LOCALS, Goa

Favorite thing: i am surprised by the amount of people on this forum who have stated things about meeting goans, good or bad. The point is that many of these people are NOT even Goan.

It's me moving from London to Birmingham and saying, "i'm a Brummie".
Not all brown faces are Goan faces. If you learn the history of Goa you will note that it was once under Portugese rule. You can identify many Goans by they mixture of Portugese and Indian culture.

Names such as Orlando, Rueben, Maria, D'Souza, Cruz etc are genuine Goans. Most will not even go to the tourist places.

The only Indians that go to the tourist places are the people that moved to Goa to make money from the tourists! or Indian tourists themselves!

Fondest memory: The goan people. So so so so friendly. Not involved with drugs and crime that has been brought on Goa by other Indians who have moved to Goa to exploit tourists. These are NOT goans.

Favorite thing: Goa is a really friendly place to visit and great place to live.

Dont forget:
* 95% of people here speak at least 4 languages.

* Fish curry rice is the staple food here, try it atleast twice in different restaurants.

*The bus is the fastest, best and cheapest way to travel around Goa

*Shopping in the hotel/resort shop should be left for emergency items only

*Everything on the beach costs 5 times more than off it

*divide all prices by 4 and then work upwards, if you think its really worth it

*walk away from the shop, you are usually called back and get to buy at your price....f the shop person doesnt look sad/angry after your purchase you paid way too much!

*curries are eaten with rice or naan, not both like in UK, its great fun to try.

*eating vegetarian is the best way to stay healthy, get fit and stay out of the bathroom on your holiday.

*malaria is not wide spread, in 2 years I have only heard of one person getting it and he was a local..is it worth taking malarial tablets? you decide.

*local dogs and cows - are not scary, just steer clear of them...Cows are the best recycling/disposal system in Goa.

*toilet roll - should not be flushed down the loo, use the bin or better yet try the Indian way of washing with jug and water. good cool down!

*Water - drink 6 litres of bottled water a day, more if you are drinking alcohol.

*Internet gets cheaper as you head out of tourist areas, go to mapusa/panjim to get for Rs20 (or less) an hour.

Favorite thing: One of the best things about Goa is the abundance of fresh fruit!! On the way from the beach in Calangute we would stop and buy fruit from one of the sellers on the roadside. We would pick a massive pineapple and she would peel, slice it and bag it up for us. We wre lucky enough to have a fridge in our room so we would rinse the fruit our with bottled water and leave it in the fridge overnight. Starting your day with a mellow sweet as nectar pineapple is the way to go!!

Fondest memory: The people were very friendly and trusting, as i was told "we believe english mans word". I was looking to buy a pieace of jewellary,and was told to take it overnight check its value in other shops. And to return it the next day and pay for it if i wanted to keep it!

Favorite thing: My favourite thing about Goa has to be the wonderful people that we met. The locals were so friendly, warm and helpful. All were eager to please and genuinely appeared interested in our home life and loved talking about their families. We even met some of their children. The children would come and shake hands and if we saw them again would remeber our names and wave to us in the street. : - )

Fondest memory: I am already missing Goa and I have only been home for 6 days ( end of April 2004 )

Favorite thing: When on the beach go take a look at the days catch from the fishermen and see how they barter for the price of fish, you could always get some fresh fish for yourself and get a local restaurant to cook it for you.

Favorite thing: It is always a nice thought when in Goa to go to a shop and buy some text books, pens and pencils which are very inexpensive and go to the local childrens school and give them to the teacher as they are always grateful.

Favorite thing: You will find children asking for money and the best way out of this is to give them a soda or some food, don't give them money how ever sorry for them you feel, because the next day outside your hotel they will be waiting for you in great numbers and it does cause problems as you can't give money to every child and giving money to one usually ends up in a mass melee of squabbling siblings. Some parents have a lot to answer for because they are usually the ones that send their kids begging in the first place and all the money collected goes to them and if the child has a bad day begging it's not the warmest of welcomes when they get home.