Lotus Suites Goa

Happy Thanksgiving to all - Andrew and I have found an apartment by the beach in Benaulim. There is a video attached - it is a lovely little place in a gated compound. We have bought some food for meals and snacks since we now have a kitchen. We moved in yesterday and have made ourselves very comfortable. We have a few maintenance hiccups such as the TV experiencing a power surge (from India's reliable power grid) and catching fire. But all have been taken care of by the maintenance people on...

Well after 6 visits from the electrician, 4 from the TV repairmen, and 1 upcoming visit from the A/C repairmen - we have the apartment somewhat up to snuff. We have had a range of problems from broken ceiling fans to lights not working to hot water heater being replaced to the TV smoking and catching on fire (no joke). Luckily we did not have to pay for any of this. We are still awaiting a visit from the A/C guy. We tried one fateful night to use our A/C and we blew out the power in the apart...

While Andrew is away in Chennai (Madras) watching England kick India's butt in cricket, I have been holding things down here in Goa. It has not been that hard really - there are quite a few familiar faces now that I talk to quite often. Benaulim is turning out to be a great recommendation by Andrew's friends Ian and Sue. It certainly is not the party or drug scene like some of the northern beaches like Colva or Arambol and it is not quite touristy enough either like Palolem or Agonda Beach in...

India vs England Cricket Test at Chennai There were a small number of us discussing on Benaulim beach whether England would return to India after abandoning the one day series after the Bombay attacks to play a two test series. Our general feeling was that they would not return. Maybe this was so we didn't get our hopes up, but at this point the team had flown back to England. However, as time passed and new venues for the tests were announced, but not approved by the English touring party, i...

First we would like to apologize for not getting a entry up sooner. The power and internet connections in Benaulim have been really awful so our internet cafe was shut down for some time. Typical India really and a problem we constantly have to deal with throughout our travels - but this week was especially bad. Christmas Eve started out with a visit to Margao market, where we go to buy our seafood, fruit, veg, meats, and poultry. Willa promised some new friends, Wendy and John, a tour of the...

South Korea!! Seoul to be exact. This Wednesday we will fly out to Mumbai and take a 4:30 am (ouch) flight to Seoul. Yes we are saying goodbye to sun, sea, and sand hello to snow, sleet, and sub zero temperatures. Willa's brother and girlfriend live in Seoul and with Willa's folks coming out in a couple of weeks to Seoul to visit - we thought we would have a family reunion and a second "Christmas" in February. So as we prepare to leave our "home away from home", we are visiting our favorite s...