Home Sweet Home

Well we made it back to the UK all in one piece, having survived yet another adventure in India. Did I have a good time? Yeah in parts, I enjoyed our stay at The Leela, the boat trip was fantastic and 3 days at Soul Vacation was peaceful. Phil certainly chilled out! I didn’t however, enjoy the heat and humidity and I certainly wouldn’t go at the end of the season again. The staff, at times were reluctant and appeared weary, which I suppose at the end of an 8 month stint, is only to be expected. The poverty in Goa has never sat comfortably with me and it was sad to see the desperate begging of the beach sellers and the shop owners on the streets. We feel sorry for ourselves in this country with talk of the recession but when you see how little the Goan people have, you realise we live like kings and queens. Both Phil and I feel like we have really done Goa and that if we have the opportunity, we shall travel elsewhere for our next adventure.

Both Phil and I expected the journey home to be horrendous but in fact it wasn’t too painful. Dablomin airport wasn’t as chaotic as it usually is, only one hour queuing to check-in and get through customs followed by seven million passport and bag checks and then straight on the plane which amazingly left on time. Phil and I got seats together and sat next to an Indian man who lived in Leicester. Halfway through Phil swapped me for the window seat and I got my head down for a few hours sleep.

Ten hours later we arrived in Gatwick, collected the bags and straight through customs without a hitch. We were booked on the 8.40pm coach back to MK but Phil managed to get us on the 7.50 coach thinking we would get home earlier. What we hadn’t realized was that the 7.50 coach detoured to Hemel town centre and also to Luton airport so it actually got in only 5 minutes before the later coach. Never mind, Swift Cars picked us up and we were back at the kebab flat just after 11pm. Every thing was fine; the flat ponged a bit but we hadn’t been burgled and there was no evidence of any fires. Phil went straight to bed but I opened the cases and got a wash going before turning off the lights.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get off and both Phil and I were up watching the Grand Prix recording at 5am. Well Phil was; yours truly was busy unpacking and cleaning up the flat. At 7.30am we were in Sainsbury’s buying supplies which is never good when you’re starving hungry. We went home for bacon and egg rolls and then went to collect my car from the garage and then dropped off Phil’s car at the land rover garage in Whaddon. On the way we picked up the PO Box mail and then it was back home to start on phone calls and paperwork. Only a few hours back and it was like we’d never been away. I defrosted a chilli from the freezer and after lunch we went to do a few jobs at the flat. Unfortunately the tiredness kicked in and we packed up tools and decided to call it a day after only an hour. Last night we caught up with some of the TV programmes we missed while we away then we just simply crashed. Hopefully today we should be well and truly back in UK time.

Holidays over and now its back to reality. Harriet phoned to say that she will be moving to the flat on Thursday which means we’ve only got 2 days to get everything done and dusted. It shouldn’t be a problem and even if we don’t everything done in time for move-in we can finish off over the weekend. But still, that said, it would be nice to have closure on this project and move on to the next one. Which first up, is the end of year accounts, urgently, so we can file our tax return on time without incurring a fine and then we need to stitch up the sale on kebab flat sale and last, but not least, we need to find us both a job. Well that is the plan anyway. It all sounds so easy but I bet your bottom dollar it won’t be, it never is, is it?

Lazy Arab

Well, we have been very lazy in our last 3 days of this holiday, especially me as I have hardly ventured out of our room other than for some meals and when they clean the room. Claire has spent a long time by the pool but it is so hot I can’t explain. There is no breeze as buildings surround the pool on all sides. The ground seems to reflect the heat and it feels like an oven to me. It feels so much hotter than even out walking in the streets. I did spend a half morning, as promised with Claire by the pool but it felt like torture. Once back in our room I’m happy again with the aircon, tv and comfy bed and settee.

This is our new favourite laundrette called (it has no name but is opposite Soul Vacation in Colva); they are very cheap, good quality and the quickest in South Goa. It is a little family run place and two boys seem to be the main men there. Also a big thanx to Anthony and his family for the motor bike again. As their little dog has no name and they asked us if we had an idea of a name for him we suggested “Mish Mar” after our favourite beach Shack. I don’t know if it will stick but will find out if we ever come back. In fact, even though we get our lunch in at Soul Vacation, we decided to go back to Mish Mar in Majorda for one more lunch and spend our last day there. There are so few people around now that the sellers are so bored and have so few people to go around they are back to you 10 minutes after they were there before. Claire had promised Lilly of the Valley or “Shell girl” as I call her that she could do her nails. Here she is doing them and also the final result; not bad eh!

One last thank you to our best beach shack in South Goa 2009 the Mish Mar (www.mishmargoa.com). We have stocked up with plenty of cold drinks to watch qualifying at the Barain GP so must get ready for that now. Still haven’t heard who won the election but if the result comes in before I post or get pissed I will pass it on. Unfortunately, I will miss the actual GP tomorrow as we will be in transit but maybe I can watch the rerun.

It’s a bit of an odd title for this last entry from Goa but this place(Shalam) is so Arabic in the attitude and food and we are right at the end of the season and all the workers are ready to go home for a couple of months and nobody wants to work anymore. Quite different to when you come at the beginning of the season when it is buzzing. Well I hope Goa gets more tourists next year as it has been a bad one for them this year. It started off miserable as they had the Mumbai terrorist thing and a world recession. One local told me that in his estimation there were 80% Russian tourists here this year, which seems the way it has been going for quite a few years now. The vast majority used to be British but not any more.

Really not sure how long it will be until we come back here again as we have seen all there is to see and been everywhere we like now. There is only really the North that we haven’t explored too well, although we have been to all the main places along the coast. Our minds turn to home and what has happened there without us; is our house sale still going through or will we be stuck in the Kebab flat forever. If it does still go through I don’t need to look for a job straight away and it might give us a chance to get the property ladder working again. We have a week upon our return to finish the Oldbrook flat off for Harriet and Shane anyway and Claire doesn’t even need to do the washing and ironing upon our return. Goodbye Goa, we don’t know when we will be back. If there are any people surfing Goa blogs we have lots more info on our very first blog, www.philandclaireingoa.blogspot.com where we spent almost 4 months here and around.

One last ps. Remember our entry when we watched an illegal buffalo fight in Benolim? Well they have now passed a law in Goa and it is finally legal for buffaloes to watch a football match.

Soul Vacation

I had forgotten how nice it was here and am really pleased that Claire managed to talk me into spending a little more than I wanted to as the last day at Palm View was a bit of a nightmare. A wave of Indians landed on us and took over the pool and everywhere else at the same time. All of them insisted on shouting to each other all at the same time so I was glad to get out in the end. The air con taxi picked us up at 11am as promised but I had to bring the bike back leaving Claire and the luggage to travel in style. Unfortunately someone was still in our room as check out is not until 12am and then they needed to get it cleaned up ready for us so we decided on a quick trip to Domniks beach shack. Of course, today (Thursday) is still a dry day so nowhere is selling alcohol so Claire asked for a beer in a tea pot like they do in Kerala and Domnik obliged. We ended up having soup and banana fritters while we were there. Today is a national holiday and the last day of voting so the government always ban drinking because the locals only need one or two drinks, start talking about politics and fights break out everywhere. The little boat really struggled to get out past the big waves, just like me.

As soon as we were in our room, I had to have a shower and shave and straight into my white bathrobe, heaven. Claire couldn’t wait to get by the pool but it’s far too hot for me, maybe in the morning I will share one of those double bed enclosures with her whilst I study. The hotel promised us a bottle of champagne but they can’t bring it to us until the ban finished at 5pm today. We found out that the results of the vote will be known before we fly home so I will let you know who won the world’s biggest democratic vote on Saturday. I don’t think that Mayawati will win but she should increase the parties standing for another time. I have already got our ice on the go with the Vodka and mixers chilling. Claire took the rest of our dirty washing to the laundry across the road so she doesn’t have to wash as soon as we get home. It’s so cheap here, only about £2 for about 4 shirts, 3 blouses, 2 towels, underwear and shorts and they come back lovely and pressed in packaging in less than 24 hours.

Jimmy commented on one of the entries about the undercooked fish coming back to bite us and it certainly did; we both needed those little yellow wonder tablets to survive. I think I will buy a load more to take home as they are so cheap and work so much better than ours at home. They even seem to settle your stomach down so you don’t feel ill at all. We might as well get a few more courses of anti-biotic and some sleeping tablets while we are about it.

At least we know the food is good here as before we even stayed here we used to treat ourselves to dinner some nights. They won the Times Lebanese restaurant of the year a couple of years ago. They have a wonderful room service menu at very reasonable prices and the wine is only about £1 more than in the wine garrets if they were open and all served in a large ice bucket so I already know what Claire will be ordering tonight. I see that Sula now do a Zinfandel wine as well which they also have on their menu. Claire just took me to the library which is free and they have quite a good selection of hardback and soft backs in different languages. They also have a dvd library and only charge about £1 each to watch on our dvd player in the room. Maybe I can catch up with some of the films missed like WallE etc. We even have wifi in our room I can’t tell you how nice it is here; but we may not have appreciated it as much if we had stayed in 4 or 5 star all the way. Also remember that we have already paid for a hotel room for 2 weeks so all this is extra really, even when I cheapskate a bit.

Before we leave we really must try and negotiate a sensible price for a 2 week stay here, it might be the only way to get Claire to come back to Goa again as we both feel that we have seen too much of the place sometimes. Even Domniks cat seemed to remember us from our Christmas trip; or was it just our food he remembered?

Beer, Barrels & Policeman

Phil has done very well keeping up with the blog whilst we’ve been away which is just as well because I just haven’t been in the mood for posting. It’s so hot here with temperatures in the 40’s some days and with the high humidity, it’s all you can do is breath, let alone sit in a sweaty, smelly airless, internet cafe. Of course we have the laptop which does make life a little easier because you can draft up from the room, slap onto a data stick and download when you get somewhere with an internet connection, but even so, well done Phil!

I had a very enjoyable morning on Monday at the beauty salon where I was booked in for a fully body massage, facial, manicure and eye brow threading. Francesca was busy so one of her assistants started by giving me a manicure. When she’d finished I hopped on the table for my facial and massage. It was lovely as usual and Francesca finished me off by threading my eyebrows. I always find threading a bit uncomfortable but I put up with the pain because the end results are far better than waxing. Phil hadn’t turned up and we had 5 minutes to spare so Fran asked if I wanted my moustache threading? Cheek of the girl!!! But she was right, I had a few whiskers that needed seeing too, so I gave her the go ahead. All this treatment cost me 500 rupees; bargain price and of course I gave her a good tip, the equivalent in the UK would have cost me around 70 quid.

With the high temperatures and high humidity all you want to do is drink beer and sleep! The latter has not been easy because alcohol is not so easy to get here in Goa at the moment. I am surprised that we have been here 10 days or more and Phil hasn’t mentioned this before now. Or maybe he has and I have missed it? Apparently according to the locals, stocks are low due to the elections and many bars and restaurants are totally dry and have no stocks whatsoever. Also the government have put a total ban on alcohol sales and have made Goa totally dry for 3 days from 5pm on the 21st April until 5pm on the 23rd April. This could have been a problem for us but we’ve been around the block a few times and have been able to get beer and wine. It’s not what you know but whom! We went to Fusion on Tuesday night for a meal, steak for me and the Brazilian salad for Phil and couldn’t get served anything alcoholic. The owner of Fusion said that you would be fined if you were raided and found to have 6 beers or more in your fridge. How daft and I wasn’t sure I believed her but she was adamant. After the meal we walked round to the restaurant at Palm View and got served with chilled wine which we took back to the room. Bizarre!

We had planned to take it easy yesterday and spend the day lounging by the pool but a coach full of Indian families turned up with 10 million kids so we had to get on the bike and change our plans for the day. First up we headed for The Majorda hotel so Phil could post his blog. We had planned to have lunch in the Lagoon restaurant but they had a big notice in the reception to say that the hotel wasn’t serving alcohol so we decided to head to the Mish Mar beach shack. It surprised me that The Majorda was dry because we had been led to believe that the big hotels were exempt from the ban. Anyway when we got to the beach shack everyone was drinking Kingfishers so we were okay. We asked Camillo, the beach shack owner, and he said he wouldn’t stop serving beer and me and Phil figured that he was taking his chances and would just simply give the policeman a bribe should the shack be raided. Just shows you how ridiculous the Indian government is and how corrupt.

Talking of corrupt, I am also surprised that Phil didn’t mention being stopped by the police and given an on-the-spot fine when we were on the way back from our horrendous bike ride into Margao. We had just passed an accident involving a motorbike and a bus and wouldn’t you know it we drove straight into a police blockade. They were doing everyone who wasn’t wearing a crash helmet. We know from previous fines that you have to wear a helmet on main roads but we didn’t realise we were on a main road. Anyway, it was the usual set up, 200 rupees and no paperwork. Phil knows the score by now, he simply paid his bribe and we were on our way after 10 minutes.

The other thing that I am really surprised that Phil hasn’t mentioned about is that we got shot at the other day. We were riding from Majorda to Colva on our way to collect our laundry, just minding our own business when this gun shot when off. It came from some waste land on our left and was so close it was enough to make us duck. It certainly made my heart beat faster. Luckily we weren’t hit (obviously) but I tell you, we were wary on that part of the road on our return journey. My guess is that it was one of the locals maybe shooting a chicken or maybe a goat. I dunno, certainly a bit close for comfort for my liking. Still we live to tell the tale, thank goodness!!!!

We had a nice lunch at the beach shack of tiger prawns in garlic and lemon sauce followed by curry, rice, garlic naan’s and several cold beers. I managed to persuade Phil to let me have an hour on the beach (not easy) and then it was back to the pool so Phil could catch up with OU. Last night was quiet, no dinner just a few drinks on the patio and then bed and TV. I had been up with deli belli the night before so I was fast asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow. I kept Phil awake as well with my many trips up and down to the loo so he was knackered, although I guess he stayed awake to watch the film because as I type this up early morning on the patio with a cup of tea, he is still fast asleep snoring his little head off. Bless............!

Today is exciting because we are on the move and a taxi is picking us up at 11.00am and taking us to Soul Vacation in Colva for a 3 night package deal which Phil has negotiated. This will be our last 3 nights but I am excited to be staying here, I liked it so much when we came to Goa last December and stayed in Soul Vacation for one night. Last time, we had showers in the luxurious bathroom, put on the white dressing gowns, ordered rooms service and watched the movie channel. How naughty is that??? Hopefully things haven’t gone downhill at the Soul and everything is as nice as I’d remembered.

That’s all from me today. Right now I must close down the laptop, pack the cases and raise Phil from the land of the dead. I guess we shall pop down one last time to the beach shack for some tea and pancakes and then go back to say farewell to the boys at Palm View and wait for our taxi. Next blog from Colva, our last port of call.

Search and you will find

The last couple of days seem to be of searching, more searching and eventually finding. Claire went in for her beauty treatment Monday morning whilst I posted the last blog then went on a hunt for a new hotel that we had seen a sign for in Colva called “The Retreat”. I eventually found out why this was a very apt name for it. I followed the signs which started at 11km until the 5km mark then never saw another one. I travelled on for far more than the advertised 5km right back to Cavelosim again. Turned around and drove very slowly back stopping at every junction to look for a sign which I eventually found in Varca. Followed the sign down the road, well lane, behind a bus and came to a T junction and the signs disappeared again so decided to follow the bus as it looked quite modern, unlike the local buses which were on their last legs when the local authorities bought them and use them for another decade. I travelled through a couple of villages that I hadn’t seen before in the middle of nowhere until eventually there it was, literally in the middle of nowhere (The Retreat by Zuri. www.thezurihotels.com ) It looked very nice but was difficult to get past the security guards and I had to pretend that I wanted to stay there for them to let me past. It looked very nice on the inside but was very expensive at 15000 Rupees for a double room rising to 17500 for the top one. At 73 Rupees to the £ this is very expensive for this area and I think your money would be better spent staying at the Taj Exotica or the Leela if you like that sort of thing. It wouldn’t suit us being stuck right in the middle of nowhere but what will eventually happen is that local shops and restaurants will spring up to support it if it is successful.

I shot back to pick up the laundry and do the other jobs that I had been tasked but managed none of them. The laundry wasn’t ready, the jeweller was nowhere to be seen and it looked to me like his shop has closed. Anyway I managed to get some orange juice, Red Bull and diet Coke along with a bottle of Vodka and put them in the fridge before setting off to collect Claire. I was still a little early and spotted a new sign to what they had called “Lovers Beach” so shot down there to investigate. It turned out to be one we had looked at before that is full of rubbish so was a wasted trip.

We managed to get to Martins Corner for our Sunday evening treat but Claire seems to like it less each time we go there and I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t want to go back if we ever come here again. It’s beginning to feel like we have “done” this place now and when we were at the Mish Mar for lunch on Monday I told them that we wanted to go somewhere different and had them all discussing where we could go and what we could see but between them they didn’t manage anywhere we had never been. We set off Tuesday morning on our bike day out with nowhere to go so decided on Margao which we both hate with a passion and so avoid it like the plague. Margao is the capitol of South Goa just as Panjim is the capitol of North Goa. We are not good at cities, especially the ones in India. I could hardly imagine driving around Deli or Mumbia in a car never mind a motor bike like we were on. I thought I could buy myself a cheap watch there but had terrible trouble parking because the town was completely full up. Of course, there was a precession going through town as soon as we got there, something to do with these blasted elections. We have not been able to buy a bottle of wine in a shop since we got here as they are all closed for 2 weeks while the elections are on. Also every bar and restaurant is running out of everything so its really difficult to get any alcohol here at the moment. Good job our friend at a local bar managed to slip us a couple of bottles of Vodka otherwise we would have been out too. Now you see why I had to buy the Red Bulls Coke and orange juice, we haven’t turned funny, you know.

We eventually found a parking space and headed off on foot in search of jewellers, but none of them seemed to sell watches but we did find one in the end. Having tried about 3 on and not being able to even get in on the last hole we decided to give up. The seller hadn’t though and got one out that he thought would be a bit bigger than the others. Unfortunately it looked pre war but to be polite I tried it on without success. He couldn’t believe it and had a go at putting it on himself, which he did manage, however, my blood supply had been cut off and when he tried to get it off again the strap broke. It was almost as bad around town on foot as it was on the bike but you are more vulnerable to the street sellers. When one spots you his eyes light up like he has hit the jackpot. Obviously white people are far more likely that the locals to buy from them. It must be an awful life for a street seller being constantly rejected.

Off we set on the bike again in no particular direction, just taking the easiest turn to avoid the traffic whenever faced with a decision. I thought where ever we are we should be able to find our way home again even if we have to come back through town, but first we would try on our own, after all I did have a map. I followed my nose in the direction I thought we ought to be going until we were faced with a cross roads so I stopped to make sure with the map. The map I had bought from the beach seller was not a conventional one that folds up but one like a scroll but it unwound into A2 size which is not practical on a bike. Much to the amusement of onlookers, we stopped right on the junction and inscrolled out this huge map so as to better decide on our next turn. I couldn’t seem to get far enough away from it to read it as it was so big. If I only had some scissors, I could cut these 2 scrolly ends off and fold it up. I couldn’t believe it, a huge map like this and none of the choices given on the signs were mentioned on the map; back in Claire’s bag again and follow my nose (big mistake).

We followed the names of places that sounded nice like Hawii ( I couldn’t see how even I could get us that far adrift in such a short time). Damn! Why didn’t we look for an Indian Sat Nav whilst in Margao. The road seemed to get nicer and nicer with tarmac and white lines (a novelty over here); we were even faced with a decision at a junction where both ways looked equally nice. We tried one which eventually came to a dead end with a massive villa there. Now we know how it was funded. We went back and tried the other with a similar result; now we had to drive all the way back to the original sign. In need of water we decided to head back and stop at the little shop we had seen on the way and ask him if he knew how we could get to the coast. “Which coast” he said. “Any” I said, “at least we only have a choice of two directions”. “You have to go back into Margao” he said. “Bugger” Claire said. Anyway he said that there was a complicated way where we had to find Chinchimeri. “We have been through there before” I said, “I know my way back from there”. Claire remembered it also as I sang the “Chimchimeri” song all the way through it last time.

Having followed his instructions to the letter, turn left at the church, go straight until next church then turn right, go straight until next church, then ask inside. Claire has never been so happy as to hear me sing the “Chimchimeri” song. We did have to cross the ferry so as to get to Cavelosim but it is free. One lady couldn’t wait the 15 minutes it takes each way so paddled her way across herself.

One place that has alluded us since we have been here is Zeebop. Claire had first mentioned it from a website of an English couple that only recommended 2 places to eat, Fusion and Zeebop at Majorda. Well, we love Fusion so saw no reason why we shouldn’t like Zeebop and I had seen a sign towards the beach to it in our first taxi ride here. We had already driven down there and not managed to find it, but as they were packing all beach shacks away but one we thought we had missed it. Having mentioned it to the guy that got us the Vodka, he said it wasn’t a shack but a permanent place that stayed open all year around so we set off again thinking if we drive to the sign place and walk back the few miles to Majorda we couldn’t miss it. We did, we walked all the way back to Majorda with Claire cursing me in the hot sun and had to turn around and walk all the way back. “At least it’s into the sun on the way back and you will be getting a tan” I told her but it didn’t work. Just as we got back to the bike thinking we had missed it somewhere I spotted a sign in the distance (the other way) that looked like “bop” but some trees were in the way. Worth an investigation and of course we did find it. By this time we were hot, thirsty and starving so wasted no more time in ordering the largest fish on the “catch of the day” tray; a large snapper.

To be honest neither of us would recommend Zeebop from this first meal but it might be worth a try again. We both thought the fish was undercooked and tasteless, full of bones and not much with it. Never mind the beer was ok and the whole lot only cost 690 rupees and I had a sweet as well.

Kingfishers at the Mish Mar

Not very much to report this time as we have been taking it easy since I last wrote. The last two days I have spent drinking Kingfisher at our favourite beach shack the Mish Mar whilst watching the Chinese GP qualifying and race. For once the time difference was in our favour as China is only 2 and a half hours ahead of us here in India so it started at 12.30, just right for a beer or two. Another unusual race with Red Bull dominating the weekend in both wet and dry conditions. We saw Hamilton up and down the running like a Yo Yo and almost Force India’s first points but it was not to be. Today we were there early and I had my favourite breakfast of tea, fresh squeezed orange juice and pineapple pancake with honey. Really nice with the fresh pineapple they put inside. Considering we spent all day there and also we both had lunch and beers all day with me sitting in prime spot right in front of the tv the whole bill came to less than £15. Not bad for breakfast, lunch and a skin full for two.

I put a photo in of the sign warning people not to swim whilst under the influence of drugs etc. If you double click on it should open up larger but basically it tells you that if you find yourself in trouble, just hold your hand up and they will come to rescue you. The water is so rough that you can’t even stand up straight. It’s noticeably warmer than at Christmas as well. It is not even refreshing to go in because it’s too warm. The main benefit you get is when the water is evaporating when you come out. Normally we walk miles along the beach but not this time, its far too hot for that. I seem to spend most of my time trying to keep out of the sun.

You can see the lifeguard station in the photo of Claire from the beach shack, we don’t have far to walk from our bike. I put a photo of the bike in as well because I keep forgetting to. Now we are in Majorda again we are going into the Majorda Beach resort to use their internet rather than driving to Colva. We told you last time, when we were staying there, that they were to be taken over by Marriott and renovated but nothing has happened yet, I think they will wait for the monsoon now. Everybody remembers us wherever we go from the gate house to the front desk to the bars. I noticed they still have the same menu at the same prices there as well so we must get to eat there while we are here; it may be our last chance.

The laundry let us down yesterday and hadn’t finished our clothes and they are shut on Sunday so I ended up wearing my last shirt to the beach. Claire spotted one of the sellers and negotiated a good price on two local but very large shirts for me so I could last until Monday.

The other photo is of an unidentified fruit tree close to our accommodation. They look like giant pea pods of some sort. Maybe someone could let us know what it is?

Well I suppose that I will be entering this entry whilst Claire has here first beauty treatment on Monday morning so that is when you get to read this. We also get e treatment each in with the package during our stay at “Soul Vacation” but I guess Claire will use them both and I know what you are thinking but it’s not true. Claire does not need them more than me.

It’s really getting quiet here now as most people have gone home now. I think that we are the only ones at our hotel now so we have the pool to ourselves. I have just about caught up with my OU now and still have a week to go so maybe I will get chance to get ahead again before I get my next job away or we start a renovation project again. We still have our “bike day” to come and I just bought a map from a boy on the beach ready to plan our trip. I know that Claire doesn’t particularly like thinking about this day but usually she is happy afterwards as something always seems to happen to us on these journeys.

Almost forgot to say that they are allowing the beach sellers to sell on the beach again. When we were here at Christmas it had been stopped and we first thought for the better as you don’t get hassled by them but on reflection I prefer it when we have them, it just didn’t feel the same when they had gone and for some of them it is their only form of income.