The significance of Goa as a major tourist destination on the National and International

arena is better left undescribed. I have nothing new to add to it. Thousands of tourists
throng the place, especially during the peak season for its beautiful beaches, greenery,
hills, forests, waterfalls and what not! And it is one of the hottest New Year destinations,
when the prices for everything double up. Liberal culture is accepted without a second
look, though the face of Goa is like most other Indian cities. North Goa is a
comparatively busy place, housing the capital city while the southern part is more
tranquil.

The monsoon months of June – September is totally an off season for tourists, but that is
when we decided to visit the place. We opine that a romantic getaway has to be less
crowded, peaceful and less commercialized and its impossible to find such an atmosphere
there in the peak season. And if you learn to appreciate it, the beaches, hills and forests
are more spectacular and very much in form during the rains. Off season means cheaper
rates everywhere, the most attractive places are almost deserted giving you a feeling that
the whole place belongs to you alone, no wild raves to scare you at nights, less number of
pestering hawkers and tricksters and the best part is driving alone on long beautiful roads,
with greenery surrounding you everywhere and raining once every few hours, losing
track of time. Who does not want to enjoy such solitude, with just their partner next to
them??????!!!!!!!!. In our 4 day stay, we only knew that it has been morning, noon and
night and never bothered to know the time. But again, off season also means less (almost
none) wild beach parties, very less number of tourists, no beach shacks at all (nor arm
chairs / umbrellas for hire), almost empty dance floors at night clubs, no blue waters and
white sands, closed routes for waterfalls, cancelled sea cruises et all. So choose your
option depending on your tastes and preferences.

Before I go ahead, let me admit that, I cant help highlighting the off season, for I feel that
I could enjoy peace and romance at its best and could find all these, it being off season.
Our biggest disappointment is not being able to visit Dudhsagar Waterfalls, the major
place which attracted me to Goa more than anything else. We were informed that the
route is closed due to rains. Though we knew that beforehand, we still wanted to try
trekking on our own and be adventurous. But we were cautioned against it totally and we
finally let it go. Non availability of dolphin cruise trips is another disappointment, since
all sea cruises were cancelled due to rough seas. But the beauty of the other places has
compensated this to a very large extent. A strict policy adopted by us is not to go on a
package tour, since we would always like to move around freely, self driving and visiting
places at our own leisure and timing. If we feel like sitting on one single beach the whole
day or laze around in the resort doing nothing, we have to. But being adventurous and
outgoing types, we managed to drive around more than a 100 Km everyday. ☺

Day One:

Day one constituted office during the day, flying to Goa in the evening and retiring to our
resort for the night. And my husband’s new Nikon D60 is as eager as we are, to capture
beautiful sights and began working in the flight, capturing rare sights in the sky, like the
ones below. (Insert pix). We decided to stay in North Goa and save another trip for the
southern part later.

As expected, we were greeted by rain even before landing in Goa and it continued to rain
all the evening and night. We decided to get drenched all through our stay there, since
rain is unavoidable. The clouds pass by every now and then, pouring water on the way as
they travel. Though the duration of each shower is quite less, the magnitude and
frequency is quite high. We had to travel 45 Km to reach our resort, with rain hitting the
windows and could see nothing outside, it being night and the curving roads containing
nothing but trees on both sides, most of the way. We finally reached our room, had a
leisurely dinner with hot stuffed parathas drenched in butter and an accompanying dish
smelling of butter , tasting both spicy and sweet (What a foodie I am!!! Anyway, we
could never dare to eat these at home since these are categorized as fattening, high
cholesterol, high caloried, unhealthy, heavy, hard to digest and described in many other
horrifying ways. What a pity!!! Why is food tasting great always unhealthy and
restricted???? ) taking in the sight of water pouring outside, into the pool and the
greenery surrounding it and retired to bed. We tried to find out where the beach was, but
found nothing but darkness. In fact, the dead- end to the lane in which our resort is
located, is the beach itself.

Day 2

The first thing we did after waking up the next morning was to go straight to the beach.
Since our city does not house one, we are always eager to rush to beaches on a holiday.
Calangute beach is just a 2 Min walk (or 1 Min if you wish to run ☺ ) from our place
and the early Sunday morning has no one except few joggers in attendance. The whole
stretch was beautiful with a hill onto the extreme right and nothing but the beach in sight,
in the left. Calangute is known as the Queen of Beaches in Goa and was very wide and
cleaner than many other beaches. The sea was very ferocious with huge scary waves and
we did not dare to get into the water except letting our feet washed by the waves. We
clicked some pics and kept looking at the waves in distance, amazed by the velocity of
the waves. After a sumptuous breakfast, we hired a gearless bike (these are available for
Rs. 250 for 24 hours) and set out to explore the beaches in North Goa.

As we go further North from Calangute beach, we reach Baga, Anjuna and Vagator
beaches in sequence. We decided to visit these for the day and headed straight to
Vagator. The drive was great, passing through the countryside, with green paddy fields
and greener hills, full of trees. Driving on a monsoon day, with less sunshine, on the wet
roads, smelling the trees, mud and rain was an unforgettable experience. Vagator beach
can be overlooked from a cliff, which can be reached by road. There is another route to
reach the beach, but the Chapora Fort (of Dil Chahta Hai fame) is what attracted us. That
is located atop a big hill and we wasted no time in rushing there. Most of the distance to
the top can be reached by road, which, sometimes curves down like a valley.
Goans have built homes in almost every part, even in the most remote corners. We later
learnt that the people there have a very simple lifestyle, with a laidback attitude and no
craving for big things in life. And naturally, there would be no dearth of livelihood in
such a tourist place. Every home has a small wall or wooden fencing, growing abundant
plants and trees with colourful fruits and flowers and these plants totally cover up the
houses.

After the road ends, we have to trek to the top of the hill to reach the fort. The view from
there is so beautiful and it motivates you to reach the top to see what it is like from there.
And once you reach the top of the fort, a gate has to be crossed and there is nothing but
green, levelled ground constituting several acres of land. I never imagined that a hill top
could be such a levelled plane. The only remnant of the fort is the compound wall on all
sides, with an elevated tomb in between. On one side of the mountain is a river and on the
other side is the Vagator Beach. This is where the river joins the sea and can be clearly
viewed from the top. Its again surprising to see the still water of the river joining the
wavy sea and how it borders itself (the waves start only at a certain point and beyond that
, the water is still.). There also exists a smaller hill adjoining this and the top of the hill
looks like a manicured and landscaped land and there is a smooth connectivity to reach
the top of this hill. (post the other hill’s pic) . We found comfortable rocks to lean on and
settled at a place, viewing the breathtaking picture from the top. There are tower-like
shelters in the corners of the fort wall, which we approached when it rained. (It rained
thrice when we were on the top of the hill). It was really good to see the black clouds
approaching from a distance, showering on us and moving forward. We started walking
downhill reluctantly, since we can’t remain there forever and headed to Anjuna Beach.

Anjuna beach is only a few Km before Vagator and the surface is mostly rocky, rather
than a plain ground. This beach was quite busy with sellers and some other locals who
appeared rather suspicious. This beach is most famous for parties, drugs and other such
activities. And the atmosphere does give an eerie feeling. We found a small hotel
overlooking the sea and had lunch watching the waves. The hotel is located on a rocky
surface and is at an equal height with the big waves. The waves sprinkled water on us as
they hit the rocks below and this was another different experience. Though the hotel was
a tiny, wooden one, this guy stocked all kinds of wine of various brands and was setting
up a party for the evening. We didn’t dare to spent time at such informal dos away from
the public eye, so left the place after lunch, to visit Baga.

The main entrance to the Baga beach is quite busy, dirty and not very appealing. The
water too, was not clean and we left shortly. But we later discovered another approach to
the Beach at Tito’s. We came back to our resort in the evening, freshened up a bit and
spent the whole evening at the Calangute beach, eating roasted corn and taking in the
delightful sunset, till the rain drove us into a restaurant on the beach. Goa Tourism
Development Corporation (GTDC) has its hotels and enquiry centers in every major area
and I’d advise you to approach them for any information. The others do not provide
correct and adequate information about far away places. GTDC also conducts various
cruise and other trips. In high season, there may be several other private tour operators
too. We then moved around for a while and slept early, since we had several other plans
in place the next day.

Day 3:

My hubby’s Happy Birthday!! ☺ We visited the famous temple of Mangesh (also spelt as
Manguesh / Mangeshi) early in the morning. That was 35 Km away form our place and
we headed on a bike. No words left to describe the scenic beauty again. Same green roads
, rivers from the midst of the city Panaji (called Panjim by locals), hills and we
experienced denser greenery and mountains on this drive. The greenery on both sides
stretched all through endless lonely roads and there is not much crowd too. The temple is
quite large and is very pleasant, rendering us peaceful and rituals beings performed
religiously. Not everybody is allowed to go near the deity there and there is a separate
sect of people who belong to Mangeshi clan. Again hit by rain on the way back and this
time, it was literally hitting our faces very sharply, coupled with the wind. We stood
under a tree for a while and again, that’s a very romantic setup. Standing under a big tree
on a lonely road, in the rain, with your beloved by your side and no one else in
sight...............Well that’s it. We then drove back to the resort, had breakfast and relaxed
till afternoon, after which I forcibly woke my husband up and pulled him onto the roads
again on our rented bike. I had read about the lonelier beaches in North Goa and wanted
to visit those. But my expectations were proved wrong. They were extremely lonely, but
somehow not very beautiful (due to off season probably). We drove again through the
beautiful hills, trees and reached Morjim beach. It was totally lonely, secluded and
weedy, with not even a person in sight. Also it is not maintained and we could not find a
proper place to sit at all. The sea has extremely low tides and this looks totally
abandoned, hid away from any development. We then proceeded to Mandrem and
Aswem beaches, which are, more or less the same. But we understood that beach shacks
are open in these places in season and there would be lots of activity. Mandrem beach is
also famous for Olive Ridley sea turtles, which lay eggs in the sand in the beaches and
these eggs hatch in the months of Feb.- March and the baby turtles go back into the sea
on their own. Then came Arambol beach, which is one of the famous beaches, but was
very dirty and stinking. but that again is a high activity place in season. We then went to
Titos, a very famous nightclub and enquired about the timings and programme. There we
discovered another entrance to Baga beach and this time, it was very peaceful and
beautiful, like calangute. We found a fallen tree trunk on the beach and sat on it, the
waves splashing our feet and lost track of time again. We finally returned to our hotel
after driving for 90+ Km for these beaches, with some vada pav on the way and relaxed.

Tito’s is a very famous nightclub located in Baga area and also houses an annexe, a
smaller one named Mambos. It being off season again, Tito’s is open only on weekend
nights while Mambos is open on all days. We decided to visit Mambos that night and
headed there at around 9.30 pm. It is like any other place, cocktails, hookahs, dance floor
etc. The place is semi dark, built in wooden theme and right on the beach. It being
Monday, was almost empty (day off for partying in off season ☺ ). We found a
comfortable place overlooking the sea, the air chilly, hearing to the waves and treated
ourselves. We then danced for a while, but didn’t feel very excited since the atmosphere
was placid, with no crowd at all. We reached our resort late in the night, determined to
travel even longer the next day.

Day 4:

Determined to make good the missed chance for Dudhsagar, we chose two other
waterfalls – Aravalem waterfalls and Kesarval spring. We enquired at the GTDC office
again and were told that Kesarval is worth visiting at the moment as compared to
Aravalem. We hired a self driven car for the day (available at Rs. 900/-), packed few
things and headed to Kesarval, which is about 40 Km from Calangute. Sorry for the
repetition but I cannot help describing the beautiful roads, greenery, hills, rivers, bight
green coloured paddy fields and rain all again. Finding the correct route and driving
around is not at all a problem in Goa, that too for first timers like us. We happily drove
past Panaji and after crossing Verna Dist, found the diversion to Kesarval.

Kesarval spring is located in a forest and the water is said to have medicinal properties.
One has to get down several steps to reach the bottom of the fall and though its not a very
tall one, is quite beautiful. The water flows down into the forest, dense greenery
surrounding it, criss-crossing through rocks and once can sit there watching it for any
length of time. We got into the water and were surprised to find that the bottom was not
slippery like it is everywhere and the water too, were warm. Few others have come there
for bathing in the waters. We slowly returned and headed to Colva beach, which was 20
Km away form Kesarval, en route Margoa. Colva and Palolem beaches said to be the
most beautiful beaches in South Goa. Palolem is supposed to be more beautiful but is a
bit far and we decided to let it go for this trip. We also realized the hopping from one
beach to another leaves us with no time to enjoy and play around anywhere and we end
up just watching it for sometime and proceeding to the next (the previous day’s Morjim-
Mandrem-Ashwem-Arambol trip proved this). So we reached Colva and decided to spend
time there.

Colva beach is white sanded and beautiful, with palm trees lining the shore. The stretch is
quite wide and long and we noticed huge variety of shells in the sand. The waves were
not very rough, yet playful and we got into the water, the huge waves sometimes
splashing over our heads and had a great time. Then it started raining and the waves
splashing under us and the drizzle hitting from the top gave us a wonderful experience.

We then visited Benaulim beach which is an extension of Colva , driving through the
countryside, into the villages and then headed back to the resort after a 60 Km drive ,
again through the beautiful, green roads. We again headed to Mambos for the night and
partied hard, that being our last night of the trip.

Day 5:
The whole day was spent in the resort, relaxing after 3 full days of high activity,
recharging ourselves for the days ahead and flied back to Hyderabad in the night, after
relishing the beautiful landscape for the final time in the trip.

Food, Accommodation and Transport in Goa

Food is not a problem at all, since there are countless number of restaurants and shacks,
catering to every cuisine imaginable and there are exclusive vegetarian restaurants, which
are quite many. The l restaurants of all sizes, street food, roasted corns and cut fruits sold
on streets, apart form the regular Coffee Day, Dominos and Baskin Robbins leave tourists
with countless options, most of them open 24 hours. And there is no dearth of
accommodation right form big names like Taj, Club Mahindra etc to various star rated
resorts, budget hotels and also home stays everywhere. These suit all budget types, but
are charged almost half of their original price in off season for the same facilities. Bikes
and cars are available for rent everywhere and your hotel staff arrange it for you happily.
But petrol bunks are not seen in all places and petrol is sold in bottles in shops, charging
atleast Rs. 10 extra per liter. The rentals are reasonably priced and the public transport is
anyway there. We found an Udipi restaurant near our resort (for veggies) and made it a
point to visit it for one meal daily. And as always locals are extremely helpful in giving
you directions rendering driving around very easy. The maps provided to tourists for free
of cost help for most part of the journey and do carry one always, to decide your
respective itineraries. Goa can be comfortably visited with family (Like anywhere in
India, unlike some tourist places in Thailand, where I was initially uncomfortable
walking around even with my husband, a strict no-no for family visits). But let me admit
that the beach are not beautiful in their original self in monsoon, when the water is
muddy and do not dream about watching blue sea and white sands and expecting any
kind of activity on beaches in monsoon. Some of the places are totally shut down during
this time. But no regrets at all, since there are two sides to every coin, like anything else.