GOA - land of sand, sun and fun

TWICE in one month...went GOA...and again want to GO GOA

Life in INDIAN metros is not quality life. It’s full of stress and seldom have you discovered happiness in your activities. I had an unpleasant phase in my life and I was away from everything (this blog too). But then I asked a question?

“kya bolta hai…phir se chalega” (so, what say!! second time??)
These were the decisive words which I told myself to convince me to go to Goa for a second time in one month. Also, I would like to thank Sandy for his words “tu yahan (Delhi) mein karega kya?” which acted as the catalyst in my decision. Since I am an avid traveller and have confronted many ‘unique adventurous trips’ earlier, the ‘YES’ for this one wasn’t against me. My first trip was with my parents in the month of Jan, 2008. Well, if you plan to go with your parents, you will ENJOY but the constraint on real enjoyment will be quite high (take my word on this).

My second trip was a college trip (final year Computer Engg). Likewise previous years, this time too final year decided to go to Goa (an old ancestral ritual inherited from our immediate seniors). At this point, it would be unfair on my part if I don’t mention the contribution of Janab, who made the trip possible.
Below is the itinerary (4 days + 3 days traveling) we followed, which may help you when you decide your itinerary for Goa. For formal itinerary (click)

Went by – Sampark Kranti (Chandigrah-Kochuveli), Sleeper class (waaaooo…)
Duration – 32 hours
Pros – Konkan Railway track (nice work done)
Cons – Really really bad food
How to time pass – play assignment-assignment (revised version of DC comprising of bhojpuri, Telgu, Tamil and other ‘male-puller-movies’). More included usual antashkari, train-singer-competition (Sandy, the unanimous victor) and comical enactments (BVS stole the show for this intro for the bhojpuri movie – “current maare goriya”). Boring timepass activities include newspapers (which stated headline as Ishant Sharma getting just 3.8 Crore for 10 matches (GOD!! How can you pay so0O less to a human…blame BCCI…)
Food – Fast or Starve if you want to survive but don’t eat what they serve in the name of tasty food. Alternatively, you can have delicacies of various states e.g. – lassi @ Kota (class..), batata-vada /dal-vada @ Panvel, etc)
Statuary warning – do carry blankets (not bedsheets, not shawls). Remember you will be passing through Rajasthan at night…and for all those who think Rajasthan is one of the hottest areas in INDIA, do add its name in the list of coldest places)

Our stay was at Madgaon Railway Station (the night we landed there) and it was very entertaining. The railway station was less messy, better maintained and cleaner than my room, so I liked it. You can sleep anywhere you want…wow (apart from the railway tracks, reason – noise is catastrophic there). Also, Goa is not like Delhi/Mumbai, hence it accounts for very less number of moving tin-boxes (read taxis if you want). As a result you have ample space in the parking lot to play non-Olympic games like kho-kho and dodge ball (at 3 a.m.). But what stole my heart were the cartoons embarked on the walls of the railway station (a delight for cartoon-lovers). Lastly carrying movies in mobile isn’t a bad idea: I saw Ratatouille…long-live Prateek's N-73.

Early morning, the bigger tin (bus) arrived and transported us to our zoo (our hotel was located at Calangute, Goa’s most popular beach). The no. denomination of cages (otherwise called rooms) were of two types – 6/3 persons. I went for 3 occupant’s room with Mr. Bobo and Bade-Baba. And we got a honeymoon suite to adjust ourselves.

First day of the trip was supposed to be rest day but afternoon saw nobody in (and everybody out) of hotel. At that moment, I thought I was the only living soul left by mistake. But thankfully, cage no. 303 had full occupancy. On my request Mr. Era, Money G, Sawhney and Fahim went with me to the beach (just for a walk). Meanwhile, Tau and Sandy were wandering for their roommates who left along with the room keys…

Some first-lookers were mesmerized by the beach and the ocean. But what followed next was unexpected unusual mind-diverting adventure. As I don’t want my article to be in lust-alluring 18+ adult controversies, I would like to stop here. But, bachelors can opt for a (4 + 4) km walk (Calangute-Bagga-Calangute). By lunch, Delhi-clothing style changed appropriately to Goan. Post-lunch saw good things happening to me again (got a 3*NORMAL swollen left foot on the first day of my trip). Thanks to the TV channels saying “young & youth INDIA is determined”, I went with others to the beach for bathing. Rest was fun :) Night was dedicated to boiling water, iodex, relixspray, combiflam (thanks to Su, Bade-Baba, Alan for their medicinal support).

DAY TWO was a scheduled tour of North-Goa.
Stop 1 – Aquada Fort
Features – nice rocky fort with picturesque backdrops of ocean and sun. Many people tried to enact the famous 3-guys DCH pose.




Stop 2 – Vagator Beach
Features - It’s a long picturesque beach, apt for taking photographs. Carry volleyball with you and that will act as an asset as the beach has provisions for volley nets. Remember to visit both sides of hill and do capture moments from the hilltop.







Stop 3 – Anjuna Beach
Features – beach is famous for red soil, hippies and natural stones. You can also find cute tiny crabs, beautiful scorpions and other lovely aquatic species there. Some people get an adrenal push here and trek their way to the highest point of Anjuna. The terrain of the climb is really rocky and slippery. Small rocky pebbles act as rollers and your shoes as skateboards and thus help your cause to derail down. Do remember! climbing is easy but subsiding is very tough. Take care…
(Me and Mr. Bobo tried to replicate the path taken by our other classmates, but averted that decision after covering 60% of the path)


Stop 4 – Calangute Beach
Features – It’s a beach for papa-mummy-munna-munni i.e. ‘the great INDIAN family’. Domestic tourists crowd the whole beach and bathing in a major activity here. Calangute is famous for water-sports.

Stop 5 - Bagga Beach
Features – Bagga is an extension of Calangute. Most of Goa’s best resorts and clubs (Tito’s) are located here. Most celebrated activity here is sun-bathing (another form of sleeping).

Scheduled tour ends but the best part was due next. Goa is a wanderer’s paradise and scheduled tours are not the best means to visit the countryside and the beaches (if you are with parents, tours and taxis are more suitable). Rate guide – Rs. 800/taxi for North Goa (Rs. 400 extra for Morjim and Arambol) and Rs. 1000/taxi for South Goa (excluding spice gardens). With the help of an initiative taken by Mr. Jhahil (aka Jaleel), animals of various rooms got together and decided to hire bikes/Activas (the best way to tour Goa). Rate guide – Rs. 300 /day/bike. Petrol – Rs. 60/litre (Goa doesn’t have petrol pumps).
All men ready by 5 pm.

Next Stop – Chapra Fort
Features – One of the best places in Goa. This fort is situated next to the Vagator beach and provides a great view of Morjim beach from above. The fort demands a steep climb but the effort is all worth. As you enter the fort, move on to the DCH point (you can only identify that point if you have seen that famous scene of Dil Chahta Hai). At the DCH point, its all ……(no words here)…Just sit on the fort’s boundary, try to focus your vision on the Arabian Sea horizon & the setting Sun and let yourself expose to the non-stop non-disturbing 40 kmph breeze. The scene will leave you in a state of purification and the breeze will erase your tensions/stresses/strains. Try to rediscover the reality in you because once you are here you won’t be the same person as you were in your city/workplace/etc…

Next Stop – Saturday Night Market
Features – Stalls set up by mostly foreigners. Nice unique unconventional market with a lot of overpricing. All living creatures (Sharks, Octopus) available in Arabian Sea are served here in food stalls and people actually eat them…how?? Vegetarian people can avoid this place. No fares for becoming witness to belly dance and fire music (class)…Mr. HIV’s smartness and conscience was really appreciative here!!

Night was dedicated to interesting twists and strange tales and mad enactments by some of us (animals). But then some humans are always there to prey them…

DAY THREE –
Our stay at Calangute compelled us to dedicate early morning to watersports @ Calangute. If you are not interested in watersports, bathing is another choice. For all those who suffer from deficiency of salts & minerals, bathing will help you in your re-nourishing. Incase you are a swimmer, try ‘floating’ in the seawater (experience of a free-float is really awesome). Some of the activities along with there mini fares (subject to your negotiation capabilities) -
- parasailing (Rs 300 pp)
- water scooters (Rs 100 for couple)
- banana boat (Rs. 75 pp)
- trips to meet dolphins (Rs 125 pp) etc.
A word of caution: do wear life-jackets as the floor of Arabian Sea is not that shallow.

Post-lunch, the petrol woman (who spoke some bizarre ciphered language at the top of her voice) was again seen in action. One of the accompanying animals (Mr. Billi) was falsely accused of not paying the fare for one litre…but then ‘billi bike lekar bhaag gayi’ (cat on the bike fled).

Destination – Morjim Beach
Features – Best Place in Goa for me. This beach is quite far and demands an hour drive from Calangute. It’s away from commercialization and you witness the ‘naked plain beach laid with cleft-free sand amidst a very nearby Sun, hidden behind a not-so calm Arabian Sea’. Left end of the beach has the ‘tributary-sea’ meeting point and across that water body lays the Chapra fort. Breeze is quite windy here and when it erodes the top-layer sand with it, the whole picturesque takes an adorable ‘duststorm’ angle. Philosophy is inevitable here. Some of you will question yourselves and discover more. I too did. But there were some questions to which solutions aren’t possible like “why is our life like rivers meandering b/t the opposite banks (the success one and the failure one), why isn’t our life like beaches…no deviation…why not happily content with simple straight life?” Don’t litter on this beach…you may curse yourself by saying…”oh! I was the first person to drop a plastic bag in Morjim”.

Next Destination – Anjuna 2
Features – Anjuna 2 is a hidden beach which lies in the interior. While Anjuna sees a lot of INDIAN tourists, they aren’t seen on this beach. Anjuna 2 has previously been in news for hippies, rave parties, drugs and other activities which home/school/college doesn’t permit. For reaching Anjuna 2 - take left after reaching Anjuna and drive until your bike doesn’t skid. Now walk until you reach the hill just in front of horizon. Basically, it’s a 3 km walk. The coastline has many stark chaste restaurants named ‘shacks’ alongside rip-roaring waters abuzz with frust-filled rowdiness. Anjuna 2 is nowdays a lot in media for the Scarlet Keeling murder case. When you reach the hill, mount it and appreciate the rocky terrain. If you like rocky terrain and peace, you can try this beach otherwise it can be avoided.

Back in hotel, night was celebrated as Tau’s 22nd birthday. “At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, WE awoke to life and freedom. A moment comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, then an age ends, and when the soul of a nation (and a class), long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take pledge of dedication to attend Tau’s birthday.” And we did the faithful according to the famous speech. Birthdays in INDIA are a paradox. Cakes are cut but they seldom go into mouth. People prefer to give facial massages to the lad instead. Contrary to blessings, bumps are given (most acceptable form of beating) and after then too, the boy gracefully blushes. I apologize for not being an active participant in this holy ritual (handicap reasons). Hopefully the MAN will forgive me one day!!

DAY FOUR was a scheduled tour of South-Goa.

STOP - Dona Paula
Features – Old landmark of Goa. Dolphins can be spotted in seawater when looked with concentration.




STOP – Miramar Beach
Features – Located in the capital of the state (Panjim). Swimming and other commercial activities are strictly prohibited.



STOP – Colva Beach
Features – Longest beach in Goa. It is very far from North Goa and hence, the crowd on this beach never falls under ‘populous’ bracket. Seawater is very clean and I rate it as the best beach for bathing. Another thing I like about this one is its sand. Dreams of making sand-palaces / sand engineering colleges (wow!!) and writing names can be transformed into reality on this place…an idyllic experience

Other places to visit – Mangueshi Temple, Old Goa Churches (World Heritage Site), Spice Garden, Big Fort, etc. Also, cruise (read ‘disco trips on ship’) at evenings from Panjim is another interesting option.

Our last night in Goa was dedicated to local shopping in Calangute. Remember – goods are highly overpriced here. Night was dedicated to packing and other interesting tales.

Went back by – Goa Sampark Kranti (Goa-Nizamuddin), Sleeper class (waaaooo…)
Duration – 32 hours
Pros – Good Food
Cons – Man! You are leaving Goa...
How to time pass – in memories of Goa…
Statuary warning – same as earlier in forward journey

This isn’t complete…there are places which I have heard but wasn’t able to visit in my two trips. Some of them are – Dudhsagar waterfall, Arambol (the triangular beach), Palolem (the Paradise beach), etc…

Points to remember –
1) Wherever you go, don’t litter…clean beaches are the USP of Goa.
2) Don’t go deep into sea, nature can anytime overcome you.
3) Before availing any watersports facilities, check there credentials.
4) In the list of varieties of water, drinking water is at no. 3 after saltwater and liquor.
5) Food may be an issue if you are a vegetarian north-INDIAN foodie…excluding Panjim (being the capital, it has many good eateries).
6) Make negotiation a habit during our stay in Goa.
7) In the spirit of adventure, don't go or try to sleep in deep sea without life-jackets and don't even dare to taste sharks/prawns if you are a veggi...

THE JINX

Ok!! We went there and now GOA is in news for all bad things (our jinx). After Scarlet Keeling rape-murder/drowning/drug-overdose case, strange aberrant things have happened to Goa. Some of the recent laws in 2008 – (a) No liquor after 11 pm (b) All shacks/discos/clubs are to be closed by midnight (c) 10% extra entertainment tax on casinos (d) ban on land purchase for foreigners (e) any purchase of land by foreigners for business purposes (including installing pan-stalls, etc) is to be have mandatory clearance from RBI…etcetera

But analyzing these laws, it gives me a sense of satisfaction that atleast places like Goa are still managing to survive amidst the devil (tourism industry). Most of the foreigners (some people name them ‘white trash’) come to Goa for unethical desires which are ok to some extent, but I saw & we saw that the condition (in Feb’08, when the tour was made) was beyond the Lakshman-Rekha.

Hoping Goa will be cool forever as, :-)

“ANKIT WAS HERE”

- all pics (with dates) courtesy Tau’s Canon and all pics (without dates) courtesy Prateek’s N-73)