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Published: October 15th 2009
Mandovi Express
Dee in our berthAfter spending 3 days in Mumbai, we get up really early to catch the 06.55 Mandovi Express to Goa. We get to the main CST train station at rush hour (manic!) to find our train is delayed by 5 hours! Rubbish! After wandering around for a bit trying to find an open cafe to sit and wait in (there was none!) we end up at the station food kiosk and were taken in by the lovely employees who let us sit and eat in the cool and calm of their office rather than in the crazy station (nice!). We then sit in the crowded waiting area and get told by a nice lady that there is an AC waiting room with nice bathrooms for tourists (hooray, but just a little too late as Holly had already braved the dirty cockroach infested public squat toilet!!!).
Our train departed at 12.05 and we have the the whole comfortable berth to ourselves. We eat the nicest food onboard and generally amuse ourselves with poker and chatting with other travellers. After 14 hous on the train, we arrive at Thivum station in Northen Goa at 2.30am. We are releaved to see the station is
busy and there are taxis. We hook up with a French guy called Ben who also wants to go to Arambol so we share a taxi. The drive takes 1 hour and we arrive in Arambol at 3.30am. Everything is dark and closed, there is no sign of life. We find some workers closing a bar and they tell us we won't get a room until the morning but we can stay in the bar until then if we like. So we have a few beers and try to get our heads down for a couple of hours on the padded bar seats! Next morning we find a room, have the best shower EVER and crash after our long journey!
Arambol is a great place, very very laid back and relaxed. It was discovered by hippies in the 1960s and there are still reminders of this as there are old and young dreadlocked hippies, insence and tie-dyed clothing stalls everywhere. The hot season has only just started so there is a nice number of people here, not too crowded. We moved to a room with a fabulous sea view for 200 rupees a night. We met so
Arambol
Our room with a view, looks basic but it was all we needed! many great people there and hired mopeds to visit the nearby towns of Panjim and Old Goa. We were living nextdoor to two Scottish ladies who come here every year to rescue and care for the stray dogs on the beach (as there are quite a few and they all fight a lot!). At the moment they are looking after 2 puppies (cute!). There is still a lot of rubbish lying around here and the hawkers trying to sell shell ankle bracelets are annoying at times but these are only minor grumbles.
Then we went to Palolem in South Goa. It is a tropical paradise and has a beautiful palm tree lined cresent beach. It is a much more touristy area but the beachfront bars and cheaper cocohuts were washed away in the recent monsoon rain so accommodation is a little expensive and limited. There are more hawkers on the beach so you don't get a minutes peace on the beach without someone trying to sell you a sarong or some other tat. There are more holiday makers than travellers so the place is less friendly. We move on to Hampi , inland to see the temples in a
couple of days in time for Diwali.
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Chris
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Hair
If old photos are pre GHD, these must be post GHD?