MISCELLANEOUS, Goa

When you leave Goa ( boooooo!!) as you walk into the airport a few people wil try and usher you into a foreign exchange shop and tell you its your 'last chance' to change your rupees and the rate they give you is diabolical!! I think for £10 uk pounds you usually get about 820 rupees, but give 820 rupess back to these guys and you will be lucky to see £3 uk pounds!! you CAN spend these through check in , in duty free, they will LIE to you and tell you - you cant spend them in duty free but you can!

I confronted one of these guys on our last trip and asked why they lie to tourist and the guy just ignored me and carried on fleecing people.

Take heed!!!!

When you leave Goa ( boooooo!!) as you walk into the airport a few people wil try and usher you into a foreign exchange shop and tell you its your 'last chance' to change your rupees and the rate they give you is diabolical!! I think for £10 uk pounds you usually get about 820 rupees, but give 820 rupess back to these guys and you will be lucky to see £3 uk pounds!! you CAN spend these through check in , in duty free, they will LIE to you and tell you - you cant spend them in duty free but you can!

I confronted one of these guys on our last trip and sked why they lie to tourist and the guy just ignored me and carried on fleecing people.

Take heed!!!!

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Not at the beaches definitely, and not really up north Goa, but as you go further down south, into the less touristy areas, (more probably into dense jungles), you just might be alarmed into an encounter with these reptiles. They sometimes do pop up from those vast rice/paddy fields too. There's a lot of stories and I have been privy to some first person experiences.

Moms friends cat was bitten by a viper on the road but saved due to her timely help (the cat came into the house mewing with 2 fang marks like red dots on her paw which inflamed in no time at all. The friend quickly collected the anti-venom from the hospital, rushed her to the vet and got her treated with anti-venom drips without wasting any time).

In their old house in Nuvem, her dog saved her husband from a snake bite, though the dog died (man's best friend?).

She herself killed about 12 cobras in her mother’s house in Nuvem which is now sold.

Once I believe when her dad was sleeping at home, a cobra crawled over his belly. He caught it and killed it but the cobra bit him before dying. He called out to his other daughter (they were about 14 and 15 yrs. then) who came running and sucked out the poison and spat it out. Her dad was saved! The doctor told the saviour that she was fortunate not to have any cavities in her mouth when she did that or else she could have died from blood mixing.

Seems that you have to be a survivor down south, either you get bitten by them or u find a way to outrun them. But then again, this is not in the cities, only in the dense countryside and most countries have this sort of wildlife happening about.

Check out the following links for details. The last link gives you medical information:

Snake Awareness

First Aid

Phone Numbers for help

The one dodgy experience was when we took a ferry as foot passengers across the estuary to the capital city. Although tourists can walk around Candolim/Calangute dressed as they would in a European resort, as soon as you leave the ill-defined confines of that liberal region, you can get yourself into a bit of bother as we found out.

My girlfriend of the time was dressed in a pair of cut-off shorts and a vest top and that was wholly inappropriate. I'm ashamed to admit that we'd both forgotten to respect the local customs of covering up, and it was blatantly obvious that the entire boat thought she was the whore of Babylon. We both felt like idiots for doing it, and it also attracted the wrong type of attention from the wrong sort of men.

when in Goa youll find a mixture of indian ( a hole in the floor ) and continental( proper sit down ) toilets always carry tissue paper in ur bum bag because most just have a tap where to wash with ur hand instead in wipe and then wash ur hand

Just an update. A English woman who visited Goa last year recently died of rabies. I presumed she had somehow got bitten by a wild dog. Turns out it was by a puppy...on a leash, with locals she had befriended. The puppy just nicked her, whilst being stroked...she did not even give it a second thought. Six months later...rabies! This is not to frighten anyone...but do be very careful!

There are arguments for and against taking Malaria Tablets when you visit Goa:

Yes, they have many side effects.

Yes, they are annoying in that you have to take them at set times and with food so you don't feel queasy but is it really worth risking your health for just to avoid these few ailments.

Some people will say don't bother but my view is why risk it.

There are alot of Mosquito's around at dusk so make sure you spay on lots of repellant too!

If you are unfortunate enough to develop malaria, the side effects you may have had from the tablets will seem like nothing!

please have vaccination for Japanese Encephalitis, if you are staying at/near areas of rice paddy fields (wet fields,during growing season), also if staying with local families who rear free range pigs!
definately a must if visiting during raining / monsoon season.