Margao, India

Today Bob had booked to play golf at the Lalit Hotel with Eddie and David. It’s a lovely course, generally empty of other players and not expensive. It was about £40 each including hire clubs and buggy. He really enjoyed it despite having a lamentable round which was not surprising after a year’s break from play. Pamela, Deborah and I decided to have a shopping day, and booked a cab to take us up to FabIndia in Margao.First though, Bob and I had breakfast at the Capital Organic restaurant. Bob had the Masala Dosa with 2 cups of tea. I had a French Omelette (onions, peppers, spinach and cheese) and a lemonade and mint drink. With toast, the whole lot was under £4. A real bargain and delicious.
So, the girls and I headed to Margao, a journey of about 50 minutes. Our driver was a bit fast to be honest, I had to ask him to slow down several times. But we got there alive! FabIndia is a national chain of shops that specialise in quite high end clothes and home wares made on a low profit basis with money going back to the craft villages. The clothes are fabulous and a fraction of what it would cost at home if you bought the same thing in say East, Monsoon or Fenwicks. And the shop in Margao is lovely: spacious and air conditioned, a pleasure to shop in.
I was looking for a birthday present for Bob and all I will say is that I was very successful in this mission. I also bought myself some short tunic type tops, both long and short sleeved. The cotton is so fine and they had some that were reversible which is a first. Could have bought the whole shop to be honest! I also like their skincare and soap products and bought some of them. Pamela and Deborah were equally taken and we all came away with a lot of bags.
After that we were gasping so stopped off for some water and then we came back via the back roads that skirt the coast. It’s such a nice route. You pass lots of old colonial era villas, in varying shades of repair. They are so beautiful, with lovely gardens. Many are painted bright or pastel colours. Of course in this part of Goa there are lots of churches too, some a few hundred years old. We crossed over several small bridges across the river Salcette. Very picturesque.We made a short stop at the fort at Cabo de Rama for the views. The fort is an old Portugese fort complete with cannons and of course a church. From the top of the battlements you get a stunning view of the cliffs and beaches around. Well worth a visit. The road continued on through Agonda, and around Palolem. We got back to Patnem at 215 and Bob came back about an hour later. Knacked!.
Tonight we went in an army of tuks to the Steakhouse to see “Girl on a Train”. 12 of us! Lucky we reserved seats as the place was packed. Most people had steaks. Bob and I both had pepper steak with veg and I had two gimlet cocktails and Bob had a gimlet and a large Kingfisher beer. Total bill was about £12.50 Liked the film although it was pretty violent in parts. I’d read the book so I knew what was coming. The book was better than the film although Emily Blunt’s performance was stellar. Really good. Back to the beach tomorrow!