Before I let out my experience on Goa on my first trip to it , I just want to clear out few things from my point of view, there are two types of Goa that I have witnessed and heard from people . One is "North" which is fun...party mode....too much crowd...kind of metro vibes and then there is "South" which is off beat ....adventure seeking....scenic .....nature bound. So I chose the south, reason being party can be done anywhere metro or North Goa as well I wanted less crowd scenario to enjoy without headache. Plus it had off beat places which appealed to me more. So if some of you think that what you did if you went to Goa and didn't party?!!....So I would say fun has many meanings, for me it is more of adventure seeking and exploring.
As well as I mentioned earlier that I won't be revealing exact locations as I want to change the copy paste mentality nowadays people have. Some of you might be more efficient than me in finding better locations and more budgeted trip but just because you don't want to do so you will just follow the pattern that I did on my trip which I want to discourage .
Travel Day : Started by evening 8:20 PM from Pune via Purple AC bus. We were two girls , me and my colleague from previous project. This was suppose to be a trip of 4 gals but somehow two got scattered away due to some other commitments so we had to settle with two of us going on the trip. As usual I am not accustomed to travel via buses for overnight journeys ,this was my first experience and will be last bus travel experience for roads such as Pune-Goa phewwww!!!! As well traveling by bus was not my idea , I got a hunch of it while talking to one of my friends . I did tried it but it's not for me, not at all!!! I got motion sickness within half an hour of journey. Because I ate too much & the road is too bumpy ...too means extreme bumpy for Pune to Goa. My drop location was Madgaon KTC the last stop. The purple bus driver was quite good to me so he allowed me to sit in the front cabin near him where I could breathe fresh outside air & puke in case I wanted to via the side door. For 2-3 hours I was in front entrance until dinner time around 11pm at Lonavala. I didn't eat anything, as well my friend Eli she was also not eating because of the situation she witnessed about me . As it was summer with extreme temperature outside and eating heavily along with traveling with lots of jerks and twerkkkks( I would add on ) made me puke ...it was an unpleasant experience to start with. Somehow I slept for few hours because of the AC and also because I was drained out. I woke up around 4am because of continuous jerks felt from the bus going through the steep serpent bends and bad roads and kept on lying down until 7:30 am when we were asked to get down to go for check post for double CoVID vaccination shot certificate checks to enter Goa. We were suppose to reach Madgaon by 9:30 am but I learnt from driver that we faced lot of traffic and there was jam in the night on the road so it was delayed by 1.5 hours. As we both were the only two passengers left, driver allowed us both to sit in the front entrance of the bus and enjoy the entire scenic ride until our destination. It was too beautiful to miss.
My suggestion would be pick AC coach train ...private vehicle or flight....but buses for overnight journeys like this where the roads are too bumpy & jumpy....never ever again!!!
Even if you opt buses please choose lower seats not the upper one's that was advised to me by driver while I was talking to him about my uneasy feeling. The upper seats are prone to shake more when buses take sharp turns on bumpy roads as compared to the lower seats.
Reached Madgaon by 10:40 am and hired a cab for Cabo de Rama our first location. I won't be revealing the exact resort name here as I want to leave the exploration part open to everyone. So I am just mentioning the area where I chose to stay at first. The cost of cab to Cabo de Rama costed us around Rs.1400 . The per night cost of the resort that we opted was Rs. 5600 including GST. Entire drive from Madgaon bus stand to Cabo de Rama was forest laden on both sides of roads and no horn honking or traffic jam seen on the way. Kind of real meaning of offbeat felt to me as it was so peaceful and serene to view the route . We had apples on the bus before leaving for resort. We asked the cab driver to stop at a medical shop and ATM on the city area . We got cash for him and purchased few electral drinks as it was baking hot outside to avoid dehydration. Now the disadvantage of traveling by bus was that my body was still shaking from the bumps and jerks that I experienced throughout the night and due to bad sleep. It led to fatigue by the time we reached the resort and I almost fainted because of extreme heat outside and bad transport option that I chose, bad sleep due to bumpy ride and not a proper breakfast .
Point here to be noted is never plan Goa in summers ......never never !!! I never felt so much heat in my life before. It was like someone was baking me in and out. I don't know how the foreigners tolerate this but me being an Indian and from birth never till date I faced such a horrible weather ,horrible horrible. I went to Rajasthan and still didn't felt this kind of weather, it was like I would run away to Siberia to cool off.
By the time we reached the resort it was near to 1pm. I was barely in my senses due to fatigue and bad travel experience, even in that bad state I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the top view from the resort.I did chose a beautiful stay, Very beautiful indeed !!!
The staff was super helpful as they helped me to our room and took care of the luggage. They even asked me if I wanted to see a doc they would take me to same and get my checkup done. As I was resting in the AC inside the room I laid my eyes on the front view of the room which had open glass slider window ...the entire sea was out there in front touching the horizon of sky making it all blue and green in appearance with two coconut trees adding their silhouette into the scenery. I ordered something light such as Upma to eat as it was easy to digest and Eli ordered a cup of tea before we freshened up. The side view of the room has sun decks perched out to soak sun in case someone wants to.
The bathroom was accessible via a sliding door , had a big mirror in front and open shower (roof was made of dried palm and coconut leave branches). The floor was paved with loose pebbles of smooth surface giving it a Bali kind of tropical vibe shower. Standing under the shower one can witness entire bluish green sea crashing into rocks and yatches in middle of them, complimented by greenery of the entire area. I couldn't let go of the shower for atleast an hour as it was so relaxing from the tiresome journey that we had .
It was around 4pm when we went for lunch at the resort's restaurant which was perched above in the entrance facing sea. We ordered Paneer tikka and two naan without butter . We ate our fill and felt no urge for dinner after that. After having late lunch we went for brisk walk and sight seeing nearby . It was a pleasant sunset to watch from the top of cliff and waves crashing on . In the evening we spent some time on the sun deck area as there were no mosquitoes in the area and cool sea breeze took the edge off hot climate . We slept like babies in our room with the front glass window wide open throughout night allowing sea breeze to cool the entire room instead of AC.
Next morning we woke up before the sun rose high in the sky to take some nice snaps before tourists come crowding to nearby locations by 10 am. Had our breakfast from the resort's restaurant and then booked a taxi with the help of resort people for next destination. Luckily we got a taxi which billed us according to meter.
We reached our second location (Palolem area) at around 12pm . The real summer experience of Goa starts from here !!! There were 15 minutes still remaining for my check in . As I was talking to the owner he told that room was yet to be ready so I requested to give us the first cottage instead of the last one . The location had a country side feeling, situated in green lush meadows ....flowering trees and big coconut trees planted in linear manner. In the front of the cottage there were netted hammocks tied to coconut trees bark and small colonial style benches seated at regular intervals on the borders of the green courtyard.
As soon as I entered the room I regretted planning Goa in summer . Entire South Goa's power supply was cut off as the transformer became overloaded and was unable to take load. We were baking in and out with only backup power available for mobile charging and fan. The room was built of wood which was not able to transfer the trapped heat outside. On the contrary the breeze outside was much cooler than inside of the room. Somehow we took shower and by evening we went out for scanning the area. Looking at Eli's fatigue I couldn't plan for Cola beach that day and had to shift it next day. We rented scooty for two days at 300 bucks/ day- driving license soft copy is mandatory for that. Police also checks them. We looked for ATM nearby to pay the scooty owner cash as she was not ready for digi pay option. Google maps being weird located a HDFC atm at a vicinity of 2-3 kms from us. I rode up to the location and we tried locating it but couldn't find same , only a small provision store could be seen. Confirmed from the guy there and found that it is located at backside. When we went to the atm to our dismay it was located in a dark alley and was out of power and appeared as if entire ATM booth was never operational. An idea clicked to me instantly and I went to that provision store and said in Hindi " Bhaiya ATM kharab hai , mai aapse kuch khareed leti hun and aapko Gpay karti hun 1000 rupaiye ka , aap baaki chuuttey de dena mujhe" ( I requested the shopkeeper the atm is not operational let me buy something from you and pay you 1000 buks via Gpay you can give me remaining as change cash). To my relief he agreed and we got Rs. 930/- cash amount. After that we took a brisk stroll across the beach front which was at a walk able distance from our location. While returning at evening we bought "butter peppered prawns" they were too yummy .
By the time we returned to our resort ,power was restored and we could sleep off in AC peacefully.
I woke up next morning around 7am . Eli was fast asleep due to fatigue. So my plan to make it early to Cola beach before sun rises high got shifted . By the time we left our resort it was 9:30 am. We lathered ourselves with multiple layers of sunscreen to ensure good sun protection and I carried umbrella and scarfs with me from Pune itself just as a backup. All that helped me a lot as I was the one going to ride the scooty all the way. The road leading to Cola is good curvy one with steep bends until the last 2-3 kms which were off track. We parked our scooty in a barren arid forest and started trekking towards the beach which was 20 min walk . Now Eli hates hiking and trekking , so her mood was off by the time we reached the beach front . After reaching it we sat down in the shack area for an hour n half to cool off as my forehead looked like a red tomato due to heat and humid .As well the sea breeze was a acting like a cooling gel for us. One could clearly see foreigners enjoying their stay in nearby resorts.
At around 11:30 am Eli agreed for Kayaking. This is where the fun part enters!!!
We opted a double kayak as we were together. In the beginning there were lot of crowd hiring kayaks along with us for the activity. Few minutes later all we can see was ours was the only kayak which was going sideways and getting banged on rocky embankments on both sides of lake . I explained to Eli to coordinate while rowing but somehow she missed it and no matter how much I tried we got banged on both sides of rocky edges of the lake , we both were laughing at our bad attempts to kayak properly. Meanwhile a group of 6-8 South Indian guys came rowing up to us and extended help every time we got stuck...they were like " your savior is coming" ...."we are here to help you " ....both me and Eli were laughing and giggling madly because ours was the only kayak which was going sideways instead of being straight. After a while I got frustrated of pushing the kayak away from rocky edges via the paddle ...looking at this all the 6-8 guys came in bunch and offered help like let us help u....kayak like this ....push like that....we are here ....on hearing this Eli burs ted out laughing in hindi " Haan sab aajao....sab aajao" ( come ...all of you come!!! )...& I went bonkers laughing on it. She told me Subhi ...tere hone ka faida hai !!! ( Your existence is valued here ) and we laughed like fools with gold , cannot forget that moment ever. By the time we got out of the lake we were pro in Kayaking ...those guys ensured we learnt everything properly.
It was 1:30 pm by the time we got out of there. I rode back within 30 minutes as the journey was downhill and we had our lunch at "Tatva" ( scenic garden restaurant). Went back to resort ,had shower and slept of a little.
By evening I returned the rental scooty to its owner and took my aadhar back (they keep it as insurance). Eli got in a mood of getting a haircut , so we went to a parlor... had her hair trimmed so it became more manageable.
After that we headed towards beach front for candle light dinner. The entire beach front was decorated as if little lights were placed at equal distance , with live music played by foreigners and Goan band. The view was mesmerizing as the waves were crashing in front and we were dining on open beach with candle light. I streamed it live on insta because of same reason.
We came back around 11:30 pm tired and also because we were not able to eat things that we were ordering most of the time. Dont know why it happened but somehow we miscalculated our appetite part on this trip. Came back to our cottage and slept tight as next day was check out day and final day in Goa.
Woke up as usual around 7am , Eli was in deep sleep . So I went outside took some morning snaps and by the time it was breakfast period we both were well fed and ready to check in to another location which was a 15minutes ride from there .
Our bus was at 7pm hence to compensate the time between check out and leaving I booked another stay to keep us from scorching heat. The current stay owner helped us arrange a taxi for new location and he was the same guy who drove us to Madgaon bus stand for catching our Purple bus at 7pm.
We checked out at 11am and reached at 11:20am at new location. The location was more of tent view style with lush greenery and sea at very close vicinity, waves crashing can be heard inside the room like our first stay. It was a cooler venue as compared to second one. We wanted to go for exploring another location but looking at the heat and the charges the cab drivers were asking for a small distance discouraged us from going there .So we cancelled it and stayed at the new location.
Took shower and went out for lunch nearby .
Meanwhile when we went for lunch we also shopped a little from the local area . For me it was a good bargaining experience as the goods and clothes were appealing. I bought a Kashmiri handbag for mom ,two tshirts for my brother and few clothes for self at very cheap prices. Eli bought a cap as she has been to Goa before me many times so it was not much appealing to her to shop much.
We had our lunch as Kashmiri pulao , Paneer tikka masala (Eli's fav) Raita and two glasses of buttermilk looking at the weather. Came back to room and slept for an hour before the driver came to pick us up .
Point here to remember - if you traveling by bus ensure you leave two hours beforehand as traffic in city area might delay you. It happened with us that we caught the bus just 10 minutes before scheduled time ( we could have missed it).
Altogether my first experience was not that bad ...just that summer isn't for Goa.... I learnt Kayaking this year ( thanks to those guys...live training) . Total budgeting was Rs.10500/- per head when we calculated it after coming home.
As well sunscreen do help ....check out my pic on the 3rd day after Cola beach ride on Instagram.
Reached Pune at around 8am . Hired local auto even though they charged higher ...looking at the luggage I was carrying I was not in a mood for bargaining. Same happened to Eli she also paid more to reach short distance.
I removed two of my locations from the list of exploration due to the intense heat wave and trust me it is not at all comfortable....that's why summer is worst in Goa.
Will resume my exploration of Goa in winters from here on wards.
Signing off until new location comes up on my mind !!
Happy exploring...
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