Goa Twenty Years On
So my time in Mumbai came to an end all too soon. I was so well looked after at the Taj, I fear it may have spoiled me for the hotels to come on this trip. The concierge and travel desks were wonderful, confirming my flight, checking me in and printing my boarding pass, all at no charge. Then they rang the cab driver I’d found outside the hotel to come and collect me for the airport and escorted me to his taxi. Just wonderful.
My cabbie was the same guy who’d taken me on my market tour the day before and he carried on being a tour guide as he pointed out the important buildings and the miles and miles of slums that line the roadside. He showed me the one where they filmed Slumdog Millionaire, though I suspect that could have been any of them to be honest!
I was similarly blessed with good people at the Kingfisher check in desk. Their website is full of warnings about one piece of hand luggage and a case weighing no more than 20kg. Any excess would be charged at £20 per kilo the website said. I had two pieces of hand luggage and my case was a shocking 24kg, I had my wallet out ready to pay but the lovely lady at the desk just smiled at me and put the tag on my case.
Security was easy enough, though the man was very interested in my selection of books. Obviously I’ve brought Shantaram with me, and he assured me I would love it. As I started reading it, he was right, I do!
At Goa Airport, again things ran very smoothly, and before long I was waiting on the kerb for my driver. I’d booked a pick up with the hotel, just makes things easier. This one however, decided he would increase his income by taking another passenger, despite me booking him for myself and paying over the odds for it.
What pissed me off was that nobody asked me if I minded, and when I asked who he was I was told three different stories, none of them true. It was a taste of things to come unfortunately.
When I arrived at the hotel - the journey took longer than it should cos of dropping off matey boy - it was a bit of a shambles to be honest, but after all this was costing about the same for 12 days as the Taj cost for two (more or less) so I couldn’t expect the earth!
I went to my room, which was actually an apartment overlooking the pool, complete with living room that I don’t need and have yet to use, unpacked and got changed. Then I went down to reception to get a map and check my emails.
This was the cue for hassle number two. No wifi. Even though their website advertises and makes a big deal about the fact that they’re wifi enabled, they’re not. Well, they said they weren’t but all around me in the lobby were men using iPads, laptops and assorted smart phones all surfing the web. I asked how they managed to all get online and was told that they were from NASA and had brought their own wifi with them! Wtf????? Now regular readers will know I am not the most technical of women, but even I know that you can’t bring your own wifi and these guys weren’t fucking astronauts!
What it was, was a geeks convention, and I eventually found out they’d spent a fortune for exclusive access to the wifi. Somehow the network was restricted. I calmly informed the manager that it was for the best that I moved to another hotel, one that delivered on it's promises, and a full refund was required. A lesson I've finally learned over the past few years is that shouting and bluster gets you nowhere, but calm, measured even respectful tones get you everywhere!
Well what do you know? Suddenly solutions were being found. A dongle was produced which didn’t work, then suddenly it turned out the NASA boys would let me use their 'personal' wifi but I'd have to pay the hotel 500 rupees a day for it. Another request for a full refund was made and before I knew it I was being told I could use it for free.
Turns out Goa isn’t very internet friendly, compared with SE Asia where even the most remote beach hut can connect with the world, Goa is a bit shit. I’ve been here a couple of days and have yet to see a single cafe offering wifi! So they weren’t bullshitting about that part, but they did lie about everything else and that was what pissed me off.
You may notice I am not naming them yet, I will, once I’ve checked out but I have to stay here a few more nights and don’t want them evicting me! Let's just say it shares a name and a customer service ethic with a hotel I've stayed in many times in Leicester!
Other than that, this part of Goa - Calangute - has been massively developed in the 20 years since I was last here and not for the better it must be said. The beach is just simply not nice, rammed as it is with massive beach shacks, not the little quaint ones that were dotted along the beach all that time ago, and if you manage to dodge them you’ll be swamped by hawkers selling everything under the sun.
Consequently I’m choosing to spend my sun-worshipping time by the hotel pool, so far there’s only been a couple of us there which is ideal, I’ve not had to share the pool with a single other person yet!
For all my whinging I have to say that I absolutely love the people I’ve met so far (apart from the lying c**ts obviously) the hotel staff are lovely and I’ve had a laugh with a couple of waiters in the restaurants I’ve visited.
The food here is divine, I guess one benefit of a busy resort is that everyone has to try harder to serve good fresh food. I had the most delicious swordfish with veggies for my dinner yesterday!
I’ve resisted the urge to buy anything tie-dye, and believe me there’s plenty of it about! Tonight I visited the Saturday Night Market in Ampora, which is huge! Of the hundreds of stalls there I’d say half was flogging the generic hippy shit that you’ve seen every gap year kid wearing for the last 20 years! What was most entertaining though was the look in the eyes of the long-termers here. Some people really do need to head home.
Apparently dreads on a white guy (or girl) is still a hot look, and most of them have that Kerry Katona totally insane wide-eyed look going on! They’re all overly tattooed, pierced to buggery, wearing bits of fabric and leather that make them all look like extras from Mad Max - there’s a real post-apocalypse vibe going on here that hasn’t changed since the last time I visited, it’s just expanded!
I’m loving the experience of being here, if only because it’s helping me tick off the places I wouldn’t wanna spend the rest of my life! The sun feels bloody lovely though.
My cabbie was the same guy who’d taken me on my market tour the day before and he carried on being a tour guide as he pointed out the important buildings and the miles and miles of slums that line the roadside. He showed me the one where they filmed Slumdog Millionaire, though I suspect that could have been any of them to be honest!
I was similarly blessed with good people at the Kingfisher check in desk. Their website is full of warnings about one piece of hand luggage and a case weighing no more than 20kg. Any excess would be charged at £20 per kilo the website said. I had two pieces of hand luggage and my case was a shocking 24kg, I had my wallet out ready to pay but the lovely lady at the desk just smiled at me and put the tag on my case.
Security was easy enough, though the man was very interested in my selection of books. Obviously I’ve brought Shantaram with me, and he assured me I would love it. As I started reading it, he was right, I do!
At Goa Airport, again things ran very smoothly, and before long I was waiting on the kerb for my driver. I’d booked a pick up with the hotel, just makes things easier. This one however, decided he would increase his income by taking another passenger, despite me booking him for myself and paying over the odds for it.
What pissed me off was that nobody asked me if I minded, and when I asked who he was I was told three different stories, none of them true. It was a taste of things to come unfortunately.
When I arrived at the hotel - the journey took longer than it should cos of dropping off matey boy - it was a bit of a shambles to be honest, but after all this was costing about the same for 12 days as the Taj cost for two (more or less) so I couldn’t expect the earth!
I went to my room, which was actually an apartment overlooking the pool, complete with living room that I don’t need and have yet to use, unpacked and got changed. Then I went down to reception to get a map and check my emails.
This was the cue for hassle number two. No wifi. Even though their website advertises and makes a big deal about the fact that they’re wifi enabled, they’re not. Well, they said they weren’t but all around me in the lobby were men using iPads, laptops and assorted smart phones all surfing the web. I asked how they managed to all get online and was told that they were from NASA and had brought their own wifi with them! Wtf????? Now regular readers will know I am not the most technical of women, but even I know that you can’t bring your own wifi and these guys weren’t fucking astronauts!
What it was, was a geeks convention, and I eventually found out they’d spent a fortune for exclusive access to the wifi. Somehow the network was restricted. I calmly informed the manager that it was for the best that I moved to another hotel, one that delivered on it's promises, and a full refund was required. A lesson I've finally learned over the past few years is that shouting and bluster gets you nowhere, but calm, measured even respectful tones get you everywhere!
Well what do you know? Suddenly solutions were being found. A dongle was produced which didn’t work, then suddenly it turned out the NASA boys would let me use their 'personal' wifi but I'd have to pay the hotel 500 rupees a day for it. Another request for a full refund was made and before I knew it I was being told I could use it for free.
Turns out Goa isn’t very internet friendly, compared with SE Asia where even the most remote beach hut can connect with the world, Goa is a bit shit. I’ve been here a couple of days and have yet to see a single cafe offering wifi! So they weren’t bullshitting about that part, but they did lie about everything else and that was what pissed me off.
You may notice I am not naming them yet, I will, once I’ve checked out but I have to stay here a few more nights and don’t want them evicting me! Let's just say it shares a name and a customer service ethic with a hotel I've stayed in many times in Leicester!
Other than that, this part of Goa - Calangute - has been massively developed in the 20 years since I was last here and not for the better it must be said. The beach is just simply not nice, rammed as it is with massive beach shacks, not the little quaint ones that were dotted along the beach all that time ago, and if you manage to dodge them you’ll be swamped by hawkers selling everything under the sun.
Consequently I’m choosing to spend my sun-worshipping time by the hotel pool, so far there’s only been a couple of us there which is ideal, I’ve not had to share the pool with a single other person yet!
For all my whinging I have to say that I absolutely love the people I’ve met so far (apart from the lying c**ts obviously) the hotel staff are lovely and I’ve had a laugh with a couple of waiters in the restaurants I’ve visited.
The food here is divine, I guess one benefit of a busy resort is that everyone has to try harder to serve good fresh food. I had the most delicious swordfish with veggies for my dinner yesterday!
I’ve resisted the urge to buy anything tie-dye, and believe me there’s plenty of it about! Tonight I visited the Saturday Night Market in Ampora, which is huge! Of the hundreds of stalls there I’d say half was flogging the generic hippy shit that you’ve seen every gap year kid wearing for the last 20 years! What was most entertaining though was the look in the eyes of the long-termers here. Some people really do need to head home.
Apparently dreads on a white guy (or girl) is still a hot look, and most of them have that Kerry Katona totally insane wide-eyed look going on! They’re all overly tattooed, pierced to buggery, wearing bits of fabric and leather that make them all look like extras from Mad Max - there’s a real post-apocalypse vibe going on here that hasn’t changed since the last time I visited, it’s just expanded!
I’m loving the experience of being here, if only because it’s helping me tick off the places I wouldn’t wanna spend the rest of my life! The sun feels bloody lovely though.
Labels: Travel
posted by JoJo Smith at Sunday, January 23, 2011
2 Comments:
Sounds like 'an experience' as VJ would say, and he's a C*nt too, so he should know. I hate all that fobbing off that people do, it is such a waste of everyone's time and resources.At least it sounds interesting and colourful, I'll bet you are doing something really interesting while I am settling for Dancing on Ice...*sighs*.
As for those worn out beach hoggers, with their drug psychosis, I'm certain you can handle those saddos with one sharp telling.
I wanted to pic your brain about your ipad before you left, but didn't realise you were off so soon (last week)...still if we are about at the same time, would be great...DM me when you see me tweeting....and you have spare five mins.
Smooches sweety...Keep safe and blogging....
Laters
Eeeh the post-apocalyptic hippies don't even see me, as a social anthroplogist I find every sub-species fascinating! I love trying to work out their back stories.
What did you wanna know about the iPad? It's handy when you don't wanna lug a laptop about but the onscreen keyboard is a bit rubbish if you're doing a lot of writing. I didn't bother bringing mine out here with me.
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