Your rating of this hotel:
4.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
South GOA. Sernabatim beach. Bay Watch Hotel
(Bay Watch)
We flew with Wim Avia. At first there were doubts, but everything turned out very well. Good plane, ample space between the rows, attentive, friendly service and quite normal food on board. The return flight, however, was delayed for 3 hours, without comment. The flight was at night. We arrived very early in the morning, after dark. Quite quickly completed the customs formalities, and went to load into the bus. Yes, upon arrival there will be many people who want to help you with your luggage, decide for yourself, it’s better in advance, to drive the annoying Indians away from your luggage, or still let them earn money - they demand a slightly higher fee, they refuse a dollar bill, they demand at least 5. In my opinion, 50 steps with a cart is overkill.
The way to the hotel, with stops at others, took about 40 minutes. Cars are not allowed into the hotel itself, you have to unload at the gate and stomp 50 meters with luggage to the reception. Check-in to rooms from 13-00.
Yes, my children and I, not for the first time in GOA, before that we were in the fall of 2009, for quite a long time. Betalbatim Beach, the hotel was called Nanu Beach, so the review will be somewhat comparative. What was and how it became.
So, upon arrival, early in the morning, we filled out the registration cards - who we are, what we are, where and for how long, pulled out shorts - swimsuits from the suitcase and went to the sea. On the one hand, it’s not far from the sea, but you can’t go directly, it’s optimal to go out through the back gate and walk 150 meters along the road, then through the Komilson hotel access to the beach, there are sun loungers in the shade and a cafe with them. You order food and water and take the whole day without any problems. The beach itself is wide and clean, fine sand, very warm sea. There is a fishing boat on the shore, adding local color. It is calm in the morning, the waves are very moderate, but still noticeable, but by the afternoon, it happens, and the problem is to enter the water - it just throws it back. By the way, the autumn sea is much friendlier, there were practically no waves (except for a two-day storm, completely unrealistic for autumn, when it was impossible to talk outdoors because of the roar of the ocean). And what we and the children remember from the last trip is the ocean puddles remaining in the sand at low tide, of different depths and areas, with crustaceans, fish, various marine life, which the sun simply warmed up to a hot state. It was simply not possible to get out of them and continue on our way to the hotel for lunch. Dogs living on the beach, rare locals, and a few loafers, like us, meditated in them. Children simply crawled from puddle to puddle and completely refused to move in space in any other way. This time, to our disappointment, there were no puddles left at all. More about the hotel.
The Bay Watch Hotel is a very budget three-ruble note, with a small, simply no territory. There is only one pool, and it is not clear how they squeezed it in. There is some kind of SPA, a small sports hall. Nothing is provided for children at all - they simply do not exist.
A lot of Indians and Russians are resting, there are very few dumb and English speakers. There were very few locals in Nanu Beach, and Russian speakers were far from the majority.
The usual rooms are called "De Lux", in fact, this is absolutely nothing - frankly small, with wretched furniture, we initially said that we needed 4 beds, 2 adults, 2 children, they put us on the floor mattress and began to fool around, they say, there is no place to put the second one. In general, with a fight, they tore out a room near the “back” gate, and again with a fight, they literally forced them to bring another mattress and bedding. After such a “building up” of the room, it became very uncomfortable to move around there. From the front door to the bathroom you could walk along a narrow path. It became impossible to stand in the room - only to sit or lie on the bed, because. the chair was removed altogether, otherwise the second mattress would not fit. In general, it does not bother us, not to sit in the room for days on end. And in the evening, you can somehow get some sleep ).
Further, the so-called "back gate" is something with something, a brilliant invention of Hindu management. The territory of the hotel is locked and surrounded by a fence, the main gate is near the reception, and a small gate overlooking the road to neighboring hotels. And through them you can go to the coast. From the gate to the sea, the path is noticeably shorter. The back gate opens at 7 am and closes at 7 pm too, only in the evening. There is a post next to it, the guard unlocks and locks every time he sees his own. After 19 they won't let you out for money or smiles - a camera is installed and everything is recorded, they prefer not to take risks. Apparently, in this way they are trying to drive hotel residents to the hotel restaurant for dinner. One morning, already at 8 am, they tried not to let us out of this gate - when they saw that a taxi had come for us not from the hotel mafia, like go through the reception. However, the attempt failed and had to be opened. Yes, just about the taxi. Even on my last visit to India, it seemed to me that taxi drivers were a little crazy, and wringing out amounts that are completely unrealistic for India, we quickly realized that if we met a driver without a specific registration, somewhere in a village or city, take his phone number, and as need to call him, then the price immediately becomes sane. However, such tricks are not welcomed by "hotel" taxi drivers, as well as hotel security. And the driver may start to have serious problems if he “lights up” when you leave the hotel. Accordingly, the places of rendezvous, upon departure, were appointed somewhere at a distance from the security posts and the hotel taxi rank. You can come back with anything.
Knowing these tricks, in the very first days after walking along Kolva, we left by taxi, got into a conversation with the driver, took his phone number and then went with him. This turned out to be justified by the fact that the taxi driver was for us both instead of a guide and instead of a nanny. He bought fruits and vegetables for a normal price for us, negotiated for us on excursions, in an elephant herd, on spices, at a waterfall.
He brought us to various points we needed, waited, generally showed us his disposition in every possible way.
Of course, such attention on his part was gratefully compensated by dead American presidents - but this is not the same as stupidly paying incomprehensible amounts for moving. So, more about the hotel.
The dogs are not at all aggressive, the children periodically fed them sausages and bacon from breakfast and were listed among their best friends of animals. The entire coast is divided by them into spheres of influence, and when you walk along the sea, five watchdogs will certainly escort you to some border known only to them and, waving their tails in farewell, run back. Inhabitants of another canine territory are already reaching out to meet them with interest.
Coconut trees grow all around. Nuts fall and are freely available. You can, of course, order coconut in sheke, and for some money they will open it and serve it to you. It's not sports. With the direct participation of the Swiss knife, the opening and cutting of coconuts was put on stream, to the noticeable displeasure of local catering workers, we constantly ate and drank coconuts ourselves, and even treated others, including small children of local workers. Children arranged competitive gatherings of nuts. Razik, the locals tried to make claims about self-service, but not too confidently and everything turned into jokes and jokes .
The hotel is located quite well - in one direction about a kilometer to Colva, in the other a little closer to Benaulim. We liked Benaulim more than Colva, it’s more respectable, calm, the village is noticeably less crowded, it has something like a supermarket, you can buy something you need on the farm, there are food stores, shops with alcohol, and, of course, a lot of shops , focused on tourists and clogged with all sorts of rattle. The only inconvenience - the village is located, as it were, in the depths of the beach, go to it 700 meters along the road, well, either by tuk-tuk for 100 rupees they will be happy to take you.
We were in Colva on our last visit, and deliberately chose the hotel at a distance from large settlements, and even more so from a fishing village. Mindful of the eerie smells that sometimes wafted to the beach near Nanu Beach. In general, there are a lot of people in Colva, both locals and tourists. The locals began to cling, pester with conversations, constantly asking to be photographed together. Somewhat annoying. Trade in Colva, almost all of it, speaks Russian, some chirp fluently, prices are bent. Bargaining is essential. However, it is in Colva that they don’t especially go down - it’s not you who will buy it. On our last visit, we bought T-shirts on the beach for 100 rupees, but now, without any hesitation, they can ask for 600, reluctantly dropping to 400. already on the eve of departure, they went to stock up . . Semi-precious stones are almost everywhere, but the quality of them and products in general must be looked at and checked very carefully, they may well stick stones on bracelets-rings with poxypol, or simply with epoxy. How long such a "product" will live is not difficult to imagine.
Jewelry there, among the abundance of their own kind, seems clumsy and unattractive, but at home, upon arrival, these same jewelry produces a completely different impression, and some compatriots who do not travel often begin to frown involuntarily.
In general, relaxing in Colva itself is a big fan, you won’t catch real relaxing calm there, you won’t lie on the sand in splendid isolation.
Still very good cosmetics, toothpastes, medicines and the like. It's not so much the price - the quality. That Himalaya that is sold in our pharmacies, that cosmetics, that medicines, did not even lie close to the Indian one. True, this applies to almost any product of well-known companies manufactured in the once great and mighty 1/6 of the land. When you start comparing what you brought “from there” - no matter where: Europe, Asia, Africa, and what you bought under the same brand in Russia - it just takes evil. In the Motherland, we are no longer considered “meat” at all, and so it will go. Cheaper to make - more expensive to sell. Okay, it's all lyrics. Further.
It was noticed not only by us - the souvenir and all sorts of crafts became very clumsy, the flavor and soul were gone, mostly done in haste. Only in one place did we find sculptures of various Ganeshas, Buddhas, and so on. made very thinly and elegantly, as we remember from the last visit, but the price was simply not real. Reasonably beloved by all tourists, Old Monk rum began to be counterfeited, a decent drink can only be bought in a glass liter branded bottle, with plastic and any non-branded packaging, you can easily run into goofy moonshine. And besides, it’s not superfluous to carefully inspect the plugs, again, according to the stories of experienced ones, they can pump out the contents with a syringe and pump up what they have to.
Fruits and vegetables for the grill were stocked mainly in the shops at the entrance to Colva, a lot of things that in Russia, in principle, cannot be tasted in a normal, ripened form. Yes, in Margao they bought “Jet Fruit” or Dragon Fruit for testing, something akin to Durian. Huge and heavy cost 200 rupees. Eating it turned out to be a very difficult task, the connecting films inside stick and stick to anything possible, it was very problematic to clean the knife and hands, but the pulp itself is very tasty and nutritious. But the aromas that he spread around him somewhat did not fit with the concept of fresh sea air. For a couple of days, as we ate, we kept it in a bag, in bushes near the window, we did not open the window for ventilation. Yes, here’s another thing - you can’t bring any products into the hotel territory and store in the room, security, at the entrance, if they see fruits and vegetables in your bag, or something else, they have the right to confiscate - then they’ll really give it back for money, but strictly warn, so that more "no-no. "
When we arrived from the market with a full sports bag, they looked at us suspiciously, but they never even tried to get into it. Hee hee . . maybe because I secretly gave out 100 rupees to the guards, or maybe because we had a small boom a couple of times in response to attempts to restrict our rights and freedoms. In general, be that as it may, from the food market it is necessary to return to the hotel with a tightly closed, not transparent bag.
Several times with "our" taxi driver went on excursions
Of course, a spice plantation - the sediment was not good, the excursion with a Russian-speaking guide was reduced to a minimum, everything was running and running, then a glass of moonshine, inedible food - such as lunch included, photographs for inadequate money and on the way out.
We went to the waterfall - at this time of the year there is very little water there, the water in the lake is very warm, we quickly bought and swam and back, the road on military land-rovers for several kilometers is quite tiring. Water falls in a constant stream from 600 meters, at the top, along the rock, there is an operating railway. In autumn, the waterfall is much more spectacular and interesting. And in the spring, mangoes and cashews ripen, so the monkeys are fed. At the entrance they checked the bags and took away the bananas, the monkeys ate the nuts extremely reluctantly, the cheek pouches were stuffed to capacity.
You have to go to the waterfall very early in the morning to be among the first.
They rode children on elephants - the elephant house is very close - the price was raised insanely, the walk became short, everything was put on stream and pumping out money. Elephants look miserable and tortured.
This time we didn’t go to the old GOA - we saw a lot of things there during our previous stay. It is definitely worth a trip - the temple complexes are a must-see. We went to Panaji, the administrative capital of the state, where everything is more or less civilized, good shopping. Lots of branded stores, prices are quite loyal.
In general, the general feeling that civilization has been added has become noticeably cleaner, less garbage - in plain sight, at least ).
About connection. Immediately upon arrival, without bargaining, we bought a local GSM SIM card from the guide, as I remember, for 1000 rupees. activated. Included 1GB of Internet traffic, 30 SMS, and something, 300 rupees on the account. Almost everywhere we were, data transmission was either via 3G or H +, even on the beach you could use Skype and any other SIP dialers, broadcast videos, send photos and videos, and the Multiphone from Megafon generally allowed you to pretend that you were in your home network. By the way, on my last visit there was nothing like that, I had to pretty much run around Nanu Beach with a PDA to cling to some kind of open network via Wi-Fi, and somehow make calls via Sipnet and Comtub and send and receive mail. Skype ports appear to have been closed. Through cellular networks, only the curve and slow GPRS were available. Now progress cannot but rejoice - relatives and friends could see endless beaches online, the warm Arabian Sea, elephants, sacred cows, and so on and so forth. Despite the active use of the Internet, I burned, according to the counter in the tablet, only one third. SMS was practically not used at all. In general, enough with a margin. In extreme cases, you can always replenish the balance.
Here's something else. Next to the Comilson Hotel, a little aside there is a small Beach House hotel, it is located almost on the beach, it has a small, but very beautiful and well-groomed territory. Very good Spa, professional doctors and masseurs, it is more focused on Ayurveda, there are no Russian speakers at all in the hotel. We've got a little incident. The eldest child, a boy of 8 years old, fooling around in the breaking waves, unsuccessfully dived into the outgoing wave and quite sensitively stuck his head into the bottom. There were some suspicions of a concussion. We quickly transported him to this hotel, explained to the doctors what had happened and they worked with him for 3 hours, did massage, applications with hot stones, rubbed him and let him breathe with some kind of drugs. The results exceeded all expectations. Finally, they provided us with medicines, ordered us to show up again the next day, and gave us the coordinates of where to urgently contact if it suddenly gets worse at night. And they refused money! They tried to thank the dead presidents - categorically rejected. After my wife went to them for a massage - she was very pleased.
In conclusion, I cannot but say a few warm (without quotes) words about the host country, and the guides in particular. (Tour operator - Pantheon. Hotel guide - Ekaterina) Meeting and departure were organized at the level. You don’t often see such an unbiased, friendly attitude from the guides (we have something and with whom to compare). All our questions, not related to the sale of excursions, were answered willingly and as informatively as possible. Where to buy fresh seafood? Fruit? What sheks on the coast with a good reputation? Where are the hardware stores? What is the best way to get to Margao? To Panaji? Estimated travel prices? Where is the best place to sell jewelry and clothes? ATMs…tipping…Internet, hotel nuances, and much more. They honestly told us about the distribution of time during long-distance excursions - To Hampi, to the Tigers, to nature reserves, and honestly did not recommend that we and the children go on them. A very tiring journey. It often happens that the guides, seeing that it’s impossible to make money on you, turn on the fool and do not make contact, right there is the complete opposite - it was very pleasant and not familiar.
By the way, driving on the roads there is somewhat difficult, the speed of 50 km per hour is considered not very bad, only in some sections of highways it is possible to accelerate to 80 km per hour. Any remote move takes a very noticeable time. When planning excursions, it is necessary to take into account that you will spend most of the time on the road, and not always in comfortable conditions. Our journey to Panaji, 50 kilometers one way, seemed to us quite tedious, and not clear - in terms of travel time. And if you go to a neighboring state? In general, upon arrival in South Goa, it is better not to bother with long-distance excursions - it will be insanely sorry for the time spent on the road, and at the very destination you will spend very little and not enough of it. On our last visit, on Betalbatim beach, we rented a boat in shek, from Rosa, and sailed with her son and employee, a very friendly and sociable Burmese, for a boat trip and fishing with a sunset and a picnic on the island - it can be seen from the coast, where it is installed Lighthouse. Along the way, at sea, we met fishermen busy with their hard work, we saw dolphins in the sea. I remember that we paid 100 US dollars, and then, as a thank you, I distributed some money (not at all large) to the accompanying people, but it was from early morning until evening, the fishing from the boat was very successful, the island is beautiful , with a real jungle, coastal stones were simply teeming with crabs and all kinds of living creatures, fish swam busily in the clear water, monkeys squealed in the jungle, and supposedly lived a jaguar . On a piece of rock, in the sea, sat a large and proud sea eagle. We still remember this trip, as well as the very first visit to India.
Yes, about the beaches. Last time we spent a day on the advertised Palolem and a day on Agonda. There is absolutely nothing to do on Palolem - initially, apparently, the place was stunningly beautiful. But the tourism industry has done its job - a sea of people, the surrounding area is built up with temporary housing, some kind of booths in two or three tiers, there is a real crush on the beach, full of beggars and all sorts of wandering merchants. The sea is not very clean. And that was a few seasons ago. What is there now, even the desire did not arise to see
Agonda, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Palolem, a huge, deserted beach, with very picturesque coastal cliffs, a coast overgrown with palm trees, a clean, calm sea. But the coast also began to be built up with temporary booths for rent to tourists. Apparently now everything is going along the same path.
In general, Goa once again, rightfully, confirmed its status as an inexpensive hospitable holiday destination, quite suitable for adults and children, without special requests and requirements.
(Bay Watch)
We flew with Wim Avia. At first there were doubts, but everything turned out very well. Good plane, ample space between the rows, attentive, friendly service and quite normal food on board. The return flight, however, was delayed for 3 hours, without comment. The flight was at night. We arrived very early in the morning, after dark. Quite quickly completed the customs formalities, and went to load into the bus. Yes, upon arrival there will be many people who want to help you with your luggage, decide for yourself, it’s better in advance, to drive the annoying Indians away from your luggage, or still let them earn money - they demand a slightly higher fee, they refuse a dollar bill, they demand at least 5. In my opinion, 50 steps with a cart is overkill.
The way to the hotel, with stops at others, took about 40 minutes. Cars are not allowed into the hotel itself, you have to unload at the gate and stomp 50 meters with luggage to the reception. Check-in to rooms from 13-00.
Yes, my children and I, not for the first time in GOA, before that we were in the fall of 2009, for quite a long time. Betalbatim Beach, the hotel was called Nanu Beach, so the review will be somewhat comparative. What was and how it became.
So, upon arrival, early in the morning, we filled out the registration cards - who we are, what we are, where and for how long, pulled out shorts - swimsuits from the suitcase and went to the sea. On the one hand, it’s not far from the sea, but you can’t go directly, it’s optimal to go out through the back gate and walk 150 meters along the road, then through the Komilson hotel access to the beach, there are sun loungers in the shade and a cafe with them. You order food and water and take the whole day without any problems. The beach itself is wide and clean, fine sand, very warm sea. There is a fishing boat on the shore, adding local color. It is calm in the morning, the waves are very moderate, but still noticeable, but by the afternoon, it happens, and the problem is to enter the water - it just throws it back. By the way, the autumn sea is much friendlier, there were practically no waves (except for a two-day storm, completely unrealistic for autumn, when it was impossible to talk outdoors because of the roar of the ocean). And what we and the children remember from the last trip is the ocean puddles remaining in the sand at low tide, of different depths and areas, with crustaceans, fish, various marine life, which the sun simply warmed up to a hot state. It was simply not possible to get out of them and continue on our way to the hotel for lunch. Dogs living on the beach, rare locals, and a few loafers, like us, meditated in them. Children simply crawled from puddle to puddle and completely refused to move in space in any other way. This time, to our disappointment, there were no puddles left at all. More about the hotel.
The Bay Watch Hotel is a very budget three-ruble note, with a small, simply no territory. There is only one pool, and it is not clear how they squeezed it in. There is some kind of SPA, a small sports hall. Nothing is provided for children at all - they simply do not exist.
A lot of Indians and Russians are resting, there are very few dumb and English speakers. There were very few locals in Nanu Beach, and Russian speakers were far from the majority.
The usual rooms are called "De Lux", in fact, this is absolutely nothing - frankly small, with wretched furniture, we initially said that we needed 4 beds, 2 adults, 2 children, they put us on the floor mattress and began to fool around, they say, there is no place to put the second one. In general, with a fight, they tore out a room near the “back” gate, and again with a fight, they literally forced them to bring another mattress and bedding. After such a “building up” of the room, it became very uncomfortable to move around there. From the front door to the bathroom you could walk along a narrow path. It became impossible to stand in the room - only to sit or lie on the bed, because. the chair was removed altogether, otherwise the second mattress would not fit. In general, it does not bother us, not to sit in the room for days on end. And in the evening, you can somehow get some sleep ).
Further, the so-called "back gate" is something with something, a brilliant invention of Hindu management. The territory of the hotel is locked and surrounded by a fence, the main gate is near the reception, and a small gate overlooking the road to neighboring hotels. And through them you can go to the coast. From the gate to the sea, the path is noticeably shorter. The back gate opens at 7 am and closes at 7 pm too, only in the evening. There is a post next to it, the guard unlocks and locks every time he sees his own. After 19 they won't let you out for money or smiles - a camera is installed and everything is recorded, they prefer not to take risks. Apparently, in this way they are trying to drive hotel residents to the hotel restaurant for dinner. One morning, already at 8 am, they tried not to let us out of this gate - when they saw that a taxi had come for us not from the hotel mafia, like go through the reception. However, the attempt failed and had to be opened. Yes, just about the taxi. Even on my last visit to India, it seemed to me that taxi drivers were a little crazy, and wringing out amounts that are completely unrealistic for India, we quickly realized that if we met a driver without a specific registration, somewhere in a village or city, take his phone number, and as need to call him, then the price immediately becomes sane. However, such tricks are not welcomed by "hotel" taxi drivers, as well as hotel security. And the driver may start to have serious problems if he “lights up” when you leave the hotel. Accordingly, the places of rendezvous, upon departure, were appointed somewhere at a distance from the security posts and the hotel taxi rank. You can come back with anything.
Knowing these tricks, in the very first days after walking along Kolva, we left by taxi, got into a conversation with the driver, took his phone number and then went with him. This turned out to be justified by the fact that the taxi driver was for us both instead of a guide and instead of a nanny. He bought fruits and vegetables for a normal price for us, negotiated for us on excursions, in an elephant herd, on spices, at a waterfall.
He brought us to various points we needed, waited, generally showed us his disposition in every possible way.
Of course, such attention on his part was gratefully compensated by dead American presidents - but this is not the same as stupidly paying incomprehensible amounts for moving. So, more about the hotel.
The dogs are not at all aggressive, the children periodically fed them sausages and bacon from breakfast and were listed among their best friends of animals. The entire coast is divided by them into spheres of influence, and when you walk along the sea, five watchdogs will certainly escort you to some border known only to them and, waving their tails in farewell, run back. Inhabitants of another canine territory are already reaching out to meet them with interest.
Coconut trees grow all around. Nuts fall and are freely available. You can, of course, order coconut in sheke, and for some money they will open it and serve it to you. It's not sports. With the direct participation of the Swiss knife, the opening and cutting of coconuts was put on stream, to the noticeable displeasure of local catering workers, we constantly ate and drank coconuts ourselves, and even treated others, including small children of local workers. Children arranged competitive gatherings of nuts. Razik, the locals tried to make claims about self-service, but not too confidently and everything turned into jokes and jokes .
The hotel is located quite well - in one direction about a kilometer to Colva, in the other a little closer to Benaulim. We liked Benaulim more than Colva, it’s more respectable, calm, the village is noticeably less crowded, it has something like a supermarket, you can buy something you need on the farm, there are food stores, shops with alcohol, and, of course, a lot of shops , focused on tourists and clogged with all sorts of rattle. The only inconvenience - the village is located, as it were, in the depths of the beach, go to it 700 meters along the road, well, either by tuk-tuk for 100 rupees they will be happy to take you.
We were in Colva on our last visit, and deliberately chose the hotel at a distance from large settlements, and even more so from a fishing village. Mindful of the eerie smells that sometimes wafted to the beach near Nanu Beach. In general, there are a lot of people in Colva, both locals and tourists. The locals began to cling, pester with conversations, constantly asking to be photographed together. Somewhat annoying. Trade in Colva, almost all of it, speaks Russian, some chirp fluently, prices are bent. Bargaining is essential. However, it is in Colva that they don’t especially go down - it’s not you who will buy it. On our last visit, we bought T-shirts on the beach for 100 rupees, but now, without any hesitation, they can ask for 600, reluctantly dropping to 400. already on the eve of departure, they went to stock up . . Semi-precious stones are almost everywhere, but the quality of them and products in general must be looked at and checked very carefully, they may well stick stones on bracelets-rings with poxypol, or simply with epoxy. How long such a "product" will live is not difficult to imagine.
Jewelry there, among the abundance of their own kind, seems clumsy and unattractive, but at home, upon arrival, these same jewelry produces a completely different impression, and some compatriots who do not travel often begin to frown involuntarily.
In general, relaxing in Colva itself is a big fan, you won’t catch real relaxing calm there, you won’t lie on the sand in splendid isolation.
Still very good cosmetics, toothpastes, medicines and the like. It's not so much the price - the quality. That Himalaya that is sold in our pharmacies, that cosmetics, that medicines, did not even lie close to the Indian one. True, this applies to almost any product of well-known companies manufactured in the once great and mighty 1/6 of the land. When you start comparing what you brought “from there” - no matter where: Europe, Asia, Africa, and what you bought under the same brand in Russia - it just takes evil. In the Motherland, we are no longer considered “meat” at all, and so it will go. Cheaper to make - more expensive to sell. Okay, it's all lyrics. Further.
It was noticed not only by us - the souvenir and all sorts of crafts became very clumsy, the flavor and soul were gone, mostly done in haste. Only in one place did we find sculptures of various Ganeshas, Buddhas, and so on. made very thinly and elegantly, as we remember from the last visit, but the price was simply not real. Reasonably beloved by all tourists, Old Monk rum began to be counterfeited, a decent drink can only be bought in a glass liter branded bottle, with plastic and any non-branded packaging, you can easily run into goofy moonshine. And besides, it’s not superfluous to carefully inspect the plugs, again, according to the stories of experienced ones, they can pump out the contents with a syringe and pump up what they have to.
Fruits and vegetables for the grill were stocked mainly in the shops at the entrance to Colva, a lot of things that in Russia, in principle, cannot be tasted in a normal, ripened form. Yes, in Margao they bought “Jet Fruit” or Dragon Fruit for testing, something akin to Durian. Huge and heavy cost 200 rupees. Eating it turned out to be a very difficult task, the connecting films inside stick and stick to anything possible, it was very problematic to clean the knife and hands, but the pulp itself is very tasty and nutritious. But the aromas that he spread around him somewhat did not fit with the concept of fresh sea air. For a couple of days, as we ate, we kept it in a bag, in bushes near the window, we did not open the window for ventilation. Yes, here’s another thing - you can’t bring any products into the hotel territory and store in the room, security, at the entrance, if they see fruits and vegetables in your bag, or something else, they have the right to confiscate - then they’ll really give it back for money, but strictly warn, so that more "no-no. "
When we arrived from the market with a full sports bag, they looked at us suspiciously, but they never even tried to get into it. Hee hee . . maybe because I secretly gave out 100 rupees to the guards, or maybe because we had a small boom a couple of times in response to attempts to restrict our rights and freedoms. In general, be that as it may, from the food market it is necessary to return to the hotel with a tightly closed, not transparent bag.
Several times with "our" taxi driver went on excursions
Of course, a spice plantation - the sediment was not good, the excursion with a Russian-speaking guide was reduced to a minimum, everything was running and running, then a glass of moonshine, inedible food - such as lunch included, photographs for inadequate money and on the way out.
We went to the waterfall - at this time of the year there is very little water there, the water in the lake is very warm, we quickly bought and swam and back, the road on military land-rovers for several kilometers is quite tiring. Water falls in a constant stream from 600 meters, at the top, along the rock, there is an operating railway. In autumn, the waterfall is much more spectacular and interesting. And in the spring, mangoes and cashews ripen, so the monkeys are fed. At the entrance they checked the bags and took away the bananas, the monkeys ate the nuts extremely reluctantly, the cheek pouches were stuffed to capacity.
You have to go to the waterfall very early in the morning to be among the first.
They rode children on elephants - the elephant house is very close - the price was raised insanely, the walk became short, everything was put on stream and pumping out money. Elephants look miserable and tortured.
This time we didn’t go to the old GOA - we saw a lot of things there during our previous stay. It is definitely worth a trip - the temple complexes are a must-see. We went to Panaji, the administrative capital of the state, where everything is more or less civilized, good shopping. Lots of branded stores, prices are quite loyal.
In general, the general feeling that civilization has been added has become noticeably cleaner, less garbage - in plain sight, at least ).
About connection. Immediately upon arrival, without bargaining, we bought a local GSM SIM card from the guide, as I remember, for 1000 rupees. activated. Included 1GB of Internet traffic, 30 SMS, and something, 300 rupees on the account. Almost everywhere we were, data transmission was either via 3G or H +, even on the beach you could use Skype and any other SIP dialers, broadcast videos, send photos and videos, and the Multiphone from Megafon generally allowed you to pretend that you were in your home network. By the way, on my last visit there was nothing like that, I had to pretty much run around Nanu Beach with a PDA to cling to some kind of open network via Wi-Fi, and somehow make calls via Sipnet and Comtub and send and receive mail. Skype ports appear to have been closed. Through cellular networks, only the curve and slow GPRS were available. Now progress cannot but rejoice - relatives and friends could see endless beaches online, the warm Arabian Sea, elephants, sacred cows, and so on and so forth. Despite the active use of the Internet, I burned, according to the counter in the tablet, only one third. SMS was practically not used at all. In general, enough with a margin. In extreme cases, you can always replenish the balance.
Here's something else. Next to the Comilson Hotel, a little aside there is a small Beach House hotel, it is located almost on the beach, it has a small, but very beautiful and well-groomed territory. Very good Spa, professional doctors and masseurs, it is more focused on Ayurveda, there are no Russian speakers at all in the hotel. We've got a little incident. The eldest child, a boy of 8 years old, fooling around in the breaking waves, unsuccessfully dived into the outgoing wave and quite sensitively stuck his head into the bottom. There were some suspicions of a concussion. We quickly transported him to this hotel, explained to the doctors what had happened and they worked with him for 3 hours, did massage, applications with hot stones, rubbed him and let him breathe with some kind of drugs. The results exceeded all expectations. Finally, they provided us with medicines, ordered us to show up again the next day, and gave us the coordinates of where to urgently contact if it suddenly gets worse at night. And they refused money! They tried to thank the dead presidents - categorically rejected. After my wife went to them for a massage - she was very pleased.
In conclusion, I cannot but say a few warm (without quotes) words about the host country, and the guides in particular. (Tour operator - Pantheon. Hotel guide - Ekaterina) Meeting and departure were organized at the level. You don’t often see such an unbiased, friendly attitude from the guides (we have something and with whom to compare). All our questions, not related to the sale of excursions, were answered willingly and as informatively as possible. Where to buy fresh seafood? Fruit? What sheks on the coast with a good reputation? Where are the hardware stores? What is the best way to get to Margao? To Panaji? Estimated travel prices? Where is the best place to sell jewelry and clothes? ATMs…tipping…Internet, hotel nuances, and much more. They honestly told us about the distribution of time during long-distance excursions - To Hampi, to the Tigers, to nature reserves, and honestly did not recommend that we and the children go on them. A very tiring journey. It often happens that the guides, seeing that it’s impossible to make money on you, turn on the fool and do not make contact, right there is the complete opposite - it was very pleasant and not familiar.
By the way, driving on the roads there is somewhat difficult, the speed of 50 km per hour is considered not very bad, only in some sections of highways it is possible to accelerate to 80 km per hour. Any remote move takes a very noticeable time. When planning excursions, it is necessary to take into account that you will spend most of the time on the road, and not always in comfortable conditions. Our journey to Panaji, 50 kilometers one way, seemed to us quite tedious, and not clear - in terms of travel time. And if you go to a neighboring state? In general, upon arrival in South Goa, it is better not to bother with long-distance excursions - it will be insanely sorry for the time spent on the road, and at the very destination you will spend very little and not enough of it. On our last visit, on Betalbatim beach, we rented a boat in shek, from Rosa, and sailed with her son and employee, a very friendly and sociable Burmese, for a boat trip and fishing with a sunset and a picnic on the island - it can be seen from the coast, where it is installed Lighthouse. Along the way, at sea, we met fishermen busy with their hard work, we saw dolphins in the sea. I remember that we paid 100 US dollars, and then, as a thank you, I distributed some money (not at all large) to the accompanying people, but it was from early morning until evening, the fishing from the boat was very successful, the island is beautiful , with a real jungle, coastal stones were simply teeming with crabs and all kinds of living creatures, fish swam busily in the clear water, monkeys squealed in the jungle, and supposedly lived a jaguar . On a piece of rock, in the sea, sat a large and proud sea eagle. We still remember this trip, as well as the very first visit to India.
Yes, about the beaches. Last time we spent a day on the advertised Palolem and a day on Agonda. There is absolutely nothing to do on Palolem - initially, apparently, the place was stunningly beautiful. But the tourism industry has done its job - a sea of people, the surrounding area is built up with temporary housing, some kind of booths in two or three tiers, there is a real crush on the beach, full of beggars and all sorts of wandering merchants. The sea is not very clean. And that was a few seasons ago. What is there now, even the desire did not arise to see
Agonda, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Palolem, a huge, deserted beach, with very picturesque coastal cliffs, a coast overgrown with palm trees, a clean, calm sea. But the coast also began to be built up with temporary booths for rent to tourists. Apparently now everything is going along the same path.
In general, Goa once again, rightfully, confirmed its status as an inexpensive hospitable holiday destination, quite suitable for adults and children, without special requests and requirements.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
Comments (3)
leave a comment
Show other comments …