Hi Everyone,

Well we have now been in goa for some days now. What a pretty area. Everyone is very friendly. There is a neighbour called Rosie who checks on us regularly, the internet cafe wave at us as we go out in the morning. It is so nice. But there is the downside too. People don't stop staring I am not sure if its a sheer beauty or the fact we are white woman. I thinks it the last one. If you sit on the beach here you will be approached by woman selling things and trying to get you to visit there store. But they always go 'you are white' ( i always feel like going noooo I thought i was purple!) Steph has been told she is "indian barbie' and my favourite 'you are like chicken'. I will get miles out of that one.

We sat on the beach the other day reading (yes i am reading and no moni no pics) and we were approached my 2 english woman. They had a hard time in delhi and came to goa and were on the hunt for english. And supposdly by our walk they could tell. Their names are Hannah and Becky and they are nurses from London. They are just as mad as us. So we have met for a few beers and had breakie this morning with them.

So what have we doing...hmmm.... good question. Well we have had to get over the being tired, get used to the heat and the culture. But we are ok now. We tried yesterday to go to the capital of Goa Panjim but it didnt happen. So we were speaking to the hostel owner and he suggested today we took a taxi tour. It costs 1500 ruppes (10 pounds) He took us to a spice plantation it was amazing.

We drove for ages, when we arrived we drove past 2 elephants (yes elephants!!!) Our driver lead us through the trees down some steps saw our first of two spiders (they are troll eating size, im looking for a big stick to scare them off). Then the trees parted and we went over the marsh land (bit like in the vietnam films) on this wooden bridge. At the end was this huge beach hut. We got welcomed with flower necklaces and lemongrass tea. We had lunch. Then our tour started, the guide took us around part of the 800 acre plot. Getting us to smells things and guess what they were. Did you know cinnemon is actually dried bark. And oh my gosd you should see how they collected the bettle nuts. This guy demonstarted with  climbing the tree by feet, then once he was up the tree (20 odd metres) he jumped and swung between the trees it was amzing. He was king louie. Then at the end we counted to 3 and he slid down the tree so fast. Now neil thats what you need to learn.

After this we went to a couple of hindu temples and a cathloic church, before returning home. We are off to go meet the girls for dinner.

After a long flight we arrived from Heathrow to Mumbai. We then had to make our connection to Goa which was ok- everyone was really helpful- probably because Susie and I looked well um like tourists! And we had our usual dazed and confused facial expression!

The taxi ride here was eventful to say the least- no one prepares you for the fact that Indian drivers are Crazy! The drivers don't seem to understand the concept of lane disicpine, literally driving at the designated point all at once without giving way! On several occaisons I thought a fight was going to break out between our driver and another one! They also over take as often as they can even if it means driving on the wrong side of the road, which our driver did practically the whole time. Apparently swerving at the last minute to avoid on coming traffic is fine! The only thing they seem bothered about hitting is the cows at the side of the road or the speed bumps! The journey has however meant that we have learned some 'Indian' already- Im pretty sure that 'Honk Honk' on a car horn means 'Get out of my way' or 'I am here- MOVE!'. For some reason I found this absolutley hilarious and spent most of the half an hour journey in a state of stifled giggles! The journey was beautiflul- there is thick jungle all around. I was really surprised that everything is so green- I was expecting it to be a lot more baron and sandy. I was expecting the wild dogs running about, mud huts, vast numbers of people walking down the side of the road. Mind you it has been monsoon season!

When we arrived everyone was very friendly- however we must have stank and looked like a state because the hostel owner kept telling us to have a shower!

Once a little refreshed we went and explored the beach! It was very pretty but it was overcast (had it not been so damn hot I would have thought it was England!) so the beautiful sunset we were promised was sadly lacking- still there is always tonight and seeing as how the sun is shining and its not so overcast I have high hopes for this evening. 

Not sure where we are headed next I will write a better blog entry next time xxx

Monica if you think Italy is bad the Indians have nothing on them.

Get into the taxi we sit in the back reach across to put on seat belts...hmmm... bugger... they dont have any... steph and me make eye contact.

Right so we are off, (the driver looks no think he looks like a bollywood star) he drives straight into a traffic jam and starts beeping his horn and beeping which of course in india means the cars part in some moses fashion... ah no... means the police come over to try sort out the jam.

We are off, now in india they  beep there horn to get people to move out of the way, they overtake all the time, between lorries, bikes, cars. But you have to remember the roads here have a new type of obsticles... animals... you will find goats or cows walking around the roads lots of dogs. This journey was a bit like a computer game. Weaving between cars, bikes with 3 people on or maybe someone with a bag of potaoes, Then buses broken down where they phsyically get intop the engine to fix it. All this is a back drop of lush grass, blue  skys, palms trees its gorgeous. The buildings we past were so decorative, different colours, styles, gorgeous.

They obviously earn alot of money here from sponsorship there are bilboards everywhere advertising something. Like beat huts will be decorated all over with vodafone or cococola logos. But its so pretty having all these different colours agains the red roads and green trees. If you dont expect india to be lush it is how you would imagine Jamerca to be.

But we have seen woman in beatiful dresses, 2 ladies carrying more than there body weight on their head, bus full of heads (there was so many people on it , it was just heads) kids playing football dodging the cows, a woman looks like so was the pg tip woman (not  the monkey but the one that used to be on the box) picking leaves off a bush in centre resveration.

It was well cool. Then when we got closer, the driver phoned the owner of the place and she met us on a scotter and we followed her. She takes us round the houses, the road is now just red sandy mud, with occasional puddles, but still pretty. and then she stops inbetween lots of houses, we get our backpacks out, pay the bollywood star, and we follow her (she is still on the scooter we are walking with heavy bags but she seems nice so we dont mind) to this purple house called the Orchid house.

Our room is basic, smelly, has a bathroom, but we really dont mind, we pleased it has a roof, and beds (80 % concrete) but after being awake from 36 hours we just want to crash and burn now.

But it is now about 4pm here and we ar ehungry and want to see Goa, so off we go round the houses into peoples gardens (cause thats where the path goes) round and down the sea. The first part we get to the market is just closing, behind it their are volcanic black rocks going out into the sea and to the left the beach begins. As we walk along there are loads os dogs just running round. Local ladies approach us trying to get us have a look at their shops, they ask our names of which is say Susie and this is frank , she says what lovely names they are hehehe!! But did you know we are the colour of Indias Barbie, i didnt know this. I am most excited about this.

We finally decided to get get some food at the bar which you have to walk up some steep concrete stairs to get too. After moving seats 4 times we sit down looking over the sea and the sun sets, drinking beer and eating spicy italien food surrounded by a pack of hungry dogs. Before we put on a rain macs and head home with our torch.

Ps yes we have had rain.

So today we decided to go back to Panaji to fly out the next day to Kerala province. We got up really early and went to the beach (ok, there's not much to do at Anjuna, so...either you go to the beach or you have a drink...or you chat....or you read...:) ) for a swim and breakfast

Today was the dolce fare niente day !!

We got up early and headed for a morning swimming in the warm sea :) After that, we had breakfast at Janet and john's for the second time...it was definately the best place for having a good meal for a good price.

We just lay on the sun all morning, enjoying beach life in Anjuna. A lot of fruit vendors were around, and so as the girl selling jewelry and sarongs.......we had lunch at Janet's and went back to the room for a nice nap :)  after sleeping all afternoon, we went back to the beach to enjoy a nice sunset while having another swim in the warm waters ...so good! The Brazilian girl we met in Panaji was also there, so we decided to have dinner ate Janet's.

There, we talked with the owner (which has a nice guesthouse in the Himalayas) and left.

As it was the end of the high season, everything was a little dead...only a couple of travellers chating...

we decided to leave on the next day....

Got up and went straight to the beach for a dive before breakfast in one of the beach bars! What a great swimming...

We knew that Wednesday was the Day of the Anjuna MArket, so after breakfast we headed to the other side of the beach. And the guy trying to take abug of our ears showed up too!! ahhaha..

The market was like half empty because the season was ending, although it seemed giant! Great atmosphere...and very very hot.. After some bargaining we bought some dresses, a handbag...bracelets... and i even made a Henna Tattoo! 

I think we made some good deals...I really don't know...after a while i just get tired of discussing every single price...

I forgot my camera back on the room :(  so.... I HAVE  NO PICTURES!!! damn!!! ...*angry*

At noon we got back to Villa Anjuna and i couldn't relax and cool down on the pool because of the Henna :( so just had lunch there...some spicy fried vegetables..(not very good....blarghhhhhhh)

Arambol was a beach to the north that we we're really curious so we decided to go there and check it out. If it was cool, we'd move there the next day.

We got an autorickshaw for 200 rps and 45 min later we got there.

Arambol is a nice beach, with lots of reaturants and beach shacks and the same warm water!

The guy from Villa Anjuna told us we could walk from Arambol to MAdrem ( a beach south), but after half an hour walking on the beach we decided to go back and have some drinks and food in one of those restaurants...

There were lot of cows on the beach and a lot of life going on so just sat there and watched the sunset and everything around...cool

We decided to go back to Anjuna and not move to Arambol the next day. Catched a taxi (400 rps, no bargaining) and went back to our room`in Anjuna

We had dinner again in the restaurant next door because it was good and cheap.

It was opening night for PAradiso, the disco so we went to take a look.

Although, they wanted to charge us 600 rps (couple) and we thought it was just too much for a disco that seemed empty...

So we went to sleep...trying not to step on the cows on the way back!!! hahaha...

OMG! It was my worst night ever... I never felt so hot... the fan was working, but still...i was sweating and sweating all freakin night... there were probably 40 ºC during night...

Check out was at 9 am. The Afonso's kindly let us leave our backpacks on the backyard and so that's what we did, so we could go wander around a litle more around. As there was no place for breakfast, we just bought some bananas on the street on the way to the fruit/veggies market.

It was a long walk but really cool...the city was full of life....! And people...and...motorcycles...and..people...and cars...and people...  :) Finally we got into the market and it was crowded! friuts and vegetables everywhere...and people...! It was almost impossible to get in...we wanted to buy some fruit for more breakfast, but we had a hard time comunicating...On the way out, we were buying Mangoes to some vendor, and suddendly an old man came to us talking in English saying that we should choose another kind of mangoes, the sweetest ones :)

He heard us talking portuguese and began to talk in portuguese too! That was great! ...Another person speaking our language...We talked a litle bit, got our "mal curadas" mangoes and left to a corner to eat them :) They were sooooooooo good and juicy! A great breakfast! By the way...let me tell you guys...IT'S REALLY HARD TO FIND A GARBAGE CAN IN GOA!! ...we walked miles  to find one, with the mango pits in our pockets :p ...sticky pockets we got...

We walked all the way to the Bus terminal, as we wanted to visit Old Goa, 15 min away from Panaji. We crossed the Footbridge to the other side of the river and we're a litle lost trying to find what it was supposed to be a huge Bus Terminal. After almost an hour (we were really lost!!!) we found a crowded terminal with dozens of old and colorful buses... (how could we miss that???)

With some help we got in the right bus to Old Goa. It took us 20 min on a bumpy road and it cost 7 Rps.

Old Goa was virtually abandoned after malaria and cholera epidemics killed many people in the city in the 17th century. The population went from 20,000 in 1700 to 1,500 in 1775. The viceroy moved to the former palace of Adil Shah (the present Secretariat) in Panaji. In 1835, after the government forced the repression of religious orders, much of the city was deserted. The capital of Goa was officially moved to Panaji in 1843. By the end of the 19th century, its population consisted of mainly priests and nuns.

It's really a mystical place. We wandered around and went back to Panaji on a bus just in time for lunch. We had lunch at Viva Panjim, a great restaurant with Goan food. The waiters we're really kind and wanted to know everything about us. Of course they asked for Cristiano Ronaldo!!! as usual...haah..The owner spoke portuguese and was friends with the owner of the Afonso's. We had a very good meal and it was cheap also. A good choice around Panaji.

We went to get our backpacks and took an autorickshaw to Anjuna. We were supposed to take the Rickshaw just to the bus station, but then we found out that it would only cost us 300 rps and it was a fun way to travel! 45 min later, a flat tire, and a great conversation with the driver, we arrived to ANJUNA!!

Our first impression wasn't good... just a road...with cows.. and some empty bars.. it was like "the end of the party style" ...We went to look for accomodation and ended up in Villa Anjuna, where we stayed in a room by the pool for 1800 rps non AC. The staff was nice and it seemed a great place. Even though the room was a little smelly :)

We left the room and started a long walk to where the action was. After 20 min walking thru a dirt road we arrived to Anjuna Beach, where there were many bars with lots of people:) and cows ....oh boy....lot of cows! After all, we were in India...

Went straight for a dive in the very warm waters....ahhh... it felt so good! (The ocean in POrtugal is freeeeeezing, you know..) The waves were giant and we had a great time there.

After that we just sat in one of the bars (Janet & John's) and relaxed, enjoying the view and have some drinks. As we had to buy a sarong, we went to one of the stalls, where we met this Indian girl and heard all about her life story...after a long time discussing the price, we got out of the stall with 2 sarongs, some pants...and some things...etc etc.."Thank you for business..." ..hahahaha...interesting experience though..

We left the beach and went back to Villa Njuna for some relaxation on the pool and then went out for dinner right next door - Sea Queen restaurant - where they were playing Die Hard 4 ....Good food, cheap and crowded.

Night life here was reduced to Zooris, a bar with a great view where people meet and have fun. Paradiso, the disco, only opens 3 days a week because i't the start of the low season. We had some drinks

The tiredness soon got over us and we went to sleep... not before bumping into some cows that were lying on the road....the only road...Thank God we had a flash light :)

This is a very good place to stay while in Panaji. It's a good value room. The place is 10 min walk from downtown, close to taxis, bus stop and the owner's are very friendly (they speak either English and Portuguese!!) The minimum stay is 2 nights, what may not be good if you're just making a stop on the way to the beaches. One night costs 700 rps / double room/ non AC / western bathroom with hot water. If you're lucky and the guesthouse is not full, maybe you can negotiate a night for the price of 1 and 1/2 :) They provide sheets but no towels or toilet paper ...so carry your own. Everything is extremely clean and the rooms are comfortable. If you can't deal with the heat, you better ask for an AC room (or be ready to be seating all night...) They can do your laundry and keep your backpacks secured (in the backyard!!) if you wish to leave later. There's no breakfast, even if you want to pay for it. I would definately stay here again, if travelling on a budget :)

Although I’m from Goa, a place which is known for its hip parties, discs and rave nights, I’ve never quite been to a disc in North Goa. In fact it used to be quite funny when people would ask me about Tito’s and I would say, ‘Oh yes! I’ve seen that on TV.’ Lol!!! Anyway, this year I made a resolution that I would go to the disc. And which better disc to go to than the most happening disc Mambo’s. I persuaded my friends Ady and Nadi who are regular party goers and off we went planning a typical girls night out in August. The rainy season in Goa is the off season as many foreign tourists don’t come down to Goa. So, my friends were like, ‘Don’t expect the crowd to be happening.’ Anyway, a night out is a night out and I didn’t wanna miss out on one.. We went for dinner to a nice shack in Baga which was just opposite Tito’s. The ambience was fantastic as the candlelight threw a nice soft golden glow. After having a nice dinner of Chinese cuisine and cheese naan (my fav!!!) we were all set to party. On the way to the disc, many guys approached us asking whether they can enter alongwith us. The bouncers are very strict about entry and its either couples entry or ladies only. It’s a good thing ladies get to go in with a smile. Talk about Women’s Liberation. That’s an excellent thing about discs so stags (read irritating Indian men) don’t get to enter the disc. The stags were ready to pay any amount of money simply coz they want to get in and say they have been to Mambo’s. And we could see a lot of them pleading with the bouncers for entry but the bouncers were tough. No entry means NO ENTRY!!! Once in we went straight to the dance floor. The DJ was spinning some cool numbers and for a dance starved individual like me it was heaven. The crowd was amazing and mainly there were a lot of Indians with a few foreigners. I guess many of them were people from Bombay, Pune and Bangalore come down for the weekend. We danced quite a bit. Hip hop music is sure the numero uno choice these days and the dance floor soon started getting packed. Some of the girls climbed up and did a gig. Whilst others started pole dancing. They sure were good and if the management had to hire any belly dancers that night they would have surely been put to shame. One girl in particular went on swaying whilst dancing on one foot and for a moment I thought she would just fall off the counter. But she managed to balance herself and she sure had guts or maybe she was just high on booze!!! As it struck midnight we wished each other ‘Happy Friendship Day’ and it felt real good to have friends around you. Ady remembered the time we met in GCHS. Something like 8 years back. Gosh!! How time flies. After midnight the music was more of trance and we decided to rest our tired soles. Once out of the dance floor, we headed straight to some comfortable sofas. Mambo’s also has these hookas on each table where one can smoke. So, also there are pool tables where one can just hang out playing pool. I also spied a mobile charging unit nearby and since my cell was dead I charged my cell for a good 30 minutes. At around 2am the music changed from trance to hip hop and off we headed to the dance floor. The dance floor was really crowded and the DJ started playing some real groovy tracks like, ‘Don’t you wish your girlfriend was as hot as me?’ Wow!! After some more dancing we were all tired and so we decided to call it a day.. Ooops.. I mean a night. Once out of the place, we decided to make it a point to come more often coz Mambo’s simply rocks. It has the music, the crowd and the ambience— 3 ingredients mixed together to make an award winning cocktail for a perfect evening. So, next time you wanna party in Goa just head to Mambo’s!!! Read this post with photos at Party @ Mambos. Link: http://www.reviewgoa.com/?p=318

After 3 stressful weeks in India, it was time to relax a bit.  We headed south.  Goa was our destination.  Most people use plane on such a great distance.  Well.. we had a budget and decided to go by train.  Indian trains are nothing like the trains in Norway.  That's for sure.  (I wrote a review about it.)

The hours went by slowly.  We had a 6 hour stopover in Bombay, where we had to wait in the most awful waiting room.  All sorts of people just staring, pointing and laughing.  We didn't exactly feel comfortable.  In total we spend 37 hours traveling from Sawai Madhopur till Goa.

But seeing the palm trees, feeling the heat and seeing the ocean, really made the whole trip worth it.  We stayed in beach huts for less than $4 a night.  Not much luxury, but you really don't need it.  Cold showers, a bed and mosquito net is all you need.

We stayed at Palolem Beach for a week.  Did nothing but lying on the beach working on our tan.  Normally none of us are the ultimate beach bums.. but this time we really needed the break.  Get some new energy and re-charge for New Delhi, and the rest of the world.

The weather is really heating up here now and every day we wake up and pray that it'll be raining; but no the same old sticky sweat inducing weather. We were running low on money so decided to walk into town to use the cashpoint and discovered that our bank had stopped our cashpoint cards yet again. We think that makes it four or five times now in total. They basically admitted that India is such a dishonest place that as soon as you put your card in the machine it will get flagged and stop issuing cash until you call them and confirm that you are in possession of the card. It's very frustrating but you can totally see how deceitful people here are so I guess it's understandable. It has nothing to do with poverty either as the cons, scams and tricks come from all over the social spectrum. Firstly absolutely anything you buy here will be rubbish despite the assurances of quality from the seller. Secondly; check your bill and your change, from waiters to shopkeepers or anyone else you enter into a transaction with they'll either skim some off or add some to your bill. Thirdly, don't use a taxi or autorickshaw, please these guys are evil incarnate and will rip you off mercilessly. Fourthly; we've already mentioned the refilled water bottle scam. Nice!!! Always puncture or crush your used water bottles. Fifth, never use your card to buy anything, it will be cloned. Finally; just because you've agreed a price before hand don't expect that to be the price by the time you've finished!!! This applies to the taxi gits, hotels, shops and restaurants (who add mysterious taxes).

Walking around we needed a bottle of water the other day so went to a shop and the litre bottle was R's14, about the going rate. We handed over a twenty note and the shopkeeper and his assisted entered into some garbled conversation and we waited for our change. The shopkeeper was eyeing us up and down and eventually the assistant returned with a mini kitkat and two sweets and put them on the counter as our 'change'. When we said we wanted cash not sweets the shopkeeper flew into a rage and started yelling at us as though to expect change was an offense. "How much you pay at the fucking beach?' he yelled which was great. 'We haven't been to the beach here arsehole'. We got our twenty back and left with his abuse matched by ours along with some hand gestures and our fervant wishes for his kids to get ill. Got to love India and it's friendly people. The saddest thing is that it's reduced us to their level. Every time we are on the receiving end of their vile behaviour we sink a bit further down to meet it. We know it's not just us as we've had countless conversations with others along the way experiencing exactly the same thing.

We thought we'd escape from India for an afternoon by going to the cinema. We found a fantastic modern and clean cinema called INOX in Panaji which was air conditioned to the maximum. In fact we were both even a little bit cold which was fantastic. Can't recall when we last had that sensation. The film itself was Marie Antoinette and the quality was very poor but as it was in English the cinema was mostly empty and we had one of those precious moments where we allowed yourselves to forget the hellhole outside.

With some nervouseness we decided to leave the pretend India that is Panaji and head up the coast to the beaches. Lets hope it's not a return to the shit strewn streets of real India.

Finally we have escaped the horrors of the south and got ourselves up to Goa. Picking up where our last entry left off we took an early taxi to Madurai airport and after a brief delay we got on our Air Deccan flight to Bangalore. It may have been the relief but it was a really great flight, despite the fact that Steph was still ill and after being sick all day yesterday was feeling very feeble. It was a really pleasant feeling arriving in Bangalore, collecting our bags and walking out into the throng of taxi and rickshaw drivers to wind them up by saying yes to a taxi and asking how much to the departure hall. They get confused so easily and as we walked away they were all still struggling with it!! One actually came running after us and offered to take us on a one hour 'sightseeing' tour of Bangalore while we waited to check in for our next flight. So pathetic!!

We had a new experience when we went to ask what time the check in for our next flight would be as the departure time had been brought forward from 13.35 to 12.45. Never heard of that before and judging by the numbers of empty seats many people missed the flight. We'd only booked our tickets the morning before and there was no mention of a time change so it was lucky that we were early. The flight was uneventful as they usually are and arriving in Goa we took the easy option and went to the pre paid taxi stand to get a ride to Panaji, the state capital of Goa which still ratains a very Portuguese feel from colonial times.

We got dropped off outside the Afonso guesthouse in a really atmospheric and pretty part of town called Fontainhaus. It looks exactly like Portugal, maybe a slightly disheveled Portugal but Portugal nonetheless. We were unfortunate that they were full. Steph was flagging badly so it was not the news we needed. On top of that it was the hottest part of the day and the walk around to other guesthouses proved mostly fruitless. The places we looked at were either way too expensive or way too dirty.  We had to settle on a place called the Casa Fontainhaus which was a beautiful room with antique (as opposed to plain old) furniture a four poster bed with white cotton awnings, a fabulous balcony and aircon. Given the fact that by this time we were both feeling a bit ill, the price tag of R's 2500, although disgustingly expensive, was what we needed to recuperate for 24 hours. Apart from popping out for a small bite to eat in the evening we did absolutely nothing except relax, enjoy the surroundings of the room and chill out. For a few happy hours it was possible to forget we were in India.

The next day we moved to the Afonso which at R's 800 was a much more affordable option although still crazy for India which in our experience is only cheap if you are prepared to stay in squalid rooms with assorted bugs, dirt and poor security. Anywhere else we've been this room would be half the price, our room at Rainbow Lodge in Langkawi, Malaysia was twice as nice for half the price!!! Everywhere else you travel there seems to be a price for a basic room which doubles for aircon. Here there is the basic price for a pit which doubles for a clean room and then doubles again for an aircon pit then doubles again for clean aircon.

We popped out for some supplies and a bite to eat at a restaurant called the Hotel Venite which was western style food, satisfying our craving for some comfort pasta. When we got back to the room with new waters etc we put them down next to one we had bought at Casa Fontainhaus and to our horror realised we'd been sold a rebottled murky brown local water!! When we bought it; it had come out of the fridge and was covered in condensation so we hadn't noticed, it had a proper seal on it and everything; which goes to show how underhand and thieving some of these people are. To make 20 Rupees they are prepared to poison people!!! It was doubly annoying as we always puncture our empty bottles with our knife which prevents them being re-used. Clearly not everyone does and the result is the locals go and fill them up with polluted local water. So please always crush or puncture your empty plastic bottles.

In our last entry we were quite frank about the disgusting behaviour of Indian men in particular the way the visually rape women as they walk around. When we had written that piece we gave it a great deal of consideration as to whether to post it as we are fully aware of the dangers of stereotyping but having decided to do so we went on to use thecomputer we were on to google for some information on our next destinations. As you type Google the history brings up past searches and our next destination is Candolim. As we typed the 'C' up popped recent users searches which included and we quote "Child fuck" and "Clean child fuck". Shocked we looked at a few other letters and found so many examples but including "European bride fuck", "How does vagina look", "How to break yahoo password ID" and so on. We really needn't have thought twice about our low opinion of Indian men.

As we said Panaji is much cleaner than anywhere else we've seen in India but walking around you can't escape the fact that it is still India. The usual harrassment by drivers, hawkers of rubbish, grubby beggar women with the deliberately dirt covered baby as well as the stares of perverts. Whilst they are clearly too ignorant to get it the Taxi  and rickshaw drivers are easy to brush off, wind up or chastise. We faced one down on a busy corner and told him outright how rude it was to shout at people and that as far as we were concerned it made him look like a dog barking at passers by. As he tried to shrink away we kept it up and let him have both barrels in a loud but even voice, he and those around him were appalled that we would shame him so badly in public. So that's our new hobby. We've also explained to a seller of drums the concept of 'no means no' as well as that if people say no to buying some piece of junk, making that piece of junk cheaper will not persuade them to buy it. Other opportunities yet to arise are the futility of attempts to sell sunglasses to someone already wearing sunglasses as well as the facing down of the various perverts. A harder one will be the women who abuse their children by keeping them filthy and dragging them round town as a begging prop. We passed two yesterday standing by a public bathing fountain which was being used by other people and over they trot, baby on hip, with their pathetic pleadings, hand out and motioning to their mouth with the other hand pleading hunger. It's as much as you can do not to throttle them on the spot so it's a hard one to confront without losing the plot altogether. The truth is they earn such good money from the begging that they have to keep the baby dirty, hungry and crying and so many westerners fall for it. If you want to help the people, buy something from a shop. We hate to say it but the market economy does more for poverty alleviation than charity ever has or ever will!!

Nice hotel with lovely gardens and great swimming pool. Fine big room though decor old-fashioned for my taste. Owners and staff not very friendly and food not the best. Some construction work currently going on beside it. Nevertheless, I stayed here for two weeks and highly recommend it. 1200 INR (about 22 euro) per night for double room with bath and balcony.

Tucked away amidst the coconut palms, 5 minutes away from Ozran and Vagator beaches lies Leoney Resort. It is a cute, quiet hotel, with an enchanting mix of mock Portuguese villas and cottages set amidst beautifully landscaped gardens and a sparkling blue swimming pool. The rooms were among some of the best I've seen in North Goa for the price and I've been going every year since 2000. An air conditioner and refrigerator are standard in every room, and every room faces the swimming pool with a little patio/veranda out front. The bathrooms were also exceptionally clean by Goa standards with running hot water 24 hours a day. The restaurant is nothing great, but provides 24 hour room service and that much required cup of morning chai. The environment in and around the resort is extremely green and serene. One can spend all day lazing around the pool, enjoying the sun or shade from the palm trees surrounding the resort. The Resorts Spa also offers Ayurvedic massages. I stayed here for 4 nights in an "A/C Deluxe Room". The cost was Rs. 2,700 per night including taxes. They also have "Deluxe Cottages" and "Suites" which are slightly more expensive going up to about Rs. 3,500 per night. A word of advice though, I believe they offer better rates when you book online from their website so give it a try. It is http://www.leoneyresort.com Cheers !