welsh seaside town on a wet weekend. Well I know what they were getting at but that is a bit cruel really.
After turning down a room at Tansy Cottages, we dragged our cases down to the beach and David in search of somewhere to stay for a night or two.
Despite it being Diwali there was not much open yet. It seems to be the first week of the season so the beach huts and food shacks are still being built. He managed to get us in to a place further down at Serbatim beach in a place called "Anthy's". It is actually very nice. Right on the gorgeous beach, with good food and friendly staff and the beer's cheap!!! We are staying in one of the little cottages at the back. It is so nice we are just going to stay here for the 10 days, unpack and recharge our batteries for a bit.
We took a taxi to Anjuna market and Old Goa on Wednesday and might just leave it at that now til we leave here. We can always walk up the beach to Colva or down the beach to ....... wherever.
The countryside around here is lovely, lush green coconut palms and rice paddies and there are some really big new houses being built. The whole place looks a lot more prosperous than other states, though it is nothing like we imagined. I think I expected beautiful beaches with resort hotels,something like the costas but it is definitely still India, warts and all ..... thankfully. Benaulim village turned out to have loads going on and we even managed to find 2 football matches on a tv on Saturday. The owner is Nepalese so they prefer soccer to cricket, though we did also watch a bit of England battering India in a 20/20......after having lost 5/0 in the one days!!

We had noted that the service in restaurants everywhere we have been has been excellent but it is a bit more laid back here, particularly at Anthy's but hey it is Goa and everyone is on holiday. What's the rush?. The best though was when we tried a beach shack down at colva and we couldn't get roti or tandoori because the chef had run away!!!!.... We left and went elsewhere.......

---