31th January

Went down to Baga Beach. The Shining Star,the shack we used the first time we came has gone, sombody said it had moved about 4 kilometers down the coast. Perhaps we will try and find it sometime.
Sorry for the lack of pictures but every time there is something interesting to photograph I have forgotten the camera.

30th January

Went into Panjim this morning, I saw the shirt man, Sandy collected things from the Silk Emporium and we had a snack at the Vasco Club. Sand took it easy in the afternoon and I walked on the beach. Below are some more pictures of the gardens in Panjim.

In the evening we went to the Snow Inn and had a birds-eye view of another BJP rally it took about 20 minutes to go past and the traffic was in chaos.

28th January

Sandy's leg not to bad today, after yesterdays walk. However we decided to have an easy day.
We walked down to Kennys to have an English breakfast, I carried on to Calangute to get our pills and potions. A few days ago when Sandy wanted some more painkillers, I showed the pharmacist the box that had held her NHS medication he laughed and said they had not used those for years and offered me what they use now (50 r for 10 tablets, about 65p ) We are now topped up with most things for most emergency's.

An effect of the early closing of bars and restaraunts is that they are all filling up early and it is getting harder and harder to get where one wants to go. We now set off about 7.00pm instead of nearer to 8.00pm this does however leave longer for drinking before bed.

27th January

Walked down to the beach today, Sand. managed quite well, it was about 20 minutes each way. We stayed in the shack and just watched the world go by.
I did go for a walk along to Calangute steps, it was amazing, there were hundreds of people there all having a wonderful time in the water and on all sorts of craft. They were shouting, squabbling and in one case fighting with a lifeguard.
We are waiting to see how our knee is in the morning.

26th January

Back again to Coco beach, this is a close up of Dominics shack.






We had our early evening drinks across the road tonight and then went to a new, for us, restaurant. It is run by an Englishman and has a selection of Western dishes as well as the usual. Sand. had corned beef hash, I had fish and chips and Ted had a steak. We booked the day before and had the last table.
Tonight we experienced the effect of the election rules,from yesterday all bars have to be closed at 11.oopm, soon it will be 10.00 with 3 dry days over the actual election at the begining of March. We heard of one bar that was raided and all drinks were confiscated and no one was allowed to pay their bill. Truth or rumour who knows.

Into Panjim this morning. On the way we got caught up in a BJP election happening, there was much revving of motor scooters and several loud bangs but happily they took a different road. I bought some shirt material but the shirt maker had gone off for the day. Sandy made some purchases in the Silk Emporium, and then we had lunch in the Vasco Club and returned home.


View of the refurbished gardens in the centre of Panjim.












Sand. had a rest, and I walked down to the beach, there were quite a few more shacks but it was difficult to tell how busy it was because it was late on and a lot of people leave mid-afternoon.




It was the usual evening ritual except we were attacked in the bar by a cow.

24th January

We did make it to Coco Beach today, Dominic has now got a new shack
(You can just see it in the background)but otherwise much the same, you still order your lunch at 11.30 for 1.00 and still get it anytime up to 2.00. We came home about 3.00.
Whilst having our night cap we found that the couple we were shareing the table with came from Wareham

23rd January

The plan was to go to Coco Beech today, but my stomach was a bit upset so I decided not to go just in case. However Ted did not feel too good either so we resorted to plan B, stay at home. Internally I was fine but just felt a bit lethargic but after some tea and toast over the road the world felt a better place. We did a bit more shopping, Espee, our landlady fixed up a gas ring so we can now make our own tea. I walked into Calangute centre to get our pills and potions. Pharmacy closed. I bought a modem so I could access the internet.
Did the usual in the evening but came home early and had an early night.

Saturday 21st

We arrived at Mumbai at about 11.30, and were collected by an assistant who took us to the bus stop for the coach that takes you to the Domestic Terminal. First thing we had to do was collect our hold baggage and pass through customs. After clearing customs any duty free liquids have to be put in the hold baggage for the internal flight. On the way to the coach stop we passed a Kingfisher baggage drop but it was unattended so we had to take all the bags to the domestic terminal. On the way through the International Terminal we changed £20 to get some rupees for the inevitable tipping.
On arrival at the domestic terminal, the second stop is the Kingfisher section and we checked our bags in there and made our way through security to await the flight. The leaving gate was not the one on the boarding card, we find it is well worth keep checking that things are right and keep someone you know who is traveling to the same destination in view.
We arrived safely at Dabolim to be met by our taxi driver and then on to Calangute.
We dumped our bags and headed to Pranimas bar to meet up with the rest of the gang. After a couple of drinks we left for the Snow Inn to have a lightish meal before bed.

Friday 20th January

We set off about 11.00 am and stopped for Lunch in Dummer, just off the M3, then on to Terminal 5. As soon as we had dropped off our bags we went straight to the special assistance desk and were whisked through security, Sandy did not even have to get out of the wheel chair for her frisking. We then waited in the Special assistance lounge until we were called for the flight. What followed was a Magical Mystery tour of the bowels of the terminal emerging by the check in point at the boarding point. Then came the surprise, the attendant collected our boarding passes and returned with new ones, we had been upgraded to Premium economy. After boarding the difference was incredible. Wider seats, amazing amount of legroom, generally a far nicer experience including proper knives and forks and a glass for the wine.
The only draw- back was that when I switched on my Kindle it was scrambled, Sands was perfectly all right.
Apart from that the flight was uneventful

Time and Date

As I published the post the date and time appear about 8 hours earlier than it is, when I can get that sorted I will make a note.

Almost Off

Nearly ready, all packed, boarding passes printed off the computer, so just the final tidying around so it is not too messy when we get back.
Slight panic last night, I had loaded some more reading material onto my Kindle from the computer, but when I came to check it it would not work and it seemed to be locked up. However, come this morning, it was functioning normally, so I imagine that it just needed a bit of time to sort it self out.
As we are flying B.A. we are using Terminal 5 for the first time, it will be very interesting to see how it all works. The first thing is that according to the boarding pass the bag drop does not open until three hours before take off. This means, because we get there mid afternoon, so Chris and Pam can get off back and not get caught up in the evening traffic, we will have to hang about landside and not be able to move leisurely through security and spend our time airside where you can do the duty free shopping etc. Previously when we have flow with Jet you could leave the bags much earlier, making for a very unstressful experience. However more of that later and I will try not to be to picky just because B.A. is not my favourite airline.
Better get on so it is not a last minute rush.