Goa, Tejpal and poisoning.

Goa!!

We are here for 3 nights. A dear friend, our Amritsar guide Leena, gifted us a cooking class in Goa. We are to learn to cook 5 dishes. More on that in a later post, have not done the class as on writing this. So we thought why not take a short break and spend some time in Goa. After all ½ of me is from Goa, as faithful readers may know. In all this excitement Mother Stonethrower joined us and so the three of us are in Goa.

I was last in Goa some 12 years ago. HRH the Queen of Kutch was last here 6 odd years ago. We do have memories of Goa but frankly the memories are of places, temples, homes and hotels. Cannot remember roads or landmarks.

To stay, we thought there could be no better place than the Grand Hyatt at Bambolim. This is a very famous hotel and for that I have to thank Tarun Tejpal. This is the place where in his own words he “violated that long-standing relationship of trust and respect” and thereafter he “apologised unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgement” that led him “to attempt a sexual liaison” “on two occasions on 7 November and 8 November 2013”. I had to see for myself the infamous lift [elevator] where this happened. The elevator where Tepal pressed all the buttons to prolong the ride [no puns intended]. Folks, I asked, but I got no answers. All I can say is that all this happened in Bungalow 7 where we are staying. Bungalow 7 has two lifts. I have taken a photo of both, one inside one outside. One must be the scene of “the shameful lapse of judgement”.

Could this be the infamous lift?

The control panel inside the lift.  Just two floors!!

I also took photos of the beautiful flowers in the garden. Tejpal is not going to see these flowers for some time. He will also not see the lovely beach and the beautiful hotel. The stupid bastard is still in jail as I write. Serves him right.

Folks, the Grand Hyatt is a new hotel, 2 years old. It is really a nice hotel. Large grounds well laid out and very luxurious. Nice pool and nice beach. The decor and ambience of the hotel is heavily inspirted by Balinese architecture and I like it. Yes I know we could be in any 5 star hotel anywhere in the world and would not realise where we are. Folks, I like it that way, and it is my money, so take a hike!  

I must point out that I have beach holidayed in India after years. In the past we used to go to the Fishermans Cove off Chennai. But that became so horribly expensive, a logistic nightmare, the food was rubbish that we stopped going there. It is after probably 7 years that we are in a resort in India. And you know what? While the Grand Hyatt is a top hotel and reasonably pricey, you still get disgusting Indians as your fellow guests. That is the biggest downside of a holiday in India – Indians. And do you know what else irks me? Do read this notice in the menus. Are you proud of this? After all this money you still do not know if you will literally be poisoned!

Notice in the room service menu. Shocking