Last report from indi

Final report from guest blogger Helen Cooper

Well, I'm writing this from a Qatar Airways Airbus A380-800 waiting for lift off at Doha Airport in Qatar. There are two decks on the aircraft and a member of the Qatari royal family is on the upper level. We saw him board the plane, ahead of everyone else, with a team of bodyguards surrounding him. The plane is new, clean and comfortable and it looks like we're in for a good flight experience after an uneventful hop from Goa.

Our last few days in Goa saw us on board the small blue and white boat that is hired by Mr Kamat, who took us up the Zuari River in the early morning. We do this trip most years and it's a very relaxing way to spend three hours. The Zuari has mangroves on the river banks and it is home to crocs, fish, bats, birds and many other species of wildlife. To date it remains unspoiled but from time to time there are plans put forward to build a yacht marina, a new bridge and a large fishing port. Mr Kamat believe these proposals would damage the fragile eco system that currently exists.

We paid one final visit to the wonderful market at nearby Mapusa for last minute shopping and to soak up the atmosphere. Friday is the main market day in Mapusa and the open spaces and alleyways are crowded with vendors from all over Goa. Stall holders call out loudly hoping to sell their products to the passing shoppers. The fresh fruit and vegetables stalls pile their goods high and orderly in a wonderfully colourful display. Fruits sellers in one area and vegetables in another.  One large covered hall houses baskets full of flowers, loose or strung together, to take to the temple and hang on a shrine. A smaller covered area sells hot fresh baked bread rolls of various shapes and sizes. Fish, meat, rice, chillies, & spices, sit alongside small shops selling plug in electrical goods, towels and bedding, opticians, cafes, watch sales and repairs, goldsmiths, metal goods, plastic ware, lighting spares, stationary, luggage, cobblers, tailors and a hundred and one sari and clothing shops. Everything can be found in Mapusa, and if one stall holder doesn't have what you require then his friend is sure to have it.

Sunday was packing day........always a worrying time. Will the zips close on the suitcase? Only just.  Then at 17.30 Umesh, the housekeeper from the Marinha Dourada Hotel (where we used to stay) arrived, along with his wife and child. Cookery lessons commenced and we were taught how to make coconut and cashew masala. Afterwards we served up the tasty mixture in bowls and complimented each other on the delicious flavours.

And that's it for this trip, so it's over and out from Wi Fi in the sky compliments of Qatar Airways.

Helen

Defence and dealing

Some folk we met yesterday invited us for lunch today and organised Bridge with their neighbours. 

Defense Colony was land originally set aside for Military folk so that they could build houses. The area is well set out with leafy avenues and detached homes.  A greedy developer is trying to cut down some nearby jungle to build apartments but is being challenged under some Green Legislation. 

 Our friends provided us with a delicious lunch of prawn and cauliflower curry, chicken patties, bean masala, kingfish steak, bhindi, chappati, curd and rice. Then a huge rich chocolate fudge cake! My goodness! No room left....but thank you very much!

Then we were driven round to the house of an Air Marshall (retired)  for rubber bridge. These men play up to five times a week for one rupee per point. They don't make much money but the competition is fierce!

They play five card majors, 16-18 no trump, one club with one diamond denying 8 points, 4 clubs is ace asking. 

A good afternoon was spent in the cool air under a ceiling fan.

Tomorrow they are coming to play at our apartment. 

Mariaelena and Hotel Palindrone

We were invited to our landlady's lovely house for lunch today but arrived a bit late due to getting lost.  We met Vijay and Cheryll, their ex military friends.

Kamal had prepared a delicious lunch of prawn curry, ladies fingers, rice, chicken and cheese, lasagna, curd and naan.  During the meal I was inquiring about bridge and Cheryll mentioned neighbors who play. A quick phone call and it was arranged for tomorrow.

We revisited the Art Chamber with Philip and Carol, to hear talented Mariaelena Fernandes, Indian origin Austrian, play classical and improvised piano with a talented Austrian folk heritage group playing as many as 20 different instruments. The unlikely combination made our feet tap and our ears tingle with delight for almost two hours! 

The Art Chamber is one of the places to see and be seen in North Goa. There's a whole mix of Goans, English, German, Austrian, French and Bombayites some dressed to the nines and others in shorts.  We look forward to attending more concerts next year.

Premature evacuation!

What can this mean?

We were waiting for the bus when a grumpy taxi driver stopped to ask us if we wanted to use his taxi. His question was 

"How much do you want to pay me?"

That's a turnaround because normally we first ask, before we get in "how much is it?"

We bargained a but and he sourly agreed to 200 rupees. We climbed in delighted to be out of the hot sun.  After half a mile we spotted some twenty year old girls flagging our driver down despite the taxi being engaged.

They asked him to take them to Panjim for 400 rupees because they had to catch a bus to the airport urgently. 

That was it for us! We were turfed out to wait for the bus.."no charge madam"!  What a cheek! But what fun! We laughed and laughed as we waited for a bus that cost us 30rs! 

Now we understand the meaning of a phrase we have often seen 

The Company reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice. 

If you are expecting a post card it's in this letter box.

Waiter waiter there's water in my crab!

Several days ago we were accosted by a charming waiter to come and eat later that evening. He showed us a very large crab and it looked so tempting that we decided to come back. It cost about £20 for the two of us. Helen ordered Italian style with no sauce.

 It arrived with shell already split and claws broken for us. However when we looked inside there was hardly any meat but a lot of water. 

We didn't eat it and informed the waiter it was inedible.  Watery crab is something Helen had heard of. Apparently it happens around the time the crab moults. Fishermen told us it happens around the time of the full moon. The waiter blamed the cook. The owner blamed the waiter.  All theories are welcome. 

We were brought red snapper instead and we refused to pay even £6 for the crab we couldn't eat. We DID pay for the snapper but think it was more than the price on the menu.

Next day we met the waiter. He told us that as he had sold us the crab and we didn't pay for it then HE had to pay for it. So he paid £5 out of his own wages.  But never mind...this is how he got his money back.  They sold the crab we rejected to other customers as crab curry!  And not only that ... 

...As the season is so poor and they had run out of Jumbo prawns...how to sell something as a jumbo prawn? Take one jumbo and place the head in front of a smaller tiger prawn's body..  Ha ha! The customer is fooled.  

Good advice would be to always order Italian style because they can't hide the meat under a thick sauce! 

The episode shows the precarious nature of employment here doesn't it?

Post script

Today we met a fisherman who told us you can tell a watery crab by pressing on the underside. A good crab, which is firm, costs 800 rupees at the market whereas a watery crab costs 100 rupees.

Obviously our restaurant had purchased a cheap crab and used it to attract customers even though they knew it was a poor one. They can disguise the lack of meat in a masala sauce. 

Breakfast on the beach

Porridge, banana and soft roll for breakfast on the beach.

Different

I've spent most of the day on Patnem Beach. People here are younger and fitter. There are two slim beauties twisting hula hoops around their bodies in the sunset. A group of young men is playing beach volleyball. As there are no beach vendors it is easy to stride along the beach without hassle.  A man walks along the beach playing his guitar. Two twenty year olds march along with heavy rucksacks. 

It's very quiet and low key. Music from the beach restaurant is relaxing and doesn't compete with others. 

Yoga and Ayurvedic massages are on offer. ....mmmm.

Patnem beach

House Hunting

By guest travel writer Helen...

On Wednesday we set off to walk along Palolem beach in search of new lodgings for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The first place we called at had space but the lodge didn't inspire us, so we moved on in search of bigger and better.

Over a rickety wooden bridge, up some steps and along the coastline past deserted beaches, fishing villages, we eventually arrived at Patnem beach. Here we found accommodation for the weekend that met our high standards. We ate lunch and negotiated a satisfactory price for the three nights. It is possible to live here, in a beach shack, for about £5 each per night, but we require a slightly higher level of comfort than the average gap year traveller.

Earlier in the day we had booked a table for a feast of fresh crab on the beach that evening, with live music from the sixties era, performed by an aged greying, long haired, German.

The very expensive large crab was watery and we both complained and refused to eat it, so the restaurant cooked and served us red snapper, which was tasty. We were to learn later that crabs are watery when there is a full moon and should not be caught or eaten until at least five days before and after.

Fish photo....

Early on Thursday  morning, before sunrise, we took a wooden fishing boat out into the bay to spot Dolphins. However, they were a little too distant and didn't ride the bow wave of the fishing boat.   The sea eagles here were bountiful and spectacular. They perched for a photo shoot on the giant smooth rocks that rise from the sea, just off shore. In the short stretch of coastline between Palolem and Agonda we saw at least nine eagles. 

Dhudsagar Falls

On Sunday 8th February George, a taxi driver, took us for a walk in the forest to the very top of these falls. We drove from OffTheGrid along forest tracks in his 4x4 Mahindra. After about 60 minutes we emerged and started hiking downhill. We waded across a river and continued till we came to a small waterfall with a pool below it. No, this wasn't the end of the trek... We continued alongside the river clambering over enormous boulders. After about two hours we could see a distant view across the hills. Creeping along to the edge we saw a train moving slowly up the hill from Goa. 58 goods bogies needed two engines in front and two pushing from behind. Tourists far below were admiring the waterfall. Up on the top Some  rock pools were large enough for a chilly dip. 

Sylvia had organised a picnic for the six of us which was eaten with relish. George was most helpful, in his flip flops, leaping agilely over the rocks and lending a supporting hand where needed. 

Our six hour adventure was made complete by a dip in the rock pool beside OffTheGrid. An added bonus is a free, foot pedicure by small fish living in the water! 

On Monday we were pleased to get a train from Castle Rock to Margao.

I thought you'd like to see this poster pinned to the wall of the station. 

Although we purchased a 50 rupee Standard Class ticket we ended up in 3 AC sitting beside a group of educated young folk from Hyderabad. One of the girls works for Amazon as a software engineer and the others worked at call centres. They were on their way for a five day holiday in Goa. 

The ticket inspector studied our cheap tickets and compared the price we had paid with the correct price in his book. We ended up paying IR530 each but it was worth it to sit in cool air and relative comfort. 

At Margao  we caught a bus and TukTuk to Palolem where we have flopped down exhausted after 6 hours of traveling.

High in the Western Ghats 6-9th February

I can't describe sufficiently the wonderful paradise we are living in. On the eastern side of the Ghats with evergreen forest and ridges  all round us.  The trees descend the steep slopes to the hill streams and a waterfall. The small farm called OffTheGrid is beside rice paddies and a few banana palms. Wood smoke from the open kitchen floats on the air. 

Our room is open on three sides with roman blinds for privacy. At the moment all these blinds are raised and a cooling breeze wafts over the bed in lieu of a fan. Having no electricity Sylvia and John use solar powered batteries to charge night lights. 

There is a house with two guest rooms upstairs overlooking the paddy and the forest. 

In the grounds are 2 cabins and a tepee. The dining area is shaded from the hot sun by a large sheet. In the evening chill we  sit by a wood fire in the garden to chat and gaze at the stars. Apart from a single farmer nearby there is no light or noise pollution. 

  

Vernal hanging parrots (India's only true parrot) seem to be in abundance. White breasted waterhen, Oriental white-eye, ashy drongos, pin tailed snipe, green bee eaters and sunbirds abound. In the dawn the Malabar whistling thrush sings his tune meandering up and down the scale. You could be convinced that it's a local farmer whistling on his way to work. You might also hear the cackle of a laughing thrush early in the morning along with the whoop of monkeys.

Today we walked up through the forest to a plateau on top. At one point a large savannah grass area is reminiscent of kenya. Tigers and wild Gaur have been seen here.  I never have seen this beautiful and unspoiled India. If you are considering coming to India you will love this remote farm.  

Ten out of ten!! 

Up in the hills at Backwoods

The minibus collected us at 5:10 am. Two more boarded round the corner at Marinha Dourada and another two at Ponda. 

Leio also climbed on board to be our guide for the next few days.

He also has a website www.indiannaturetours.com and organises trips to the north and Gujurat. 

There seems to be fewer numbers of birds than in previous years. We had very good views of a pair of Vernal Hanging Parrot...India's only parrot. There are plenty of parakeets and here we've seen Malabar and plum headed parakeets. 

We've seen Malabar pied hornbill and Malabar grey hornbill. White bellied, heart spotted woodpecker. Also  greater flameback and black rumped flameback..these are also woodpeckers. 

The food at Backwoods is delicious with a good range of tasty local dishes.  

Our little cabin has an en-suite bathroom with a wet floor shower. Needing the loo I first checked it and there was a frog swimming about in the water. It wouldn't flush away. There's a drain hole in the floor with no cover and the frogs pop up through the hole which is now blocked with rolled-up toilet paper! 

Western ghats

Just to let you know that we are going to the Ghats tomorrow at 5am! 😭

Will be at Backwoods Camp for two nights and three days of birding, before travelling on into Karnataka (the State adjoining Goa) to a place called 'Off the Grid', for three nights. Then we move down to South Goa to Palolem.

There may not be any wi Fi so don't worry if we are silent for a while