Blogs from Candolim, Goa, India, Asia

Hi everyone, Feel so much better today.Woke up earlyish and laid outside on balcony sun beds,watching the waves....so relaxing and warm. After breakfast we took a stroll along the beach and there are some really pretty shells which I have stared to collect as I have an idea as to how I can incorporate them in my next craft idea. ? The sea is so beautifully warm. We then dragged ourselves to the poolside and made ourselves have a lovely cooling drink. I tried the local coconut water, fresh from the coconut itself. Quite nice for a change. The sparkling refreshing water encouraged me into the pool.This was the first time all holiday I have been swimming. After lunch,we returned to our room to change and the staff had put a towel swan arrangement on the ... read more

Namaste from Goa! This is India with a subtle difference. We are no longer the odd ones out that locals want a photograph with. Candolim beach resort has a plentiful supply of Brits which incidentally make Colin look like a teenager and me a foetus! Benidorm does vindaloo is the tourist demographic here and I'm fitting in just fine. I didn't understand the 'package deal' attraction to Goa until now. It's more than double flying time compared to your average Canary Island, and probably the same mathematical formula for the price. Maybe, just maybe, there are cute little resorts all over southern Europe with warm air temperatures in certain months? But then you go to the beach! Sorry but nowhere equals this, not in my experience anyway. Miles and miles of beautiful hot golden sand with ... read more

First, we needed to get acquainted with the various women with whom we will be working. Sara is the business leader who is committed to providing work for as many women as possible. Her daughter Farnooz is volunteering and is more on the artistic and marketing side. Malini handles the books. After that, we have met too many women for me to remember individually. We are not sure how each "gift" box has been received. We do know that they were not distributed and probably won't be as we imagined. However, we did show good faith by bringing them. After some small talk, it was time for lunch. We LOVE Gujarati khanna (food), so have been eating far too much. To cook Gujarati food, which is totally vegetarian, but not vegan, you start with oil, add ... read more

A hand full What is the great attraction that things that fly have to my husband. While on our travels from the UK to Turkey and then Goa India my husband always seems to attract things that fly. Here are just a few pictures of the things that have landed in his hand. ... read more

Need a change of make up girls. This is Holy, a festival day and if you do not like being coloured you are advised to stay in doors but you will miss a great colourfull day. If you fancey a change of colour in your make up go out and join in. Not only do you get a dot on the fore head but the rest of you and anything else around you becomes multi coloured when they throw the coloured powder at you making you look very fearse and frightening but it is all taken in good fun.... read more