Goa retrospective 3: Three ventures that really work in Goa and one that doesn't!

1. Flipkart

This is the Indian rival to Amazon. Greyrocks' attempt to bring out a cleaning kit for the laptop failed, but we were talking to Entrepreneur John and he offered to order us one on Flipkart, inviting us to choose from the wide selection online. In fact he got himself one as well! As he had predicted it arrived at The Nest three days later, (cash on delivery)  for us to pick up and pay the boys! Simply amazing! Sometime later we "went solo" and made another order using a mobile number of a friend and our stuff arrived a day earlier than stated! 

2. Optics

Since our second visit we have been having spectacles made in Chawdi - a 100 rupee rickshaw ride away. One needs to present a prescription. and then the many, many boxes of frames are brought out for trying, a cash deal done and the specs are ready within the week for a price Greyrocks believes to be around a third of UK  (and even less of the Canaries!) So here is some unsolicited publicity for the skillful optician and his efficient assistant! 




3. Boat Trips

Average of our party a little older!

Betty's Cruises out of Cavelossim: This is a highlight of every stay in Goa, and posts about it abound here! So, after failing to get a booking whilst Chloë was in Goa we arranged to in our final week as part of a party of seven! This time there was plenty of space on the boat. the big fish was a dorada and there were brand new bird reference books, We got further than last year inters of the dolphin-spotting at sea, bur still had to abandon that part due to the swell, and there were few fruit bats, but we had a wonderful few hours, and the meal was as good as ever. "Oh, those prawns!" Professional, good value and a good honest tourist trap!

4. Oh dear! Improving public behaviour

The English press has been featuring tourists' complaints about filth all around and citing this - and failure to do much about it - as one reason for the drop in tourist numbers and folks' intentions to go to competing "winter sun" countries. The reality is - of course - much more complex than that! (A Greyrocks mantra in these populist times!) Tourists who can't  deal with some level of the consequences of less development than chez eux shouldn't come, and things like single-use plastic are part of a global problem slow to fix. Dog poo is beyond the scope of legislation:- and they do send out hard-working beach cleaners, but there are a number of public health measures and irritants that just aren't addressed in any meaningful way. First is the smoking ban. This is supposed to be for everywhere public  along with spitting! we have never seen any police visits related to it, and of course the bar owners collude! We did hear of someone in our circle being fined in early season for smoking on the beach; and being handed notice that she could carry on for the rest of the day! Then there is drinking outside bar bounds! We have seen two instances of intervention over this - both of young Europeans at very quiet times of day outside peak tourist dates. In Benaulim we saw flagrant flaunting of rules on beach-selling, which there is a really pestering occurrence. and they can't enforce the safety helmets on motorbikes and scooters anywhere! Total inconsistency about it all, and a lack of consistency! What hope is there? The delights of baksheesh!

But we still love the place!