have to laugh as one bit reminded me of the airport at Bali. You have to guard your cases there too. We managed until we got to the taxi desk and then somehow our trolley got hijacked. Funnily enough, although OH had managed the trolley on his own up till then, it took 4 porters to push it to the taxi. Only one got a tip and it was the recommended amount- they weren't happy either

Great reading your report. Like yourselves we sailed through customs which was great but our luggage came off last no luck. Ive kept some small rupees change for when we go back in April and if anyone trys hijacking our cases they will get a small tip in rupees. Cant wait to see their faces

Thanks Gemma. I'm trying to write the second part, will post more tomorrow.

I know Hughsey its hard going! Looking forward to the next bit tho. I like reading what other folk get up to. Sometimes get ideas as well for different things to do.

Pre-paid taxi desk Whats this Arriving in Goa for first time 16/03 planning on getting a taxi from airport to Colva. Any advice.

You'll find the desk on the left hand side just before the exit doors of the airport. Just tell them where you are going and they will give you a voucher. You pay the driver on arrival at your hotel. There is an ATM machine just outside the doors or you can change money at the airport, but you wont get a good rate. The minimum they will change is £20.

Second part.

Wednesday 14th
Went in to Panjim today to do some shopping and try out the Dehli Durbar for lunch. The dehli durbar was full so decided to do our shopping first. Had a good look around the town, did some shopping, found Vishals which I wanted to visit to see if there were bargains to be had. Didn't like the shop much reminds me of Matalans,you have to search for the good stuff.
Sorry if some of you like Matalans, it's not one of my favourite shops.
Went back to the Dehli Durbar and it was still full so gave up and decided to try it another day.

Thursday
Decided to try out Calamari's shack today.
Walked along the beach, got to the shack, along came this old guy who asked us if we wanted a sun bed. "Yes" we said. He took our towels placed them on the beds and promptly asked us for 100 rupees. I said to O/H that's strange, I thought they were free, but we didn't say anything to him.
Another young lad then came and asked if we wanted drinks, brought them and said these were from the next shack along (can't remember the name).
I'm puzzled now. Why was the boy from the next shack and not the boys from Calamari serving us, after all, we were in front of Calamaris.

When we went up to the shack to have some food we mentioned it to the boy who served us and he told us that some of the beds were not theirs (theirs are all painted blue). They allow the old guy to put his beds by theirs to earn a few rupees. .

We laughed about it after, thinking what a pair of plonkers we were. We didn't notice the colour of the other beds. So be warned if you don't all ready know or you'll have to pay.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Both myself and O/H not were not feeling too good. Both had attacks of the dreaded 'Dehli Belly'. Spent our time hanging around the hotel- we were afraid to venture too far in case we needed the loo.

Monday.
Both feeling much better - so back to the beach to top up our tans.

Wednesday
Decided to go to Baga today. Never been so wanted to look around and also find Lazy Days to go there that evening for the meet. Had a good look around but decided it wasn't for us, too much going on. We like it a bit more peaceful.
Didn't get to the meet, because hubby bought me a ring and we had forgotten we had arranged to pick it up that evening.


Thursday. (Last day)
Spent it lazing on the beach soaking up the sunshine and enjoying a few kings and honey bees.
Back to hotel to pack our cases, then out for our last meal and then sadly it was time to go to the airport.

Got to the Airport at 3am, utter chaos as usual. We had to queue up outside to put our cases through the scanner, queue to check in, and then queue for immigration.
The Indians do everything at their own pace (dead slow).

Before boarding the plane, hubby went to use the loo .The attendant was hovering outside waiting for his tip. He held out his hand and pointed to a 2 pound coin. Hubby laughed, said 'no way am I giving you £2 for a quick pee', gave him ten rupees instead .He gave hubby a disgusting look, handed back the rupees and walked off in a huff. I know they think we are a soft touch but that was way over the top.

That's all for now. More about the shacks and restaurants we visited later.

Loving your report Hughsey- which report is yours on Silver Sands? couldn't find it ! probably not looking hard enough.
We stayed at Silver Sands over New Year so I was interested to hear your comments.
Looking forward to your restaurant reports, thanks, shirleyv x

ShirleyV
The hotel review was from Joan and Dennis.Did you write one?

Ashamed to admit , no I didn't must do one soon, shirley

enjoying reading your report
we also give the taxi driver we use every trip balu my o/h's last contract mobile phone, he's always thrilled with it & its always a model that cant be found yet in goa which he loves.( hes a young guy) much better than having them kick around a drawer at home.

Hey Hughsey

Thanks for being my messenger and delivering the photos and chocolates to my friends. i think the comaraderie on this site is wonderful

Really enjoying your reports, its a shame that i will not be able to get back to Goa until november 2008 due to studying commitments.

Will everybody please keep the reports coming so i can keep enjoying a little bit of Goa at home through your eyes.

Last Part
As promised these are our opinions on some of the shacks and restaurants we visited.

Shacks

Calamari shack - good food and the loos were okay.
Bonos shack - sun beds too close together for my liking but brilliants loos, probably the best on the beach. Food was a little bit more expensive than the other shacks.
Claudinas shack - Again beds too close together. We found this end of the beach very busy. Preferred it more towards the ship.
Monica's shack - Monica makes the best chips, also good veg pakoras.
Club 21 shack - Spent a few days at this shack because we know the boys there and they always make us feel welcome. The loo is not very good here so avoided it unless absolutely necessary.
There are so many shacks to choose from so probably missed a few good ones but will try different ones more time we go.

Restaurants. (All in Candolim).

Cactus Shepherd Pie - one of our favourites. Love their Indian dishes but not so fussed on their European dishes.
Cecilia's - limited menu, but lovely pasta dishes.
The Mermaid - another favourite. Desserts to die for.
Sheetals, The Mango Grove, Fishermans Cove, the Spice Garden- all serve good and reasonably priced meals.
The Tiger Trail- Good Chinese.
The Stone House - found it to be a little noisy. Thought the food was average.
We also had a really nice meal in the restaurant at the Alegria de Goa hotel but it lacked atmosphere.
Tonys - never had a bad meal here, good variety of dishes to choose from.
The worse meal we had was at Indianas on beach road. My meal was burnt, so I sent it back. The waiter wasn't very happy and told me I would have to wait 45 mins for a replacement. Needless to say I refused to wait, asked for the bill, paid for our drinks and left. Perhaps we caught them on a bad day. Who Knows!!

All in all had a lovely holiday and counting the days to our next one in November.

Loved your report
Whereabouts is Tonys restaurant?

Gemma33
Tony's is on the main Candolim road, same side as the pheonix hotel, before the turning to Panjim.

Thanks I know where you mean. Will give it a go in April.