Goa Begins ……………

We’ve been in Goa for 3 days now and still haven’t got totally to grips with who’s tooting at who and for what reason. Our guess is that it’s a complete obsession and nobody takes any notice of anybody else – least of all the cattle!

We have a very good room on the top floor …..

……. with a balcony overlooking the pool.

On day 2 we had a bus trip (yes – a rocket bus!) to Panjim. A 40 minute journey for 15 pence (it’s shear robbery). Panjim is quite a large town with many lovely vistas and many more that are not so lovely.

On the bus we got talking to Sam, a commerce student who, as he had time to show us around the town and who became a real asset as it turned out. We had lunch with him in lovely first floor, open restaurant overlooking the river and the “Old Patto Bridge”. Built between 1632 & 1635 and called the Pont de Linhares this is the Panjin end of the longest causeway in Asia.

Perched on a wire across the river was this giant Kingfisher (?) about the size of a rook and very pretty.

Apart from sight seeing we went to Panjim to get some suits made. This lovely family run Taylors gave us drinks and seat to sit on and took a vast number of measurements. We await in anticipation for the results on Friday.

A sneak preview of something James fell in love with! It too has to be made to measure.

To reduce the length of the bus ride back to Candolim we took the free ferry across the river. As usual, packed with cars, scooters and people.

Once off the ferry we waited for the Candolim bus opposite a scooter “garage” (AA approved of course).

A number of commercial vehicles seem to invite people to toot at them!

Inside the Rocket bus back to Candolim.

Instead of seeing his girlfriend, Sam decided to spend the evening with us at Ryan’s Shack on the beach. Perhaps it was the free beer that swung the decision! It was the least we could do as he’d been such a great help during the day.

Children’s Corner at Ryan’s Shack!

This is what the moon looks like over the Arabian Sea from Ryan’s Shack …….

  …………  and this is what Ryan’s Shack looks like from the Arabian Sea.

Back to the Arabian Sea the next morning:  You might have the same initials but you look NOTHING like him – so stop trying!

Today (Wednesday) and it was back to the Rocket bus – this time to Baga, just north of Candolim. As there was no direct bus to Baga, we had to change and pay twice.  2 x 10p!!!! (each!)

This is Baga beach – very full of locals and ………..

……… this is Baga High Street. James must have chosen the split second when there was nothing around.

Moving up the coast to Anjuna, we popped in to have a look at a small hotel (for future reference) situated in the jungle environs behind Anjuna beach. Making it’s home on the owners car was this beautiful spider.

The hotel owner, Sumit Yardi, took us for a drink a few yards down the road at the German Bakery. Oh yes, another cow (or bullock to be precise).

Anjuna Beach is lovely, and full of shacks selling food and drink.

Jeet take Doug’s order – “Two beers please”.

This was our view of the Arabian Sea for an hour or so as the sun began to head towards the horizon.

Some people play ……………

……….. and some people work.

We took the boat back south from Anjuna to Baga beach …………. 

…….. watching the sun go down on the way.

People play right up to the last minute.

Getting off the boat at Baga (a shoes and socks off sort of job) we decided to take a seat at yet another shack and have a drink and some food, as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The kind local guy who offered to take this pic put his own artistic interpretation on the event!

Baga Beach, as the sun sets, gets ready for the evening trade.

As we had our meal we watched the final moments of the day’s sunshine – a whopping 34 degrees again today!

After a taxi ride back to Candolim we popped into a local Barber’s shop. Doug had a shave and a head back and arm massage and James had a hair cut, shave (beard, eyebrows), a head back and arm massage and full facial moisturise. A total of £7 for the two of us!

And James’ barber wanted to be in on the photos!

India–at last!

Well, we’ll skip over the the fact that Gatwick North terminal was evacuated the day we wished to use it’s services to fly to India and we’ll jump quickly to the point where we landed safely at Goa airport and put our feet firmly on Indian soil for the very first time! The bus ride to our hotel in Candolim was a hoot. We were separated from the driver by a glazed bathroom door (!) and, ………

………………  although the vehicle was underpowered to a worrying degree, the driver managed to sound the horn every few seconds in an ineffectual attempt to move the myriad of scooters and motor cycles out of the way.

The hotel was more than expected – beautifully presented and, of course, staffed by ever willing people. After settling in and showering we ventured out into the town and down onto the beach. We assumed that it was due to it being Sunday that the beach was 80% being used by locals. Being carefully and lovingly buried alive seems to be a pleasurable experience in the locale!

We also had our first paddle in the delightfully warm waters and enjoyed the 32 degrees of lovely dry heat – a great difference to the recent humidity of the Caribbean.

Now, we couldn’t make the mistake of thinking we might be on Bournemouth beach here – could we?

The beach is a few minutes walk from the main “drag” and, although there’s plenty of beach shacks to sustain us we had a walk around to get our bearings and stopped for a drink and a bite to eat.

We knew India would be different! with no crash helmets and sometimes whole families riding on one scooter the place is a wonderful cacophony of horn toots and mayhem. It definitely wasn’t the beer but James swears he saw a baby being breast fed on the back of a motor bike!

We just have to go somewhere on one of these buses. This one wasn’t quite packed out but we saw people trying to squeeze onto another one which was already packed solid. James enjoys the London underground when it’s busy but a ride on a “rocket” bus might be a whole new ball game! 

It gets dark quite early around 6 o’ clock so, after a very pleasant meal, we headed back to the hotel in a “Tuk-Tuk” to have an early night before we start our adventures proper.

Our Indian guide on the bus from the airport said “Give India a couple of days and accept it’s charm for what it is and it will stay in your heart forever” Well, we’ve got 3 weeks and we hope to do just that!

Odds and Ends of the High Seas.

Our 9000 mile round trip to the Caribbean is almost at an end. As we write we’re entering the English Channel, and home waters. With the exception of a couple of ‘choppy’ patches the journey has been remarkably smooth. As always there’s been much fun and games and some wonderfully pleasant people met. Destinations new to us on this voyage have been the Azores and British Virgin Islands and both have been exceptional and somewhere we’d like to return for a longer stay sometime.

Using the words “remarkable”, “exceptional” and “wonderful” again is a good description of the people who’s company we’ve had the great privilege to enjoy each evening at dinner. Then, most often, in the Palladium theatre afterwards as well.   John (90 years young and a D-Day veteran) and his wife Nicola, (us two!) and Gina and David, who we met on our last Caribbean cruise, here at one of the 24 superb dinners we enjoyed on the cruise.

Also helping to make our dining experience superb have been our table waiters Agnel and Thomson. Together with Anjani, our wine waiter (sorry, no pic at present) they’ve become firm friends as so often happens on these cruises.

Our cabin steward, Catherine, could not have been better and has taken such care of us. Her skill at towel decoration provided us with a “friend” to keep us company.

Doug and Gina having a quick cuddle at dinner while David’s not looking!

The traditional P&O passenger choir is not a high-brow affair but does require some basic singing skills. That’s why we have never been included! However, it’s a great pleasure to attend their recital towards the end of the cruise when they show us the results of their daily rehearsals. Friends David and Gina are among the 70+ seen here on the stage of the Palladium theatre. 

In the middle of the  North Atlantic there’s very little to see – no ships, no birds, no Cetaceans, no flying fish (as we’re now too far north). So when a rainbow appears, no matter how faint, it’s worth a photo.

On the penultimate evening, as always, we enjoy the Chef’s Parade through the dining room when we can say ‘thank you’ for the 12,000 superb meals they provide each day.

A last chance to enjoy a late night in the disco – Gina, David and James having a rest from dancing ………….

………. and, later on (much later on in fact!) we caught up with Mandy and Jay for a bit more dancing and revelry. We eventually got back to our cabin at 3 o’ clock in the morning and, don’t worry, Doug was not as bad as this very inopportune photo seems to show!

Tomorrow will see us safely disembarking in Southampton after another terrific adventure and something very different scheduled for us to look forward to very soon.