Goa

 Goa has actually been pretty good. It has gotten better and better the entire time I've been here. Admittedly my first impression wasn't great. I've been swimming, sleeping and eating. The food has been excellent. I've come back to the same restaurant each time and worked my way through the menu. I thought about trying other places but didn't want to risk getting sick. I've hardly been pestered by people here. A guy desperately tried to sell me a laser pointer on the beach and that's about it. I've also not had any beggers come up to me. I was a bit begger fatigued in Georgia, I was approached quite a lot and thought India would be worse. They have probably been killing them and feeding them to me at this restaurant. 

I will say, the clientele around here are definitely of the older variety. There are quite a lot of Indian holiday makers here with their families, but the white people are generally retirees. I'm not sure why that is. As it was recommended to me by someone who is about 5 weeks from retirement, it makes sense. 

Today I missed breakfast because I slept in. That is annoying as the breakfast here is good. I went for a swim, then food, then beer, then swim again. The final swim was at sunset. I've been swimming every sunset. I'm shocked that I am the only person with a beer down there. There are people on the sunbeds at the resorts with drinks, but I'm the only one in the water. A fishing boat came right into the beach, netting. It wasn't a trawler, it was smaller and with less stuff to it. It did have a lot of blokes on their pulling the net in. Maybe 8 of them, all dressed in bright clothes. They were blasting some traditional Indian techno and pulling the net in to the music. It was interesting to watch. It would surprise me if they were fishing for mermen. 

I've just packed my bag, probably for the final time. It is stuffed full, and it weighs just over 15kg. I'm sure they will let it pass at the airport. If not I will have to carry my coat like an idiot. I get picked up at 4:30am for the trip to the airport. My flight is at 9:15 and arrives in Mumbai sometime after 10. I'm staying at a 5 star hotel near the airport. I also have another place booked that I have not been successful at cancelling.  

It stank of a scam. Their rating has gone from 9.2 to 6 in the past month. They hit everyone up for money to be transferred to a private account. I'm going to cause booking.com as many problems as I possibly can over this. I was even thinking about reporting my card stolen so they can't take the money out.

 I will have to pay the money otherwise, it isn't much. I refuse to cancel as I don't want them to be paid twice if they fill my room, and I also want to be able to review them. I may even go over there and check in and be the absolute worst person I can be. 

After my stay in Mumbai I am back at the airport early in the morning to fly back to Sydney, via Singapore, then Sydney to Port and I'll be back Saturday afternoon.