Poon and then another 'sort of' holiday in Goa!

After a night in Mumbai we decided it wasn't the nicest place in the world! So headed on the 4 hour train to Pune to research where Craig's grandad was in the 1930's in the army. Only to find that Pune was no better than Mumbai if not worse! Leaving the train station we had to climb a muddy waterlogged bank where they were in the middle of building a road. There wasn't a modern building in sight and very few places to eat. We managed to find an expensive hotel for the night which was NOT good value for money. It was like going back to Russia- a room that had not changed for 50 years. It had smelly drains and it was falling to pieces. Oh well, never mind. The poverty is in your face in India particularly when you get out into the sticks. There are women with stumps as legs and hands! not nice.

The next morning we booked a taxi to take us round Pune for the day. First we went to the army base up in the hills nearby. The country side is not much different to the Lake District, complete with a huge reservoir. We even saw what looked like a mongoose, I think!
After an hours drive we arrived at the entrance to be told by the sentry that if we rang back at 3pm the station commander may be able to get someone to show us round. We tried to ring later, but unfortunately the number we were given would not work so that was the end of that, although at least we got to see the area around the NDA (National Defence Academy).
We had a grand tour of Pune by the taxi driver!!!!!! The first stop was a fort/palace that was crumbling and everyone liked to stare at us under our brolly! chuckle. The second stop was a park that turned out to be closed due to flooding! And the final stop was a museum that the taxi driver could not find as he didn't speak English! Typical! And that was our grand tour of Pune!
Has this place changed since my Grandad was there? not a lot I think. They have not even discovered that laying paths along the side of the roads is a good idea. It seems to be popular walking in the gutters with the rubbish!

We caught the bus that night to Goa for some sanity and the hope of a nice hotel room at a reasonable rate. It was a 10 hour bus journey and good apart from the smelly blanket and the freezing air con that kept us awake shivering! We arrived in Goa bus station-Pianjim town and caught the local bus to Baga (supposedly a busy holiday resort, but as it was out of season it turned out to be dead). The bus driver put our bags in a caged area at the front of the bus near him and we were told to join the bags. We felt very lucky however after 10 minutes when we saw the rest of the passengers on the bus squashed in tight with their arms hanging through the bars to us like they were imprisoned!

We found a really nice hotel in Baga and have been staying here for the past week. As there are no other tourists about a lot of the shops and restaurants are closed down and there is a lot of hassle on the beaches from people trying to sell things. But at least we have a nice room complete with TV! Which is a good job as it has rained non stop for 3 days and 3 nights! We have had to walk through the streets at times ankle deep in mucky water.

Here is the link to our India photos-
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=daywaat.e4mpgh5&Uy=5fr6pd&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=9639790159_27925066713&localeid=en_US