A sad goodbye to Goa

It's our last full day in Goa and unfortunately as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

This is where we have been spending most of the last week (besides when we have been swimming), on the deck of the Sunset Bar and Guesthouse. We have eaten most of our meals here and spent the evenings (when it has not rained) reading until closing time or playing backgammon. It has really been an idyllic place and we will be genuinely sad to say goodbye to the wonderful staff who have made us feel so at home. Tonight as its our last night we'll have the restaurant's speciality- freshly caught fish, grilled with spices, served with rice and salad. The people here know how to cook fish and I can't wait for later.

I think we have been lucky with our stay in Goa firstly because of where we have stayed and secondly because we arrived before the big rush of people when prices will go up and it will probably be not quite as magical. They are already building beach huts and restaurants (they build them from scratch every year out of bamboo) for the big holiday rush. On a lighter note, we won't really miss saying goodbye to all the Russian white butt cheeks we have seen. There are many Russians on holiday here and they have a thing for wearing G-strings or small speedos regardless of body size!

Besides the beach, the surrounding countryside is beautiful. We took a long walk down some of the narrow roads on Sunday and it was so tranquil with cows grazing in the fields and palm trees lining the road swaying in the breeze. I also spotted lots of little Kingfisher birds sitting on the telephone poles. (Larna thinks I am a bit crazy my obsession with these blue-backed little birds with long red beaks). Many of the houses are the old Portuguese ones in colours of white, orange and blue. A lot are available for rent. Dogs come out to greet you or just sit on fence posts and bark in a more or less friendly manner.

Anyway, tomorrow we fly to Udaipur up north which is described in the Lonely Planet as an "egg shell blue" city with lots of ancient and wondrous things to see. From there we'll make our way to Delhi stopping at Pushkar in the desert, and Agra to see the Taj Mahal and fort.

A couple more pics below of various scenes in Goa: