Three in a boat, poverty and dogs (c)
We didn't have time to return from the Crimea, where we walked our friend's husband, when the friend herself began to drip on my brains, when will we go to buy a tour to Goa? You see, it was her turn to go on vacation. Together with her husband, they do not rest - after all, someone must guard the dog guarding the house! After the first trip to India I seriously thought that there was nothing more for me to do in Goa. Naive! It pulled! And even last year. But because of a friend who did not fit in with her vacation, she had to fly to Egypt. And this year they firmly decided - only Goa and no Egypt! It was supposed to take the same cheap hotel in the Kolva area again, and then go to Palolem, which I liked last time, and rent a hut there on the shore for a night or two in order to explore the surroundings. However, when I went to the TPG website, I saw that the previous Alagoa hotel was not the cheapest at all. The table began with the Agonda Holiday Home in some Canacone. Rummaging in the brains, I remembered that we were there on our way to Palolem. After scouring the Internet, I found out that the Agonda beach, where the hotel is located, according to some, is superior in beauty to Palolem, which I liked so much, however, it is quieter and more peaceful. So it's just a gift! We will have the opportunity to explore the southern part of South Goa without renting additional accommodation on Palolem! Decided! We take. Moreover, the price was more than attractive - $ 1.500 for three. True, no food. But it's not scary. We'll survive somehow. The main thing is that rum is 3 dollars. And we’ll train Verka, you don’t need to eat a lot!
Having made my decision, I went to the travel agency almost a month and a half before the planned trip, thinking that early booking should be cheaper. I told the owner of the agency Anechka that I want to go to Goa. She started watching, but for some reason not at TPG, but at Join, which I didn’t even think about. It turned out that the Joins had a direct flight Kyiv-Goa. Tempting! But when I saw that the UIA air carrier, about which I had read a lot of nasty things on the forum just the day before, I decided that Fly Dubai was somehow more reliable. Even with a transplant. In addition, the Joins had higher prices, and there was no Agonda in sight. And I already fell in love with her in absentia!
The Agonda Holiday Home Hotel offered its guests several accommodation options - huts without air conditioning, standard in a stone building without air conditioning, standards with air conditioning, studios with and without air conditioning, deluxe huts with and without air conditioning, beach huts and a villa. I had chosen the standard with air conditioning, but after looking at the weather for November (32 during the day and 22 at night), I thought - why do we need air conditioning in such a cold? We at home at 38 somehow survived without it. I took the cheapest option - a hut with a fan, which allowed me to increase the number of nights from 9 to 10. In addition, as I thought, the host would not have a reason to slip us a worse room, because there is nowhere worse!
And the days of waiting dragged on. There were no reviews of the hotel either on TP or on Tophotels. The reviews on Tripadvisor were good. It pleased. But I was puzzled that in the description of the rooms there was not a single triple. However, on the TPG website it was clearly written - triple. Whereas other hotels had a double plus an extra bed. Weird, weird! Somewhere I found information that in local hotels the third bed is often a mattress on the floor. Got Verka! J When I told her that she would sleep on the rug by the door, she was not upset at all. She agreed to everything, as long as we took her.
The wait was becoming unbearable. And then I read on the Goan forum that Fly Dubai canceled all flights from Moscow and from somewhere else. The people are in shock. It turns out that he is not so reliable, this carrier. I got nervous. Then I also read reviews about TPG on TP, which were very unflattering. Horseradish radish is not sweeter! Ten days before departure, the price of our tour was 300 bucks cheaper than we bought! And the price has dropped too! Who would have doubted! Our Jewish happiness, as always, did not let us down! Here's your early booking! And in a couple of days, it was generally possible to fly a piece for three. Eh, my toad went wild!
And finally, that day has come! The Mariupol train arrives in Kyiv a little late, we do not have time for the plane. I had to take a ticket for the Zaporozhye train arriving in the capital at 6 in the morning, and before that I spent almost 5 hours on the bus.
I didn't sleep well on the train, despite a large cognac dinner. At five in the morning we were already awakened so that everyone had time to freshen up before the sanitary zone. We had a lot of time before departure, the weather was rather nasty. They decided to pass the time in the Pot-bellied Hut. Despite the early hour, it was packed to capacity. A sort of branch of the waiting room. The people who ate, who dozed, laying their heads among half-empty plates, who charged their gadgets, sitting on soft sofas. We ate breakfast slowly. Time is still in full swing. We thought about it and had breakfast a second time, even more slowly. Although no one kicked us out, it was somehow uncomfortable to sit further, and the people kept coming and coming. We decided to move already to Zhuliany. Crossed the road. At the bus stop, taxi drivers began to pester us with an offer to take us for only 80 UAH. Really needed! We arrived perfectly by minibus for 4 UAH. from the nose. The bus was almost empty, and the ride took about 15 minutes.
A cheerful airplane met us near the airport.
We had to wait another couple of hours for the registration to start. I liked the airport, unlike Boryspil. Small, cozy. We managed to smuggle water in hand luggage through customs (thanks, Matveyka! J) It was warm, and I changed into flip flops. Vacation has begun! Artyomovsk champagne was found at the local dutik, but there was no brut. I had to choke half dry. The price, however, was depressing. We paid in hryvnias, and the champagne cost more here than in the store, at least 20 hryvnias! Same to me, duty free! And for some reason, we stuffed disposable cups into our luggage. Therefore, traditionally had to drink from the throat. And my handsome man begged for a Grantis pint. There was still enough time before landing, and the second bottle of champagne was used. Verka and I had fun. But the most fun of all was the baby doll, from whom I took away an almost empty bottle. His face literally blurred with happiness, and he confidentially sang to us: “I sang Grigory Leps louder and louder, and three stewardesses approached me at once... ”. It's good that he sang softly. For this, I earned another nickname Polygraph Sharikov.
He was sleeping on the plane, I listened to "Shantaram", Verka toiled. Six hours to Dubai is, of course, tough! Docking was, however, short-lived. Before I had time to faint from the prices of perfumes in the local deutik, we were invited to board. Three more painful hours, and we are in Dabolim. We spent a relatively short time at the airport. We didn’t have to issue any additional paperwork, except for the migration card filled out on the plane, like last time. Having handed over their fingers and received stamps in their passports, they took their luggage and went out into the street.
The girl who met us, a representative of "Concord something there" (that was the name of our host), gave us a booklet, which indicated the time of the meeting with our guide Alexander. More people came up. The girl “pleased” one of those who came up, saying that there were no places in her hotel, and she would be settled in another. The woman started arguing. Still would! She booked a hotel on the first line, and she is settled on a completely different beach and not on the first line. Without waiting for the end of the performance, we plunged into the Toyota that arrived after us and departed. There was also a young couple with us. I asked them which beach they were going to? People had no idea and only knew the name of the hotel - Nanu Resort. They give! After talking to them, I chuckled inwardly. I think they will be shocked. "Nanu" is a good hotel, but it is not at all on the first line, as they were told in the agency. There is a kilometer to the sea. Last time we lived in a neighboring troika and went to the beach through its territory, since they have one owner. I told them a little about the neighborhood and where to change dollars. I hope that at least something helped.
Having unloaded the guys, we were taken further south. It's dawn. Having reached the Agonda-Palolem junction, I drove, for some reason turned towards the latter. I was surprised, but decided to remain silent. He is local, he knows better. He brought us to a fairly shabby guest house, called something like "Castle", near which there was no smell of the sea, and stared at us inquiringly. I told him: “But-but-but! Agonda holiday home! He rummaged through his phone, turned around and drove back. Turned right at the fork. Ride! Having brought us to the gate, already familiar to me from the photos of booking and tripadvisor, we were unloaded. Having said to the driver the memorized “Bohat bhanyavat! ”, she asked “Wright? ”. He smiled. Left.
We were met by a boy, whom I handed a voucher to. But, apparently, he was never literate. An English-speaking aunt ran after him, trying to get something out of him. The boy is not hello. Then my aunt turned to me. I said that I only speak Russian. Behind. The guy took us to show the rooms in the building. Opened one. Well, nothing like that, the room. I don't mind. Our hut is, in any case, cheaper. But there is only one bed, although it is a king size bed. I began to explain to him that there were three of us, and one bed. It is unlikely that he understood what I meant, but opened another room with air conditioning. Then the third, with the kitchen. There is only one bed. Seeing that I was still dissatisfied, I began to call somewhere. The owner Agnelo rushed on a motorbike (I found his name on tripadvisor). Taking our voucher, led to the huts. There was only one bed, of course. Very big, but one. She asked where Verka would sleep. Big Boss said that he would put her separately, in a neighboring hut. Sure, not a problem! Verka, however, did not show enthusiasm about this. We look at the decoration of our homes. I don't know if you had to live in such "inhuman" conditions. A typical hut a la Melekino. But a bed with a mosquito net, which would be very useful in Melekino. But we didn't think of that before. And, most importantly, an individual bathroom inside the premises. Very poor, but still. A washbasin, a toilet bowl, a hose for washing intimate places, and a shower sticking out of the ceiling. The floor and part of the walls were upholstered either with oilcloth or with linoleum. There is a hole in the floor for draining water. The conditions are Spartan, however, in many boarding houses of the Azov coast, amenities are represented by a toilet-type toilet, one for all with all the consequences. And inflows too. .
Here it is, this is a miracle of architectural thought!
I didn't want to sleep. After getting dressed, we went to explore the surroundings. The owner took us to the beach, which turned out to be a two-minute waddle. It turned out to be exactly the same as in the photographs, but, of course, many times more beautiful! Where are Colva and other Benaulims!
Agnelo showed us a row of beach huts, saying that they also belonged to him. The huts were under renovation or even construction. I wonder if I booked one of them? She asked where I can exchange dollars? Agnelo assured me that he could do it for me. Then I asked how many rupees he appreciates the dollar? 65 did not suit me. He said that he would exchange 66 for me exclusively. They shook hands, but he didn’t have any cash - the bank was still closed. We decided to just walk around and explore the village for now, and wait a little with the beach, because we have an appointment with the guide at 10.45.
Leaving the hotel, go to the right. Looks like the season hasn't started yet. Our hotel was almost empty. There are very few tourists on the street. Half of the shops are still boarded up. But the cows are in place.
Glancing around, I slipped on the flatbread and nearly fell over. It’s good that they have already managed to ride wheels on it a couple of times. Otherwise, I would have gotten into it like an adult J Don't care to clap your ears!
We hadn't even gone a couple of hundred meters when the owner caught up with us. To be honest, he was so inconspicuous that I did not immediately understand what this bald man on a motorcycle wanted from me. He got the money, apparently afraid that we would have time to exchange bucks somewhere else. Having made the exchange of hundreds, we wanted to move on, but Agnelo began to mutter something else. I intuitively understood what he thought, and decided that two huts were too fat for us, so we needed to move to one. That's easy! Let's go back and move.
Agnelo left, and we went on, continually answering the greetings of the owners of shops, cafes, taxi drivers, tuk-tukers and brushing off their offers. Having thus walked a couple of kilometers, we saw a cafe, the name of which seemed familiar to me. Someone somewhere recommended it. It was called Maya.
We decided to eat there. The guys who kept the cafe were slightly slanting, from which I decided that they were Nepalese. Therefore, they began to look for a Nepalese dish on the menu, vaguely reminiscent of our dumplings, and called “momo”.
I've read about them, but never tried them. Immediately plunge headlong into Indian cuisine, I did not dare. Let there be dumplings. From the filling, we chose spinach with paneer (a local variety of cheese). Before that, they drank fresh juice. Hot sauce was attached to the momos, which Verka rejected, I used a little, and Vadik ate with might and main. Very tasty, however!
Returning to the hotel, we did not find Agnelo. Near the neighboring house, part-time receptionist, a guy was hanging around together with a girl we already knew, who had a wide range of duties, from cleaning to reception duty. They asked where is the boss? And no! The guy said that we can resolve all issues with him. I opened, it was, my mouth to state the essence of the problem (we want, or rather we don’t want, but we need to come together in one house). But coherent English speech, for some reason, did not pour out of his mouth. Closing my mouth, I mumbled in thought. And she asked again, where is Agnelo? He doesn't have to explain anything. The guy again said that he was a manager, and we can solve all issues without Agnelo. I tensed up and somehow stated the essence of the matter. The guy, who turned out to be the owner's son, rushed to solve our problem. First of all, it was necessary to resolve the issue with the third bed. It was completely incomprehensible to me where to stick it in a very limited space of the room. The guy whose name was, at least-kill-I don’t remember-how, but somehow in Hebrew-Biblical, presumably Aaron, began to move our bed away from the window and move it to the entrance to the bathroom. Then he quit this occupation, something distracted him. Then, after talking on the phone, he told us that Papik said that if we want, then the second hut will remain with us. Well, follow us so follow us. This fuss pretty much overwhelmed us and we sat down on the veranda. More precisely, these two, my companions, sat down, and I had to sit on the railing, since there was no third chair.
Daddy has arrived. Again began graters about our resettlement. Alya-balya, tyry-pyry. From his stream of words, I snatch out a subtle (or maybe thick) hint that one should pay extra for that hut. I am tired of this. I say that our guide will come now, let him solve all the problems. He has something with English, I think, a complete undesend.
Continued here >>>
