Goa used to be the getaway for hippies and itinerant travellers, looking for the laid-back lifestyle, spiritual fulfillment, and plenty of substance abuse without feeling the weight of the law. No longer. Although Colva isn't as developed as some places along the coast it's lost any semblance of a hideaway paradise. There are beach shack bar/restaurants along the beach as far as the eye can see - and it's a very long beach. Colva village itself has the usual plethora of trinket and clothing outlets, bars, restaurants and small mid-range hotels. However, it's still quite pleasant for all of that.

We're staying at the Williams Beach Retreat, one of only two hotels with a pool. Since arriving yesterday we've seen more white people than in the rest of the trip put together. Suddenly the breakfast meal isn't the surprise package that we've been used to; tea in a pot with cold milk, a full English breakfast if you want one, and the waiters don't stand and stare while you're eating. But the best part is that food and drink is extraordinarily cheap - a bottle of Kingfisher is only R50 in a restaurant, compared with at least R120 in Mumbai, and an evening meal will typically cost less than R300. This may not be the 'real' India, but we think we can cope!