If you want a long haul holiday that is not too expensive then Goa is the place for you. It is not full of nightclubs and rowdy people (although there are places that you can go if you like that kind of thing). I stayed in a place called Calangute just down the road from Baga (which a few people have heard of) It is a resort centre about an hour from the airport but only 400m from the beach. It has chemists, supermarkets, subway, domino's pizza, internet cafe's and all the little souvenir stalls and market stalls that you would associate with a "resort". There is also a large selection of bars and restaurants serving food from the traditional curry to chinese, mexican, english, thai and everything in between. There is a good selection of vegetarian restaurants which offer wonderful dishes and the seafood is to die for! You can have lobster, shark and prawns as long as your forearm all for under £5.
Alcohol is also very cheap and there is a large variety, the only thing of note is that wine seems to be expensive and you do not seem to get the same things as here. Otherwise whatever alcohol you like is there including alcopops such as bacardi breezer for less than 50p per bottle!
The beach is full of beach shacks that line it for miles. These are mainly run by friendly locals and have sunbeds that can be used for free. The shacks offer waiter service anf offer a reasonable selection of food and drink at very affordable prices. In most shacks you can also get a manicure or a massage. The beach is clean and great for kids although sometimes you do get beach hawkers trying to sell their wares of fresh fruit, books, sandals, clothing, jewellery or other miscellaneous items.
On some days there are markets which are great fun to go around especially as you have to haggle to get the best bargains and you can get anything from bedspreads to saxaphones. They normally have plently of places to rest and have a drink and listen to some music or just have a friendly chat.
Getting to the markets usually involves some travel but there are plenty of taxi drivers or "tuk tuk" drivers ready to take you there for a variable fee getting cheaper as you get to know them more! If you use a driver regularly you may find yourself paying half or a third the rate when you first went!
If sightseeing is your thing then there are plenty of excursions to go on but sometimes it is better to get to know the local taxi drivers who can take you there for a fraction of the tour operator price and tell you some good points as well as carrying any shopping for you!
Most of the hotels in calagute have entertainment every other night and all hotels are open to other guests for food and drink so you can just travel round other hotels to see what they have on offer. Most of them also have pools and a restaurant although they are not quite 5 star the hotel i stayed at (Ticlo Resort) was kept very clean and problems were sorted out very quickly.
All in all whether you want relaxation and sunbathing, nightclubs (which i don't know much about unfortunately) sightseeing or just eating and drinking then Goa is a fantastic place to go.
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Advantages: Sun - Marvellous Beaches & Markets-Friendly people-Relaxing Disadvantages: Bit Dusty - Third world technology - electricity goes off sometimes
WickWodderwick 29.06.2000 ·
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