We don't quite remember whose idea it was, or how we came to the conclusion to go to Colva Beach, but off we were in the car with Auslyn/Austin headed southbound 45 minutes away to another beach town.
We've written about this before, but as experienced low to mid level budget travelers, our expectations and needs from our hosts are really low. In no particular order:
1. Wifi
2. AC if we paid for it
3. No bugs
4. Electricity
Anything and everything on top of this is an extra benefit, but those four things are really all we require. For this reason, our AirBNB in Colva disappointed us. Things went sour right off the bat. Immediately after greeting us he apologized that the electricity had juuuust shut down two minute prior. Yeah sure buddy. The apartment was on the 4th floor, but naturally the lift wasn't working either, and not only because of electrical issues. It wasn't working period. For this AirBNB, we had specifically chosen the place because a washing machine was listed as an extra amenity, and our clothes were in desperate need of a good old fashioned cleaning. You guessed it. The washing machine was out of commission as well, also not because of electrical issues.
Can we at least use the wifi? The obvious answer was no, because internet requires electricity, which we didn't have. We were provided with a small plastic device which allegedly was supposed to provide us with 1.5GB of internet per day, despite unlimited WiFi listed on the website. The device did not work, to which he responded that the guests before must have used up the entire. Ummmm, it's 12:00 noon. He told us he was expected us at midnight the night before, so that answer made zero sense. Within minutes he brought us a second device to supplement the first one, but this one was just as slow.
Oh well, at least we had a beautiful sea view from the apartment. Oh wait, that was also false advertisement. There was no balcony, no chairs, and no sea view.
Finally we decided to walk to the beach, which was described as taking only 15 minutes, which is roughly 10 minutes shorter than the actual time.
This place sucked. Unfortunately for us, we had booked for two nights and prepaid through the AirBNB site.
On a positive note, somehow we managed to squeeze out enough internet juice to book our flight tickets from South Korea to Mexico City and on to Cancun for our wedding in March next year.
**Family, if you are reading this and have not booked your tickets or reserved your room, please do it today**
Make sure to put:
Discount code(not promo code): G1E4OE@AQU
Fiesta rewards: 56S44571
Employee number: 5657
Currency: Mexican Peso
Colva Beach is the longest strip of beach in all of Goa. It is nearly deserted year round, which provided a perfect setting for the stereotypical, romantic "long walk on the beach." As corny as it sounds, we really did spend the better part of the day discussing wedding plans, admiring seashells, and resting in the shade of palm trees. There isn't much else to do there, and frankly, not much else we wanted to do.
We bought a sack of vegetables from a local produce stand and made ratatouille for dinner in the apartment, which now had upgraded to having sporadic electricity, as opposed to none at all.
Colva Beach Day 2
In all of India there is an enormous problem with stray dogs. An estimated 35 million dogs roam the streets without a home. In Goa alone there are hundreds of thousands in a relatively small area. Along with the wandering cows and occasional black pigs, the streets can be quite congested. Both of us are dog lovers, and it just broke our hearts to see so many doggies who so desperately want a family and a home. Nearly all of them approached us not only to beg for food, but for attention as well. They plop down next to our feet and ask for butt scratches and belly rubs, just like our dear Tyson at home.
We were told that there are in fact government agencies that receive a good amount of money for programs designed to control the dog population, but most of the cash is pocketed by the local politicians.
While on an early morning run on the second day, Ben encountered a British couple who had moved to Goa four years earlier to start a non-profit helping stray dogs. They had a van filled with buckets of dog food. To date they had single handedly neutered over 500 dogs, as well as provided vaccinations and sometimes even a foster home if they could find one. Their work doesn't even scratch the surface of the problem, but at least some people are hitting the pavement actively trying to make a difference.
It was also this morning when Nadine's gastrointestinal system failed her. Her streak of diarrhea-free days had finally come to an end. Goa Belly struck.
A few hours later, with some water and rest, we ventured back to the beach and explored the town. For the first time in our lives, we tasted sugarcane juice.
Dinner came at a touristy joint on the beach by the name of Kentuckee.
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