15

In Morjim,Russian beach shack wont serve Indians.

Some Indians were not served alcohol in Morjim on a "dry day" due to elections and they misinterpreted this situation but otherwise there is no truth to this news of Indians not getting served in Morjim.

Agree with handel21 that "There are some delightful, good mannered Russians in Goa but from my experience they do, at present, seem to be in the minority" and for the sake of balance I must report that a young Russian couple was staying in our guesthouse in Baga and they were very polite and we regularly exchanged greetings but they said very little else on most days and I took it that they did not speak English well to carry on a conversation.

However, on their last day in Baga we invited this Rusian couple to join us for dinner and a drink. They came with their bottle of Vodka, enjoyed the food and we chatted for a few hours. After a few drinks they opened up and told us about their life in Moscow as best as they could with their limited English and told us how much they loved Goa and that thay were dreading going back to freezing Moscow.

While there are many rich and arrogant Russian tourists in Goa and Morjim in particular who think they are above the local laws and have made a hard landing in Goa and are getting a lot of well deserved bad publicity there are also some lower middle class visitors from Moscow area who are civil and friendly and I hope more like them will continue to come to Goa and will be welcome by the locals.

16

It's funny to see the changing faces of tourism as economies come and go...growing up it was always just certain countries you would see groups of tourists from...Japanese, German, Nordics, Brits and yanks...but now it's really changed.

Loads of Chinese and loads of Russians. I also have mostly experienced Russian tourists in a negative manner, I treat them like the Israelis and keep away from them...they can have Goa..it lost it's charm a very long time ago...I do hope they don't destroy Kerala though.

I can't see them heading inland though...these people want beach holidays, everything organised for them...no different to the typical Brit Goa tourists in a way....the rest of India will be left alone.

17

Or as an Australian girl put it; "When we had the world to ourselves".
.............

Recently in Bombay I hung out at Bandra West a couple of days. I had expected to be practically the only tourist in that area and was surprised when I saw quite a few white faces. Then I happened to overhear one of them talking into his mobile phone. In Russian!

18

#16,Info for Russian beach shacks came from the Herold newspaper(Goa).I think they might know if there was a dry day or not.Has been mentioned a few times inTimes of India too.The Russians have also changed the name of a beach and put up a sign proclaiming new name,in Russian.Someone not living in Goa might believe your tall tales but not the Goans being harassed or the western traveler living here.

19

Approaching a Shiva temple in Shiroda (first beach north of Goa in Maharashtra), I noticed a clutch of Bullet motorbikes outside and some shorts-clad, shirtless Westerners, laughing and joking, within. "What is this place?" they asked me. They were Russians, and spoke about the temple guardian (sitting nearby) as though he were a comedy extra.

Also witnessed a disagreeable, bald man in a white sports car screaming through the main street of Arambol at nine p.m., yelling something in a Russian-sounding language at his four young female charges as they tumbled out the car at a bar on the street. It was clearly a pimp-prostitute relationship. His words sounded like, "And come back with enough money this time!"

I was given to understand the scale of the human trafficking which goes on in places popular with Russian male tourists in India. Women from the Ukraine, imported by pimps, on tourist visas. Local cops paid off; very nice, sahib thank you, sahib. You can sometimes see the women eating a late breakfast in Paharganj restaurants, carrying not one item (camera, guidebook) to denote their tourist intentions.

20

#19, jazzmanblues, on further study, I stand corrected.
Some Indians were infact refused service in Morjim shacks run by Russians.

I deplore this unacceptable behaviour and based on other news coming out of Morjim I am convinced that Russians, in particular in Morjim have a lot of mending to do to gain the trust and friendship of the local Goan people.

21

I heard about the Russian abroad style too, but have good experiences. This year I was in Goa Majorda beach and many stacks had almost only English and Russian visitors. And many Cyrillic signs to tell what they sell and at what price. Didn't understand any of it. But the Russian guests as well as the English in those beach shacks did not attract attention with rude or other unwelcome behavior. I was a week on the beach in high season. Maybe the Majorda beach so wie so attracts more quite people.

Edited by: emd_two on Jan 28, 2013 4:43 PM

22

This thread has carefully ignored saying the unsayable.
There is no doubt that the advent of Russians has changed the crime scene particularly North of Panjim, and in general their presence has not added to the charm/safety of the place.
The middle-class Indians are also starting to arrive in significant numbers, but I have witnessed absolutely no friction between them and the more traditional visitor - in fact they can add positively.to the experince.
I hadn't noticed any change in the Palolem area though - comments please as we are looking at going back there.

23

The Russians are like what the Germans were like in Majorca years ago or the Italians on an all inclusive, if you didn't get up early and put your towel on the bed you had absolutely no chance, or if you didn't get to the buffet first there wouldn't be anything left. They're like loud bulls in china shops, they're ill mannered and don't care who they offend, Goa is their pound of flesh and it's theirs for the taking or how they see it.

O.k. you can say that some middle class Indians are like that, but if you ask Indians to pipe down, they will and they'll apologise if they've offended anyone, but not the Ruskies...na a.

I will say this for them, they usually keep to themselves, at least in body. Ear plugs and sign language should do the trick.