First, a disclaimer - returning to my named blog after 6 years! A lot has changed since my previous post - Marriage and all that has happened. Life has been kind, and, of late, very, very busy!
So, Goa was a welcome break from the madness! Here goes...
Sunday mornings are indeed early if it is still morning. So, to put it right, really, in fact brutally early at 5 30 am on Sunday morning, wifey and yours truly took the short 50 minute flight to Goa and landed at Dabolim airport Sunday 29 Sep
Well my first trip to Goa was, believe it or not, a school organised annual trip in the last millennium and then I had done 2 more trips with college and work gangs, but even the last trip was around 12 years ago.
As regards the missus, rather strange that she hadn't been to Goa until now, whatay blasphemy I tell you. And the fact that yours truly had taken her to Maldives and Krabi would not take away the fact that a Goa trip had not been checked off the list of places to explore in one's lifetime, the earlier the better.
Enough poking some innocent jovial spirited fun at the wife, atleast for now.
So, sleep starved as we were, we resumed our sleep in the prepaid taxi to Calangute, North Goa.
We had referred to a few blogs and curated reviews from a few friends to decide that our stay would be split 40:60 to North and South, although it is North Goa that is the Haven for party animals.
We checked in at the Le Meridian at Calangute and although check in was 3 pm and it was only 10 am then, the folks at the reception and lounge helped us with our breakfast and we must say it was sumptuous to say the least.
They had a few maps of the city and while we waited for our room to be ready, we planned our North Goa out!
We knew we would rent a bike and go out to Ashwem, Sinquerim, Aguada, Baga, Anjuna and target at least one, if not both of the recommended night clubs, Tito's and LPK (Love Passion Karma, as I would later learn)
Hate to say that even September-October is quite hot and humid, unbearably so especially for the AC imprisoned Bangalorean, in the corporate IT set up or yesteryear conditioning courtesy a thoroughly enviable weather that is fast disappearing.
Coming back to Goa, thanks to it being off season and the shack policy being in a limbo, we could enjoy the beaches and the scintillating sea views that Goa continues to offer.
And to compare the experience of getting around, I must say that one doesn't need to feel like he or she has stolen a bike since rent a bike and rent a car is legit, with yellow on black number plate and all.
300 bucks a day is quite reasonable and while petrol bunks are far and few, petrol for the bike is available aplenty, in Bisleri bottles at the markup of 20 rupees from bunk price to the litre.
Convenience, am sure, but for the corrupt government as well, if you allow to place on record without deviating too much.
So yes, Sinquerim fort and beach and then Aguada fort are definitely worth a visit. Aguada fort has a few boards up providing good info on the forts of Goa.
It is interesting to refresh our history of how the spice trade and Ottoman Turk Monopoly over it lead to the exploration and discovery of the sea route to India, starting with Vasco Da Gama on the Malabar coast.
The hot sun and a delightful lunch at a boutique hotel, Tuscany Gardens was enough to lull us into a late noon siesta only to wake up in time for Tito's since LPK was farther from Calangute.
Tito's was where I had been to on the after college trip to Goa and I remember Tito's and Pecos where be had been back then and Club Cabana which was open back then, but was out of reach since we were all stags and could barely afford the cover on our first job pay cheques
So yeah, from what I remember, Tito's is definitely a run down, but always a great feeling to let one's hair down, even if there isn't much to let down, and shake a leg when one has two right feet.
We surprised ourselves by stealing time at the Baga beach front for a quick taste of Feni, the local drink before we hit Tito's.
Le Meridian is a really nice place to stay and wifey and I had a memorable stay there - great food and with time to play carrom, table tennis, air hockey, Jenga (yes!) and snooker, which I was trying out for the first time as well!
Thanks to some nudging and a lot of pushing, some quite literally, I can safely say I am beginning to be comfortable in a swimming pool, at the shallow ends, to be sure.
Well, dipping oneself and letting go of oneself, howsoever briefly and floating whatsoever small distance counts for a beginning, doesn't it?
Thank you Bimba - I only hope I gather some will and a lot of time to further this!
If evening of Day 1 Calangute was a night club, Day 2 evening was Ashwem beach, where we caught the sunset, and although it was cloudy and we couldn't really see the orange red ball of fire go down over the sea horizon, the colours of the sky were heavenly to say the least. What a treat to the eyes! The crimson red hues just soothe one's eyes and mind. Nature doesn't cease to amaze! And remind us of our artificial sense of superiority. Nature rules Supreme. And without making it a contest or making a hue and cry of it. Sunsets are pretty much an everyday affair for Nature, but to the Traveller, places like Ashwem are an everyday party with all invited.
On our bike ride back to Le Meridian we stopped over at The Karma Collection near Ashwem - they have a rather interesting collection of antique and antique like stuff.
One thing that struck me at Ashwem is the number of sign boards in Russian.
Amusing how a city is so much like home to people of a different country, and intriguing how a city like Goa welcomes and embraces the Russians.
Early next morning, as if to race against the Sun and how sunny it can get, we rode upto Anjuna beach, where if we had collected just a few more pebbles, we could have been prosecuted for illegal pebble mining ;)
But, more seriously, absolutely precious stones these pebbles are. One can't care for gems and jewellery if one just as much as holds up and feels some of these smooth and shiny pebbles!
It was difficult to believe that this was our third day in North Goa and it was time to check out of the lovely hotel that Le Meridian is and say goodbye to the happening North Goa!
The only place we couldn't do more of or enough of was Ashwem and the only place we couldn't do at all was LPK, or Love Passion Karma.
Must do on our next trip may be!
We hired a taxi to South Goa. 2000 bucks to South Goa from North Goa!
And here is another tip - we later hired a car in South Goa on reaching there, and realised we could have saved money and covered more places if we had hired a car on Day 1, delivered to us right at the airport and to be dropped off on the day of the return flight!
So, we did not know what beautiful resort the Radisson Blu resort at Cavelossim would be until we got there!
We got a Tika, arti and gong welcome! Just wow!
And the rooms...they are villas - we had a balcony room, so it was on the first floor and spacious, luxurious property and rooms!
The resort opens into the Cavelossim beach where we caught the sunset in the evening.
Goan sunsets are just priceless! Each, beautiful but no doubt some more than the other!
We got our car delivered to the hotel in the evening - after all we had a plan worked out for Wednesday and Thursday in South Goa and some places at Old Goa on Friday morning before we caught our afternoon return flight!
I need to call out Manjunaths Rent a car - excellent service, they delivered the car at Cavelossim and would take return delivery at the airport - reasonable rent tariffs and a nice new car - the Hyundai i20 was in great condition and I had absolutely no issues whatsoever!
So Wednesday we did Mobor beach in the morning and then fueled up for the longer drive in the evening.
South Goa is sleepy and many shops were not open for most part of the day!
So, our evening drive to Colva was smooth. Wife and I did Parasailing at Colva!
Well it so happened that the missus had done Parasailing earlier at Murudeshwar, well before our marriage, and as she later realised, the Parasailing at Murudeshwar was not to the height one reached at Colva!
So yes, back to the Parasailing story - the guy told us that we needed to do it separately, each of us accompanied by the professional. So, looking at the height, the wife promptly told me she would do it only if I went first. And there, I decided to go only because if I didn't, the missus would miss it :P
Man, I felt uncomfortably close to God for the most part of the ride, and given that I don't know swimming, it was certainly adventure exponential to a logarithmic scale at that kinda height with just the Arabian Sea below me. I am sure if I were to fall, the life jacket would probably explode before I calm myself down to float, and then there were thoughts of drowning due to getting entangled and stuck under the chute.
Of course, the hysteria did fade and make way to some delight and feeling of satisfying adventure and as I got lowered, I spotted Bimba and waved and smiled to her, and declared victory, showing her a V with my own hand that I took off the harness for a bit ;)
A must this Parasailing for anyone who can gather the guts :P
And then wifey went up for it,and shrieked on her way up in a manner that is so typical of girls. Not men. You see, we hide our fears quite well ;)
After the Parasailing and sitting down at the beach to trade notes on the experience, we decided to go to Utorda beach to catch the Sunset since Colva was a little crowded and the hawkers were a little disturbing.
We could have gone to Sunset Beach or Betalbatim beach, both of which were closer to Colva, but decided to go a little further to Utorda, based on a recommendation/review from my wife's friend.
Again, another scintillating sunset, as you can see in the pictures. The colours are just unbelievable! No filters were used, which some find hard to believe!
Dinners at the Radisson - we tried Lucio's their Goan and Portuguese cuisine and the Upper deck which is their 24/7 restaurant and coffee shop.
Next morning we had a lazy breakfast followed by some more lazing at the pool at Radisson. A great pool they have, what with varying depths. But I do wish they enforced the discipline and basic hygiene of showering before entering the pool. Firangs and Desis alike were entering the pool without showering and thus rendering the pool dirty. What a shame, some people don't have basic common sense or sense of keeping places clean!
Anyway, we didn't spend as much time we otherwise could have in the pool. So, we had an early start to the afternoon long drive. We stopped over at Agonda beach first, which again is not very crowded. Having waded into the beach there and satisfied our feet and soul with the waters, we left from there by 4 to reach Palolem by about 4 30. Good, they have parking close to the beach!
We had run out of cash, but could get cash at a money point using the debit card, albeit for a small fee. A coupla hundreds for the convenience.
So, Palolem has boat rides and we got onto a boat just in time because it would be an hour's boat ride and there would be very few boat tours starting after 6 if at all.
The boat took us deeper into the waters so we could catch glimpses of jelly fish and dolphins and then to "Honey moon island", so named because it is not very deep at the beach and since it is only accessible by boat from Palolem, it is not crowded, therefore offering the perfect opportunity for honeymoon photos if not the honeymoon itself ;)
Since we had the option of stopping over only at one beach, the other family Bimba and I shared the boat with - together we decided to stop over at the Butterfly beach instead. The waters run very deep with a sharp plummet at the beach, but the beautiful shape of the island and the huge rocks at the shore offer picturesque views, and better picture opportunities as well as you can see for yourself;)
On our way back to Palolem on the boat, they took us past Monkey Island and also narrated the story about this Rock pub, which quite literally was only a huge rock, called Sundowner.
After a thoroughly fulfiling boat island tour, we enjoyed the Sunset at Palolem with a game of frisbee on the beach!
And then, Bimba went around the shops at Palolem, didn't shop for too much but I can safely conclude that her soul was content having looked at all the stuff in those shops!
Well, we drove back to the resort with a heavy heart since we didn't have any more sunsets left at Goa, and had only skyscrapers and smog ,and that's if one had enough time or ventured out for a sunset back in Bangalore! But yes, Bangalore is in our DNA, so, doesn't make much sense to crib about one's DNA does it!
On the last day, we had a quick breakfast - by now I had tried the Madurai Malli and Tanjore Dosa apart from the regular Ghee Masala Dosa at the live Dosa counter at Radisson.
We drove to Old Goa, and went straight to the Bom Basilica, the Church that the Portuguese built in,wait for it, 1605! We prayed at the altar after a quick guided tour of the Basilica. The tour includes the story of the miracle of the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier.
We then walked across to the Se Cathedral which is also built in the 17th century, in 1665 to be precise, by the Portuguese. This latter church didn't have any service going on and seemed to be under restoration.
What a fine, peaceful and heartwarming finish to our Goa trip we thought as we drove to the airport where we would drop the car off.
Sunset @ Ashwem
Bimba enjoying at Anjuna Beach...
As wife would later say on Instagram, Go, Goa Gone!
So, Goa was a welcome break from the madness! Here goes...
Sunday mornings are indeed early if it is still morning. So, to put it right, really, in fact brutally early at 5 30 am on Sunday morning, wifey and yours truly took the short 50 minute flight to Goa and landed at Dabolim airport Sunday 29 Sep
Well my first trip to Goa was, believe it or not, a school organised annual trip in the last millennium and then I had done 2 more trips with college and work gangs, but even the last trip was around 12 years ago.
As regards the missus, rather strange that she hadn't been to Goa until now, whatay blasphemy I tell you. And the fact that yours truly had taken her to Maldives and Krabi would not take away the fact that a Goa trip had not been checked off the list of places to explore in one's lifetime, the earlier the better.
Enough poking some innocent jovial spirited fun at the wife, atleast for now.
So, sleep starved as we were, we resumed our sleep in the prepaid taxi to Calangute, North Goa.
We had referred to a few blogs and curated reviews from a few friends to decide that our stay would be split 40:60 to North and South, although it is North Goa that is the Haven for party animals.
We checked in at the Le Meridian at Calangute and although check in was 3 pm and it was only 10 am then, the folks at the reception and lounge helped us with our breakfast and we must say it was sumptuous to say the least.
They had a few maps of the city and while we waited for our room to be ready, we planned our North Goa out!
We knew we would rent a bike and go out to Ashwem, Sinquerim, Aguada, Baga, Anjuna and target at least one, if not both of the recommended night clubs, Tito's and LPK (Love Passion Karma, as I would later learn)
Hate to say that even September-October is quite hot and humid, unbearably so especially for the AC imprisoned Bangalorean, in the corporate IT set up or yesteryear conditioning courtesy a thoroughly enviable weather that is fast disappearing.
Coming back to Goa, thanks to it being off season and the shack policy being in a limbo, we could enjoy the beaches and the scintillating sea views that Goa continues to offer.
And to compare the experience of getting around, I must say that one doesn't need to feel like he or she has stolen a bike since rent a bike and rent a car is legit, with yellow on black number plate and all.
300 bucks a day is quite reasonable and while petrol bunks are far and few, petrol for the bike is available aplenty, in Bisleri bottles at the markup of 20 rupees from bunk price to the litre.
Convenience, am sure, but for the corrupt government as well, if you allow to place on record without deviating too much.
So yes, Sinquerim fort and beach and then Aguada fort are definitely worth a visit. Aguada fort has a few boards up providing good info on the forts of Goa.
It is interesting to refresh our history of how the spice trade and Ottoman Turk Monopoly over it lead to the exploration and discovery of the sea route to India, starting with Vasco Da Gama on the Malabar coast.
The hot sun and a delightful lunch at a boutique hotel, Tuscany Gardens was enough to lull us into a late noon siesta only to wake up in time for Tito's since LPK was farther from Calangute.
Tito's was where I had been to on the after college trip to Goa and I remember Tito's and Pecos where be had been back then and Club Cabana which was open back then, but was out of reach since we were all stags and could barely afford the cover on our first job pay cheques
So yeah, from what I remember, Tito's is definitely a run down, but always a great feeling to let one's hair down, even if there isn't much to let down, and shake a leg when one has two right feet.
We surprised ourselves by stealing time at the Baga beach front for a quick taste of Feni, the local drink before we hit Tito's.
Le Meridian is a really nice place to stay and wifey and I had a memorable stay there - great food and with time to play carrom, table tennis, air hockey, Jenga (yes!) and snooker, which I was trying out for the first time as well!
Thanks to some nudging and a lot of pushing, some quite literally, I can safely say I am beginning to be comfortable in a swimming pool, at the shallow ends, to be sure.
Well, dipping oneself and letting go of oneself, howsoever briefly and floating whatsoever small distance counts for a beginning, doesn't it?
Thank you Bimba - I only hope I gather some will and a lot of time to further this!
If evening of Day 1 Calangute was a night club, Day 2 evening was Ashwem beach, where we caught the sunset, and although it was cloudy and we couldn't really see the orange red ball of fire go down over the sea horizon, the colours of the sky were heavenly to say the least. What a treat to the eyes! The crimson red hues just soothe one's eyes and mind. Nature doesn't cease to amaze! And remind us of our artificial sense of superiority. Nature rules Supreme. And without making it a contest or making a hue and cry of it. Sunsets are pretty much an everyday affair for Nature, but to the Traveller, places like Ashwem are an everyday party with all invited.
On our bike ride back to Le Meridian we stopped over at The Karma Collection near Ashwem - they have a rather interesting collection of antique and antique like stuff.
One thing that struck me at Ashwem is the number of sign boards in Russian.
Amusing how a city is so much like home to people of a different country, and intriguing how a city like Goa welcomes and embraces the Russians.
Early next morning, as if to race against the Sun and how sunny it can get, we rode upto Anjuna beach, where if we had collected just a few more pebbles, we could have been prosecuted for illegal pebble mining ;)
But, more seriously, absolutely precious stones these pebbles are. One can't care for gems and jewellery if one just as much as holds up and feels some of these smooth and shiny pebbles!
It was difficult to believe that this was our third day in North Goa and it was time to check out of the lovely hotel that Le Meridian is and say goodbye to the happening North Goa!
The only place we couldn't do more of or enough of was Ashwem and the only place we couldn't do at all was LPK, or Love Passion Karma.
Must do on our next trip may be!
We hired a taxi to South Goa. 2000 bucks to South Goa from North Goa!
And here is another tip - we later hired a car in South Goa on reaching there, and realised we could have saved money and covered more places if we had hired a car on Day 1, delivered to us right at the airport and to be dropped off on the day of the return flight!
So, we did not know what beautiful resort the Radisson Blu resort at Cavelossim would be until we got there!
We got a Tika, arti and gong welcome! Just wow!
And the rooms...they are villas - we had a balcony room, so it was on the first floor and spacious, luxurious property and rooms!
The resort opens into the Cavelossim beach where we caught the sunset in the evening.
Goan sunsets are just priceless! Each, beautiful but no doubt some more than the other!
We got our car delivered to the hotel in the evening - after all we had a plan worked out for Wednesday and Thursday in South Goa and some places at Old Goa on Friday morning before we caught our afternoon return flight!
I need to call out Manjunaths Rent a car - excellent service, they delivered the car at Cavelossim and would take return delivery at the airport - reasonable rent tariffs and a nice new car - the Hyundai i20 was in great condition and I had absolutely no issues whatsoever!
So Wednesday we did Mobor beach in the morning and then fueled up for the longer drive in the evening.
South Goa is sleepy and many shops were not open for most part of the day!
So, our evening drive to Colva was smooth. Wife and I did Parasailing at Colva!
Well it so happened that the missus had done Parasailing earlier at Murudeshwar, well before our marriage, and as she later realised, the Parasailing at Murudeshwar was not to the height one reached at Colva!
So yes, back to the Parasailing story - the guy told us that we needed to do it separately, each of us accompanied by the professional. So, looking at the height, the wife promptly told me she would do it only if I went first. And there, I decided to go only because if I didn't, the missus would miss it :P
Man, I felt uncomfortably close to God for the most part of the ride, and given that I don't know swimming, it was certainly adventure exponential to a logarithmic scale at that kinda height with just the Arabian Sea below me. I am sure if I were to fall, the life jacket would probably explode before I calm myself down to float, and then there were thoughts of drowning due to getting entangled and stuck under the chute.
Of course, the hysteria did fade and make way to some delight and feeling of satisfying adventure and as I got lowered, I spotted Bimba and waved and smiled to her, and declared victory, showing her a V with my own hand that I took off the harness for a bit ;)
A must this Parasailing for anyone who can gather the guts :P
And then wifey went up for it,and shrieked on her way up in a manner that is so typical of girls. Not men. You see, we hide our fears quite well ;)
After the Parasailing and sitting down at the beach to trade notes on the experience, we decided to go to Utorda beach to catch the Sunset since Colva was a little crowded and the hawkers were a little disturbing.
We could have gone to Sunset Beach or Betalbatim beach, both of which were closer to Colva, but decided to go a little further to Utorda, based on a recommendation/review from my wife's friend.
Again, another scintillating sunset, as you can see in the pictures. The colours are just unbelievable! No filters were used, which some find hard to believe!
Dinners at the Radisson - we tried Lucio's their Goan and Portuguese cuisine and the Upper deck which is their 24/7 restaurant and coffee shop.
Next morning we had a lazy breakfast followed by some more lazing at the pool at Radisson. A great pool they have, what with varying depths. But I do wish they enforced the discipline and basic hygiene of showering before entering the pool. Firangs and Desis alike were entering the pool without showering and thus rendering the pool dirty. What a shame, some people don't have basic common sense or sense of keeping places clean!
Anyway, we didn't spend as much time we otherwise could have in the pool. So, we had an early start to the afternoon long drive. We stopped over at Agonda beach first, which again is not very crowded. Having waded into the beach there and satisfied our feet and soul with the waters, we left from there by 4 to reach Palolem by about 4 30. Good, they have parking close to the beach!
We had run out of cash, but could get cash at a money point using the debit card, albeit for a small fee. A coupla hundreds for the convenience.
So, Palolem has boat rides and we got onto a boat just in time because it would be an hour's boat ride and there would be very few boat tours starting after 6 if at all.
The boat took us deeper into the waters so we could catch glimpses of jelly fish and dolphins and then to "Honey moon island", so named because it is not very deep at the beach and since it is only accessible by boat from Palolem, it is not crowded, therefore offering the perfect opportunity for honeymoon photos if not the honeymoon itself ;)
Since we had the option of stopping over only at one beach, the other family Bimba and I shared the boat with - together we decided to stop over at the Butterfly beach instead. The waters run very deep with a sharp plummet at the beach, but the beautiful shape of the island and the huge rocks at the shore offer picturesque views, and better picture opportunities as well as you can see for yourself;)
On our way back to Palolem on the boat, they took us past Monkey Island and also narrated the story about this Rock pub, which quite literally was only a huge rock, called Sundowner.
After a thoroughly fulfiling boat island tour, we enjoyed the Sunset at Palolem with a game of frisbee on the beach!
And then, Bimba went around the shops at Palolem, didn't shop for too much but I can safely conclude that her soul was content having looked at all the stuff in those shops!
Well, we drove back to the resort with a heavy heart since we didn't have any more sunsets left at Goa, and had only skyscrapers and smog ,and that's if one had enough time or ventured out for a sunset back in Bangalore! But yes, Bangalore is in our DNA, so, doesn't make much sense to crib about one's DNA does it!
On the last day, we had a quick breakfast - by now I had tried the Madurai Malli and Tanjore Dosa apart from the regular Ghee Masala Dosa at the live Dosa counter at Radisson.
We drove to Old Goa, and went straight to the Bom Basilica, the Church that the Portuguese built in,wait for it, 1605! We prayed at the altar after a quick guided tour of the Basilica. The tour includes the story of the miracle of the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier.
We then walked across to the Se Cathedral which is also built in the 17th century, in 1665 to be precise, by the Portuguese. This latter church didn't have any service going on and seemed to be under restoration.
What a fine, peaceful and heartwarming finish to our Goa trip we thought as we drove to the airport where we would drop the car off.
Sunset @ Ashwem
Bimba enjoying at Anjuna Beach...
Us at Mobor Beach
Local Church and School at Cavelossim
Beautiful sunset @Cavelossim Beach
Stopover at Butterfly Beach - Posing for Nirvana
Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa
Sunset @Utorda Beach
As wife would later say on Instagram, Go, Goa Gone!
