Wild Life Goan Style

After a lot of hassle over the price of a taxi we secured one at a slightly less extortionate rate (and then felt bad on the journey when the driver told us stories of the poverty of local taxi drivers). He was happy to go across the ferry and said it would - as we had been told previously - close shortly - possibly the next day- when the bridge would open.  We noticed that some villas on the ferry approach had been seriously tarted up in anticipation of their much more peaceful future.

Anyway, it was an uneventful drive over the ghat and we were soon greeting the Prakash household and seeing our room, which was one of three new ones added as the first floor extension wing:- quite small and with no fridge but with modern fittings and an excellent bed!  There have been changes nearby: a monstrous plate glass façade is still being erected as the place opposite is drastically renovated, and a set of "luxury" wooden cabins is up and running next door.

There is also a new restaurant on the road to The Office: Royal Italy. It became a favourite along with The German Bakery, Ferns and The Steak House where we went five times - to see four films. (A power cut and the curfew caused one to be aborted and resumed at a later date)


Here is the long anticipated (!) slide show for the five weeks or so, followed by some other snippets:

 

 We soon heard about a tragedy that had happened some weeks before in our nearest town;- Chaudi, and we followed the progress of investigation and guilt-naming.

 Last year's ridiculous ruling on sunbeds in front of bars has ben rescinded and it was generally possible to find a good spot in front of The Nest (The Office) but we did also use the place next door. One day we went for a walk and came back to find them almost deserted. The reason was soon apparent:- a very "nasty niff" emanating from a dead (and largely decapitated) turtle washed ashore after getting caught in either a net or a propeller. By next day it had been removed and it was rumoured that the shall was worth GBP2K.

Eleven of us went on the Betty's Boat Trip, using two taxis and discovering that the new bridge was not -in fact- open, so it was a third ferry crossing of the Sal for us. When we got to the boatyard our vessel had departed without us. We never really found out why, but we were given some story and piled into a very simple 10-seater to do the sea section of dolphin spotting. At the river mouth we were handed (well ten of us were) heavy duty life vests, and were taken on a largely fruitless and very lumpy hunt. Back into the river and were tied alongside the intended boat for a midstream relocation. Thereafter it was the usual programme with four sea bass instead of two kingfish, a lot of alcohol, some birds, bats and no-one remembers the journey back to Palolem.

Wow, but no beer!

And that's about all the excitement Greyrocks encountered (or sought!) 2014 goes down as the best yet of four Goa trips!

On the way home we passed through the new Terminal 2 at Mumbai Airport which had been open for just a few days. An amazing palace of a place - but not for the beer drinker! All the connections worked well for the journey home , although BA's in-flight film and TV choice gets worse every time we fly with them. Their days with us may be numbered! We had left 34deg C, passed through London's 8 and returned to Fuerte's 26 - but more of that later!







 

Goa again - seeking sosegado for Week 1

They're 'avin a larf!

Greyrocks is still in Goa and still somewhat bereft of Internet speed! Still – as the Greeks say - “Siga siga!” and as the Goans describe it we are seeking  a state of sosegado. 

 We had a textbook journey over here: Fuerte-Gatwick-Heathrow hotel-Mumbai-early hours domestic terminal-Goa Dabolim airport- taxi- Cavelossim/Mobor hotel. Following last year’s failure to find viable bicycles for beach rides ( a splendid feature of the shore here), and some sordid aspects of the accommodation we researched from home and came up with the resort next door to it, which was nearly as cheap and very variously reviewed. You win some – you lose some! We e-mailed ahead that we would be very early and on arrival they showed us to an apartment much bigger than we had booked. It smelled of damp, had no exterior light on the balcony, looked out over a building being casually renovated, and half the switches didn’t work. Also our “boy” pestered us regularly about cleaning and one occasion called before 8am. It was, however, clean and superbly located between beach and river, close to the range of Goa-upmarket restaurants. There is a lengthy tale to be told of the breakfast arrangements, but this can be consigned to Tripadvisor. We were being philosophical about the shortcomings until it came to hiring the bikes (this being one of the reasons for choosing the place!). We had seen a dozen spanking bikes parked up and eventually found someone to rent them. Ruth tried one. It needed adjustment. This was not possible. Bob eventually found one he could use (but only in one of the 18 gears), and Ruth took an extortionate taxi ride down to The Blue Whale at the mouth of the river for an idyllic day. In the afternoon R walked back and B did the beach ride. Lovely! Next day we would go North on the same basis, or so we thought! Ruth settled in to kill time until going for a bus to Benaulim. An hour and a half later Bob comes back bikeless and seething. There was only one working bicycle in the entire set displayed and that had been taken from under his nose by another tourist. No tools existed for any repair or maintenance, and he had had to issue threats to get his money back. Grrr!

Remember ".. Marigold Hotel?"

So we both took the bus! A trip of about 30 minutes at 15INR each (about 15 pence GB!). It was Greyrocks' first serious ride on an Indian bus, and the memory of Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy remains. There were two other passengers when we got on :- they were blonde hippie-types who proffered a 100 rupee note which couldn't be changed. They were let off for a few odd coins and some sweets! All human life was here and people were very helpful about where we should get off. The Greyrocks hair is probably responsible for the respect shown.

We liked the look of Benaulim. It is on the same wide flat expanse of beach as Cavelossim, but with a much more relaxed (and - not unrelated - less Russian) vibe. We didn't make it into the sea (a bit frisky!) but we found a mellow shack for lunch and drinks, where we asked about the practicalities of staying in the village (and hiring bicycles!) before taking a 50INR tuk-tuk back to the bus stop and returning to Cavelossim.

Finished at last.. but is it open?

"Bill, please!"

Betty's prawns masala on dry land!

Whilst still there we took Betty's River Cruise again. Thee was a party of four Brits on board who stay every year at the Holiday Inn, Mobor and in each week do the trip twice, so we were relatively inexperienced at twice previous! Unfortunately this was not the best for fauna sights! No dolphins spotted despite a very long and wide ranging sea tour, no bats and nothing very special on the avian front! What we did see was the new bridge across the Sal! We asked if it was open yet, as we would be needing to cross it on the Friday. We were told it was only open to two-wheeled traffic as the approach roads were not yet adequate; but that it was due to open to all on the Saturday. (See the next post for the follow-up on that!) The lunch (as anticipated) was wonderful and the drinks ran free. The Brits told us where we could get the same Betty's prawns on the beach, so next day (our last) we took the bus to the Leela (one of India's most exclusive hotels) and walked back to the appointed spot. A delight - but we were ready to move South and more mellow.