It’s been a while since we last posted as we’ve been away in our favourite place in Goa and frankly we’ve been too busy enjoying ourselves to post a blog entry.  We’re back and getting used to the unseasonably cold weather which we thought we had cleverly planned to avoid!  Here’s a roundup of what we’ve been up to since early Jan.

We started with a lovely few days with Alex, Freddy and Luke in London.  Can’t get over how chilled Luke is – and how expertly the Dads have settled into their new roles.  The journey to Heathrow was event free (no strikes!!!!) and we were soon enjoying the treats in the Lounge.  The BA flight was very comfortable and the food at dinner was almost back to the way things were before BA started cost cutting. We were both excited about going back to Goa and soon got into party mode with a couple of drinks and a long sleep…..rock ‘n roll!  Despite a poor breakfast the flight was good, and it was on to the stage we really hate as we had to transit through Mumbai for our onward flight to Goa.

This is where the euphoria ended as it didn’t take long for India to frustrate the hell out of us with immigration being a total farce.  It was 7am and there were long queues everywhere for both foreign and Indian passport holders.  People were switching queues because there weren’t enough staff on duty and the long queues were hardly moving.  Then one of the officers would ‘go on break’ leaving a huge queue with no officer to process them.  Add to this was the toe-curling performance as each passenger took at least 10 minutes to process as pictures and fingerprints were taken.  An hour later and the frustration was starting to boil over.  People were getting very angry and at one point we really thought there was going to be a riot.  Eventually a ‘suit’ got the message that he could no longer ponce around doing nothing and he put some kind of order into the whole process.  It took us over 2hrs to get through and even then we had to shout at him to say we had a connecting flight before we were placed at the front of a new queue.  Only in India!  

On the bright side, at least we didn’t have to wait for the luggage as by this time the whole flights worth had been taken off and placed next to the belt.  Then it was the queue to get into the domestic departure hall, the check in desk and then the security scan but we made the gate in time for our made our connecting flight with Indigo. Hurrah! Then after a swift boarding process we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour because we were one flight attendant missing.  Only in India!

Our booked meal turned out to be a tin of either almonds or cashews and a coffee! On arrival at the now tatty Dabolim airport there was the usual scrum for taxis with guys wanting to charge twice the rate of the prepay taxi rank despite us pointing to the price chart on the wall.  We finally got to Benaulim and met our new landlord, Tony, as he showed us around the apartment in La Grace Resort.  It’s a mix between hotel and private apartments and we were on the first floor with an incredibly private apartment which at 1000R’s/night (£10) is extremely good value. We also have a proper thick mattress, new pillows, a water filter and Wifi – woo hoo!

Tony and Brenda had arranged for a table for 10 people at Tansy Restaurant which is now run by Karam and Rahul, formerly of C5.  What a welcome back, great company, great food and 30C.    Food and drink prices were only just a little higher, but still amazing value.  The food was one of the things we missed most about Goa and our first meal did not disappoint.  Most of favourite restaurants were still in operation, same old waiters and, generally, the world felt as if it was back to normal.

No sooner that we were back it was off to see Rahul the dentist for a check-up, quiz night on Wednesday with John and Suz (winners!), frequenting Rex’s beach shack, Sunday lunch at the much-acclaimed Farmhouse Restaurant (very disappointing and shan’t go there again in a hurry) and our first evening boat cruise of the trip. 

By now we were well and truly back in Goa mode and Connie organised a girl’s day out for High Tea at The Taj Exotica Hotel whilst some of ‘the boys’ went for beer, food and several games of pool at Blue Corner beach shack.  There was another day boat trip with those delicious giant prawns for lunch.

By now we had come to the conclusion that nothing much has changed here.  We had feared that the influx of domestic tourists during Covid would have changed things beyond recognition.  Yes, some restaurants have gone or changed, some new ones, new shops and new hotels including The Fairfield but generally the 3 years have seen very little change and that includes prices.

We continued to attend the weekly Wednesday quiz nights coming second and then first and then second.  The quiz was organised by DJ Paul to raise funds for the girl’s orphanage in the next village.  Of course, all winnings are donated and Paul slowly amassed a large amount of money which he and Connie went to present to the Manager.  Great fun nights for a great cause.

Next it was time for a posh Sunday Brunch at the local new Fairfield by Marriot Hotel.  £18 gave us as much delicious food as we could eat and as much as you could drink.  We knew we had been in India for a while now as we got really excited by having 3 different types of lettuce and olives on the salad bar! Free flow alcohol including Jacobs Creek Ozzie wine, a huge array of deserts which Cheryl and Suz worked their way through diligently, and it goes without saying, great company.  It was so good we had booked to go again the following week.

John and Suz had picked up on Facebook an organised trip to the temple town of Udupi and asked if we wanted to go.  We have been to Udupi a couple of times before but we quickly said ‘yes’, hey it’ll make a change.  We were taken to the railway station in Margao to catch a 2^nd class train to Udupi, journey time about 5hrs. We had an excellent hotel for two nights which had a very good restaurant and bar.  Our sightseeing was to be crammed into one day, 15hrs of full on touristy stuff which included a beautiful walk to an ancient fort, a tea factory, a Jain Temple and much more. We finished off back in Udupi to see the evening procession of chariots around the main temple.  The whole day was amazing if not knackering, but it was well worth the trip.  Next day we were back on the train early in the morning for the journey home.

On the return journey we met Penny and Steve who were staying in North Goa, Candolim.  They had booked a boat trip with one of our local boat companies along with a small bus load of their friends.  They had also decided to come to Benaulim on a recce for a possible stay next season.  We quickly agreed that Suz would find them a place to stay and that we would organise a booking on the boat for a few people plus a taxi to get everyone to Betty’s Boats.  It all went fantastically, and we’ll probably be meeting up with them in the near future because Penny’s mum lives in Honiton, a twenty minute drive from Seaton!

Most of our time was spent just lazing on the beach, chatting to old friends, reading books and enjoying all the random things that make Goa and India such an interesting place to visit. We ate out every night as the food is so good, it was an opportunity to socialise and with a meal for two including drinks costing an average of £15, why would you bother cooking?

By now we were in serious Sunday Brunch mode.  We had another few visits to The Fairfield plus a visit to The Alila Diwa in Majorda.  This was a fabulous hotel with a magnificent infinity swimming pool which meant it was great for a treat visit as it was a more expensive plus needed a taxi ride to get there.

With two weeks to go before the journey home we were on countdown.  We took a taxi to Martin’s Corner for an excellent lunch of delicious Goan food before taking the 2hr walk back to Benaulim along the beach.   Our last quiz resulted in victory for our team, it was a fantastic evening with lots more money being raised for the girl’s orphanage.  Dinner at Tansy for lots of people to say ‘goodbye’ to John and Suz and then a final visit to the Fairfield for brunch, well that was the plan until we found out it was not doing brunch because the place was being taken over for a wedding.  We were gutted as we really wanted to have a bit of a blow out before we headed home.  Fortunately, Sue, Francesca, Alan and Tim came to the rescue.  Sue found out that weren’t going and said ‘we’re going to The Alila Diwa, why don’t you come with us?’  Result!

A few more days on the beach, flight to Mumbai, and funny 1hr taxi drive using google maps as the driver had no idea where our hotel was.  The hotel turned out to be excellent and included a drive to the international airport the next morning.  The flight to Heathrow was very pleasant, immigration took less than 5 minutes via the E-gates and as we only had our cabin suitcases with us we were soon on the new Lizzie Line heading for some family time with The Mortons.   We were not, however, prepared for the Arctic conditions! 

Luke is still a chilled and happy little soul and we had a lovely time with the boys.  Neil had a great afternoon out with Freddy who managed to get him a ticket to see Arsenal vs Bournemouth at The Emirates. Neil had one of the best pies and a few beers before being treated to an exciting match with a goal scored in the first 9.1 seconds and the winner in the last kick of the match.

Despite setting off in plenty of time for the train home (no strikes again!!!) public transport in London let us down and with time rapidly running out we had to resort to getting off the bus and flagging a taxi.  One nail biting journey later we ran into Waterloo and made the train with just 2 minutes to spare.  It’s good to be back – but can someone do something about the weather?  brrrrrrrr