Travel to goa
Getting to Goa faces you with the dilemma: fly, train or coach? I chose train as it is the cheap and safe option.
We got the train from Victoria station in Mumbai, near Colaba. It is a really beautiful building, it is a must see even if not getting the train. You can buy a ticket from desk number 20 if you are a tourist. There are a certain number of spaces reserved for tourist tickets. Be sure to get your ticket in advance if you want 1st/2nd ac. In peak season (indian holidays) the 1st and 2nd class will be really booked up, all tickets are cheap but 2nd AC is just fine!
Bunk beds in curtained off sections with sheets and blankets and pillows, not bad, not good. You can buy a veg dinner also for about 90 rupees that tastes like aeroplane food (not sure how much the locals were paying though.) We were on the top bunks so the AC was in my face all night, not good for asthma sufferers so remember your inhaler!
Everyone is allocated a seat, however lone female and travellers in general should try for the top bunks for the safest option. Most people don’t want the top bunk and will be happy to swap. Although, there wasn’t really any problems with anyone in this case.
We got off at Madgaon station and got a pre paid taxi to Calengute. The most terrifying taxi journey of my life! So many near misses and a taxi driver that seemed to have a death wish. There is a nearer station you can get off at called old goa, get off here and get a rickshaw, the white taxis are a bunch of crazed hooligans, and it feels really unsafe.
Where to stay
We got dropped off in the center of Calengute, it is really busy! Walk down to the sea and you will find many bars and restaurants (which werent open due to it being 8am) that go down onto the beach.
A huge sandcastle featuring shrek greeted us at the beach stairs, and we looked around for an apartment or hut or room, they were all very expensive!
However, we met a 60-odd couple in Mumbai who told us about somewhere they stayed in little calengute and had given us the adress and phone number of a guy with an apartment to rent for only 600 rupees a night. His name is manwel, and he is a top geeza!
Calengute is generally quite expensive. However, it was low season for western tourists, so prices were quite competitive. Its ok to stay in calengute if you are able to rent a scooter or Jeep to visit other beaches, but make sure you have a full driving licence for whatever vehicle you are renting as you will be pulled over by the old bill at some point and forced to pay some sort of bribe!
If you are a lone backpacker or a pot smoking hippie, stay in arambol, vagator or anjuna. In high season, this is the place to party. So if you are coming over Xmas/nye then you might need to pre book accomadation , and prices will be higher, of course.
Life’s a beach
On the beach, being pasty and british does make you stand out- alot! Be prepared to have people take photos of you whilst on the beach.
It was Indian holiday when we went to goa, and there was a lot of large all male Indian tourist groups. (Wives at home with the kids of course) They tend to be quite outrageous trying to take photos of us in our swimwear, so my boyfriend had to shout no at a few!
Most people will take photos without asking, but if you spot them just go further into the sea or cover up with a towel, they will soon move on. There are others that will sit down on a sun bed near you and loiter for a while, then ask to take your photo..
This keeps happening to us all the time, from groups of Indian men aka.’lads on tour.’ You can play your trump card: ask for 400rupees. It confuses the bastards and they move on. Simples! However, if you are a lone female traveller you need to be careful, sunbathe near other westerners for safety and go in high season for westerners.
Food
The sea is quite rough in goa, so boogie boards are a must! Get a sunlounger and order some drinks and a boogie board from a beach shack. And candlelit dinner on the beach is nice, go to a bar called goan waves to the right if looking at the sea, near the main steps in calengute. They play house and chilled music at night and ‘goa-gil’ which is some trance/Indian music mash up created by Gilbert the man who started the hippy colony or something.. Quite good. The boys who run the bar are really nice, however the boss is a bit iffy, so keep a menu at the table and record what you have if you are having a few drinks!
In little calengute, go to glens bar for really good breakfast fresh eggs from the small holding next door! The fry up is a real beauty! The coconut Aztec prawns are so good also!
In vagator there is a great bar on the beach called Shiva bar where generally only the local hippy community and backpackers go to. It sells cheap beer and pizza, with sun loungers on the sand. Watch the sun set here for some ultimate chill out sessions.
The Russian invasion
On arrival to calengute, we noticed some stalls selling hippie clothing, next to those were stalls selling… Fur coats?!?!? Fur in 30° heat?! When we got to our apartment, we asked manwel about this, and he said that the place is full of Russian tourists!
Every Indian waitor or shop keep or even the people selling souvenirs and coconut crap on the beach have expressed how nice it is to speak to English people! Wow! Every one of them has said how rude the Russian tourists are, and how they are ruining the chilled ambiance in goa. Over the past 2 years the invasion has happened, the Russian maffia even ‘run’ baga beach, near calengute beach. This end of town is really tacky, a bit like magaluf so steer clear my fellow adventurers!
There has been one poignant theme to my time in goa, which has been the Russian invasion. Everywhere in calengute there are Russian bars, bars playing cheesey music for the Russians and Russian food. We have enjoyed goa, but am ready to see the real India after a week here!
Next stop: karnataka
around the world in 80 stitches 