Fusion

I put enough money in my pocket for 3 nights stay at the Rainbow and crossed the road to explain to our landlady that we would be leaving on Wednesday. I took a little extra incase she took it badly to try and console her. I remember from last time that they had a very frisky boxer dog that kept guard and trod carefully making sure not to latch the gate for a quick getaway. I crept in so quietly that I made him jump when I got to the door; he started barking and came flying over to the porch to greet me. He was just a big softie really and when he realized I wasn’t scared (much) and gave him some fuss he went ballistic. Our landlady was very nice and took the news gracefully asking us to recommend her to our friends. Consider yourself recommended Mr’s Landlady!

As Claire seemed keen to also sort out our Christmas meal at the Fusion before it became fully booked, we had a bottle of wine on our terrace and headed of there which seemed to cheer her up. We didn’t intend to eat as we were still pretty stuffed from lunch. We arrived shortly before they opened but they seemed pleased to see us. They asked us where we had booked and we explained our story. He said that if we were still struggling for accommodation that we could rent their studio apartment in Benaulim. I explained that it was too late for this year as we had paid deposits for our remaining holiday but thanked him for the offer. We do have one night that we haven’t arranged a place to stay yet but I am keeping that just in case. Although we weren’t hungry Claire ended up having the Tornado steak with pepper sauce and mashed potato with spinach layers whilst I had the Thai prawns and pineapple, all washed down with a nice bottle of Sula. This holiday seems to be getting better by the day; I wonder what delicacies await us tomorrow?

We got talking to the couple on the next table to us at the Fusion, they are staying at Martins Comfort for their first week and Sandray’s in Colva for their second. They said that they thought that Martins Confort was a little over priced for what it is and its position. See, I do get some things right. We were Sandray’s first paying guests when they started up 3 years ago and spent the next 12 months fighting them for our money back so I could hardly recommend them. The main reason being was that they were still building it and were no where near ready for paying guests. Also it is not in the ideal spot with long dark lanes to negotiate with packs of wild dogs even before you get to the road with no footpath or lights. If you do end up there you should get a taxi everywhere as it really is quite a tortuous journey and will take at least 45 minutes to walk to the beach; non of which are very pleasant.

Again I had real trouble sleeping, this time waking at about 1am and getting up at 3.45am. At least we have a second room hear so I don’t have to disturb Claire. Our second room is like a kitchen dinning room with the bathroom coming from it. In the main room we have 2 three-quarter sized beds and a single but there is plenty of space in there as well. This place is very good value for 600 rupees a night; I will get their phone number and publish it before we leave. If you stay here and have a choice, pick the third room as it is furthest away from the road and dogs and is even bigger than this one.

First thing we rode the bike to Betty’s place to change our Friday booking for another day as we are all inclusive at the Majorda Beach resort that day now and it seems silly to waste our only bit of luxury. I had deliberately kept the Saturday unbooked in case we could change Betty’s and stay nearby. Claire had found that the Leela were doing rooms for about £100 per night which is a real bargain for there at this time of year. Also the Holiday Inn is nearby. It wasn’t to be, we ended up booking two trips from Betty’s, one next Monday and one Wednesday. As we were over this neck of the woods and it was getting towards lunchtime we decided to hit Jocons for lunch. Jocons is the closest restaurant to the Taj Exotica and so services all guests that are not up to paying extortionate prices for every meal. It is well established and been there for many years; a little more expensive than average but very good quality. We went there for the New Year Dinner in 2005 for our first time and have been going back ever since. They also have a beach shack on the beach be we weren’t so impressed with its quality.

On the way back Claire was taking some pictures as we were driving along as we hadn’t done that before when we could see that a truck had knocked a large branch off that was overhanging the road which caused some small delays. This is a regular experience over here.

Once back we decided to walk along the beach to Utorda where the Kenilworth hotel is to see if we could find the couple that I bored silly on the plane. Their names are Phil and Bev and their eldest is Harriet. I noticed that the bridge was sunk; another sign that the rains were heavy this year. We walked through the grounds where they have a nice pool. They also have treatment tents like quite a few top hotels over here. This hotel also uses the identical blue and white striped towels that the Majorda have so I got mine out but it caused more trouble than it was worth as they kept trying to take it from me for a clean one. We couldn’t find Phil and Bev but luckily we spotted them on the last sunbeds in Utorda as we were walking back to Majorda along the beach. We told them of our adventures and that we were in the Majorda Beach Resort tomorrow and we would be in the bar for Happy hour at 5pm sharp if they fancied a drink. So far they hadn’t been out the hotel except for the beach immediately in front of the hotel, spending most of their time sleeping and reading. I suppose we are in the minority when it comes to what people do on holiday.

We walked back to our Mish Mar beach shack for our usual relaxation time while Claire could sunbathe and I could read the local news. There are now 4 English newspapers so I bought them all at the laundry in Colva that we visited on our way to Betty’s. For all four it was 11 rupees so I gave him 20 but he gave me 10 back as he wanted to keep his change. I will make sure I add it to the bill when I pay for the laundry. We decided not to pick up yesterdays laundry until tomorrow otherwise we would be packing it and carrying it to our new hotel tomorrow. Really looking forward to staying in the Marjorda Beach Hotel tomorrow, we might go quiet for a while, while we chill out and follow the majority.