Vagatorsunset

Hi long time Goa visitor here just wanted to know how Goa is right now : )

Many UK visitors so far?
I see the lowest prices are around £600.00-£650.00 for 14nights !!!! for a package (long gone are the £329.00 for 2 week deals) and teletext seem to have very very few holidays at all to Goa, what with Thomas Cook on the way down the pan I wondered if a lot of hotels are now switching to Russian tour operators and the prices are massive right now.

Just trying to get a handle on it should I have enough money for a last minute booking, any advice on a good and reliable (cheap!) company to book with.

Always came out with Thomas Cook or Monarch, Brittania (if they exist still) previously.

Hope you are enjoying the sun and that the monsoon arrived and left at the right times after the stories of woe regarding rice crops last year. When I was there last December (stayed near Calangute roundabout towards the beach road) it was the first time I ever seen rain in Goa.

Also stumbled on this.....

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play...ippie-Standing

chrisjolly

Hi, not really sure what you are asking for..are you coming here and want information about where to stay and how to get here? Try Monarch direct flights to Goa or Qatar through Doha and find accommodation when you are here..there are lots of lovely places to stay

johnny five

The OPs post began

followed by

(what they are asking)

Followed by a reference to previous visits. No confusion then?

What I did find puzzling was the Britannia reference, as they ceased to exist in 2004, re-branded as Thomsonfly..........


.

Vagatorsunset

I guess basically what I am asking is Goa continuing to be even more developed, losing it's charm, more polluted, more dangerous, more mobile phone masts looming over poolsides etc., perilous traffic, price fixing TAXI cartels, To me it is losing it's charm at a logarhythmic pace rate year on year and there seems to be a less friendliness and more money grabbing vibe.You know bottled water has 200x the pesticide residues that are permissible in the UK. And you have to pay around £50.00 for a visa for the privelege. The magic there once was with the trance/alternative/hippy/chill scene which was there way before standard tourists appeared in their droves, to see it marginalized and cracked down on spoils the originating energy of the place to a degree. (and no I am not into drugs before it's mentioned)

The "I won't do anything except for rupees" attitude and "come to my bar" "attacks" when dismounting a tax in say Baga (turned into a horrid, horrid place). Those Jet Ski's should be banned entirely spoiling the peace and tranquility. The beauty of Baga was un matched around 8-10 years ago, now I visit the place largely to confirm suspicions and witness the eyesore. You can hardly find an ounce of Indian culture in Goa anymore even if you tried, Westlife and other boring generic pop music blasts out of bars whilst boring alcoholics hang in the bars after cheap booze from Russia and UK. Where is the Indian music? Dance, Art and culture, meditation, spirituality?. The only place is Kerkars art centre that I know of, the final bit of India in Goa (even then he has to ask the hotel next door to turn the western pop music down during an acoustic classical Indian performance)

I loved Goa as it was 16 years ago but "progress?" seems to have taken it's toll on the place and the scales are just being tipped in the wrong direction this year. I wanted to hear some nice stories to remind me of it's beauty from people there now.

I like some of the people I have met there, the more remote beaches but so much has changed for the worse.

I feel more and more a fool for going. Like I don't care about my own safety, health and being a naive tourist willing to be ripped off.

I have adored Goa but it has changed a lot, seems to be plummeting down hill.

Well if you want rich boring tourists as you main stay you are welcome to them.

Westerners and Russians can drink cheap booze from supermarkets and jump under a sun bed, don't destroy nature, the land and water table for locals to line the pockets of already rich Mumbai "entrepreneurs", many people come to experience peace, tranquility, mystique and beauty, relaxation, open spaces (yeah right not many of those now) rejuvenation and spiritual feelings, once thats gone it will just be a concrete wasteland.

Has Goa been less destroyed in the South ?

Victor Meldrew

South Goa is less developed than the North and definitely seems to be less busy.

There are some high end hotels there though which are quite expensive. I'm not sure what the provision of cheap end hotels is like.

noni

Glad you are a confirmed grumpy old man!
One kind person on here passed on to my husband a T shirt with Grumpy old Git on it, my Grandson thinks it should be passed on to his Headmaster.

Vagatorsunset

I love Goa but I am also sad about it's path and destiny, I am also aware Indian people
are adaptive, hard working and are only trying to improve their situation.

Thanks for the tips on the South, yes I thought it was either 5* or beach huts, I think there is
1 B+B family run place.

I like the energy of the North in some way and some of the quieter spots, Ozram/Aswem, Morjim but it was too hectic last year in the main drags, lost count of how many times I nearly got run over.

I imagine local people find it a bitter sweet pill to swallow, sure money comes in but
at what cost to their environment, open spaces, water table, peace and quiet, beauty and way of life ?

Is it a busy season so far or quieter ?

wallydug

The place is crap. Always has been, always will be.

W.

Vagatorsunset

I can only imagine thats a joke as it is actually one of the most important places
in the world for me in many ways. I met my wife there and Goa has been deeply
significant and turned my life around. I am just sad to see it get ravished.

People do not often consider that once natural peace, beauty and the environment is destroyed completely there is no reversal. It is the most precious thing we have as humans after our health.

Victor Meldrew

Could you be more specific?

johnny five

Go Wally, Go..................


.

wallydug

NO.

If you've ever been here, you wouldn't need to ask.

W.

Victor Meldrew

I have been there 4 times, for 2 weeks each time, staying in hotels of varying standards and with locals in their homes. 3 times at Christmas and once at Easter.

I have stayed in the North and the South in Baga, Calangute, Panjim, Margoa. I have visited many places around these areas.

I have done the beach 'thing' and the weddings and the church services and ceremonies. I have met with both rich and poor.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying you are wrong or that I disagree with you.

I was merely wondering what specifically you think merits the response you gave.

poppetjay

Hi having lived in goa for 10 years originally to " live the dream" open a restaurant, buy a home and live in the sun happily ever after, the dream turned into a nightmare after 4 years, cheap drink, drugs, greedy landlords, greedy advocates and politicians, visa problems etc etc spoiled the whole concept of living the dream, that's without the place being over developed, buildings buildings building spoiling the landscape.... Rubbish.... And no infrastructure in place to deal with all the development after 37 years of marriage I walked away from my home with just a suitcase of clothes, leaving the nightmare behide..... And have no regrets at all, I loved goa but it has changed so much and not for the better of the place or the people, it's lost it's charm and theres plenty more places to visit around the world.

msj5

Wish you all the best with whatever you are doing PJ!