So here it is, the next blog entry.

Since the last blog we have become hardend travellers!!! This all started with a 35hr train journey to get us away from the hetic North and plunge us into the laid back lifestyle (so we had heard) of Goa. Train journeys in India are one heck of an experience, especially ones for that duration! Every few minutes somebody will walk down selling something, everybody wonders about and chats, and it is actually fun, for about 12hrs. The toilet leaves little to be desired, a hole onto the track, whilst you cling to a handrail for dear life. Needless to say, neither of us fancy spending much time in there!!

Eventually arrived in Margoa, after asking everybody we met to tell us which stop ours was, and got a taxi to a place on the beach in Benaulim, called Camilsons. Relaxed here for a few days and got into the Goa lifestyle, included our first work on the tans.

Headed in a taxi for Palolem, which was described as travllers paradise, just what we thought we needed, however the journey was far from paradise. After having to turn around once, due to a road block, our taxi driver demanded more money for travelling a different route, but then hit another block, which where we not going to get through. We were abandoned on a bridge, where we were rescued by a nice man from Bangalore, who was on business. He was headed tor a beach south of Paloem and offered us to join him. Now i was thinking (Matt) a nice sturdy boat, but oh no, a fishing boat, with a motor on the back, which we had to balance our backpacks on (on a pile of fishing nets). However this turned out to be quite fun, (after we got onto the sea having nearly been thrown off), and arrived on the beach in style, trudging out of the water with our backpacks on, like true travellers!

So we had arrived in Palolem, and headed to our beach hut, we were going to call home for a week. We really saw no point in packing up and moving, especially as we had our hammock, were stying in the middle of lots of palm trees and other jungle plants and animals. So lets talk about the wild life - every morning we were woken up by monkies dancing on roof, dogs barking at the monkies and a few tropical birds joining in the fun! A frog in the toilet, a spider in the shower on me (Beth!) - it was a bit like a tropical noahs ark!

Most of the time was spent on the beach alothough we did venture out of our sun longers for a bit of cannoeing, shopping (think we are getting quite good on the bartering now!!), eating alot of pancakes and relaxing. Met 2 brothers from london and spent a few days with them.

So now we have come back to benaulim for 2 nights so we can be a bit nearer the airport to catch one of 3 flights we need to get to thailand. Lets hope the bags meet us at our final destination....

To be continued.... Love to you all xxxxx