Goa (India)

~*GOA*~ Gorgeous Or Amazing?

Goa - the land of all natural beauty. Somewhere where you can just escape to and feel like you've left the planet. A holiday which once you embark upon will be totally unforgettable. A great luxury five star experience awaits you at the rich sandy beaches looking out at the far horizon sitting above the tranquil Indian Ocean. There was so much to do and so much to experience yet only four days to do so. This is my experience…

Well it was in the middle of February when we set off out to Goa, and unfortunately we had to catch a flight from Mumbai to Goa, and for those of you that know Mumbai will realise that traffic in London doesn't even compare to that of traffic in Mumbai. But an unpleasant experience it was catching a plane from Mumbai. It was a mini jet flight and probably held no more than two passengers and it was quite funny because it was me and my family's fault that the plane's departure time was delayed by forty minutes because we paid no attention to the loud speaker callings made out to us whilst sitting in the airport. Well anyway, flights from Mumbai were horrendous! They were some of the worst planes ever: The one I was sat on…well…where do I start? Cramped legs, and hardly any room to breath but before departure, the kind hostesses gave us a refresher towel and a mango juice drink - something I love about India is that there's so many mangos and the best time to eat them is when they are fully orange ripe. The plane got ready for take off and I am not joking; it was like experiencing "Lost" (the TV show) as the plane is about to break. The plane seriously felt as though it was going to collapse and just break down whilst half way up the sky. Terrified, the plane continued to shake from side to side, but I kept reassuring myself that the plane ride was approximately thirty five minutes long! We eventually made it to landing…only just!

Prior to this holiday, we did book a hotel and it was Kenilworth Hotel which is situated in "Utorda" of Goa. I am sure some of you have heard of this fine hotel and it is renowned for being a great 5 star hotel - The rooms are brilliant, the people are friendly, great and helpful and there are lots of things to do inside this hotel. I only remember leaving for some booked excursions that we went on. So from the airport after that dreadful flight - or should I be positive and say I could have had a worse flight; we were picked up by a little mini van. But I'm not sure what was worse - being outside in the extreme heat or being inside a vehicle. You probably know what I'm taking about - don't you just hate sitting in a car when it has been sitting in the sun for ages and it is just far too hot. Luckily the mini van had some form of cooling system - the air conditioning, but it was a shame that it didn't work that well. But I soon got used to the heat. Goa is awesome though, hardly ever rains, in fact I don't think it rains at all, but I'm not too sure considering I stayed for four days. It's just the shock of heat that is really uncomfortable. All I needed was a nice cold shower so I waited patiently in the mini van until we got to the hotel. But I was more fascinated by the stunning tropical views of all these palm trees, beaches, and not quite like the Mediterranean Sea was the Indian Ocean; however it did have a really unique aspect to it and it was simply warming and tranquil and sky blue in colour. The Mediterranean Sea is also nice but in a different way because it has that turquoise appearance.

The weather as an overall is fantastic here and is a great tourist area. Temperature can range from twenty five degrees centigrade to forty which is quite amazing. If you want a tan, here is the place to visit. I did previously mention that I lived in 5 star, however you wouldn't realise how cheap things are here compared to places in the United Kingdom. It is definitely worth coming here!

The hotel was just astounding from the outside - it was like walking into a palace or something; walking up the red carpeted stairs and being welcomed by a kind gentleman made me feel like a celebrity. As soon as we walked in there was a stunning water feature placed in the centre of the large hallway and the reception desk was located at the side with only the kindest people behind the desk. Free refreshments were served and we were told to wait in the waiting room. Being a five star hotel, it wasn't absolutely jam packed with people and neither was it too quiet but, it was just quiet enough to enjoy the atmosphere. It was time for a room choice and it was quite odd as there were two different types of rooms available - the standard rooms inside the hotel, and the outdoor large tents. I was so keen on the indoor option but I just had to check out the tents. And it didn't take me long to decide once I saw both the outdoor tents and the rooms - huge inside, but you wouldn't have though otherwise, huge bed, all of the other five star things available, but what was absolutely astounding was that the beach was less than 10 metres away. Oh yes - I chose the tents! You wouldn't believe it! I even timed it -from my tent to the beach it took approximately 9 seconds and somewhat 4 seconds if I decided to run. But throughout my vacation in Goa, it was ace! Whereas, if I had gone for a standard room, I would be stuck inside the bedroom at night, but in these tents, it gave me the opportunity to sit on the beach at dusk and watch the dazzling red sunset, as the Sun releases its passionately red glow over the verge of the horizon, lighting the sky with a touch of violet - Absolutely Gorgeous!!!

Both types of rooms were great as I had the tent and my parents had the indoor rooms - how great is that? A family holiday and parent are nowhere to be seen! Well anyway, both rooms pretty much had the same things in it which were a bed, TV with like a 100 channels with 90 or more of them being in English which was great, there was a fridge and freezer, table, chairs, and the bathroom was fantastic - a shower, table, mirror, chair, clothes rack and the usual complementary shampoo and other things were laid out.

The Kenilworth hotel is extremely welcoming to many people throughout the world and they are happy to have you there. I think what you pay for and don't realise it, when you book five star hotels, is the courtesy! The staff members are really kind, and not once did I wake up in the morning and some stranger didn't say good morning. The hotel had pretty much everything including swimming pools, massage rooms, saunas, Jacuzzis, close proximity to the beach, a bar, club, dining hall - but you could eat outside in the large garden area if you want to. Sometimes I wanted to sit in shade and other times I chose to sit and eat my dinner in the Sun - either way it works fine. The hotel even has its own gift shop as well as a few restaurants including Indian - well obviously if Goa is in India!

The Indian Ocean was simply amazing to watch especially when you wake up in the mornings at the crack of dawn, only to find that the ocean is as angry as ever, and there were numerous crashing waves but still quite peaceful in a way. It's almost like you feel connected with the ocean in some way or another or it might just be me. Well, it was time for breakfast and "oh my days"; Never have I seen so much food on a table. Soon to realise that Kenilworth offers buffet breakfasts, lunch and dinner! I thought I may warn you that you may want to lose some weight before you come to Kenilworth - that way you can put on weight whilst you're here. It was a shame that nobody told me that before I went. They sure do slap up an enormous meal including a range of fruit, full English breakfasts, a few Indian breakfast treats, omelettes, and even a small sweet desert - and all this for BREAKFAST!

Lunch is served midday and offers a great variety of vegetarian meals as well as other meals including fish, king and tiger prawns (absolutely delicious- and quite fresh as ever by the way). One night for dinner, they held a specific fish day where they had a great big stock of fresh fish which had just been caught and they would cook the fish of your choice right then and there - quite amazing.

Next morning when we woke up, we decided to go for a long walk on Utorda beach which was practically ten seconds away and the beach was tremendous. Although the sand was a little hot: However did you know that walking on hot sand is actually really therapeutic? Me neither until someone told me, and it's great for circulation too. The beach was great in the morning - you could walk on the damp sand and let the water cool your feet but as the day went on, we soon started to walk on the hot sand because in the damp sand, crabs decided to pop up out of the ground and there were loads of them - and they make you cringe because you keep thinking if there's on near your foot! We had been walking for about 3 hours on hot sand to avoid the crabs and my feet were aching like crazy until it came to a point where I couldn't bare the heat of the sand for much longer so I looked around for our hotel - uh-oh! It appeared that the beach was just massive- so huge that we got lost and almost missed our massage appointments but we just managed to make it in the nick of time.

Massage time! I can honestly say that before then, I had never had a massage in my entire life so I decided to give it a go and only for somewhat fifteen pounds which is really cheap for an hour long massage. I hear in other places of Goa, like on other beaches you can pay just fifty pence for a massage and it's just as good as a professional massage, but it was a shame we didn't find any of those masseuses. But back to the massage- well I think for all males it is a bit dodgy and makes some feel a bit awkward especially when it is another man doing it, and for that reason I probably wouldn't do it again unless it was a woman, and if you're wondering, you can leave your underwear on! On the other hand, for females, the massages were different as explained by my sister who said, that "they make you strip - totally naked and then tell you to wear something which looks like a nappy before you get started on your massage." But I was wondering, what about covering the top part of the body and she replied they don't because they need to massage those areas too! So are massages awkward for women as well? But once, they finish the massage they advise you to sit in a sauna for about half an hour which was unfair because I wanted to sit in one too!

Later that afternoon, another buffet dinner was too good to be true but soon after we went to the hotel club. Quite cool inside yet quite small but the bar people were nice and friendly. They serve great cocktail drinks and they sure do make them good. There was also a pool table in the corner where we had some of the most fun there. Not the best of clubs, I have to admit but if it means getting away from some of those other snobby guests from the hotel, then it is a great place to go. And what better way to digest your meal?

Right, I don't think I've mentioned much about the excursions you can take in Goa, but my advice is to watch the one you take! We went on a boat cruise and some parts of the trip was fairly great including things like the views but other things were just ridiculous like the entertainment - truly and utterly ridiculous but fortunately the cruise was only an hour and a half or so. The entertainment was not entertaining and the music - well - I just wouldn't call music, and the dancing just wasn't dancing - it was like the people had been forced to do it because they didn't look too enthusiastic about it. Although who would blame them? They probably do the same dance for everyone each day of the week. But none the less, the entertainment on the boat was horrendous! On the other hand, you really can't beat the astounding views of Goa. I have included some images of Goa and the hotel and other things mentioned in this review so by all means take a look a the photos.

The excursion, to the town centre of Goa is definitely a place to visit where you can find a lot of shops selling modern items as well as antique resembling the Indian culture with its fantastic embroidery and embellishment to clothing and other items. I would say that it is perfect for souvenirs. And it's one of those places, where you can ask for discount. If you go into a shop and they say no discount - it is such a lie and make sure you don't fall for it. The town is great for selling extremely cheap alcohol like most other places abroad but I highly recommend you buy some of Goa's finest red Port wine because it's fruity in character, subtle taste and absolutely gorgeous on your taste buds.

By most beaches, there's always stuff to do and this case, at Utorda beach, there were masses of things to do with the main thing being water sports. Well, if you are someone like me who can't swim, it is great because you can still participate in the activities because there is full life protection for you to wear and it is just amazing. My favourite by far was jet-skiing and if you've never done it before, then I highly recommend you do because I even persuaded my mum to have a go! Incredibly refreshing and you have the option of driving the jet-ski alone or with some professional sat in the back. I decided to go with the professional, and it turned out I made the right choice, because he showed me the controls before going and let me control it from then on. And, it was actually really funny because you're not meant to press the acceleration fully for too long as you can topple into the water- as the pro behind me kept saying, but I decided to fully press it anyway and I prefer it much more living life on the edge. It was so refreshing with lots of water and wind hitting you. I aimed for the horizon but before long, I think the jet-ski ran out of petrol. Oh dear - we're stuck. But it wasn't too long before a jet boat came to the rescue- and I got a ride on that; even better!

There's a whole lot more water sports such as a banana ride where you just climb onto a long banana boat and then get pulled by a jet boat until you eventually fall into the water. Capsizing? It's great fun; comes in my top 100 list of things to do before you die! And before you all get a bit worried, they still give you floating life jackets to wear so you're fully safe. There's also Para-sailing which you can do which is when you're in a parachute and you get dragged by a boat. I was so desperate to do it however the wind wasn't strong enough so I had to give it a miss but it looked awesome when other people were doing it on the day we arrived.

Yet again, the next morning, we attempted another walk on the beach, still hoping that we wouldn't get lost this time. Well we didn't get lost but we did come across a herd of cows walking into the ocean for a bath I suppose. So what did we decide to do? We went up close with our digital camera and the red auto-focus light went on and "OH DEAR LORD". "Bulls!!!" One was charging towards us!!! I ran, but looked back, still yelling for help, but the bull was galloping with determination through the deep Indian Waters, striving with the one motivation to kill us. "Haha", luckily the man in charge of the bulls blew some kind of whistle, stopping the bull right in its tracks and it turned. By the way, for those of you who think this is a ridiculous made up story, well I actually photographed the bull charging towards us so I will upload the photo upon request. A death defying experience but kind of fun in a way!!!

It wasn't long before we got over the fact that we almost got killed, and soon enough we were playing beach ball with the fellow neighbours at the hotel in the crimson sunset…

Our last night in Goa was almost over. It felt like we were there for ages but you wouldn't believe this was just four days in total! So it was time for a dive in the swimming pool and then a shower, dinner and bed…

I hope you have all enjoyed reading my Goa experience and you should all really try and just visit this amazing place: Absolutely gorgeous views, stunning beaches and lots of things to do as well as being the perfect place for getting a nice tan. Just make sure you don't go near any bulls, and avoid boat cruises which offer any sort of entertainment!

*mightyd*