THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING. OOPS, THEY’RE HERE ALREADY.


GO GOA?????. Insider’s peek on this scribes opinion.

 

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING. OOPS, THEY’RE HERE ALREADY.

 

. By Barbara Kingstone

 

The southern part of Goa is quiet, sophisticated and the Russians with their big bank balancers and high limited plaices find Goa a great place to visit during the nasty Russian winters. So they head to one of the thickest hotels in Goa. The Leela Hotel is slick and contemporary with a great chef. And what Russian woman don’t like jewellery. There are 5 or 6 shops that never looked overwhelmed by clients. Nothing is big enough, too ordinary, boing and the designs are basic.

 

The Leela is chic beyond words. But obviously, the 5 or 6 jewelry shops are not what they want. Nothing big enough, ordinary,.boring designed and they’re right.

 

So far off the beaten path, there’s no point leaving the hotel’s premises since there’s a 12 hole golf course, beach, pool, tennis courts and a great chef. There must have been an oligarch staying in give me a site inspection.

 

But no worry since the lobby is huge and guests could have hundreds of their best comrades for black caviar and vodka cocktails. And there’s always a buggy to take you back to your dacha in case your feeling tipsy.

 

Not far, depending on traffic, as all the drivers tell you, is the Vivant Taj, about 15 minutes away. Is there anything that the Taj does that isn’t perfect.? Again security is utmost importance.

 

SHOPPING AHOY

 

There’s a sameness in the plethora of jewellery and clothing shops, all side by side with the same old, same old. They seem to hold to their prices with maybe a 10% discount. Whatever happened to real bargaining which I always felt was part of the fun of shopping in India?

 

THE SOUTH.

 

Yes, it’s quiet and best to bring a buddy, lover or spouse.

 

THE NORTH.

 

Where did all the hippies go? Believe me, some are still here in the hectic north area. The traffic is horrendous. One way of keeping the population down is to keep the road rules vague. Death on the roads seems so casual. Zebra lines don’t mean a thing, nor do red lights. If there are no cars coming why wait? It’s difficult to understand how vehicles don’t knock down cyclists or crash into other cars and more often, into each other.. They are really an inch away. Horns never stop honking. But with all this, strangely, there is no road rage. However, my only difficulty was crossing streets! and getting to the other side alive.

 

IF GOA IS YOUR DREAM, DREAM ON.

 

There are so many splendid areas in India. To this country’s credit, there are thousands of great temples and monuments,still in great state. For me the only major interest in Goa were the lovely, vividly coloured houses, some so old and almost falling apart, other spruced up e.g. white and sparkling buildings next to purple, vivid green, street light yellow along with very red, red that made the white temples look startling stunning.

 

PEOPLE

 

Hooray for the citizens of Goa. I’ve seldom met such friendly, helpful people who aren’t waiting for a tip.

 

AH, THE ANCIENT ART OF AYURVEDIC TREATMENTS

 

Bring on the dozens of Ayurvedic centres available. Usually, I can’t sit still in one place longer than 15 minutes. When I was told at one of the larger, more famed centres,my scalp to toe treatment would be three hours, with two technicians synchronizing their scrub, I regretted my choice of the day’s activity. Being so oiled down had me worried that I might slide off the bed and then flee for relief However, after the head massage, ( my hair was an ad for a bottle of extra virgin oil), then the scrub with stiff pads and oil massage ending with dripping warm oil over my face before massaging, seemed startling. But at the end, they had to pull me off the table. Stress be gone! My great driver, seemed to know every street and lane, and after looking at my white turban-like head covering that had been twisted perfectly and placed after my treatment, he headed to ONCE AGAIN HAIR SALON. The irony is when I arrived and saw so many with this sleek head gear, I thought this must be an initiation into a cult. End result. I felt terrific and the hair stylist was excellent. Who knew?

 

BOOKING FROM THE BEST

 

Knowing that I can’t sit around a pool all day, WWW.NDIATOR.COM did warn me that I may be disappointed with the amount of days I had planned to spend in Goa. After a friendship for over a decade, Sunil, suggested that two days would suffice. But did I listen? No, I stayed 4. INDIATOR, based in Delhi with 50 offices throughout India is an India-only company with major contacts in every part of this huge sub continent . They get to know what each client wants. For more info. #WWW.INDULGEDTRAVELER. #WWW.INDIATOR.COM #GOA, #casinos # beaches. #MY FLIGHT TRIP, #soothing treatments #traffic #barbara3@rogers.com