Goan Nights

We have arrived in Goa, and immediately it is clear to us that it is like landing in a different country compared to Rajasthan. The people are a lot more informally dressed here (that is not to say scruffy) but it is more casual in comparison to the saris we were used to seeing oop north!  The climate is also completely different, with it being hot and humid, so it doesn't take long to get all clammy. I can foresee many cooling showers will be needed over the next week!

The Leela Hotel is in South Goa; traditionally a quieter part of Goa from the more party/club oriented North. It took a fairly long drive to get here which means we are in the middle of nowhere, but the drive itself was fascinating as we were for the most part driving through a tropical rainforest of mango and coconut trees. The houses here are, understandably, more European in influence (Goa having been settled by the Portuguese), and they *love* colouring their houses in rich and vibrant colours. It is like a who's who of the Dulux colour wheel!! I will take some photos of them when we get out and exploring.

We arrived at the hotel and were greeted with our traditional flower garlands, and given a brief orienteering of the hotel before being taken to our room, which overlooks a lagoon. It is basically a large pond rather than a lagoon to me, but it is full of wildlife and we see kingfishers dipping into the water for some fish and have even seen a snake swimming in the lagoon too! The room itself is impressive; you don't realise how hot and humid it is here until you get to the room, and it is like walking into a fridge - very welcome in this weather!!

Our room for the next week - we can finally unpack our clothes!

Our welcome from the hotel - a bottle of fizz and a(nother) cake!

The lagoon around which our room is situated.

We have a balcony for early morning/evening dining in our room if we want it, and they also have a pillow menu here too, so Sarah is a happy girl! Another nice feature is the bathroom has a Venetian blind which you can retract and thereby watch telly whilst having a bath. 

Morning breakfast served on our balcony - lovely stuff

**Update** After a venture around the place ourselves I can confirm the hotel we are in is lovely! It is very open and spacious, the people are friendly and it is impeccably clean. OK, in fairness we have only really had a brief tour of the bars (our first port of call!!) and the Indian restaurant, where I have discovered I really like tandoori lobster (I tried it first in the Raas in Jodhpur), although I didn't quite appreciate they would give me a lobster that was bigger than Mr Zoidberg!

My tandoori lobster was delicious!

It seems like the day we arrived there was also an Indian wedding on in the grounds as there was some overly loud music being belted out, but we were sitting outside enjoying them doing a set which can only be described as Jive Bunny on acid! It is not easy to fuse The Birdie Song (which I correctly predicted would be played at some point), with "When the Saints go Marching In" and "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball", but somehow they did it. Also, as is traditional with an Indian wedding, they released fireworks which were very pretty, and so that was the backdrop to our first romantic meal in Goa!