Friday 2 February 2018

I was initially undecided what to do this weekend.

I wanted to go to Hampi. But that involved a 6 hour drive from Bangalore. And felt like a lot of hassle.

January was so hectic I barely had a chance to breathe.

So I’m having a relaxing weekend. With a pool. And a nice room.

In Goa.

Goa isn’t somewhere that was on my list of places to go. Locals always ask me if I’ve been to Goa. I guess because that’s where they assume foreign people go to.

Well, I’m going to be the stereotype for the weekend.

My flight from Bangalore was at 9pm. And was a quick 1 hour 15 minutes up and across the the coast.

I found the prepaid taxi desk, 600 (£7) to my hotel, which was a half hour drive south of the airport.

It was around 11pm by the time I reached the hotel. And o was given a free room upgrade. To the biggest room in the hotel. Amazing.

Bed time.

Saturday 3 February 2018

My room is actually huge. A lounge, a bedroom, 2 sinks, 2 showers, 2 toilets, a bath, a dressing room. And a huge balcony with 2 sofas and a dining table for 4. Craziness.

My plans for the weekend consisted of approximately nothing.

Annoyingly I was up early. For sunrise. So I watched the orange sky peeking between the palm trees. And popped to the pool to watch the moon disappear for the day. It was pretty.

Breakfast was good. But not as good as in Bangalore. The Indian selection wasn’t too exciting – idli and sambar. (But again, not as good) and some fruit.

Then I went for a swim and enjoyed the view from the pool – across the surrounding farmland.

The hotel has a shuttle down the beach. It only took about 5 minutes. I could have walked.

Two weeks ago I was on the eastern ocean. Today, the western ocean.

The beach was very non-exciting. Beach shacks which serve food and drink were littered across the sand. Complete with makeshift umbrellas and sunbeds, which you could rent.

I walked for about half an hour down the beach. It was all fairly similar.

I had some lunch at one of the beach shacks. It was expensive. £5 for a vegetable curry and roti. Might sound cheap, but a usual meal is around £1-2.

I walked back to the hotel. It was a nice walk. Through the countryside. Some cows. And zero people. Which is strange in a country which is so hectic, chaotic and populated. A change from the crowded cities.

I popped into a small shop in the village. Surprisingly well stocked. And finally managed to buy some tea.

I had booked a massage at 3pm. The spa was nice. Very fancy, full of greenery, water and flowers.

Then spent the rest of the evening swimming and lazing by the pool, watching the sunset.

For dinner, I didn’t fancy sitting in the restaurant. So ordered room service. It took well over a hour to arrive and wasn’t that good. I had ordered a vegetable curry, with appam and Goan red rice. The curry wasn’t very nice. And the appam were the worst I’ve had (I order them every single night in Bangalore – they are my favourite! Being a rice flour and coconut milk pancake). I had asked if they were able to make a dairy free dessert. Apparently they could! I was excited. But shouldn’t have been. It was essentially toast, fried in oil and sugar. Very disappointing.

Sunday 4 February 2018

Again, another day of nothing.

I went to the gym

Had breakfast (more idli, sambar, potato curry and fruit).

Went swimming.

Walked around the village. Bought bananas.

Then it was 2.30pm and time to leave.

By 3pm I was at the airport. Ready to go back to Bangalore for my last week of work.