- So I spent my Diwali vacation in Goa this year. :) It was my first trip to Goa and the people to go on the trip were my parents, hubby and I. I had expected to find lots of posts on Goa at Ghumakkar but strangely there were few and hardly any about South Goa. So I knew I had to write one!! This time, in my travel post, I have watermarked my photos due to increasing number of photo thefts without proper credit on Internet. Will be doing so in future too. The watermark is the url of my original blog.
# 4th Nov 2010 day 1
Arrived at Madgaon early morning from Pune. The feeling of being in Goa starts from Madgaon station itself because of all the cartoon drawings of Mario Miranda on the walls of Madgoan station :) Colva beach is only 10 kms from Madgaon so it is no use staying at Madgaon. So we hired a pre paid taxi to Colva beach. Checked in to Star Beach Resort – a good medium priced family resort just 100 m away from beach. Nice place but bad service and rude staff. :(
The afternoon and evening of that day was spent at beach only. Colva beach is the best beach of Goa! The sand was so soft and the beach is well maintained, not too crowded like Calanguate or Baga beach and the water is not that deep so less number of lifeguards. People are people ..throwing packets and bottles on beach.. :roll: It used to get cloudy after 3 pm in Goa and that weather was awesome. It was lovely taking a long stroll on the beach and discovering starfishes, crabs and molluscs on the beach trying to crawl back to sea.
There are good places to eat at Colva beach. There is a Subway outlet and a Cafe Coffee Day place at Colva market area. So I was happy :) There is a Bengali outlet even which serves typical Bong food. So Dad and Mom were quite happy!! :)
# 5th Nov 2010 Day 2
The system of renting two wheelers in Goa is good. One just needs to have a license and another ID proof. The rates are quite cheap (petrol cost not included) The only strange thing in Goa is the lack of petrol pumps..Colva doesn’t have a single one!! People sell petrol in shops!
Anyway,so D and I hired a Honda Activa for 200 Rs for 8 hrs and went to Panaji which is around 40 kms from Colva. Google Maps app on D’s phone was most helpful..I was backseat driving legally!! It was quite thrilling going on unknown roads. The roadways of Goa are well maintained thankfully. After seeing the number of churches one comes across in Goa, I have named Goa as the land of Churches! One of the Churches on way to Panaji at Utorda –
One of the bridges on Mandovi river on the way to Panaji
It takes 1 hr 15 mins to reach Panaji from Colva on Activa. While we were stretching our legs at a road side bus stop bench, a woman sitting beside us said hello on her own accord. I started thinking how friendly Goan people are! But after sometime when she started to leave, she gave us a brochure of some church/society. I found that bit strange. :neutral: After having lunch at an outlet called Edu’s Restaurant, we went to Donapaula, a bay where Mandovi river meets the Arabian Sea.
The clothes market at Donapaula
The famous statues at Donapaula
The view of the bay from Donapaula view-point
Then on our way back, we entered Panaji’s narrow lanes and by-lanes..the city has such a wonderful quaint Spanish sort of look just like in movies. But we didn’t have much time to explore as dark clouds had started gathering. We just visited the famous church at Panaji town square – Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception built-in 1540.
By the time we reached our hotel, it was already dark. Driving in dark in South Goa is risky as it gets quite deserted and there are no streetlights even on highway!!
Ended the day with a wonderful dinner of prawns at one of the outlets at beach (did not have the guts to try squid or shark fin :D) and a stroll on the beach at night.
To be continued….
Lovely post on goa… its one hellova place, that i wanna visit again… :)
thanks!!
Yes, there are not many posts on Goa and look fwd to read your series :-)
Been to Goa only once, back in 2004. We were at the mercy of local taxi mafia so we made the best of what we could in those 3 days. At some point of time, we would go again, this time for a longer vacation and try 2 wheelers.
Its time for another visit to Goa :)
Rebranding India’s Party Town with Scuba Diving in Goa
Go goa?
Monotony and boredom become an ever-raging battle as you continue to grow older. At no other time was this more apparent to all of us than when we were riding our rented scooters through the charming by-lanes of Goa for the umpteenth time and found it to be tiresome. We were in the holiday capital of India and we were bored out of our minds.
Luckily, one of my friends spotted powerful allies in our ongoing battle with the usual; novelty and a sense of adventure. A board that advertised scuba diving in Goa was just the thing we needed to add depth to our holiday. We looked at each other nodded with glee.
We contacted the diving school right away and booked a dive for the next day. We had rediscovered excitement and adventure; it was hiding under the pristine waters that surround Goa all along.
Pre-dive
We reached the beach earlier than our instructed time. The instructors greeted us and geared us up figuratively with a quick briefing session. We then took a relaxing boat ride to one of the nearby islands from where we were going to dive. We had humpback dolphins keep us company throughout our ride.
Our instructors pointed out a number of historic and monumental buildings all along such as the Modern Light house, Governor’s Palace, Aguada Fort among many others. I, however, could not peel my eyes away from the golden glow cast by the morning sun on the pristine waters of Goa.
We geared up, literally this time around, getting into our dive suits once we reached the island and went through a scuba training session to get ourselves ready for the adventure that lay ahead.
The hidden world
We had consumed videos and images of scuba diving the night before but no amount of Googling could have prepared us for what happened next. Following our trained instructors we dived into the sea. A whole world, unlike anything I had ever imagined, was hidden underneath these turquoise waters.
There were fish of all shapes and sizes that swam right past us. Coral reefs that gleamed in a million different colors. This world underwater seemed alien but at the same time strangely familiar. The soothing silence accentuated the feel and the visual appeal.
At first I was tense and nervous but a few minutes in I was lost to the splendor that had captivated me. I did not even realize when the 30 minutes of the dive were up. It was only when the instructor pointed out that some of us were running out of oxygen, that this underwater spell was broken.
We spent all our time on the boat and in the scooter as we headed home discussing the dive. Scuba diving in Goa had allowed us to see not only Goa but the rest of the world in a different light.
https://www.thegreatnext.com/scuba-diving-in-goa/
Goa is quite fascinating and exciting for couples especially or if you are bachelor. I liked south goa beaches the most.