What is the place? Is this for real? Am I in heaven? Those questions were rushing through my mind the moment I landed in Goa. I had heard about this place so many times before, but my adventure there gave true meaning to the phrase “Seeing is believing.”
You have to experience it yourself to actually see just how jaw-droppingly beautiful Goa truly is. I am not sure what prompted me to take this extremely ill-planned and impulsive trip to Goa. Did I only need to be away from my cubicle and my comfort zone, or did I really need a getaway? I was actually asking myself and after put so many back and forth I decided to plan a short trip to Goa along with my husband (travel partner).
Pro Tip: For those traveling from Delhi to Goa, book the flight around 2 months before your arrival. You’ll get huge discounts on the air tickets. Goa has one airport – Dabolim which is well connected with all the major cities of Goa.
Arrived in Goa and spent the whole day with salty eyelashes in the Arabian Sea
Having reached the Dabolim airport, my next biggest worry was to get to Baga beach. Hence, we settled to booked the cab from the airport (1200 bucks A.C car). It took around one hour to reach Baga Beach where we booked the resort online (Little India Beach) which is not so far away from Baga beach
Pro Tip: Little India Beach Resort is just as the name suggests, a beachside property with a vast garden. We’ve booked the tropical wooden cottage which was an incredibly beautiful humble abode for our next 4 days stay in Goa. The rooms were thoughtfully designed with wall paintings, Indian arts, and crafts. The fully air-conditioned beautiful cottage was covered around the tropical garden with private pathways that lead to beach.
Explore the best hidden beaches of Goa – Morjim & Arambol (in the outskirts of North Goa)
We started our ride from Titos’s Lane which is located right at the center of the Mapusa road (Goa). After a sumptuous meal in McDonalds (Mapusa Road), we rode further to Morjim Beach. Its clear sand and the turquoise blue sea had our heart singing. With no other, no soul in sight, we swam deep into the water and just floated when we could swim no more. We let the waves carries our back to the edge of the beach. This, by far, was the best couple of hours we spend in Goa.
This quiet beach lies just north of the Chapora River and can be reached by taking a short detour off the coast road from Chapora. It is 40 kms from Panjim city. This is one of the famous turtle beaches of Goa where you can spot the Olive Ridley Turtle.
Morjim Beach is a joy to visit. It is in Northern Goa, a few miles before Ashwem Beach and Arambol beach. The sand here is dark brown colour and is quite fascinating.
I confess, we got a bit greedy and decided to ride further down to Arambol. Attracted to it far its laid-back attitude, I was quite amazed at how the place has managed to retain the virgin feel to it, despite the evil head of commercialization lurking down to the corners.
This unique beach is the rocky as well as a sandy beach. There is also a freshwater lagoon, extending right up to the sulfurous mud and hot springs. Russians and hipsters trope can be seen here smearing the mud, which has certain curative properties. Arambol is a perfect picture of a Goan traditional village, with lots of palm trees and fishing boats.
Having checked into the air-conditioned tropical wooden cottage, I had one my infamous long showers and got out to see the beach. The moment we reached to the private beachside, I just lay down on the beach for a while and listened to the sound of the splashing waves. Life seemed perfect there!
During the four days we spent in the sun in Goa, we rented scotty and roamed around aimlessly – discovering new places, taking dips in the ocean at will, making connections with locals and in the process falling head-over-heels in love with Goa in these hot months.
Pro Tip: Café Mambo must be on top of your list when planning to Goa. Spend a night on the Baga Beach, devouring the chilli paneer with rose wine. You could never have enough of them!
sun set view from Baga Beach Goa
When we arrived in Arambol in North Goa, we weren’t expecting much, but we are very glad that we visited his beach because if we hadn’t then we wouldn’t be fallen in love with this place and discovered these amazing gems.
Just around the corner from the main stretch of beach lay Sweet Lake. You can swim here and chill out on the deck chairs.
Pro Tip: You can rent a deck chair for Rs 50 and spend as long as you like there.
Banyan Tree and Mud Bath
On the way, you can pop into the river that runs through the jungle and has an authentic mud bath, something that hippies have been doing here for years. A 15minute walk away from sweet-lake, through the jungle, you come to a giant banyan tree. Its stunning, huge vines fall from its branches and natural platform are made by the tree, perfect for sitting on a chilling out. Go beyond, into the forested valley enclosed between low hills, and you find a spectacular banyan tree.
Casino Night
As it started to get back, we reluctantly headed back to the resort. After a shower, we were ready for the night. The rush of going to a casino for the first time was quite whimsical. We bought ourselves a couple package at Deltin Royale (9500 rs which include unlimited drinks, good and yes chips for playing the luck at a casino), Panjim city, and was taken to the premium floating casino on a ferry.
Pro Tip: If you have never been to a casino, Goa offers you the best chance to do. Apart from Deltin Royale, the few others that attract the crowd are Casino Caravela & Casino Carnival.
The cruise is so beautiful. We went there on a Friday so our tickets were priced at Rs 4500 (male) and Rs 3000 (female)
Deltin Royale Cruise, India’s classiest casino. With international games, specialty restaurants and exclusive live entertainment every night. Deltin Royale brings you an authentic casino experience that is at par with the best in class.
The name casino gives the impression that it’s for gambling only. But there is more to it. The live songs and dance program on sky lounge with snacks and food is really a good experience.
After familiarizing ourselves with most of the games, we were ready to give gambling a shot. Casino war, roulette and the slots were just a few of the games we tried a hand at. We won some, we lost some. But it was an entertaining night with a luxurious buffet spread with lively music. It was almost late night around 2 are we decided to rode back to retire for the night.
Goa beyond the beaches.
The next morning, as one would think, we woke up late into the afternoon. Determined to spend a lazy Friday we had a late lunch at Bongo Shack in Baga beach. we spent a couple of hours here, actually. The food is to die for! And the service is good, too, considering the sheer size of the place and the number to which they cater.
Tip6 The Bongo Shack is the best place to dine if you love wine and good vegetarian food. Service is pretty awesome and people out there are really humble and welcoming. Café mostly crowded with foreigner couples.
Exploring the churches of Goa
After the lazy lunch, we decided to explore Goa beyond beaches. We headed to spend time in Old Goa, visiting all the churches and old Portuguese houses. Basilicas of Bom Jesus, Sé Cathedral (Old Goa Church), and Panaji church are few famous churches of Old Goa.
Pro Tip: Old Goa is a world within itself. The magnificent architecture of the Basilicas of Bom Jesus is awe-inspiring. You will find a few other churches just a block away from each other.
Old Portuguese House
After which, we strolled around the museum for a couple of hours, finally we heading to explore the ancient forts of Goa. While going there we have found one old Portuguese house. Once you walk around a little in old Goa, it’s easy to get addicted to its houses, especially the ones from the Portuguese era. These houses have the most beautiful colours and textures and are very inviting as photography subjects.
Pro Tip: You can easily spend a whole day in Old Goa, exploring its real way of life, its churches in tiny villages, its iconic Portuguese houses, street photography and of course, some unusual food.
Explore the Portuguese architecture, I swear you will not regret a bit of it. Most of these villas are more than 100 years old and we are fortunate that people have maintained these properties keeping their essence alive.
Aguada Fort & Light House
One of the ancient fort built by the Portuguese to defend against the Dutch invasion. The water from the natural spring on the headland was used to meet the needs of ships cruising in and out of the Mandovi River. We spent almost one hour here, after that we headed back to the resort.
We rode back to Baga beach to relish dinner at Café Mambos, yet another Goan special and walked along the beach late into the night, reminiscing over all the earlier times we had been here and there as mate-travelers.
Pro Tip: Café Mambo & Bhongo shack are two of my favorite places to dine at Baga. Don’t skip if you haven’t been here before.
Experienced the feel of Arabian sea closely
We got up early we wanted to see the sunrise from Cocoa beach and dolphins. Start the day by spending sunrise view from the Cocoa beach. This beach is a bit hidden, so stay sharp. This is especially important for us as we simply love getting into the sea. We boarded the private boat from there (Rs 1500) for 45 minutes. The beach has a stunning view of Fort Aguada Jail, the Jimmy Millionaire Bungalow, and is ideal for spotting dolphins. We’ve spotted many dolphins staring here and there on our boat.
Pro Tip: If you are looking to enjoy a sunrise, I would highly recommend you my favorite place, Chapora Fort. It is really worth it.
It was our last day in Goa and we really wanted to live every bit of it. We started our evening by visiting the nearest beach, of course, Anjuna and spent quality time thereby playing with the waves, binging on some street food, had some water sports activities, clicking loads of pictures. And rode back to our beautiful resort and slept!
Never say goodbye
Woke early today, yes it was our last day in Goa. Spent plenty of good time in the resort. We had an amazing breakfast and check out a few hours later than we supposed to, thanked the owner and the staff for the great hospitality, my husband played with the dogs for one last time, returned the good old Scotty, and hired a cab to the airport. As the plane takes off from Goa, I bid adieu to Goa with some terrific memories and a promise to visit again soon.
Some Useful Tips:
1. Goa Essentials: A couple of swimwear, sunscreen at least 70 SPF, your favorite novel (for light reading on the beach, if you are a reader), Camera, Selfie stick & the pair of sunglasses.
2. Best time to go: November – April. Depending on what is the purpose of the trip (chilling or relaxing)
3. Transport: The cheapest way to travel and explore Goa is to rent a bike or Scotty (300-650) per day. We spent around 1700 with fuel for 3 days.
4. Best café around the beaches: Café Mambo – Baga Beach, Café lilliput- Anjuna Beach Bora Beach: Morjim Beach.
So, that was all about my short trip to Goa, I really had a great experience staying in Little India Beach resort and goofing around the city. I’m back in Delhi but my heart is still in Goa. Why I’m not sure. But all this rubbish aside, when I remember Goa, I remember the natural wonders, the happy roads, the well-constructed yet delightful homes.
I hope you guys liked the blog and don’t forget to share your views!
Stay tuned with us for some more travel stories.
Love – Travel Tales by Neha
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