Goa: Feb 2010

Snaps available on Flickr (this time around, we used the mobile phone’s camera, because we left our digital camera behind)

It was time, already, for our Annual Feb trip. This time around, the idea was to chill out in Goa.

Booked air-tickets in a hurry: Leave on 8th Feb, and return on 13th Feb. In my haste to book the tickets I chose 13th March instead as the return date, and then had to spend the next hour talking to airlines, and changing the return tickets, and spending an extra Rs. 1500 in the bargain. Sheesh!

It was a hectic week at work for both Indu and I, prior to our trip, and we actually ended up working till late night on the 7th, just so we could close out things before our trip. Also it just so happened that we had returned from my cousin’s engagement, in Mysore, that weekend. So basically, the day we were to take the flight to Goa, we were dead tired, and just looked forward to getting to Goa, and getting a lot of sleep and rest.

Arrive in Goa, day 1

We were at the Goa ITC Guest house, located in Colva, by 3pm, wolfed down a decent lunch, and hit the sack. Woke up late evening, strolled a bit around the guest house, had dinner, and slept again.

Goa guest house front yard - panorama shot

Benaulim Beach, day 2

Woke up refreshed. The guest house and its surroundings – lush green cover, blooming flowers beds, the laid back feel, and the silence interrupted often by bird calls – reminded us we were on a holiday, in Goa, and it was time to make the most of it. After a hearty breakfast, we rode out on a hired Activa (the caretaker, Patnaik, arranged this for us). The ride to Benaulim beach, 3 kms from the guest house, through narrow roads, and the cool breeze, was a quick one. We walked out onto the beach, looking for a beach-shack that we could just laze at. We found “Blue Corner”, and its beach beds shaded by coir umbrellas. Looked perfect to us. Settled down, after generously applying sun-screen. Ordered beer, and settled down with a book. Perfect. I happened to be reading Aldous Huxley’s “Perennial Philosophy” at the time; the beach, sea breeze, and the light beer, made the read all the more engaging. Indu was working her way through the verbose-chunky-engaging-in-parts “Shantaram” novel, and was enjoying it too.

A few vendors came by, Indu bought a couple of sarongs from them, and over conversation got to know that they are from north Karnataka – had some relaxed conversation with them in Kannada. Had lunch around 3pm, and settled down for some more time, till the sun started dipping towards the horizon.

On the way back, we stopped at furniture place that seemed to have antique furniture. The shop owner told us that the furniture is brand new, made of teak, and just copies antique furniture design. We liked some of the stuff we saw there. Briefly debated about buying stuff there, and then decided to give this some more thought over the next few days. We eventually did pick up stuff, before we returned to Bangalore.

We returned to the guest house, after a day well spent lazing at the beach. Delicious dinner, and we hit the sack.

North Goa, day 3

We were informed that a flea market is abuzz on Wednesdays, at the Anjuna beach. Hired a Pulsar for the long ride to north Goa. The highway was not exactly desolate or choc-a-bloc with traffic, but having a bike helped us breeze through it anyway. The day was perfect, and the ride was enjoyable. One of the best parts of the ride was the one over the bridge on the Mandovi river – it is painted mango-yellow, and looks particularly colourful. We got to Anjuna, finally. A lot of traffic was headed that way, and we immediately noticed that north Goa was busier, and filled with tourists – mostly foreign tourists at this time of the year. The flea market walk through, and the occasional bargaining was an ok experience. The entire experience is oriented towards the non-Indian tourist – there are a lot of trinkets that appeal to them, and the prices are ridiculously high too.

On the Mandovi river bridge

We had lunch at a restaurant facing the beach, and then decided to head back to south Goa. On the way back we stopped at a Cafe Coffee day for some coffee, and then stepped into a Reebok showroom nearby for some t-shirt purchases. From there on we stopped a couple of times on the way, to click snaps – one on the Mandovi river bridge, and then near some fields en-route.  We headed straight to Colva beach to watch the sunset. Walked into a rather empty beach shack, ordered for some beers, and snacks, put up our legs, and watched the sun sink into the sea. Very relaxing end to the day.

South Goa, day 4

Quite a few people we spoke to asked us to head south and check out Palolem and Agonda beaches. These beaches are in the Canacona district of southern Goa. The bike ride to south Goa was a much better one – the highway passes through laid back villages, lots of green cover, winding roads through the hills, and with glimpses of the Konkan railway rail-track. The day was perfect for the ride; it was a bit overcast, and the cool breeze combined with the scenery kept a smile plastered on our faces. We arrived at the Palolem beach first. The sea is really calm at this beach, the waves just lap the shore. It is surrounded by hills on one side, and this adds to the beauty of the beach.

Walked around the beach for a while, and then headed to this small restaurant called Blue Planet – it advertised healthy vegan food. We weren’t disappointed. The fresh fruit juice, the thick and freshly made soup, and a big bowl of salad filled us up just right. Good food, and a welcome break from the usual routine of pasta, paratha, or paneer based food.

Agonda beach

We then rode down to Agonda beach, and this beach was practically empty, and really beautiful too. Again settled down at a beach shack, with some beer, and stared at the horizon. Jumped into the water, and let the waves batter us a bit. Relaxed a bit more, and then decided to head back. We took some back of the beyond country roads to head back Margao, instead of the highway. This was the best decision we made, on the entire trip. The road passes through some awesome winding, dipping, and climbing roads through hills, and fantastic breath-taking scenery. This road is a biker’s delight. At one point, the road climbs a hill, and at the top we were treated to an almost 180 degree view of the sea, with Agonda beach a sparkling strip at a distance off to the left. Made the entire journey even more memorable.

It was half past seven, by the time we got back to the guest house. Patnaik helped reserve a table for us at a restaurant named JoeCons. A relaxed dinner, some live music with a couple of songs dedicated to us, recalling the details of the ride, and then back by 11pm for a good night’s rest.

At the guest house, day 5

Furniture shop

After all the hectic activities over the past couple of days, we decided to chill out at the guest house. Sat around in the manicured garden, and lazed around in our room. Headed out to Benaulim beach to have dinner on the beach, under the star-lit sky. On the way over to the beach, we stopped at the furniture shop, where we had spotted some good teak furniture, selected the pieces we liked, and settled on a price that seemed reasonable. Gave the guy an advance, and arranged for the furniture to be transported by bus.

The dinner was really good. We practically sat in the dark, with just a single candle-stick lighting our table. Perfect,relaxed dinner – couldn’t see the sea, but heard the waves crashing onto the beach, and the ever present sea breeze cooling us down. We should have done this beach-dinner more often. Maybe the next trip to Goa will get us to spend more time at the beach, and importantly, more time in Goa.

Back to Bangalore, day 6

The next day saw us at the same beach shack on Benaulim beach. Our flight to Bangalore was around 5:30pm in the evening. We spent time at the beach till around 3pm. Got back to the guest house, settled our bills, and tipped the resourceful and ever-helpful caretaker, cook, and helper. Our taxi took us to the airport in 30 minutes or so. We spent the next hour at the airport, purchased a couple of books to read, got onto our flight to Bangalore, and back home by 9pm.

This trip seemed to be too short. Our minds / spirit was still back in Goa, but physically present in Bangalore. We promised ourselves to go back there, for a longer period of time. A month seems just perfect.

Snaps available on Flickr (this time around, we used the mobile phone’s camera, because we left our digital camera behind)

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