We're leaving Mumbai! Another major milestone in our grand adventure is being ticked off. We're catching the Madgaon Express which heads south to Goa on the new Konkan railway. This railway is less than 10 years old, and includes the longest tunnel and the tallest viaduct on Indian Railways. It's a feat of engineering because of the landscape it crosses, involving dozens of tunnels and viaducts. In the quaint English that the Indians use, the side of our carriage says "Only to Ply on the Konkan Railway". Other than that wording, there is nothing to differentiate this train from any other that we've been on. Interestingly, despite rumours that there are few seats on any form of transport heading south to Goa, our two-tier AC car is less than half full, and we're able to pick our berth. Even though this particular service is daytime only, the train is comprised of sleeping carriages since the return journey back to Mumbai is overnight.

We're heading for Ganpatipule on the coast about 350kms south of Mumbai, where there's a resort which is run by the state government in the form of the Maharasthra Tourism Development Council (MTDC). We've previously booked and paid for this in Mumbai. We leave the train at Ratnagiri, 7 hours after leaving Mumbai, and take an auto-rickshaw for the hour-long road journey to Ganpatipule. The road is in very good condition, and the surroundings are very tidy with whitewashed stones marking the edge of the road. The local stone is quarried and extensively used to create basic but functional buildings.

The resort is in a spectacular location, overlooking and leading onto a pristine white beach. Cottages and apartments overlook the Indian Ocean from lofty positions surrounded by palm tress. Tiled pathways thread themselves amongst the palm trees and whitewashed buildings.......... But hang on a minute, this sounds too good to be true. This is a government-run establishment, and this is India! Despite it's idyllic location, we find out that the place is extremely basic. Our room is described as a 'De-Luxe AC room". Well, we'd hate to stay in a standard room. The room has a flourescent light and a couple of other light bulbs, one rail above the fridge to hang clothes on, but no shelf space, the curtains are stained and mouldy, and the bed is so hard that you'd be more comfortable standing up all night. We ask about one of the 'cottages' just to see if they are any better. We're taken to see one by an elderly woman whom we dub 'the slowest woman in the world'. Neither of us can walk as slowly as she does. Although there's more space in the cottrages, they're no better appointed and certainly not worth the extra R800 per night.

The restaurant has about as much ambience as a cold storage warehouse - plastic chairs surround square wooden formica-topped tables, under the glare of flourescent lights. It's heavily overstaffed, but the staff appear to do little other than stand around and stare at diners while they eat, before whipping away your plate as you take, what they consider to be, your last mouthful. However, this is India, and judging by the comments in the vistors book most Indian visitors have been happy with the restaurant. There's nothing actually wrong with it - it's just that it's all so very basic. The food is good, and it's also good value, although the rooms themselves aren't cheap. We can't help but wonder what could be done with this place if it weren't under MTDC control, since clearly the concept of making this a commercial success by marketing it to foreign tourists is not on their list of objectives.

Given the way tourism in neighbouring Goa has expanded in the last ten years this place would have huge potential in the right hands. On the other hand, if everything is satisfactory from an Indian perspective then it no doubt fulfills MTDC's objectives. We finish the day sitting on our balcony supping on a Kingfisher beer and mulling over this issue as we listen to the Indian Ocean waves lap the shore.