Travelogues

This is not a guide but more of a ‘what I did in Goa’.

What can you say about Goa in December? That the weather is terrific? Perfect for water sports and lazing around on the beach? Or that one can think beyond beer and try wine, as well?

It was Dec 13^, my wedding anniversary and I decided to take my wife to one of her favorite destinations, Goa. Maybe because I was born and brought up in Kerala I was never too keen on beach destinations. I would rather prefer some hill station.

The flight landed in Goa by 4:30pm and I reached my hotel by 6pm. Contrary to my belief Goa is huge and travelling form one beach to another can take an hour and even more. We stayed at the Taj Village, Goa is in Siquerim Beach. I had taken one of their packages. My advice to people intending to take packages would be not take one which is all meals inclusive. Invariably you would want to eat out and try new places. Thankfully mine included only breakfast. On reaching we considered stepping out of the resort for food.

We went to Souza Lobo at the Calangute Beach Market. Calangute is half an hour from Sinquerim. For the deep pockted I would say take a cab from Taj. I simply stepped out of the resort and took a cab from outside. It cost me Rs. 300 for a round trip with two hours of waiting. Souza Lobo is right on the beach, with two levels. The first level is a concrete floor, with a good view of the beach. The live band played English pop. The second level is on the beach with candle lit tables and another band played Portuguese and Goan songs in their traditional dress. We went to the first level had couple of drinks (Big Boss Cashew Feni) and Squids for starters. The Squids were rubbery and quantity was a good. Later, we came down to the beach seating had some beer and ordered a plate of Goan fish curry and rice. Fish curry rice was too good. The ambience was awesome. Service was not bad. On the whole, a very delightful experience.  Cost for two should be at Rs 1500 inclusive of drinks.

Day 2
Our wedding anniversary day! We were scheduled for a full day excursion in a chauffeured car with a guide. This was part of the Taj package. We left the resort by 9am and our first stop was an antiques showroom. The place was good. But I am not insane enough to buy a rundown tricycle made by BSA in the early 19^th century for 50k! Gosh the cheapest item I think was a door handle for 7k.

After having taken some photographs in sepia mode we left for old Goa. An hour by road and we reached Se Cathedral. I would leave the details. There are many sites which can provide better info on them. We spent an hour or so. The guide was really good and informative. And probably without him we would have got bored much earlier! We quickly left the place and headed for a spice tour.

It was a small spice farm an hour’s drive from Old Goa. For Rs. 300 they give you a healthy organic lunch and take you quickly through the variety of spices available in India and its medicinal properties. It was good experience but certainly not worth Rs 300 pp.

We headed for Velha Goa. This is where I used up the digicam most. Distinct architecture and bold use of colors. Very bright, very beautiful. Margoa was very close. The shopping district of Goa. Few things worth picking up from Goa – Spices and Cashew nut apart from Alcohol. In alcohol I would advice pick at least one bottle of feni (cashew wine); Portuguese wine and an Old Monk bottle of Rum. Make sure you get the one shaped like a monk. This is available only in Goa.

After shopping we took a cruise on River Mandovi. There are couple of steamers which have their upper deck all decked. They have some live shows and dances while the steamer takes two rounds around the river. This was strictly ok. In fact