At the end of March 2016 we flew to North Goa India for a 2 week break in Candolim. The food out here was incredible and cheap (a curry for 6 of us with sides and drinks came to about £30). I hate spicy food so live off of korma, chicken curry and butter chicken when eating Indian food, but we found a restaurant that cooked the most amazing fillet steak meal I had ever eaten and it cost £5 for the meal!
When we arrived it was certainly a culture change, from crazy roads with drivers honking their horns every 20 seconds to warn someone they are coming, to dirt paths for pavements (I wouldn't wear white shoes if I were you as they will get stained orange from the dusty paths you cannot avoid) and even cows and pigs wandering down the streets at all hours of the day. They also do not have strict road laws like England...I mean where in England would you be able to fit 7 people in a tiny 4 person car (we had the driver and lee in the front, myself, mum, dad and lana squashed between the two rear doors and my brother sat on a stall in the boot).
A lot of our time was spent in the hotel chilling round the pool with a book in one hand and a cocktail in the other (with the occasional vanilla milkshake). It was so hot whilst we were here that you couldn't sunbathe for long without having to jump into the pool to cool off, so we took sunbathing to the pool in the form of Lilos. Our hotel only had a small pool but it was pretty quiet for most of the day so we pretty much had the pool to ourselves and the staff were so friendly - they couldn't do enough for us!
We headed down to our local beach which was right on the main strip of Goa - Baga beach. This wasn't the cleanest of beaches due to the cows wandering along the beach and knocking the bins over to find food. You also get a lot of sellers walking up and down the beach with baskets on their heads shouting 'pineapple...an-nana...cashew' (even though this is illegal) ladies offering nail painting, henna, hair braids and threading (they even had the cheek to thread my dads back whilst he was sleeping, making him jump out of his skin and shout 'ouch!' and then demand payment which was rather amusing) and children selling jewellery. Be warned, if one seller sees you buy something they all pounce on you - even if they are selling the same thing! Watching the sunset on the beach was pretty though, they even set us up a table facing the sea to watch the sunset with a few drinks in hand (after all its not a holiday without lots of alcohol is it?)
We took a trip into the jungle for the jungle book elephant excursion. We slept in 'luxury' mud huts for the night to get an idea of how the Indian villagers sleep. We had a look around the spice village to learn how these are farmed and what the plants look like before going on to feed the elephants. As this is an eco friendly sanctuary they don't dispose of the elephant's poo as this creates hundreds of tonnes of waste and so they recycle the poo to create paper (we even made some of this ourselves to take home). After taking a tour through the jungle we went down to the river to watch the elephants play (the young male was trying to have sex with the female but she was having none of it) and once they were settled and finished playing we all made our way into the water to help bath the elephants. We then sat on the elephant's back for the 'splash' in which the elephants drenched us in river water that they fired at us from their trunks. This was such a laugh and the whole set up of the sanctuary is amazing. In the evening the staff set up a campfire for us where we danced and sung the night away.
The next morning once we had woken up (after a surprisingly good nights sleep) we got up and went to Dudhsagar falls for a dip - by a very bumpy 4x4. There is a lot of climbing over rocks to get here and the water is freezing but it is a good trip. There are lots of wild monkeys about that are quite friendly and will come and take nuts out of your hand. You also get to drive through the national park on the way there. When we got back to the sanctuary we took a tour of the village where the families of the elephant Mahouts live. We took the children chocolate and had the chance to see how they lived. There was about 8 of them living in one tiny mud hut which consisted of a main room and a toilet. We then went onto an Indian cooking lesson before back to riding the elephants and a final elephant splash (it was too dark the first night so they redone this part to get some good photos).
As we had come all the way to India we decided to do some of the stereotypical 'must dos'. We went to the local tailors to have some clothes made up. Me, my mum and Lana had four tailor made dresses sewn for us and between my dad, brother and lee they had about 6 or 7 shirts and a suit made up. The price of these worked out so cheap compared to back home and the quality and precision was fantastic. We also decided to have henna done one evening whilst we were here. The detail and artwork put into the design was beautiful and I absolutely loved it - I couldn't stop looking at my hand! We also decided to take a ride in a Tuk Tuk as a cheap way back to the hotel one night. This was an experience, with the window blowing through our hair and music blaring.
We also headed down to the night market to get our shop on! There was so much choice - from bags and purses, to jewellery, clothes, instruments and spices. We picked up a couple of drums (after the shop owner begged us to buy them, to the point where he was almost giving them away), a load of Hareem style trousers, a couple of back packs, some purses, some curry spices to use back home, some summer dresses, some sandals and a hand stitched patchwork elephant throw. The cost of items here were ridiculously cheap - especially when you go to walk away and they start bartering with you (don't be afraid to hold your ground on what you want to pay - they will eventually give in).
We also found a much nicer beach a little way out from the hotel - Mandrem Beach. This was much cleaner and quieter and you had to walk over a wooden bridge to get onto the beach. We chose beds in front of End of the World beach shack where we had a nice lunch and waiter service all day. I would definitely recommend venturing down here if you fancy a peaceful and relaxing beach day.
We had an amazing time in Goa and really enjoyed the culture and the people. The only thing that let it down was how much rubbish was everywhere and the dirtiness of a lot of the roads and beaches. I am glad we came here and would recommend anyone to go and experience the country, but I personally would not like to go back again.