Goa, does anyone else think this place is overhyped?

Shaktipalooza

Been here a few days now checking out some areas. Anjuna, Calangute, Candolim, Baga... I have quite a few things to say but will reserve that for another post. I'm just wondering if I'm the only one thinking this place is way overbuilt and overhyped?

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steven_ber

Completely agree, or at least the beach part of Goa is overhyped, I'm sure there are quieter beaches in Goa, but then there are all over India.

Of all the states I've been to in India, Goa will be the last I return to, the beach type holiday offered in Goa is done with a lot more style in Thailand.

BTW, your website has been down since at least yesterday.

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Shaktipalooza

Hello Steven,

It's likely that web site won't be coming back. After three years of researching and preparing for a move to India we finally landed here on February 12th.

48 hours into the trip my son became ill. Since our India experience has been visiting doctors, hospitals, pathology labs. He's doing better, a lot skinnier but better. We've come to the conclusion that we won't be raising a family here. Too much uncertainty that we're not interested in living every day.

I'll write a detailed post on our experiences a little later.

shashank.aggarwal

Oh yes, even though I loved the time I spent there, and as an Indian it was my rendezvous with western culture and food, however nothing more than that..

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Nick-H

Shakti, please keep us informed on how it is going for you and your family.

I'm sorry to hear about your son's illness.

Of course, I'm not a child (they are often stronger in health!) but I did find that the longer period I spent in India the less health problem it gave (or rather, gives) me. Especially staying in one place, where the body can get used to the local bugs.

So please don't get discouraged in early days.

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mardon

Same with the spices and food. If your not used to it, it can give you a few problems.

Aishah

Shakti - I have to agree with Nick - in fact I am more healthier here than back in Oz or NZ. It's a more open air life here, no supermarkets, crowded places in closed in areas etc. If you can choose a spot that is not too citified, then you should all be fine. Do hope your son gets better soon.

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Shaktipalooza

Ah, my wife is from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, where people eat molten lava for dessert, we're used to spicy food.

Though I've seen very little evidence of spicy food anywhere here in Goa.

edwardseco

I was just thinking of you. Unexpected bad news. I can sympathize too well. Hang in there..

shashank.aggarwal

Oh..I was almost killed due to lack of spices in Goa...thank god I am back to Delhi and that burning sensation is back..

Sama

just don't eat any jam cakes -- oh, I forgot, that's a warning for cochin, kerala!

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Shaktipalooza

Thanks. We're doing much better. Little Abhi is recovering well although we did have some rear end leakage to deal with deal with this evening after a short walk.

All but two days of this trip have been dealing with his maladies. We're all a little worn out and ready to go home. We've already scheduled a flight out in the next few days. I'm comfortable with scrapping our plans as the hygenic conditions here in Goa aren't really appealing as a parent of a toddler with another on the way.

We've had two out of three really good doctors but yowza, what is considered an 'exceptional' hospital here wouldn't be an average pet clinic back home. Maybe that's offensive to some but it's the absolute truth in my opinion. It was scary enough have a few drops of blood drawn from my son and I shudder at the though of him being hooked up to an IV in one of those places.

machadinha

That is a great shame, I used it a lot just for being able to (swiftly) pass around advice here, and I know many swore by it.

No chance to pass it on to another trains lover?

Good luck with your other goings-on. Maybe give it a wee bit more time, if you can? Seems such a shame after all your preparations and happy expectations. Anyway, I'm sure you'll know best what to do. Just that those early set-backs will naturally color your view; maybe if you manage to get past that stage, you'll have seen the worst of it & things can only look up.

I doubt if you need this, but in the ITHVC link in my signature there's a good if necessarily brief and general description of issues of culture shock. If nothing else, it will tell you you're not the only one to go through this. I partly grew up in the tropics (in a so-called "developing" nation, which we found something of a big joke, but whatever), the warts and all. Wouldn't want to have missed it though. (And I do remember now the hospital when we arrived, and before a highly modern one was built, being a depressing cockroach-filled hell-hole with psychiatric patients mixed up with the rest and whatnot. Just as an example. I don't know, you soon learn to accept this as the standard though [and you would in fact get adequately treated in the midst of all that], and I'm sure much of India today won't be like that, just like that place no longer is either.)

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Sama

yes, but if he needs one, you will be thankful for it, even if it is in "non-western" conditions. I certainly was thankful for where I was.

I was hooked up to an IV on my last day in chennai last month and there's a photo of it in the "this is us in india" thread. you can see the condition of the room, which I would call 1940s Moderne.... and it was very clean. the hospital I was in was a charity hospital, in fact, an AIDS and leprosy hospital, although I was in a private room for the IV.

I am sure Nick will be around to comment on hospital conditions....

Nick-H

Oh yes... I too had an IV a few weeks back. It was a small private hospital; not nearly as nice as the one we took Linda too, but, although they were standing by to help us, I couldn't face the journey. It was clean enough, and, of course, all the needles and stuff were disposables fresh out of the packets.

Shakti, maybe you need a wider choice. Maybe you should try spending some time in one of the bigger cities, check out their hospitals, and so on. Bearing in mind that lots of people leave British hospitals, with all the manic H&S paranoia (and I'd guess USA is at least as bad on that front?), with stuff they catch there, I don't, so far, think that the Indian stuff is too bad.