The lovely lobby of the Lemon Tree (by the way you can click on any of the pictures to see them in a much larger size).
Pretty fresh after 8 hours of travel.
The pool and grounds were pretty nice for a $100 a night place.
Sophia sheds her sari for a swimsuit.
The ship that ran aground........... in 1998!
Would you go for a boat trip in this vessel?
The lane behind the hotel as the wedding band arrived.
The boys playing hits from the soundtrack of Monsoon Wedding.
A gaggle of girls gossipping on the rooftop.
The first stop on our India trip was Goa. We spent 5 days in this "resort" area. It was hot and dirty but also very beautiful.
Goa was a Portuguese Colony until 1962 (yes, it only became part of India 45 years ago). Consequently it is a relatively unique part of the country. There is a very strong Portuguese heritage in the architecture, the food and the religious beliefs. In Goa there are fabulous old Catholic churches, numerous mansions in various states of repair and disrepair built by wealthy Portuguese land barons and some amazing culinary remnants of the colonial days. All contrasted by the Hindu temples, cows and goats roaming the streets, poverty, dirt and grime. There are 5 star resorts and a beautiful coastline and 0 star dives and dusty roads.
We opted for a 3.5 star place called the Lemon Tree Amarante. (http://www.lemontreehotels.com/goa-hotels/amarante-beach-resort-profile.html) A new place in an area called Candolim Beach. The hotel backs up to a residential lane which leads to the beach. Our room was very large and in addition to the big hotel pool we had access to a smaller private pool. It was all done a bit on the cheap. When I went to open one of the cupboards the door fell off in my hands and after the power went off (as it did a few times each night) the TV turned on when power resumed to name a few things. The staff were really great and so were the breakfasts. We had fresh dosa's every morning (http://www.food-india.com/recipe/R026_050/R037.htm) and the best sugar donuts (mmmmmm donuts....) I've had since coming to Asia.
Our only big problem occurred on Wednesday night. All week there had been festivities near the hotel associated with a Hindu wedding.(http://www.frugalfun.com/hindu.html ) We were awakened by music a few mornings and watched a few small street parades celebrating the new bride and groom. The small Hindu Temple was about 100 yards from our window and on Wednesday night they had a big bash. It was was a combination of Bollywood music (http://www.bollywood.mu/ ) and a loud DJ. The sound system would have rocked a large stadium. We were fine with it for a while. Some of the music was really good. About 11PM we checked with the hotel to see when they thought it might be wrapping up. They thought perhaps 11:30 or 12.... but no! It finally ended at 1:45 and we later found that the hotel manager had to call the police to get the party shut down. While I am sorry to rain on the parade of the happy couple (brought together by arrangement perhaps) I do think a little sleep isn't too much to ask for at a hotel.
The walk to the beach was bit shocking for Sophia for as we strolled down the sandy path we noticed cows on either side of us and one of the cows was a bull. He was snorting and stomping his foot. Fortunately neither of us was wearing red so we didn't need to do the Matador act. We leter ran into a pack of beach dogs who wear fighting. One of the dogs ran over to me (for protection I think and boy was he wrong) and the others followed. We skidaddled out of there ASAP. There was a huge ship about 200 yards off shore all rusted and sad looking. We later found that it ran aground there....... 9 years ago! The water in the Arabian Sea was probably about 88 degrees but it was far cooler then the pool which must have been 90 plus. Not very refreshing although the air temp was well over 90 with about 85% humidity.
Tuesday night we went for a walk down the main street. We had to dodge trash, pedestrians, dogs, cats, cows, goats , a few rats, motor bikes, cars and buses. All the vehicles were going way too fast for the road, had no consideration for which side of the road they were driving on and all had very loud and overused horns. There weren't really any sidewalks so we were at risk as darkness set in. We went as far as a small active corner with a few little shops and a small market. In the market women sold fresh fish and crabs, a guy was selling fried something or other, there was a "pick your own live chicken and we'll kill it for you" shop and the usual rubble and wandering animals. It was quite a scene.
All in all it was a a really interesting experience. Not exactly the the same as Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach or Grand Waileia in Maui!
I will talk about the food and architecture in another post.
Goa was a Portuguese Colony until 1962 (yes, it only became part of India 45 years ago). Consequently it is a relatively unique part of the country. There is a very strong Portuguese heritage in the architecture, the food and the religious beliefs. In Goa there are fabulous old Catholic churches, numerous mansions in various states of repair and disrepair built by wealthy Portuguese land barons and some amazing culinary remnants of the colonial days. All contrasted by the Hindu temples, cows and goats roaming the streets, poverty, dirt and grime. There are 5 star resorts and a beautiful coastline and 0 star dives and dusty roads.
We opted for a 3.5 star place called the Lemon Tree Amarante. (http://www.lemontreehotels.com/goa-hotels/amarante-beach-resort-profile.html) A new place in an area called Candolim Beach. The hotel backs up to a residential lane which leads to the beach. Our room was very large and in addition to the big hotel pool we had access to a smaller private pool. It was all done a bit on the cheap. When I went to open one of the cupboards the door fell off in my hands and after the power went off (as it did a few times each night) the TV turned on when power resumed to name a few things. The staff were really great and so were the breakfasts. We had fresh dosa's every morning (http://www.food-india.com/recipe/R026_050/R037.htm) and the best sugar donuts (mmmmmm donuts....) I've had since coming to Asia.
Our only big problem occurred on Wednesday night. All week there had been festivities near the hotel associated with a Hindu wedding.(http://www.frugalfun.com/hindu.html ) We were awakened by music a few mornings and watched a few small street parades celebrating the new bride and groom. The small Hindu Temple was about 100 yards from our window and on Wednesday night they had a big bash. It was was a combination of Bollywood music (http://www.bollywood.mu/ ) and a loud DJ. The sound system would have rocked a large stadium. We were fine with it for a while. Some of the music was really good. About 11PM we checked with the hotel to see when they thought it might be wrapping up. They thought perhaps 11:30 or 12.... but no! It finally ended at 1:45 and we later found that the hotel manager had to call the police to get the party shut down. While I am sorry to rain on the parade of the happy couple (brought together by arrangement perhaps) I do think a little sleep isn't too much to ask for at a hotel.
The walk to the beach was bit shocking for Sophia for as we strolled down the sandy path we noticed cows on either side of us and one of the cows was a bull. He was snorting and stomping his foot. Fortunately neither of us was wearing red so we didn't need to do the Matador act. We leter ran into a pack of beach dogs who wear fighting. One of the dogs ran over to me (for protection I think and boy was he wrong) and the others followed. We skidaddled out of there ASAP. There was a huge ship about 200 yards off shore all rusted and sad looking. We later found that it ran aground there....... 9 years ago! The water in the Arabian Sea was probably about 88 degrees but it was far cooler then the pool which must have been 90 plus. Not very refreshing although the air temp was well over 90 with about 85% humidity.
Tuesday night we went for a walk down the main street. We had to dodge trash, pedestrians, dogs, cats, cows, goats , a few rats, motor bikes, cars and buses. All the vehicles were going way too fast for the road, had no consideration for which side of the road they were driving on and all had very loud and overused horns. There weren't really any sidewalks so we were at risk as darkness set in. We went as far as a small active corner with a few little shops and a small market. In the market women sold fresh fish and crabs, a guy was selling fried something or other, there was a "pick your own live chicken and we'll kill it for you" shop and the usual rubble and wandering animals. It was quite a scene.
All in all it was a a really interesting experience. Not exactly the the same as Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach or Grand Waileia in Maui!
I will talk about the food and architecture in another post.
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