We go back to UK on Friday...have spent most of the last 10 months in Goa and for the first time ever, I am really unsure that I want to return.

Fed up of the same ole rigmarorle with shopping etc..fed up with the (now more frequent) racist comments.... Finding places to 'legally' place your rubbish becomes harder week by week. Sick of feeling we are ripe for rip off's.

Being faced with Nakerbandes on a daily basis (wrong spelling I'm sure} makes you very tense to travel around, especially at night.

We have loved Goa for a long time but I have never felt this way before...its not just the property thing, we are pretty well ****** off with that also, but more the overall attitude here towards development and forward thinking in general.

They make excuses for their serial killers for God's sake...what chance do we have??

Reading the newspaper used to amuse me, but now I see the complete incompetence of officials involved in crimes etc and it now makes my blood boil!!

Well rant over...lets see what happens...probably get home and want to come straight back again (cant see that at the mo but it may well happen)!!
regards
Indiapurple

Exactly - and if your visa has run out you will not be able to stay there for 10 months next time.
I used to keep all the daft cuttings out of the newspaper and stuck them in a book called "you could not make it up" and thought it was very funny but like you say it really is incompetence and now not in the least bit funny.
We have a ticket to go back but only for 3 months - don't know if we will be able to stick it out for the season now we will have to rent without the good things in life we have been used to for the last few years. We call it "camping" but in reality can I go back to hand washing, using a fridge not big enough to put a days shopping in and sleeping in a bed that is so hard you get up with back ache?
That's without all the other hassles like being ripped off although we stopped using the shacks and the over priced bars and restaurants a long time ago.

I go back a week tomorrow, and my thoughts are exactly the same as yours.

I sat in the VFS offices (Hayes) today - they were busy - but I was the only white face there, thinking why am I doing this?

Then after an hours wait I got to the counter and the silly bitch, having read all my accompanying docs to justify my application for one year, (inc my wifes recently acquired one year visa copy) saw the date of leaving India empty. Put a date here she said. June 2010 approx I put. Too far ahead, she said, they may return the application, put October. But that is not even six months, I said, so why would they want to give me a one year visa.............this was then repeated (the whole lot) several times and to be honest, I just wanted to tear the form up and walk away.

Instead I politely asked her to submit the form, and left

I know exactly what you both mean. My visa was in place last November when i was diagnosed with leg ulcers after an accident on my bicycle in the rain. The doctors warned me that the humidity would be a problem for me.I have treated Tropical Ulcers before on my friends in Candolim in years past, and they are very difficult to cure.I dont have property and i have always rented or leased. We still have a couple of trunks stashed with our old landlord, Stanley, on Baga Creek near Leelas Cafe.The political situation is bad enough but the policing is horrendous to say the least.When the Tourism Minister can go into a casino and threaten the manager over alleged debts owed to him and the place closes down, then things have gone from bad to worse.There are allegations surrounding Pacheco and his American wife, who died in mysterious circumstances, still to be answered.Naik and his continual allegations against foreign tourists is another matter for concern.The police take their leads from the politicians in Goa and if the politicians think themselves above the law, then the police must think they are completely Teflon....Serial murderers,mass dacoity and burglaries in all districts. I used to listen to horror stories from ex-pats and in particular from Sialin(?)A couple who moved from Arpora to Sialin had Ether poured through the roof tiles into their bedroom to knock them out before robbing them.They awoke with an headache and no passports or money.They had two children under ten.The police accused them of taking drugs and wanted money from them to register a case so they could report it as a robbery to the Embassy....!I could go on for pages but it would just come across as alarmist. As i have written in the past, my brother died in Goa and the police robbed his possessions while i was up in Himachal Pradesh.Despite all their promises concerning the culprit, he was back on duty in 2 years in Old Goa.So yes, i do think is it worth going back to this mess.Garbage and racism,corruption on a mega scale and robberies and burglaries.I will be coming back to India but i dont think we will be staying long term in Goa any more. India is big and other states are more welcoming and the police more helpful and you dont need to spend 20 minutes locking up your house or flat when you go out and wondering if everything is going to be there when you get back....!

Its Siolim, PJ, where we live and I remember the case well. Unfortunately this family did mix with a lot of dodgy people who they considered friends, and who doubtless were responsible for the robbery. They had a lot of nice stuff and frequently invited these dodgy Goans (yes I know thats impossible!) into their home.
Just hoping that our trip to the Philippines reveals a potential new home and we can leave this sh*thole behind us eventually.
Agree with you about other parts of India, we have solid invites/help to move to both Mangalore and Mysore (very appealing) from well educated Indians who cannot understand why any foreigner would want to live in Zimbabwe-on-Sea, but...............theres still the visa problem, and personally I have had enough of sweating over what we will get and then having the comparison made with Indians coming to the UK. This of course is a valid comparison because a lot of Brits want to go to India to earn a lot more than they can at home, save hard and return to their own country wealthy and never needing to work again having had their free education and welfare. Of course thats a valid comparison!

http://www.oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=23510&cid=26

Nerlon serves legal notice on Mumbai newspaper
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JUNE 22

Police officer Nerlon Albuquerque, who was in the eye of a storm for the controversial death of British teenager Scarlet Keeling, has sent a legal notice for defamation to a top newspaper in Mumbai for a news report, which he claimed had tarnished his image. .......

........Albuquerque, who remained dismissed from service due to the Scarlet episode fought in the High Court of Bombay at Goa after which the Goa police order was set aside.

© M/s Herald Publications Pvt Ltd, P.O.Box 160, Rua San Tome, Panjim-Goa 403001.

Another crooked cop back on duty, and coining it. Didn't he get enough pay off for botching the initial Keeling investigation?

Please let us know on the Phillipeans???.
Dont make me depressed, only just got my 5 year x visa.
I do agree its not changing for the better.
The Goans are so greedy now?.

If you want a good read, go to;

http://www.nomad4ever.com/

This guy was posting on IM while he was in Goa and we became friends. We will be joining him later in the year.
His comments about Goa are particularly telling, from a seasoned traveller and first timer in the place.

Good luck in the Philippines J5.Its certainly got a coast line you can explore and blue seas too.Going back to what you wrote, Mysore is such a beautiful place and blessed with a race course and that bloody great hill with the agony reminders on every step......! Im sure you remember.I think we will head to Kolkotta in late September as we both love the city and its people.The old colonial buildings and palaces that you come across in the hidden courtyards.
Those friends of mine, upon reflection, were perhaps a little too trusting for their own good.But what i didnt tell, it was the third time in two years that i heard about this little trick with the ether.Good luck anyway mate.

Just out of interest, and relevant to anyone thinking of renting a place.
The traditional tiled-roof properties are attractive, and definitely cooler. They also ALL leak at some point during monsoon! Their other notable characteristic is that they are very easy to burgle. Through the roof is method of choice here and your neighbours will just watch. We will never chance a tiled roof again now that Zimbabwe-on-Sea has become such a den of thieves.

[QUOTE=prestonjohn;7690307] There are allegations surrounding Pacheco and his American wife, who died in mysterious circumstances, still to be answered.

Have I missed something here - was this recently - the wife who was allegedly
claiming money from him and trying to ruin his reputation along with another high profile Goan mob?

No this was his first wife and she died about 10 years ago in the US. Pacheaco was studying there, i think Hotel Management or something.Its his second wife who is suing him and who has filed a FIR against him for fraud and theft.She is divorcing him.Going to be hard considering they are both devout Catholics !For J5, we had an old Portuguese Villa, built 1932,at the back of Bobbs Inn and i put in motion detectors on all the walls surrounding the property and they still slashed the mosquito screens on the open windows to see if there was anything worth grabbing.As you said neighbours just vanish and no one sees a thing when you ask.It comes back to the old police thing again.Most Goans are scared s**tless of the police and as soon as a light flashes on or suspicious activity occurs against Westerners, especially against so called foreigners, they vanish from sight.Involving the police cost money in Goa. Neighbourhood watch in Goa extends as far as their front door....

A well respected, professional and honest Goan friend (yes there are some) was burgled whilst we were in Goa last season and when I asked if he had reported it to the police his reply was "goodness me - no - I would never go to them".
Says it all really.

Yes looking forward to returning - to see our many friends over there, both Goan and from the BE site. It is good to get out of the grounds of the villa and complex and socialize.