India in Portuguese

03 March 2018 Travel time: with 10 February 2018 on 20 February 2018
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Goa (Northern) February 10-20, Morjim Beach, Manthan Beach Resort (formerly Manthan Yogic Village).

Departure and arrival: Russia Airlines.

We took off from Vnukovo at 11 p. m. without delay. When registering online (24 hours in advance), I chose seat 60a - this is in the last compartment of the cabin, good, not on the wing, and it seemed to me that they were a little more spacious than the front rows. For dinner - beef with mashed potatoes or fish with rice, both are delicious. Breakfast is a beef sandwich and tea/coffee.

At the Goa airport, it took a very long time (about 1.5 hours) to pass passport control. When our suitcases came out, they had already taken them off the belt and two quickies were waiting for us to “help” carry them to the bus.


Meeting: at the exit of the airport there are several counters of the Biblio Globe. It turns out that you need to find your own, correct one - it must be supplemented with the name of the meeting party. That is, the name of our counter was "Biblio Globus - Concord Exotic Voyages". We were marked at the counter and told to go to bus number 16. There are a great many buses in the parking lot, we had to work hard to find our own. Moreover, the “hospitable” representative of Concord Exotic Voyages, standing at bus number 17, answered my question “where is number 16? ” rudely stammered "how should I know. " But we still managed it, thanks to the hospitable Indian drivers. We were given a minibus for 15 people. We (11 people) waited for a couple for about an hour, but without waiting for them, we left. In these minibuses, the trunk is on the roof of the passenger compartment, and the air conditioner is located at the rear. It blows right into the back of the head and neck, so I had to turn it off all the time and open the windows (fortunately it was not very stuffy, because it was morning). 1.5 hours drive to Morjim beach.

The flight back is at 7.00, they are picked up on average at 1.45-2.20, but of course we were picked up at 1.15 (there were a lot of people), so we were at the airport at 3 a. m. and a penny. And this is with the fact that some vacationers were waiting for about 40 minutes. Queues are everywhere where possible - tickets and passports are checked at least 5 times. Before issuing a ticket (we registered online), you need to go through baggage control - it stands separately and at a distance from the counter. Having successfully passed the scanner, a new obstacle - in Goa they do not know that the whole world uses electronic tickets and insistently demanded that I print out my ticket. “Or show me on the phone”, to which I retorted that they do not have Wi-Fi because “How can I do this? ”. With grief in half (my passport was carried somewhere, they found out which flight I flew in and whether I still had boarding passes - fortunately I did) we were “found in the system” and they gave us our boarding passes (23k and 23l). We stood in line for passport control, baggage inspection, passport check before and after baggage inspection, and finally got into the waiting room. There, surprisingly (it was 4.40 in the morning), all the few shops were working - I saw in the alcohol gift shop that they accept cards, I don’t know in cafes. Sandwiches cost 200-250 rupees, tea/coffee 112 rupees. An hour before the departure of the plane, we stood in 3 more queues: for the ticket mark, for the bus, for the plane ladder (here they nevertheless decided to tear off the boarding pass, which is why the queue for the stairs was slow). Seats 23k and 23l turned out to be across the row from the toilet (it doesn’t smell very nice) - it seemed to me that there is a little less space between the seats than in row 60 (perhaps another plane). In the middle of row 23 (seats D, E, F, G) - more legroom. For breakfast there was chicken and rice and fish and chips (terribly tasteless fish - it stinks of mud), undercooked potatoes and peppered peas with carrots). There were 2 buns (white and dark), butter and a tiramisu type cake (delicious). An hour before landing, they gave toast with chicken and tea / coffee.


Hotel. We arrived at the hotel at 12 noon. We were seated immediately. All the main rooms are on the ground floor, on the second floor there are only 2 rooms - a large one (like a suite) and a standard one - that's what we got. Presumably, these two rooms were completed in pursuit of profit. The walls are thin (no sound insulation), an adjacent door to the next room, a crack on the wall, through which you can see the street. The room has no frills: poor furnishings (it looks nicer and newer on the site photo), there are 2 large towels (there are no small ones), a large flat-screen TV (! ), a kettle, a refrigerator, a fan, an air conditioner. It's all! Missing: a curtain in the shower, a safe in the room (did not ask at the reception), glasses, hangers in the closet. Water (a small bottle per person) was brought every day, a set of mini shampoo / gel + body lotion + soap was replenished as they were used. I really liked the lotion, and the gel is also good.

Since the room is a corner one, we put a rope on the balcony to dry our swimwear. On the first floor, everything is dried on the railing (wide, stone) and on chairs.

There is an unpleasant, musty sewer smell in the bathroom.

It's hot at night, because the air conditioner does not have time to cool the room, plus it works in some kind of economy mode, constantly turning off and on on its own.

Note: The door to the balcony closes automatically and cannot be opened from the outside.

The hot water switch is located next to the bathroom light switch - you need to make sure that it is turned on when you take a shower, otherwise the hot water will run out just when you wash your hair)))

The pool has a shower and a faucet to wash the sand off your feet (we noticed on the last day).

Breakfast at the hotel from 8 to 9.30. Sweet milk oatmeal porridge (delicious), boiled egg / Omelet with vegetables (delicious) / pancakes with condensed milk (on Saturday / Sunday), once (on our last day) we made rice with peanuts, toasts (butter and jam to them), tea, coffee, milk, fruit salad.

Crows (aka jackdaws) steal everything from the tables, from keys to toast. There are also a lot of crows / jackdaws on the beach.

Beaches, sea: our hotel is located on Morjim Beach (southern part), at the end of a dead end street, after our hotel only hotels M5 Village Resort and Samira Beach Resort. To the sea 3-5 minutes walk from the hotel through the path and fishing boats.

On the first day it was cloudy, in the evening it was windy, cool, it was cold to swim. The second day - sunny, but windy, in the afternoon they set up yellow and red flags, there were waves. Third day - cloudy, light breeze. We went in the direction of Arambol, within 40 minutes we only reached Mandrem. Settled on Ashvem. On the second part of Morjim and on Ashvem there was a red flag, on Mandrem - yellow. It is very windy even at 15h not hot because of the wind.


When we returned to our beach there were 9 kites. It was the only day with so much wind and kites.

From the third day the weather was fine, the sea was calm, the sun was hot. True, the breeze and waves in the face, especially after lunch (often a yellow flag was set up after lunch).

All sunbeds have mattresses, and only some mattresses also have towels. There are few such sheks (Big banana, for example, has fairly clean and pretty towels).

Dogs: for every NIS (beach cafe) at least 2 dogs. Once a dog came to our beach, so we had the opportunity to get to know everyone by name))) about 20 dogs from all sheks claimed their rights to our beach. The dogs are neutral, they only bark at beggars and “foreign” merchants, the rest of the time they peacefully lie under sunbeds in the shade.

There are no cows on the beach at all, there is practically no garbage, only the one left by the tourists themselves.

Food: Indian cuisine is hot sauces (with meat or vegan) and rice. Of all the sauces (masala, curry, xanthuki, kodai, etc. ), masala is the mildest and, in my opinion, the most delicious. In any case, during the 10 days of our stay, we ate more than one serving of masala with shrimp, chicken, fish, and cheese. Chicken kodai is delicious too. I did not appreciate the curry (too much chili for me). Flatbread (naan) with cheese and garlic is very common and tasty. Cheese (paneer) in batter - very tasty. There are many other delicious dishes.


From the shek (beach cafe) we liked the most: “Big banana” (for example, a check for 1200 rubles: masala fish, Momu with shrimp, naan garlic cheese, a glass of port wine, 2 oranges juice, 2 ice creams). "Goan cafe" - the last one along the beach, it belongs to the Goan Resort hotel, the staff is in pink shirts. "Circo" - next to the Goan cafe. “Taste of India” (for example, a check for 850 rubles: chicken skewers, fried rice with shrimp, 2 masala chai, garlic naan) - I was not impressed: the food is basically delicious, but the guys are somehow unfriendly or something, and more music in their cafe is a disaster: at first it was just chatter in Russian, then they turned on a song about the ass - I had to ask them to put something else on. All these cafes are located on the beach.

In the city (on the central square, for example) cafe prices are much cheaper (1.5-2 times). "Goan kitchen" - almost on the square itself (for example, a check for 1000 rupees: king prawns (450 rupees), masala shrimp, naan, battered cheese (paneer padok) and a large bottle of kingfisher strong).

“Chinese bowl” (Chinese) - not far from the square, next to a confectionery and a tea house - no frills and entourage, but also one of the cheapest and good ones. “Tibet cafe” - from “our” intersection towards the pharmacy (opposite from the square), not far from the Silver Star Hotel) is a cute cafe with friendly staff, many people like it the most - it is always crowded there.

Excursion We took a tour "the whole of Goa in 1 day" from the tour operator for $ 55 (there is a truncated version for $ 35, the guide is a Russian-speaking Indian (who does not give very much information during the tour) , spices in the Botan. garden (not on the plantation), lunch - rice with vegetables (not a buffet of Indian dishes), more people on the jeep).


Massage: for some reason I decided that everything is good here with Ayurveda (well, since yogis and vegans are everywhere). But in our village there were almost no massage parlors (on the beach, of course, every vendor is ready to massage your legs, but that's not what I'm looking for). To those 3 nearest salons that I found (2 Mantra and 1 Sonam) walk 15-20 minutes. In the nearest “Mantra” to us, the shirodara massage was bad for me (the oil was too hot, from the massage as such there was only timid stroking of the forehead with the fingers, the head lies on a piece of wood for an hour without any softening “pads” - for me it’s right torture, after the massage, they wiped my hair from the oil with a dry terry towel - this was the 2nd part of the torture, the sweet girl obviously tried to scalp me - I only had hair because she did not have the strength to tear it all out. disappeared in the middle of this torture-2). After 2 days I decided to try #2 in the far salon Mantra. There, a big man gave me reflexology. He kneaded his legs, pressed hard and painfully (bruises, however, did not appear) - unpleasant sensations. The next day, I decided to repeat Shirodar from him. They did better than the first time - they tried very hard. But I never got full pleasure - apparently the mood was no longer the same. I concluded for myself: they do not know how to do massages and they only know about Ayurveda that you can earn money on it.

Souvenirs. 1) Alcohol: Old Monk Rum: 350ml Rs 90.750ml Rs 175. There is no difference in glass (pot-bellied, pretty bottle) or plastic (flat, easy-to-carry bottle). Port wine Napoleon #7:750 ml 100 rupees tolerable. There is local wine, for example, white Sula, but I don’t know the price and quality.

3) Medicines and chyawanprash. In the pharmacy on the main street, there are queues, people are buying drugs in lists and packs. I don’t know the prices, but I hope the quality is worth it.

4) Cosmetics. Very common and good: Hymalaya, Khadi, Biotique. In Moscow and other large cities of Russia, there is more than one store with goods from India, where you can find all these cosmetics at more or less the same prices.

5) Tea. There is a Pekoe Tee Tea House on Morjim Square, it sells tea from the most famous Indian provinces: Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Assam. Tea is expensive but good. You can buy it in supermarkets and souvenir shops, but there are mostly cheap pressed or powdered assam.

6) Fruits. In February, in Goa (more precisely, in Morjim) they sell passion fruit (1 kg 280 rupees or 20 rupees per piece); "Chika" (a small earth-colored fruit, similar to potatoes, with the taste of persimmon-pears; pineapples; watermelons; papaya. There are also imported guava; dragon's eye; mango (1 kg 180 rupees), February is not the season for these fruits, because they are brought from other countries and states of India. All this can be taken home in a plastic basket.

7) Toothpaste. We took Dabur brand Red pasta. (25.9 rupees). It is with cloves, pepper and mint. Vigorous! I'm waiting for the results.

Miscellaneous. Mosquitoes: there are no mosquitoes in the room (not visible), there are a lot of them on the street and they mercilessly eat you (during the second shirodara, I had to fight off both mosquitoes and flies).

All items (well, almost all) have a printed price - this is very convenient if you don't want to constantly ask how much it costs.


Sun cream sold in supermarkets. SPF50 (Nivea or Caribbean) 200 ml - Rs 550.

I bought myself a locally produced SPF60 in a tube for 200 rupees. The cream characteristically smells like ink, but it protects well (the face did not burn after it, but the hands still fried - apparently the cream was washed off).

I made myself a henna design on my arm. A girl in the nearest shop from Bora Bora towards the main road makes for 150-300 rupees (depending on size). I bought paints (red and black) from her for 150 rupees.

It turned out that in a pharmacy not far from the exchanger, the paint costs 25 rupees.

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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Пляж Морджим
Кафе
 Пляж Морджим
 Пляж Морджим
Территория отеля Manthan Beach Resort
Вид на номера 2 этажа
Балконы номеров 2 этажа
Зал для занятий йоги.
Зал для занятий йоги.
Лестница на 2 этаж.
Коридорчик ко второму номеру на 2 этаже.
вход в номер на 2 этаже.
Коридор до номера и
вид на
вид на
Вид на территорию отеля
Вид на территорию отеля
Вид на территорию отеля
Рыба масала и лепешка с сыром и чесноком.
Пляж Морджим в облачный день.
Фрукты в феврале (манго, маракуйя, гуава, драконий глаз).
Красивый закат.
нашествие красных крабиков и их битва за норки.
Сыр масала и кокосовое молоко.
Красивый закат
Море Морджим в 13 часов. Вид с лежака.
Море Морджим в 13 часов. Вид с лежака
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