Arriving in Goa

The crew served us another light meal at about 1.30am India time (GMT +5.5). The captain came on to tell us that we had made good time and would be over Mumbai by 3.0am. However, the airport wouldn't open until 4.0am, so we would have to circle at a lower altitude for an hour or so. When the time came, we seemed to plummet from 37,000 feet to 17,500 feet in no time at all! We then descended again to 9,500 feet, where we remained until we were allowed to land at around 4.10am. It played havoc with my ears! I was in quite a lot of pain by the time we were on the ground!

It was still dark when we landed, so there was nothing to see. Despite this, my neighbour insisted on leaning across constantly to take photos of the blackness!

I had to self-transfer in Mumbai, meaning that I had to enter the country, reclaim my bag, and then check in again for my flight to Goa and pass through security again. It was chaos! Luckily, I had three hours between flights. Once I had jumped through all the hoops, I was very hot and bothered, so I was grateful for the opportunity to sit at the gate with a coffee while I chatted to a lady who teaches art at a higher education unit in Goa. She gave me lots of useful tips of things to do and places to go.

The flight to the new airport in north Goa only took 45 minutes, but the crew still served a light meal! I was sitting in the middle seat on the back row of the plane and got my roasted vegetable sandwich thrown at me literally as the wheels touched down on the runway! I put it in my bag for later 😂.

At Mopa airport, there was no security as we had come off an internal flight, so it was simply a matter of reclaiming my bag and going to find a taxi. This proved to be really easy, and I was soon on my way. I was revelling in the lovely warm sunshine, but I was really too tired to take much in.

After a 30-minute drive, I was dropped off at Maya Nature Retreat, home for the next seven weeks. First impressions were good. I was warmly welcomed by Shreetle, the owner's mum. My room wasn't ready, so I waited in reception with an iced coffee and a masala omelette with cheese. Both were delicious!

When my room was ready, there were a couple of minor things wrong, but overall, I was happy, and I was too tired to worry about it anyway! 😂 I shot a quick video and went to bed! 

I slept for about 4 hours and then got up and unpacked. I can certainly make the space work for the next few weeks. I then went for dinner in the on-site cafe. I had chicken curry with a roti and the best jeera rice I've ever eaten. There was enough to feed a family, so the waiter offered to box it up for me. That's tomorrow's dinner sorted out! After dinner, I chatted to Niha, the resident artist, and her partner, who plays music here every Saturday.

I took the second video in the restaurant. It has a lovely atmosphere.Læs mere