Odnaleźć Goa Magii

People often remark in despair that Goa has lost its magic, even we did on our trip in 2007. Like a writer once said, “Its sold its soul to charter flights and overdevelopment.” But this time on our holiday to Goa we discovered parts which are still pristine and beautiful, untouched by group tourism and reminiscent of the good old Goa. Join us as we relive those ‘Susegad’ days and our memorable moments. Day 1 – Leaving for Goa With the holiday season (Diwali) approaching the trains were running packed, and buses had hiked their rates. This time we paid Rs 600 for a non A/C deluxe bus, as compared to last time which was only Rs 250. But we were in need of a vacation, so we happily boarded the bus at 7 pm with no hotel booking or a program for Goa. Traveling during peak hours during holiday season sounds like trouble. We were stuck in a major traffic jam as we took 2-3 hours to only get to the outskirts of Mumbai. It was Diwali time, so the streets were filled with shops selling sweets, lanterns, fire crackers etc. We were on the last row of the bus, yes, it was one great roller coaster ride. After the bus made the first stop for dinner, we soon passed out only to wake up with a big jerk. Day 2 – Reaching Goa We were shivering in the morning as we stopped for a cup of hot chai (tea). The weather was cold but the fog in the air looked really nice. We were still 3-4 hours away from our destination. The road to Goa is pretty scenic when you around 100 kms away. I slowly drifted into sleep with the gentle breeze blowing on my face. When I woke up this time, we were in GOA. It was 11 am, it took us 16 hours to reach Mapusa bus stand in North Goa. Craving to eat, we headed straight to our favorite place, Babaji’s, for some veg pattice, chicken roll and coffee shakes. We would recommend Babaji’s if you get off at Mapusa as the food is really tasty. But be careful Babaji does not have a rate card or menu, so he just charges as per face value, he charged us a little extra we feel because of our bags and everything. On the first day we didn’t do much, we first went to Candolim to hire bikes from our friends for Rs 150 and proceeded to Anjuna in search of accommodation. The season was slack with not many tourists around, it seemed to have a late beginning with the locals hoping that more people come in. In a short while we found a room at A Vivenda Guest House for Rs 450 per day. It was a wonderful place to stay, the room as you can see in the picture below had a colorful painting on the wall and the white lantern on top left. Outside the room were two beach chairs to chill on, we laid down to rest and said, “Finally, we are in Goa.” The feeling of excitement overcame our weary bodies. We went for lunch at a close by shack, soaking in the sun and drinking King’s (the local Goan beer it really rocks), an arrival ritual for us when in Goa. King’s is the cheapest beer around, it costs around Rs 30 to Rs 35, depending on the place and shacks. Day 3 – Om Namah Shivaya After lazing around the previous day, we decided to ride around Goa, we ended up skipping breakfast almost everyday because we would wake up only by eleven. We went for lunch to a shack called ‘Lilliput,’ facing Anjuna beach. The view was good, but the food was on the higher side with our limited budget. For four people the bill came up to around Rs 1300, not that we ate too much. Just decent rounds of beers and lunch. Everytime we come to Goa we end up going to limited places or doing the same thing, this time we wanted it to be different. There are plenty of places that we still haven’t seen, so we decided to do some traveling and explore the unseen Goa. A friend suggested that we see the Shiva sculpture carved on the rocks at Little Vagator or Ozrant beach. Little Vagator was pretty close to Anjuna, around 3-4 kms north. Little Vagator beach is located at the bottom of a palm-covered cliff. You can park your bike or vehicle on top, just outside Shiva Place, and climb down the cliff. Its a small beach stretch and semi-crowded with people and rows of shacks. Towards the end of the beach, on your left if you facing the sea, is the beautiful sculpture of Lord Shiva on a rock looking up towards the sky, done by a long-stay tourist. Next to Shiva carving is the cobra head, and if you look closely on the right of Shiva are two tiny skulls on his left ear. We watched the sun go down from the beach, and on our way back we came across another carving, this time of Buddha. Another day of basking in the Goa sun came to an end, and on the next day we tried out one of the best places to eat Goan food and went further North to Arambol beach.