My last post signed off before I headed to Girgaon Chowpatty beach for dinner. The night before I’d faded and was not overly adventurous – ending up in a local veg restaurant. It was more than acceptable and I always feel that the best place to be a vegetarian is probably India so enjoyed it. The walk to Girgaon Chowpatty took only 15 minutes and once there, I was really glad I made the effort. The beach was packed with local families enjoying the slightly cooler night time air. There was a real fun atmosphere around that was great just to walk through.

The food stalls were fantastic with mats crammed full of families eating. Again, I followed a recommendation from Time Out on The best places to eat street food in Mumbai, as I did earlier in the day – and again, I wasn’t disappointed. Have to say I didn’t feel that hungry but found the way to devour an absolutely delicious Bhel Puri, followed by a lovely Mysore Masala Dosa with Cheese and, to round that off, a not-to-missed Mango Kulfi. It was wonderful just sitting there, eating delicious freshly cooked food in such an atmosphere and will be up there with the (many) special memories of this trip.

I had been told that I should leave around 04:30 for my 05:50 train and sure enough, didn’t get much sleep for fear of missing my alarm. Needless to say, I didn’t. My Uber arrived within a few minutes of booking it. In many respects Uber and other app based taxi services have been a blessing but I do realise that the taxi drivers are losing out. Even at 04:30, I turned down 2 drivers who were looking for passengers and felt bad for the fact they’d probably lost the opportunity to make a few extra Rs on a foreigner.

CST was pretty full with people mostly still asleep on the floor in large groups. I think they were waiting for trains. Grabbed a couple of chais, a decent vege burger and some supplies for the train as my website booking said there was no catering on-board. The 05:50 departure was not particularly busy so there was no mad scramble when the doors were unlocked. I was booked in to the Vistadome, a carriage with extra large windows and basically an observation car. There were 2 of these special carriages, one at the front, one at the back. I was in the one at the front of the train which through the observation window presented a wonderful view of the back of the engine – cue many videos. Non-rail buffs might have been disappointed but this experience – combined with the fact that door was only locked closed when I brought myself in from hanging out – is up there with the Class 56 departure out of Paddington on the Night Riveria Express a few weeks back. Really great fun watching the electric beast powering south with great determination.

The journey was a breeze and the Vistadome very relaxing and comfortable. Needless to say there was food onboard. Lots. And again, it was very good.

Arriving on time to a very small station with an army of rickshaw drivers all wanting Rs250 for a short distance I decided to walk. After all, I had been sat down pretty much for 8 hours so it wasn’t a problem, despite the 33C heat. After a 1km or so, one of the same rickshaw drivers stopped and offered to take me in to Old Goa for Rs50. Fair deal and had had enough of walking with a heavy backpack on.

I visited the Basilica De Bom Jesus which was suitably impressive. There is always a wonderful feel around the Portuguese influence and Goa is certainly one of those places. The architecture, the food are consistently pleasing.

Again, a cab/rickshaw seemed a bit too easy so I figured out (not much figuring really) a route via two local buses. Slow, hot, crowded, cheap fun, although I’m glad the Marriott Goa Spa Resort did not see me jump off the bus! It was bad enough the dishevelled state in which I arrived, especially as I got treated like royalty on account of my loyalty, although I left thinking they somehow must have confused my actual tier as Marriott has not been top of the list, plus I have also changed my contact details for the account from @microsoft.com to my personal email. Anyway, the welcome and service throughout was exceptional. Treated to a room upgrade and chocolates delivered to my room. And the late check-out helped greatly.

I’m/we’re not usually resort fans. But I guess there is a time and a place. This was the time and certainly the place. The resort was beachfront but it wasn’t recommended to swim due to a nearby port, dangerous tides and the number of large floating casinos. Have to say that was disappointing to see and apparently, local Goans can not access them. So I managed a walk along the beach walking through the very warm surf. The pool was not much cooler.

Bit of a sun tan top up. Well, not really, all that tan has faded and I feel horribly pale skinned, especially in the absence of similar coloured people! My evening dinner was at a nearby ethnic Goan restaurant and it was the sort of place that everything on the menu looked worthy of attention. A delightful waitress made some suggestions and she got it spot on, with some Bombli fried fish for starter and a prawn Goan curry coloured fierce red, vinegary and developing a slow kick. Absolutely delicious but a bit of a splurge at RS1,600 which sounds outlandish, but is £16, including 1 beer and some expensive Himalayan mineral water (would’ve settled for Bisleri).

Today. Not sure this is worthy of a confession but I have spent a gloriously relaxing day pretty much doing nothing.

Which takes me to where I am now – on a beach just outside of Vasco Da Gama where my train to Bangalore will depart at 11pm. Great move – it’s fairly cool (ish), I’ve just had a couple of cold Kingfishers to go with prawns and a large slice of garlic buttered Kingfish. SNAP! Oh and – confession time #2 – some fries!! It’s now dark and pretty blissful.

We came to Kerala in summer and it’s very similar but I would say Goa is as you would probably expect more geared up for western tourists, even if few are around (at least in this part, but perhaps I’m not in the main party area :-). The big standout in this very short stop has been the food and the sheer loveliness of the people. And the Marriott. I could complain about the poor condition of the some of the room finishes but that would be to the detriment of a truly wonderful hospitality experience.

So to leave this slice of heaven and to an 11hr overnight Express sleeper train (no cool name attached to this service) to a busy chaotic modern city and as nice as this is here, I am looking forward to it! It is also helped by the fact that I will be staying at one of my favourite hotels in the world – The Oberoi – where I have stayed many times on business trips. Southwards it is then!