Winter In Goa?

[moody]

Hi,

I am considering spending the winter in Goa, probably around the south, Palolem or Patnem from September through to March

Has anyone been in the last year or two?

Is it easy to rent rooms in houses as opposed to beach shacks?

I have a budget of around 200 quid a month which should include , accom, food and a few spliffs.

Is it do-able?

plus, is it possible to get some kind of work there, maybe in a beach bar or is it strictly locals only?


Thanks...

 

[twentythreedom]

Why do want to go to Goa particularly?

 

[moody]

big state, plenty to see and do, nice beaches and good infrastructure for tourism


(+ cheap drugs)

;-)

 

[twentythreedom]

big state, plenty to see and do, nice beaches and good infrastructure for tourism


(+ cheap drugs)

;-)

I reckon you should consider other countries as well, you could get all that in places far nicer than Goa.

 

[aqua]

Voley would be a useful person here I think, he just LOVED the hippies in Goa

 

[Voley]

I think any info I gave would be wildly out of date tbh. Arambol was lovely for a couple of years but was starting to get a bit aggro last time I was there. People turning up dead in the sea after arguments in bars and stuff. Not nice.

Still, my chakras are still very well-aligned thankyou very much.

 

[moody]

I reckon you should consider other countries as well, you could get all that in places far nicer than Goa.

like?

 

[aqua]

I think any info I gave would be wildly out of date tbh. Arambol was lovely for a couple of years but was starting to get a bit aggro last time I was there. People turning up dead in the sea after arguments in bars and stuff. Not nice.

Still, my chakras are still very well-aligned thankyou very much.

I miss your blog can't you just start writing again for us all

 

[Voley]

I miss your blog can't you just start writing again for us all

I could just make it up I suppose.

Tonight I rode my scooter home home pissed in the nude from The Nine Bar and ran into a cow. Not really, I just want to scare the fucking life out of my Mum. Yesterday I assaulted a German poi-twirler who went by the name of 'Turmeric, Seeker Of The Simultaneous Inconcievable Innefability of Impermanence'. I'm not making this bit up.

That sort of thing.

 

[moody]

Voley , what sort of accom did you stay in and how much were you paying?

 

[Voley]

Voley , what sort of accom did you stay in and how much were you paying?

Well I used to stay in this rather alarmingly pink place and I think I used to pay about 400 rps a night or something but that was a long-term discount because I was stopping for the whole Winter. It was a more sober blue colour then.

In that second photo my room was the one on the top left. Nice room, fridge full of beer, hammock, quiet and away from all the action but near enough to walk in for the night. This was a good few years back mind and I think you'll pay 900 a night or so now. poptyping has stayed there a bit more recently.

The last year I was there I rented a house with a mate of mine and it worked out at 150 quid a month split between the two of us. 2 bed villa, kitchen, proper bog, fans, little garden, roof terrace, 2 mins from the beach. Very minimal leccy bill. I expect it would be a lot more now - when I was there last there were a lot of Russian visitors arriving who had a fair bit of money and prices were going up. Atmosphere was going a bit wonky too.

If you want a bit more up to date info, I'd really recommend registering on www.indiamike.com. I found this an invaluable source of info when I was going round India.

 

[moody]

checked out india mike forum briefly, will take a more detailed look later.

 

[Voley]

checked out india mike forum, seems to be no recent posts, all went a bit quiet there a few years ago

Oh that's a pity. The fella that ran it - Mike, unsurprisingly - was a nice bloke. He stayed at that place above for a few weeks on my recommendation and he said he was in the process of selling the site at the time. Looks like it died out a bit after that, then. I met some decent folks off that site, and not just in India. Had a very nice afternoon on the beer with a bloke that lived in Leiden near Amsterdam while I was breaking the journey home up once.

You tried Thorn Tree on the Lonely Planet forum? It used to get a bit of a bad press on Indiamike for being a bit snobby but I think the info's pretty up-to-date. Or it was back then. Sorry I can't be much help, moody, it was years ago that I was there - any info I give now is bound to be way out of date - Arambol was changing a lot in the time I was there and I think 5 years or so will have made a lot of difference.

 

[moody]

just had a look at indiamike, was mistaken, it is upto date.

400 a night seems a bit much tho... I was speaking to someone last night and they had a big double room with AC for 250 a night over a two month period. (last year in palolem)

 

[Voley]

just had a look at indiamike, was mistaken, it is upto date.

400 a night seems a bit much tho... I was speaking to someone last night and they had a big double room with AC for 250 a night over a two month period. (last year in palolem)

That sounds like a good deal. 400 a night was a good price for what I got. It was pretty much the best place in Arambol at the time. Well, out of the village where it's too noisy for me anyhow. Depends what you want, really. I like peace and quiet, a balcony with a view, neighbours that aren't pumping techno all night and a nice restaurant nearby. It had all of that. 250 for an AC room sounds like a good deal. Maybe prices have dropped since then, I really wouldn't know tbh.

 

[Thimble Queen]

When I was at the pink place it was 500rs a night for the best room (overlooking beach, fridge, balcony etc) that was winter 2008/9 we were also staying a while and built up a rapport with the owners. New ppl coming into the rooms around us for short stays were charged double. There are cheaper smaller rooms in the guest house also.

Just before you get to the guest house... There was a house owned by locals with rooms to rent for 150rs a night. We had a look pretty similar to what we had a guest house but no Seaview so stayed where we were.

There's a place in the south that was beautiful and hardly any tourists and the ones that were there weren't exactly the poi playing type It's probably hideously packed now tho.

 

[Voley]

There's a place in the south that was beautiful and hardly any tourists and the ones that were there weren't exactly the poi playing type It's probably hideously packed now tho.

Agonda? That was lovely when I went there. Near enough to pop into Palolem for a night if you fancied it but beautifully quiet if you just wanted to eat some seafood and have a beer at that place on the hill for sunset.

 

[twentythreedom]

like?

Lots more to India than Goa, or Thailand / Cambodia / Lao / Vietnam / Indonesia / Malaysia etc, same sort of lifestyle available in tons of amazing places. South America maybe?

 

[moody]

They're all much more expensive to get to plus SE Asia is all brit boys and drunk Aussies now.

 

[Thimble Queen]

Agonda? That was lovely when I went there. Near enough to pop into Palolem for a night if you fancied it but beautifully quiet if you just wanted to eat some seafood and have a beer at that place on the hill for sunset.

Yeah I was trying not to name it but I'm sure the secret is already out anyway. The water was so clean you could see straight to bottom. I saw tourists and locals picking their fag butts up of the beach to try to help keep it clean. Didn't see that anywhere else.

I was also quiet enough to skinny dip

 

[Voley]

Yeah I was trying not to name it but I'm sure the secret is already out anyway. The water was so clean you could see straight to bottom. I saw tourists and locals picking their fag butts up of the beach to try to help keep it clean. Didn't see that anywhere else.

I was also quiet enough to skinny dip

Oh the secret's out. I've seen it mentioned on TripAdvisor even. Speaking of places we can't mention, did you ever nip over the border into Maharashtra from Arambol? There's some proper unspoilt beaches up there. The journey was about an hour on a scooter through a weird industrial complex and sometimes involved a bit of baksheesh nonsense at the border but still worth it.

 

[Thimble Queen]

Oh the secret's out. I've seen it mentioned on TripAdvisor even. Speaking of places we can't mention, did you ever nip over the border into Maharashtra from Arambol? There's some proper unspoilt beaches up there. The journey was about an hour on a scooter through a weird industrial complex and sometimes involved a bit of baksheesh nonsense at the border but still worth it.

Yeah was secretly hoping in vain... We made a few trips over the boarder some really cool wild beaches. So much nature but not a soul there. So own water etc was def needed. We also went up in the hills to Umboli (sp) to revisit places I'd been to with my father. Beautiful up there.

 

[Voley]

Yeah was secretly hoping in vain... We made a few trips over the boarder some really cool wild beaches. So much nature but not a soul there. So own water etc was def needed. We also went up in the hills to Umboli (sp) to revisit places I'd been to with my father. Beautiful up there.

Oh yes, I've asked you about this before haven't I? I remember you mentioning Umboli. Me and han had a brilliant few days riding scooters up round Maharashtra - went to Sindudurgh, the town that has the art school and went to the beach I won't mention but you probably know. On another trip I stayed there one night in a hut with a mud floor, no leccy or anything, just brilliant. A mile of beach without another soul on it. Can't be too many places like that left.

 

[Voley]

Actually I've just googled it and it looks like that's not much of a secret anymore, either.

 

[Orang Utan]

You rode a scooter in India? Nutter!

 

[Voley]

You rode a scooter in India? Nutter!

Yeah it takes a bit of practice. Just imagine everyone's out to kill you - because, well, they are - and that everyone's expecting you to do daft shit like pull out into fast-moving traffic and drive on the wrong side of a road full of cows. Then you'll be fine. No, really.

 

[Orang Utan]

I wouldn't risk it personally!
But I don't have a great track record when it comes to Indian travel!

 

[Voley]

I didn't have any accidents in four or so years but you have to teach yourself to forget all the basic rules of driving that you've ever learned. Junctions are difficult at first - it took me a long time to suss that people really did expect me to cut them up appallingly. As long as you've sounded your horn (about eight times is appropriate) you should be alright. I started off on the little lanes round Arambol but by the end I was happy in the towns, too. I'd only attempt Calcutta or somewhere if I had to but you'd get used to it after a bit, I expect.

 

[Thimble Queen]

Actually I've just googled it and it looks like that's not much of a secret anymore, either.

there were some really beautiful crabs that lived in twisty pointy shells and a little alcove in the cliff walls where someone had made an alter with these little deities. The sea was so rough and the sand was really fine and powdery. So different to the other beaches. I found my silence place there.

 

[Belushi]

I didn't have any accidents in four or so years but you have to teach yourself to forget all the basic rules of driving that you've ever learned. Junctions are difficult at first - it took me a long time to suss that people really did expect me to cut them up appallingly. As long as you've sounded your horn (about eight times is appropriate) you should be alright. I started off on the little lanes round Arambol but by the end I was happy in the towns, too. I'd only attempt Calcutta or somewhere if I had to but you'd get used to it after a bit, I expect.

It's when you see a family of five on one I really worry