GOING GOING GOA !
Our first visit to Goa was marred by an unsettling incident. A thief slid in through the baywindow of the hotel in Gaspar Dias, and made off with money, house-keys, a windcheater and a pouch containing my vitamins,antihistamines and a music cassette - I hope the delinquent enjoyed Harry Belafonte's rendition of "Hava Nagila" . The hotel staff and the policeman were very helpful, giving us avuncular smiles with the sage advice: Never carry money while touring ! It was almost as if they were holding us guilty of malfeasance ; the logic being, if we hadn't carried stuff, the thief wouldn't have thieved. Thanks, we had to bleat, perhaps the next time we could travel light, take PG accomodation in a fishmonger's hut, in barter for mending his nets . And sing "Hava Nagila " ourselves............ But the "next time", which was quite a few years later, we landed in Fort Aguada Resort. And lived out the holiday without any untoward incident. That...