Maybe I'm strange but I really don't have a problem with the sellers. I enjoy talking to them.

If I do want to relax and not be bothered by them I have always found that a No thank, or for the very persistent sellers just a very firm NO works.

As for sellers standing outside the shack and shouting in .....now that would annoy me when I was trying to enjoy my lunch but I have to be honest I've never experienced this.

Do you give money to beggars in the UK?..Buy the big issue?..when the double glazing man knocks at the door do you give him a can of coke and get him some lunch?

spaldy - that made me laugh out loud

elephant wrote -If somebody chooses the destination for a holiday then he/she accepts the way people live there. The beach selling is one way of making living in India. This is a part of India including Goa. If this is annoying to somebody, mu humble suggestion would be, change the destination.

No matter how humble your suggestion it is not a reason for changing a holiday destination as this only one aspect of Goa. By the way except for the fruit sellers these beach hawkers are not Goan but people who come from out of state to fleece tourists.

If I do want to relax and not be bothered by them I have always found that a No thank, or for the very persistent sellers just a very firm NO works

Of course this does work, however, when you have six turn up in as many minutes you start to become tired of saying "no thank you", "I will look towards the end of my holiday", "I don't want anything today, thank you" etc, etc. They all talk to each other so they know what you have said to the others, but rather than respect your privacy they continue to pester. Just as they have the right to earn a living, I have the right to privacy.

A few years ago we became friendly with a beach seller and it didn't take him long to start asking us for things (mobile phones, crocs and donations towards his childrens' education etc.), so we decided we weren't going to become involved ever again.

We have spoken to other tourists who fell for the same lines and later regretted trying to help when for example, those they helped moaned about the mobile phone they were given or found out the phone was sold on.

Exactly what i have been trying to say for ages Sydney! Where's the one who tried to sell you the croc's ect...living in your spare room in the UK?
Personally i never go to the beach although it is in my back garden..as far as the beach sellers go i think alot depends on how long you are here and how many times tou have been to Goa. It can be a novelty that wears off!

<<<waterproof ...By the way except for the fruit sellers these beach hawkers are not Goan but people who come from out of state to fleece tourists>>>
so what? people from other states do not want to eat?
and I can assure to everybody - firm NO does work. if you want at one moment to be a buddy and another you want to be left alone, then there could be a confusion from both sides.

<<<sydney ... I have the right to privacy>>>
yes, sydney. you most certainly have. did'nt you just choose wrong place for looking for guaranteed privacy?

i quit. i am surprised of this kind of attitude towards differencies in different countries and a wish to change the locals based on our standards. I personally enjoy getting to know locals better and try to lean something from them.
argo

To everyone who is happy to chat, get to know and buy from beach sellers, that's fine. I got to know the ones in my shack too and they were very nice and I loved chatting to them and hearing about their families but after 10 years of hearing the ever increasing hard luck life stories and the mounting pressure they put on you to buy stuff that is the same as last year (and the previous 9), you do eventually get a bit weary of it all.

The last straw for me was being woken up from a lovely nap by Tanu grabbing my big toe and wiggling it

Fizz

but after 10 years of hearing the ever increasing hard luck life stories and the mounting pressure they put on you to buy stuff that is the same as last year (and the previous 9), you do eventually get a bit weary of it all.

I totally agree.

Last few seasons I have had Kashmiri fellas in suits trying to sell me gold on the beach, I find them really annoying.I always tell them I stay for 3 weeks and to see me on last week and that usually keeps them happy, not knowing I`m going to do a runner on them. However last year one lad Sanjay really caught mine and Mrs FTV affections, he did small errands for us and made sure we were fed and watered all day and never asked for anything, bottle of cola or some fruit would see him right. If we didn`t want pestering he would stroll off down the beach without us having to say anything to him.
I did `promise` to buy something from him on day one and looked at some sparkley little ring boxes that fitted inside each other, you know the type of thing. Anyway we didn`t get to the beach on our last day and were really sorry to have missed him and I gave friends of mine who were coming home a few days later 200rps a baseball cap and a bag of sweets to give to him from us. My friends returned home and said we gave Sanjay the the things and he sent you a present, lo and behold it was the ring boxes and a little note saying "thank you papa from Sanjay"
To me that meant a great deal and put a lump in my throat(big softie that I am) Yes they can be a pain and be cheeky but deep down good kids who make the most of the hand that life has dealt them.

I was once slapped on the leg by a seller trying to get my attention while I was asleep.I ended up nealry booting her into the sea I don't mind some of them, but it can get tedious day after day when you're trying to rest.The shop owners bug me more though and the taxi drivers who shout taxi at you just as you're getting out of one l
God I can't wait to get back

Luckily I have never been shouted to by a seller whilst in a shack - maybe though that was down to the shack owner/workers and what they will put up with?? Not sure, and I am sure it does happen. We have made some fantastic friends that are beachsellers. For one in particular, we take it in turns to call each other every month (in and out of seanson when he goes back to Kashmir). He has never asked for anything and we really have never bought anything more than some silver jewellery.

People will always try to make the best out of the situation they are in, but if they are true friends they will never ask for anything more than that (whether Goan, Kashmiri, English etc etc). Everyone to their own, but I enjoy learning about people and places from the people themselves - not just a guide book.)

Do you give money to beggars in the UK?..Buy the big issue?..when the double glazing man knocks at the door do you give him a can of coke and get him some lunch

No I don't give to beggars - nor do I in Goa. I do buy the big issue sometimes to try and encourage someone who is at least trying to get himself out of a hard time on the street. No I don't offer a double glazing salesman lunch or a coke - a firm NO thank you is usually all that is required. But then I don't buy lunch for the sellers on the beach either.

I've been to Goa now 7 times - it will be my eighth this Christmas, for the last three times it's been for three weeks, all the other times for two weeks and I still haven't tired of the sellers. I never become best buddies with them and would never offer to give them anything more than the price we've agreed for their bit of tat that I 've decided to buy. I have been asked by some of the youngsters for a coke and sometimes I buy one for them sometimes I get them a botttle of water instead - if that's not good enough then tough they have to do without, a drink is a drink after all when you're thirsty.

It's quite strange for me really 'cos I'm not a patient person but when in Goa I become so chilled out and relaxed that very little bothers me - or do I love the place that much I've just learnt to accept it.

A little surprised at the blanket "I don't give to beggars". not critical but surprised.

I do give to some but am very selective of which ones.
Those that suffer from an obvious major disability usually get something from me, eg the couple of guys with withered legs you see on the beach. It's fairly reasonable to guess that they will find it hard to make a living any other way.
I don't imagine that there are any state benefits for these people, or are there?
I would imagine that all regular goers are fairly cynical of the young women holding out a hand whilst carrying a "hungry" baby.

We were told many years ago ONLY to 'give' to the elderly and infirm. ALWAYS give to lepers and those with major disibility. (the guy who bends his leg and straps it there leaving 'loose' empty hanging trouser leg DOESN'T count .

One year there was a lad in his late teens with a horrific deformity - a SEVERE 'humped' back

Are you quitting Elephant? Lighten up you need a holiday! I spose really it's all down to personal choice wether you give to begggars or not. How do you work out who is a genuine beggar,who needs the money? Certainly not those women that hang around Calangute ATM holding on to somebody elses baby,come on they are not hard up its organised they get dropped off in the morning and do shifts. I don't think the skateboarders are on the fiddle.
Talking to someone today and they were saying that now and again they herd up all the beach sellers and take them out on the Mapsua road to a holding pound...i expect thats when they don't pay thier dues!

yes, sydney. you most certainly have. did'nt you just choose wrong place for looking for guaranteed privacy?

How ridiculous, of course not. You can be on a beach and still have your privacy. I don't expect people to invade my personal space once I have indicated to them I am not interested.

I don't initiate conversations with the sellers, I don't tell them to b*gger off, I don't pretend to be interested in their wares and then tell them that I don't want anything (which is what a lot of tourists do to keep them happy). I am polite and firm with them. If they persist in coming back I then tell them not to bother because when and if I do decide to buy something from the beach it won't be from them.

The fact that I am having to justify myself makes me in need of a blinking holiday.

We have just returned from a day on the beach at Colva.Not one seller on the beach as the cops keep them away.It must be the only beach in Goa where this happens.Not a sole trying to sell us some TAT and it was bliss.

John

I shouldn't tell everyone John they will all be there.....well not all quite a few enjoy being woke up and nudged...the best thing to take down Calangute beach is a stunn gunn you can buy them in front of the Kamat.

Thanks again spaldy - will go and buy a stun gun tomorrow - do they sell those rolls of "stingers" you see on the TV cops programmes so I can put it round my bed