I awoke quite suddenly in the middle of the night or 4.30 really and knew sleep was over. I was quite relaxed though and waited for 6.15 to roll on. Well it inevitably did and i got up to begin my journey. I noticed a heavy but wet snow falling outside and suppressed any feelings of worry. about delays and the like.
Mercifully the taxi came early and i was ready to go to Heathrow T2. After a hair raising journey on the M4 narrowly missing a collision we arrived.
I was able to get an earlier flight to Frankfurt so i took it as i only had an hour between flights otherwise.
The flights were thankfully uneventful except for the final one landing in Goa lets just say i've had smoother ones.
I was met as arranged by the hotels driver with a sign and a sigh of relief as i was taken to the hotel in about an hour of which the first part was in darkness. My first impressions of Goa would have to be the countless palm trees popping out of a thick fog. Humm, ok, i think i am going to like. As the sun rose quickly i saw the Portuguese style buildings everywhere. The traffic although right from the start it was never quiet began to pick up. The main mode of transport seems to be scooters with largely helmetless riders.
My room was amazing En suite bathroom, air conditioning, satelite TV and clean....well at least until i got into it. On the pricy side but i wanted a gentil toe dipping experience to begin with.
I had a quick shower and changed into a pair of shorts. God! how nice that feels after endless winter.
So i slept a few hours and woke up deciding to try the food. It's got to ok right? ok here goes nothing i thought. I went for the butter chicken and rice. It was delicious and so was the lassie (drink) that went with it and then the pancake discovery. Oh dear the pancakes. Well they were good.
While i was eating i heard a loud voice booming around the bar and pool area. A 6`3inch Canadian Shaun or Shaaaaaunn. was organising music and generally orchestrating, beer bringing and Just being how some people are when on holiday. I sat near by and soon found myself drawn into conversation. He had a side kick Bob from Manchester with a very strong accent which amused me as i could just see the communication difficulties he would face. He was quiet with a perpetual grin on his face. Wonder why? Soon a group of 3 Indian girls had joined us due to Shaaaun's persuasiveness. The evening came to an end at about eight and i went to bed happy to have arrived and knackered.
