The fist thing I did after my arrival in Old Goa was getting to the train station to book my trains from Mumbai to Varanasi to Agra to Delhi. I had to queue 2hrs 15min until it was my turn. Due to the upcoming Easter Holidays (don't ask me why they celebrate Easter in India when there is only a tiny minority of Christians), almost all trains are fully booked. The clerk behind the counter tried 3 connections and gave up after that (this took him 10min). I was surprised that a hi-tech country like India has such a slow and outdated train reservation system. It is not possible to see all connections with available seats. Thus, the clerk had to open the reservation screen and enter each connection to see availabilities for exactly the chosen connection. Indrail must have bought the reservation system from Austrian Rail...
He told me to go to another train station about 30km apart and book a tourist quota (I have no clue what it is and I didn't give a damn fucking shit after a waiting time of 2.5hrs). I made it very clear that I am not accepting his recommendation which resulted in him handing me over a timetable to look up for connections myself. This was when I really got angry. I did tell him how bad his service was and that his behavious towards clients would be absolutely inacceptable for a company like Indrail. When I was swearing, I also used the f-word, which is absolutely off-limits in India. However, he did not shoo me away, but after the successive 15min regular (no worries, he didn't take a break because of me) lunchbreak, he helped me and a quarter hour later I left the station with all my tickets. The graffity on the station walls weeping about the "very, very, very slow service" and that the clerks are a "very lazy staff" is true.
To get back to the centre which is about 2km away from the station, I wanted to take a rickshaw. I was not in the mood of haggling and fixed a price of 20Rs, but the drivers wanted to have 50Rs and didn't get any lower. Thus, I decided to walk as I am not one of the stupid tourists who lets himself rip-off. I have to admit that the rickshaw drivers at the station are as lazy and dumb as the ticket reservation clerks. They prefer to hang around, wait for hours (there was no train arrival scheduled for the next few hours) and do nothing instead of making 20Rs which would still be more than an Indian would pay for the trip.
However, my day brightened up from this moment. I only walked a few steps when a bloke on a motorbike stoped and gave me a lift. Free of charge.
Old Goa used to be the capital of Goa but had to be abandoned because of malaria and cholera epidemics. Today, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the cleanest place I've seen since my arrival in India (they even have trash cans) and it shows the Portuguese splendor of the colonialization times. In addition to the town's beauty, it also has a peculiarity to offer: the remains of St Francis Xavier (whoever this is) in a metal coffin with a glass display!