Going...Going...Goa!

So our last 9 days in India was spent in it’s smallest state, Goa.  This state was ruled by the Portuguese for many years as opposed to the British.  Goans didn’t gain there independence until 1961, and did not become an official Indian state until 1987!

This portion of our trip was all about relaxation and doing nothing, which was in pretty stark contrast to the rest of our trip.  We were able to use my hotel points to get us 9 nights at The Holiday Inn Resort Goa, which is a 5-star luxury resort located directly on the beach.  Because I’m a Priority Club Platinum member (shwee shwa shwee) we were given a complimentary room upgrade, on-top of our free room, where we got a bigger room, and a balcony with a view of the pool, and a very slight view of the ocean.

This is a pic looking at the main hotel from the pool area.

The hotel had 4 different restaurants. Most mornings though we actually ordered room service because it was the same food, and it was cheaper!  We went to a special buffet dinner one night at the restaurant which was located by the beach.  They had a live Rajastani band playing and a traditional dancer.

Oh and Janine’s favorite, at the end of every night they had fireworks.

 

For some reason Goa and possibly the area we were in Mobor Beach in particular had become a favorite vacation spot for Russians over the past few years.  Janine had several people speak Russian to her while she was at the breakfast bar or some other random place.  I guess I looked completely American cause no one said a word to me J.

We had several candle light dinners on the beach.  It was ridiculously legit, like they just put a table in the middle of a very empty beach, no lights around, just stars and seafood!  One night we decided to have a White Russian and Black Russian with dinner, thinking they would likely be particularly tasty given the clientele they were serving.  However, to our surprise their White Russian was made from a lemonade base, and the Black Russian tasted somewhat like a weird Cherry Coke.

Janine and I saw 3 puppies wandering around on the beach each day.  Obviously between fireworks every night, and an assortment of beach puppies this place was one of Janine’s favorites.

We spent a good bit of time hanging in the room relaxing, and an equal amount of time hanging out on the beach.  It was a great end to the trip and we were so happy this was the way we decided to see the sun set if you will to our time in India.

This is a pic Janine took of me walking on a sandbar that was really far out.

Sorry it took us so long to get this posted.  We are back and Kenya and have been super busy, but up next, what we’ve been up to since we have been back!