bogmallo beach

My boyfriend %26amp; i are off to the bogmallo hotel on march 22nd ( can%26#39;t wait) %26amp; have up graded to a deluxe room, %26amp; i wondered if the rooms have hairdryers in them as i don%26#39;t want to pack one if possibly.....

Also can any of you guys reccommend any unmissable trips... I have read about the elephant trip where you bath them?? %26amp; that sounds quite interesting %26amp; unforgettable, but can you arrange it yourself or do you have to book it with your holiday rep?

I have been to goa before but just lay on the beach for the whole 2 weeks, my boyfriend has never been %26amp; we would both like to do something more interesting.....

thanks

bogmallo beach

You can bath the elephants at the spice plantation near Ponda. Don%26#39;t book it with your holiday rep it will be much cheaper just to get a local taxi driver to take you there. I wouldn%26#39;t book any trips through your rep, it%26#39;s much cheaper to do them yourself. I%26#39;d also recommend the trip to the waterfalls though I don%26#39;t know how much water there will be in March as we went in November.

bogmallo beach

We first went to the falls in an April and whilst not as much water as in November still well worth the trip.

Yes you will get a hairdryer in your room. There are pool towels that you can take to Beach ,so do not take any.

Have fun

Steve

Hi Lizzy2069,

Just got back from Bogmalo Beach yesterday,as previous replies there are hairdryers in the rooms,also fantastic view over the bay from all rooms, its worth tipping the pool boy on your first time round the pool or on the beach, and he will set your favourite beds up daily for you without prompting, the hotel is very nice but they are now trying to stop anyone bringing in food or drink to the hotel, with large signs around the site, they also advise that food bought and consumed off the hotel premises,could pose serious health problems for you, this is crap as we all know, but they would obviously like all the profits to themselves, totally ignoring the goan people trying to make a living around the beach.

The trips is again as advised use the taxis they are cheap reliable and the money goes to goan people not FC and other overseas companies.

Please say Hello to Rahul,Martin, Rahul 2,and Belinda at the Full Moon Bar, just at the bottom of the stairs to the Beach, and Simon at the Lovely Jubbly Shop what a character, he%26#39;s lernin cocknee just tell him Graham says Kushti to him !!!

Try not to drink from the wells!!

lizzy ,

well bogmalo is a nice palce to come to relax , oh yes hair dryer available. well for any tailoring and shopping there is a shop next to post office i think they are called shameem, please confirm it if its right!! they are authentic jewellers in the village trust them only, plus taxi and very trusting people except few.if you contact.spice paltation really good , betty trip very exciting to be on.

any thing else plz buzz me.

nick

hi we will be at bogmallo beach resort from the 14th maybe see you there. jim n pat

AJAX in .net

Shopping, please advise

Hi,

I%26#39;m leaving for Mumbai on Sunday 9th March and have 2 full days there with my 6 year old daughter while my husband is working. Are there any suggestions as to where to shop for clothes (men, women %26amp; kids), home decor (linen) %26amp; shoes especially? Womens shoes are top on my list as but need to find shops that sell large sizes as I use a UK 7 1/2. We will be staying at the JW Marriot near the Gateway to India. Any help on names of shopping areas and how to get there would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Shopping, please advise

gcanfen, I sent you a reply to your email. Here%26#39;s some additional information:

Linking Road is perfect for shoes, i think you will get large sizes as well. I went with my friend recently, she has broad as well as long feet, and she could find some that fit her. I wrote a post called ';gotta love linking Road';, it has photos of the kind of stuff you can buy on the streetside shops, take a look:

…blogspot.com/2007/11/gotta-love-linking-roa…

Gandhi Market is big on emboroidered and sequinned stuff, plus there is footwear there also. it is a covered market, and can get a little claustrophobic.

If you are at JWM, Linking Road is only 20 minutes away.

- Deepa

Shopping, please advise

Hire a car with a chauffer and tell him to take you to infinity mall (andheri ,lokhandwala)

Inorbit mall at malad also hypercity malad.

You will get every possible brand or designer clothes there.There will be no more places you would need to go to shop :).

Lokhandwala is a good place to shop if you dont mind a crowded place.

Home decor/linen - expensive stuff at Atmosphere. Mix of high to mid to low priced stuff at Pride (Bandra). Several shops on Linking Road also. For natural fabrics, Fab India.

The malls are quite Westernised. Not sure if you would want to shop there, since you%26#39;re coming from KL.

Just went to the inorbit mall at malad .Lovely salwars and chani cholis at ritu kumars store at inorbit http://www.ritukumar.com

Ritu kumar Special Indian Wedding Dresses Lehenga Choli Sarees Bridal Wear

There are many designer stores like Sheetal,Ritu Kumar,Satya Paul,Be: and Jashan.

There are also stores for shoes like Catwalk and Regal.

There are also stores of artificial jewellery like Twinkles and Sasha

mouthshut.com/review/Inorbit_Mall-75414-1.ht…

indianbabyblogs.com/2006/november-2006/inorb…

nacho, gcan sent me an email saying she wanted inexpensive stuff, she wants to do street shopping, so that%26#39;s why i said the malls dont make sense. not suggesting you don%26#39;t know what you%26#39;re saying.

- deepa

Just like to mention that Lokhandwala Market is a good place and on weekdays not very crowded. These days, you get most of the stuff that you get in Linking Road in Lokhandwala (though ofcourse, Linking Road has more variety)

Help with itinerary - first time in India

Thanks for previous info.

I really couldn%26#39;t find any group tours, so I%26#39;m now planning to do the tour on my own. I have tried to figure out what can I fit in 2 weeks and come up with the following itinerary:

Delhi - 2 nights (flight to Varanasi)

Varanasi - 2 nights (flight to Khajuraho)

Khajuraho - 1 (or 2) night(s)

Agra - 1 night

Jaipur - 2 night

Jodhpur and/or Rathamboren (is it worth to visit?) or something else (any recommendations?) - 2-3 nights

Udaipur - 2 nights (flight to Delhi and back home)

What do you think? Do I miss something that is a must? Is it too rushed? Is the above the best order to do them in? Do I need to book from home or can I book transportation and accommodation while I travel in India? would it be wiser to use some travel agency (any recommendations and ideas about the price)?

This will be my first trip to India so all comments, suggestions, tips are much appreciated. Hotel recommendations are most welcome too! I am not fussy as long as its clean and safe and in a nice neighourhood as I%26#39;m female traveller on my own.

Thanks!

Help with itinerary - first time in India

Thanks Michel! I have always travelled by myself but I%26#39;m not sure if I should join an organized private tour this time. www.travinfoindia.com sounds great! Do you have have a rough idea how much a 2 weeks tour should cost?

engine oil

Helicopter to Havlock Island

Does anyone know how I can book this and if it still runs from Port Blair?

Thank you

Helicopter to Havlock Island

Helicopter from Port Blair to Havelock is available only on Saturday and in return its only on Monday. Its not a daily service.

Atleast to my best of knowledge there is no provision to book in advance, and even in case if you are able to trace out their Phone Nos. they are not professional. We had been in Sep. 2007 and wanted to use it, we were five of us and they assured only four seats because some Government officials were expected to travel so they holded additional two seats for any last moment requirements. After visiting the Helipad and making calls after few hrs there was no proper response so we dropped it.

Surprising even the Tourism Information Counter did not have sufficient knowledge and we were directed to wrong government offices at 2-3 places before arriving at the Helipad which is the right place to book it.

Try checking the schedule at the below link, however www.and.nic.in is the official website for Andaman Islands

http://www.and.nic.in/heli/heli.PDF

But if you are able to get thru the Helicopter its worth every penny and cheaper. The journey from Port Blair to Havelock by Sea is 3-4hrs one way (depending upon the Ship) and you dont have choices much and it was a boring trip in my view at it only travels at 10 nautical miles per hour. Atleast i did not enjoy it (after travelling in speedup boats and tourbojets in Thailand %26amp; HongKong). Imagine spending 4hrs to travel 50kms.

If your schedule fits the best thing would be to reach the Helipad once you arrive at Port Blair and reserve it.

Helicopter to Havlock Island

if you have luggage more than 3.5 kg then not.

its still runs from port blair. they don%26#39;t give tickets to foreigners. this is the telephone of the office 0091-3192-233601

Best Location in India for a Beach Holiday

Hi

I would like to get people%26#39;s idea of what they think is the best location in India for a beach holiday. (Sitting by the pool and eating and drinking all day)

And also if you have a favorite hotel.

Best Location in India for a Beach Holiday

Any ideas.

I have found the following areas:

Goa

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

Orissa

Greenshore apartments

Hi

anyone know if the pool here is accessible for kids or if they havce a separate kids pool. My children are aged 7 and 5.

Anyone know of any other apartments that have a childrens pool ?

Thanks

Greenshore apartments

Hi

Try Jasmine Palace which has a great pool, also Thushara has a quite clean pool.

Ian

hosting services

5 weeks to go-a few questions

5 weeks from now will be on our way for 2 weeks at the Highland Beach at Candolim, have a few questions that you good people may be able to answer.

Tickets-booked with 1st choice 9 months ago but with 5 weeks to go when are we likely to get the tickets?

Coffee-Mrs loves good coffee, is there anywhere that serves anything aproaching Costa%26#39;s/Starbusck%26#39;s coffee???

Cricket- love the game, am i likely to see this being played on the beach, and would it be the done thing to join in???

Music- any bars/clubs in Candolim/Calangute that play 70/80%26#39;s music, most definitely not into Goan trance and current dance music!!!

Sport on tv- any where that is likely shows Premier league football(sunday evening) and the Calzage fight at 8am sunday Goan time??

cant wait to go!!!!Going to eat a curry at least once a day!

Rob%26amp; Fran

5 weeks to go-a few questions

hi rob

we booked our hol with first choice and were off in 3 weeks tommmorow not that i%26#39;m counting! rang first choice yesterday and was told that our tickets have come in so expect them anytime from 3 weeks on,

can%26#39;t help with anything else as this is our first trip

hope you have a fab trip

nickie

5 weeks to go-a few questions

Hi Rob %26amp; Fran

Tickets should be with you 2-3 weeks beforehand.

Cafe Coffee Day seems to be the equivalent of Starbucks over there. There%26#39;s one towards the Candolim/Calangute border, not too far to walk from where you are.

The Indian guys tend to play cricket rather than football on the beach so you would probably see a game or two. As for joining in, if you ask I am sure they would be happy for you to participate.

The music varies from place to place, beach shacks quite often play music from that era (my era too!) but don%26#39;t know about the clubs as I%26#39;m not a clubber. Foxy%26#39;s restaurante on Highland Beach road had the right music but we weren%26#39;t too impressed with the food although it seems busy enough.

For football, the Sports Bar on Candolim beach road is the place, next door to Inferno restaurant. Not sure about boxing though, they tend to be closed in the mornings. The Highland have TVs in the rooms though so you may be lucky there.

Have a great time.

Cricket is certainly played in hotel grounds by staff at all possible opportunities! I have joined in ( to my embarrassment ) at several places including Dona Sylvia, Taj Exotica ( they are REALLY serious there). 2 years ago the ODIs took place in India and England played India in Margao at Easter. The roads were gridlocked, high security at Taj Exotica where Indian team were staying ( except Tendulka ). Some of ex-England lot were staying at Leela ( Gower, Atherton, Hussein, Botham ), pressumably as commentatots/journalists.

Never had any decent coffee in India in 14 years but just about everything else makes up for that. Take coffee bags if you have in-room kettle.

Enjoy!

hi rob and fran we had fabulous coffee and cake to die for in a coffee shop in mapusa market.(friday in manic)also our taxi driver took us to a place where the locals and taxi drivers go also fab coffee cost about 10 rupees each.little guy served us up stairs best coffee we tasted.but if you don%26#39;t take sugar it was already in.also we have milky coffee at the beach shacks and it.s ok. take a couple of cd%26#39;s that you like and the beach shacks will play them for you.have a great time.we going back nov 2009 all been well.Barbara

I%26#39;d agree that Coffee Day is the place to get decent coffee (there%26#39;s also one in Colva and another in Panjim). You can buy ground coffee or coffee beans in Margao market, and I%26#39;m sure in places like Mapusa as well (they grow coffee in Kerala, I think) - I always bring some back and it%26#39;s really good. Generally the coffee you get in the hotels is horrible. It%26#39;s Nescafe, but I don%26#39;t know what they do to it - it doesn%26#39;t taste of anything, but has a caffeine kick like a mule!

Thanks all for your help as ever is there nothing you people don%26#39;t know! Im sure I can do better than Englands cricket team!!

Only 4 weeks and 6 days now,but who%26#39;s counting!