Lovely low key day yesterday on the beach. Stuart and Fi arrived mid morning and were with us on the beach by 11. They’d had the loveliest time on their tour of Kerala, especially 2 nights on a private rice barge touring the backwaters. The pictures and scenery looked amazing and it was so relaxing. Anyway, lovely to have them here and adding to our gang.
We are now of a size to be dividing in the evening or at least on different tables. Last night John, Sue, Stuart, Fi, Bob and I went to Casa Fiesta as Stuart was craving a Fish Pollichatu. The seafood there is fantastic. Some of the tiger prawns are just enormous and they also had a huge king fish. We had a lovely evening.
Today Bob and I had business in Chaudi so we didn’t beach at all. We had breakfast at Eve’s which was very nice. It was Clive’s birthday so a happy day. Then Bob and I walked into Chaudi – it’s about 1.5 miles and a pleasant walk if you go early before the heat gets up. The vegetation is so lush and green. Just overgrown hedges and woods of shrubs and trees that only exist as house plants in Europe. And amongst them, brightly coloured houses peeping out of the jungle; blue, purple, orange, pink, pale green – Goans love a brightly coloured house! Of course there are cows and brahma bulls and buffalo all along the way – you have to mind your step – and in the fields white storklets following the buffalo…. it’s a very atmospheric walk.
Our first call was at the opticians. We had our prescriptions with us and normally we shop at Durga Optics but this time we decided to try Royal Optics, a new shop that Heather had recommended. Certainly it was a lot cleaner and more modern than Durga, and the optician was a very personable nice chap. I wanted two pairs of lenses putting into my existing frames. Both varifocal, but one reactolite and night vision, and the other, sunglasses. He gave me what I think was a reasonable price of £160 for both. Bob bought a whole new pair, frames and all and they were about £130 for varifocal, all the works. He’s going to go into Durga next week with his 2 existing nice frames and get lenses put in as backup. They’ll be much cheaper but still perfectly good and he’s got nice frames anyway.
After that, we did a little shopping, got cash and then tuk’d back to Eve’s. It was hot by then so we were glad to be in the cool. We wanted to get the end of our trip sorted out. Last night we had the very much expected email to say our cruise home from Dubai had been cancelled due to the trouble with the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. We’d had discussions about it and decided we would proceed with our plans to go down to Kerala at the end of the holiday and then on to Dubai for a week and then get a flight home from there. We spoke to the cruise agents this afternoon to confirm we wanted a full refund rather than cruise credits and that was no problem. Then we booked flights with Turkish Airlines from Dubai to Gatwick with a change in Istanbul. Very reasonable fare and better for us to go to Gatwick than Heathrow. It’s disappointing to lose the cruise but we’ve been expecting it and at least the refund is no fuss.
Tonight the group split again with most people going to Home. Stuart, Fi, Bob and I went to RoundCube and had a lovely dinner. I had palak paneer – my favourite and it was a tasty one – and Bob had chicken jalfrezi and a pea pilau. He had 2 Bloody Marys. I had 2 gin and sodas. With tip, it came to about £15. A great value for a very filling and delicious meal. It was lovely sitting under the stars on the beach. Still so warm which is the greatest luxury.
