Between the first and 16^th of December 2005, my wife Gail and I travelled to Goa on the west coast of India for a holiday, staying in the small resort of Calangute, the middle of three beach resorts between Candolim and Baga. 

The flight was from Manchester with Monarch Airlines, with an hour refuelling at Bahrain were we were ushered off the aeroplane to stretch our legs and to wander around the departure lounge and Duty Free shops. (These incidentally were all decorated with Christmas decorations, Father Christmas and his reindeer were on sledges suspended from the ceiling and the Muslim shop girls wore santa hats ! ) 

A three hour flight from Bahrain is the airport at Goa, in India, which is actually a converted military airbase serving the tourist industry until the new purpose built airport is constructed over the next few years. 

The hour drive from the airport to the hotel was something of a culture shock, signs of poverty along the road are evident with some people sleeping rough under tarpaulin shelters and cooking over open fires near to the highway, clothes drying on cords stretched between trees nearby. Colonial houses and occasional Catholic Churches appear along the line of the road, whitewashed and well kept, shining in the sun.

Built by the Portugese who were the rulers here until the early 60`s,( before relinquishing control to the state of India), these homes still bear Portugese family names such as Rodrigues and many locals are devout Catholic. 

Signboards advertising banks, consumer products, and grinning politicians are planted in the fields at the side of the road, and there is no denying that this is a developing country as poverty and relative affluence seem to rub along side by side.  

Calangute is a bustling community dedicated to the tourist industry with numerous hotels, shops and bars, and street vendors selling carved elephants, jewellery boxes etc for a handful of Rupees, the Indian currency, (This money by the way  can not be bought before arriving in India, and  you can not take out of the country due to strict Government controls.) 

December is the start of peak holiday season here and temperatures can get up to 40 degrees but because of a light coastal breeze the humidity is kept to a comfortable level generally especially near to the beach. The Tsunami in 2004 has affected tourist numbers and several bar and shop owners showed some concern about the affect on their livelihood, however our hotel was full with guests and the restaurants and shops appeared to be busy during our stay. 

Buses and motorcycles are the main form of transport in this community and small 3 wheel Tuk – Tuk  taxis can be hired cheaply for most local journeys. Royal Enfield Motorcycles are the main form of family transport and support up to five people plus luggage at times, including livestock ! 

I always thought of these motorcycles as something of an anachronism: to still produce new machinery on a decades old design seemed odd, however when you consider that the roads in India are poorly surfaced and maintained, and that sophisticated maintenance schedules such as modern Japanese motorcycles demand are too costly and impractical then the Enfield starts to make sense. 

Every Indian worth his salt considers himself something of a Mr fix it and makeshift repairs are carried out at the side of the road on all things mechanical here. Simple design and cheap parts are the order of the day and a brand new Enfield can be bought for under £3000 sterling. (these machjnes have been updated too, containing innovations such as electric start !) Many tourists actually buy them in India and ship them home, one chap from Harrogate I met there had actually done just that a few years ago. 

In competition with Royal Enfield is another manufacturer called BAJAJ who make small 125 commuter machines and custom styled motorcycles with lots of chrome (think ¾ scale Harley Davidson). These actually look the part but I never got to ride one sadly. 

Old Vespa type scooters still abound, although they were actually built in India under licence I believe and have another name which escapes me as I write this article. 

Any of these machines can be hired but Insurance is not worth the paper its written on and the standard of driving and roads here mean that this becomes Russian Roulette with the odds stacked against you ! (Needless to say I didn`t bother!) 

Consider this, a taxi (small Suzukii vans with bench seats), can be hired for the day for about £12, and each driver is a fountain of knowledge about what to see and when. This is the best way to safely see the sights and cheaper than the hotel and travel company tours. 

Tibetan silver is sold cheaply all throughout this region and is the genuine stuff not a tourist rip off, and cotton clothing is affordable and modern in design. 

The beaches along the coast are fabulous and not overly crowded, being lined with small beech shacks serving food and drink, with a free sunbed for the day thrown in, and the waterfalls at Dudhsagar (where you can swim in the lagoon at the bottom of the falls), and the night market in North Goa are not to be missed. 

In summary I would recommend Goa to anybody to visit before progress catches up with it and it becomes like any beach resort from the Mediterranean to the Canaries, Its certainly different!