Наш зимний отпуск Our winter vacation

We stayed at the hotel at the end of January. Upon arrival, we were quickly met and put on the bus. The hotel is about an hour away, they brought us to the hotel first, which pleased us, respectively, and they were also the first to take us back. There were no problems with the settlement either, they filled out the questionnaires and we were given the key to the room. Our room was on the first floor, and the balcony looked out onto an alley immersed in greenery. The room is standard, we didn’t take a refrigerator, a TV, we didn’t take air conditioning, we didn’t need it during this period, there is a fan in the ceiling in every room, and it wasn’t hot in the room, in the evening the air temperature was +25. Cleaning was carried out almost daily, bedding and towels were also changed, the only thing was to leave the key at the reception. We took a tour with breakfast only, a continental breakfast without frills - two toasts, butter, jam, tea or coffee. The hotel has a swimming pool, clean, tables around it, where everyone has breakfast.
Near the hotel there is a well-developed infrastructure, many souvenir shops, fruits, vegetables, scooter rental at every turn, currency exchange. About 40 meters from the hotel there is a good pizzeria Blue Tao, on the way to the beach there is an Oxford supermarket, go to the crossroads and to the right 100-150 meters. The supermarket has a good selection of everything, the prices are reasonable, the wife bought half of the souvenirs and all the Himalaya cosmetics there, very good quality. Be sure to try their rum, a bottle of 0.75l is one and a half dollars, we drank it there and took it home. Good local beer, Kingfisher, a 0.65l bottle costs a dollar in the market. Even on the way to the sea at the crossroads they sell very tasty pies with vegetables, spicy though, for 10 rupees. The normal exchange rate is $1-54rupi.
Anjuna beach is about 20 minutes walk from the hotel, but not hard. At the beginning, the beach is rocky, so we walked further, there was a normal entrance to the sea, sand, there were no terrifying waves, so you can swim safely even with children. Water 25 degrees, air during the day was +32. We dined at Janet Jones, sunbeds and umbrellas are free. On average, a normal lunch and a beer per person came out to $ 6-7. Every Wednesday a market comes to Anjuna, you can buy everything: souvenirs, spices, clothes, products made from semi-precious stones, and so on. Everything is pretty cheap, bargain.

We didn’t take excursions, we agreed with the driver near the supermarket, for $ 40 he took us to the temples of Ponda, Old Goa, there we visited the Basilica of Jesus and the museum, Panaji with a stop at St. Catherine’s Cathedral. We also went to the beaches in Vagator (100 rupees) and Baga (200 rupees), the fort in Chapor. We went by bus to Mapsu (10 rupees ticket), there is a big market for locals. The bus can be caught right outside the hotel. There is a Union pharmacy in Mapsa, where the prices for Himalaya cosmetics are slightly lower than in the Anjuna supermarket.
We really liked Goa, a peculiar flavor, we will come there more than once. A year ago we were in Sri Lanka, where, of course, nature and wildlife are richer, the open ocean, waves under 3-4 meters, the beauty is indescribable. Goa in this regard is inferior to Lanka to some extent, so whoever is going to Lanka, it is better to fly to Goa first, it seems to me that the sequence will be correct; )