Why are we here?

Leaving our gorgeous hotel in Mumbai, we hopped on our 3rd flight to Goa. Possibly the worst flight we've ever taken, we were surrounded by unpleasant body odor, screaming children, and no air conditioning for most of the flight. At one point a neighboring passenger began arguing with a flight attendant. True to Indian customer service, the flight attendant began arguing back with the passenger. Go Air, the airline we traveled on, will be receiving my feedback.

We had previously arranged with the hotel, Phoenix Park Inn, to be picked up at the airport for 750 rupees. We easily found a gentleman holding our name card. He quickly got the tiny car for us, but told us there was another passenger we were traveling with. This other passenger turned out to be a family of three. A signal of things to come on this trip? Squeezing into the backseat, we set out for the hour drive to our hotel.

As we drove up to the hotel, Jeremy's mood took a turn for the worse. 3 star hotel? I think not. Down some dirt road, we were led to our hotel room. It was night and day compared to where we just came from. Not expecting luxury, were were expecting simplicity and cleanliness. More like sparse and dirty.

Calming Jeremy down, we headed to an internet cafe to explore other options. Unfortunately the fancy hotels we had looked at previously, were now all booked. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, we thought. Already quite late, we walked up and down the main road to find a place to eat. We went to a place recommended by our guide book - the man inside said they were closed for the off season. In fact, we would come to find that many of the establishments were closed for the off season. Sigh. Finding a place open near the hotel, we ate there. Enjoying quite a good meal, including Pepsis and King Fisher beer, our meal price came to 260 rupees - not bad. Unfortunately my fear of spiders kicked in, as I saw many hanging above our heads.

Back in the hotel we were ready to shower and head to bed. While Jeremy was in the shower, the electricity went out - I wondered if it was because I had the air conditioning AND the TV on at the same time (too much to ask, I know). Fortunately the episode only lasted a few seconds. Making my way to my backpack, I found the flashlight I brought with me (I'd make a good boy scout). Unfortunately, the next episode happened while I was in the shower, and it lasted much longer. That night, the electricity went out about 6 or 7 times.

The following day we headed to Candolim beach, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. Hoping the day would be better than the previous day, we were confronted with closed beach shacks (which would normally house food/drinks during the peak season) and a fair amount of trash on the beach. Just off the coast of Candolim, in the Arabian sea, is the MV River Princess. A few years ago, the currents were so strong, the Princess (a freight liner) became embedded in the sand. An argument began between the city and state governments, along with the ship owners, as to who should be responsible for its removal. Just a few months ago, the government finally allocated money to have the Princess removed.

We continued walking down the beach, coming to Sinquerim beach where the Taj Fort Aguada and Taj Holiday Village hotels are located. Based on what we saw from the Beach, the Taj hotels did not look that great, and, even though our hotel is a dump, we were glad we did not spend more money on either of the Taj properties in Candolim. With more life there, we found a few shacks open for business. Stopping to grab lunch and drinks on the beach, we enjoyed the sand and water (although too stinky to go in). While Candolim and Sinquerim are okay beaches, they are not worth a stop in Goa.

Back at our hotel, we contended with no water or dirty water for a good portion of the night. They are also doing construction in our building (incessant banging), so the stairs (no elevator) are filthy and everything in our hotel room is coated with a nice layer of dust. Grabbing take-out from a nearby restaurant (the one we visited the previous night), we ate and drank in our air conditioned hotel room.

Today is our last day in Goa (thankfully!). The question as to why we are here comes up frequently, as the hotel and beach are not that great. We plan on posting our reviews of the hotel on as many travel sites as possible, and also contacting Orbitz where we booked our travel and letting them know this is not 3 star quality - 2 star at best. That said, we've managed to enjoy ourselves, have eaten good and inexpensive food, and have seen a little more of the local "island" life by being here in the off season.

Tomorrow we head to Chennai (Madras) where my friend Kate lives. I met Kate in b-school. Instead of going corporate, she decided to join the Foreign Service, and is stationed in Chennai interviewing Indians interested in going to the US for work. Looking forward to a clean house, doing some laundry, and more dosas, we'll be happy to leave Goa.