Goa: The end, the beginning and Banoffee pie

Our tour ended in North Goa, where we stayed in the Alor Inn in Calangute. I can't say it was anything special, some of the girls got locked out of their room, so a handyman scaled some balconies to break back in. Standard. We weren't quite sure what to make of Calangute. It was busy. A bit ike Magaluf, except with more people staring at us. The tour was great fun, but it was time to wave goodbye to the group and head South. I'll write a little review of the tour and some useful bits I now know!

Further south a few of us G Adventures stragglers ended up in Palolem. It had been recommended to me by our tour guide as somewhere quiet and beachy but with enough to do for a few days. Oh, I forgot to mention the one overnight stay in Benaulim, which is handy if you need to be near Goa Airport. We were a little unnerved, our hotel pool was empty and we were the only guests. India made me a little suspicious of booking hotels so I never booked more than 2 nights in one place! I'm sure if you booked 5 star you would be fine, but some places do not look like the photos...

Goa was really refreshing, a bit more of what I was after. Palolem is ultimately a beach village. There's no ATM but you could get cash out from a travel agent with a charge. South Goa is chilled out, more backpackers, less staring. This was the Goa I'd heard about. There's not much to do other than explore the beaches, which are beautiful. Although a group of men did surround me on a beach asking for my photo, I left after saying no about 15 times, but I'll cover that more in a general India/safety/G Adventures post.

I spent a few days alone here, which I'm great at by the way. I got a little sun burnt and was craving sugar, so ordered Banoffee pie for dinner. The next day I ordered lunch in the same place and asked for 2 starters. The waitress says, "Of course. Last night you ordered Banoffee pie, yes?" while laughing a little. Yes, I was the girl that ordered Banoffee pie for dinner. I forgot about that, she didn't though did she?

If I'm on my own I always find it's a tough split between hostels and a nice hotel room.
Hostels usually have a much nicer vibe when travelling alone, it's perfectly acceptable to sit on your own with a book or laptop because there are other people doing it. And you're in a better position to meet people. I split my stay in Palolem with 2 nights in Castle House, which had a pool and breakfast but no real communal area, I was with friends at this point so this was fine. The second place I stayed was Crystal Goa - this had a really nice backpacker feel that I would recommend. The rooms were lovely and I finally got a hot shower, this is a big deal in India by the way!

Palolem is a chilled-out, sun spot. Great to explore the beach with the mystery abandoned toilets and a good place to end on before I was turned into a pretzel at this Yoga Retreat. It has some great restaurants along the beach too. We ate at Dropardi every single night, other than the time I had Banoffee pie obviously.