Goa - Christmas 06

So the GF at the time took me to her 'home town' so it was only fair i returned the favour! well ok my hometown would be Leicester and she would have gotten the raw end of the deal, but my family originate from Goa. 

It was quite a good year for travelling for me as this was just a few months after South Africa.  Though i would have to say that the flight was possibly the most uncomfortable flight i have ever had to experience and i believe that i came very close to starvation.  On the plus side, our tickets didnt cost so much...

We arrived at my families house (who i hadnt seen for a good 12 years) in Baga and were welcomed with a big plate of lamb Somosas.  What a great start to a great holiday! My family (uncle, aunty and 2 cousins) actually own a restaurant there called JayJays, pretty much in their back garden and so good food was always on tap.

We ate soo much seafood (including lobster) and all the Goan dishes (Xit kodi, Xacuti, Sorpotel, Goa Sausage, Bebinca etc).  First day or 2 involved a lot of visiting family and family friends (which must have been rather boring for the gf) but after that we started to explore quite a bit.  We made friends with some people that owned a boat on the beach and so we often went fishing out at sea (to our horror, using fresh king prawns as bait!?) and bringing home watever we caught for my aunty to cook in the restaurant!  Cant get much better then that really, i love fishing and having ur catch cooked for you just how u want it is just sweet.

We went to a Club called 'Club Cobana' which was a very interesting take on an exotic night club! We also took a trip to the Dudhsagar waterfall with monkeys and extra cool water(right).  A lot of time was spent just relaxing on the beach, roaming around when we felt the need to, taking things as they came.  Various flee markets, and the main market, Mapusa (left) were good trips with great bargains...unless ofcourse u have your white girlfriend with you.

Christmas in Goa was an unusual one.  Maybe it was the idea of being away from home but also it just didnt feel like christmas.  Maybe it was the sun? or the weather in general? I dont know.  New years is supposed to be where the real fun happens in Goa, but unfortunately we had left just a couple of days before then.

Some of the best food i ate i have to say would be from a back street alley where i saw a small queue of locals at a little side stall where a man was serving curry in plastic bags and massive chapattis in newspaper (and for barely any money!).  Goa is such a relaxing and chilled place to be and because of my family connections i can see it being a place i will regularly visit.  This is not the last time Goa will be written about in this blog... :o)