Viva Goa! Paradise on Earth. Review on Goa

Last week Diwali gave me 5 consecutive days holiday so we decided to go to Goa.

Goa covers an area of roughly 3700 sq. Kms. The population of 1.2 million is among the most laid back and easy going that you could imagine. Goans are NEVER in a hurry. That is the most charming part about Goa. It gets irritating at times. Then I learn to slow down too. When you are at a shop waiting to be served, neither the owner of the shop, nor the customer ahead of you seems to be in a hurry. Don’t even think of going to a shop even to buy a loaf of bread between midday and about 4:00 PM. For every Goan this is siesta time.

The language of Goa is Konkani. Goans in the north, generally use the Marathi script for writing, while in the south, they write Konkani like Portuguese. There is a strong Portuguese influence in Goa, the Portuguese having ruled Goa for 451 years. The Portuguese influence is also seen in the architecture of the beautiful churches of Goa. The most famous of these is the basilica of “Bom Jesus” in old Goa where the embalmed body of St. Francis Xavier lies and is exposed to public view every ten years.

ASIDE

There is a joke doing the rounds that a few years ago a group of Americans came for the exposition of the body of St. Francis Xavier.

They went back and sued the travel agent because the body had clothes on.

The 105 Km coastline is adorned by some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. There are several rivers which run east to west and break up what might otherwise seem like one long, 105 Km beach. Calangute is the most well known beach in north Goa while in south Goa it is Colva. Between them they help Goa attract a large number of tourists. The winter months generally see a lot of tourists from western countries while the rest of the year it is mostly Indian tourists.

For getting around in Goa you have several options. The first thing you do when you get there is to pick up a road map. The government has set up the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) with offices in all the major towns. They sell maps for Rs. 12. You can hire a motorbike at between Rs 100 to 150 a day.

Another option is a network of buses both private and government run. This is where you really rub shoulders with Goa. And what a rubbing of shoulders it is. The motto of the private operators seems to be “Let nobody be left behind.” At the starting point they load the bus till it is bursting at the seams. The conductor climbs up to the windows of the bus from the outside to make sure that every inch of space is used. Mass packaging at its most impressive. Through all this, the extreme patience and tolerance of the Goan comes to the fore. Often the buses have just a single door for entry and exit. When a passenger trapped at the wrong end of the bus wants to get down, the bus waits without so much as a murmur from the driver, conductor or other passengers while the disembarker squeezes his way out of the bus. This is in marked contrast to the impatience one sees in Bombay.

And finally you have the taxi. This is the most comfortable albeit expensive way of getting around. I suggest you should avoid this unless you are physically incapable of taking the rough and tumble of the bus. Taking a taxi isolates you from much of the real Goa. If you take a taxi, get the help of a more experienced fellow tourist to find out about the fair rate and negotiate with the cabbie before you start. The price of virtually everything is negotiable in Goa. You will probably be quoted higher prices if you look like a foreigner. You have to keep this in mind constantly, whether you are buying fish or fruit at the market or negotiating for a taxi or autorikshaw.

GTDC organizes daily tours to north and south Goa. I took the north Goa tour this time. It costs Rs 120 per head. Starting at 9:30 AM and finishing at 6:00 PM, we were taken to a pottery factory, a temple, Mayem lake, Vagator beach, Fort Aguada and Calangute beach. At the pottery factory there was a wide selection of earthenware items on sale. I picked up a beautiful wall hanging in the shape of a girl’s face with locks of curly hair falling to the shoulders, slightly smaller than life size. It cost only Rs 100 (roughly $2). Mayem lake offers you pedal boats at Rs 80 for a group of 4 for half an hour.

Vagator beach is the second most popular beach after Calangute in north Goa. It is an attractive alternative because it is less crowded. Fort Aguada is on one side of the mouth of the Mandovi, the biggest river in Goa. It has two lighthouses, one old gas run lighthouse built by the Portuguese and a modern electric run lighthouse. From here also you can spot the house of Jimmy Guzder, of the Bombay based DHL & Airfreight group. This house is completely hewn out of the rock on which it stands, right down to the bar and bar stools inside. You don’t get to see the inside of course.

Calangute beach is the final leg of the tour. It is a really long beach with golden sand. There are boats which offer rides at Rs. 20 per head. Recently they have started offering para-gliding too. A parachute attached to a speedboat is hauled like a kite with upto two riders hanging on. A colourful sight indeed. I didn’t sample it myself though. Baga beach near Calangute is less crowded. It is a beautiful place where the sea creates a sort of sheltered natural swimming pool when the tide comes in. On one side of this natural pool you have the sandy beach and on the other side is a rocky hill side. The tour does not take you to Baga though.

One thing you should certainly not miss if you come to Goa is the river cruise. GTDC runs the “Santa Monica”. There are 2 one hour cruises, one at 6:00 PM called the sunset cruise and the other at 7:15 PM called the sundown cruise. In addition private operators run the “Royal” cruise and the “Paradise” cruise. All 3 are very similar. There is a live band playing a mix of Goan folk, Portuguese folk and English pop music. Groups of choreographed dancers dance to the folk music while the tourists are encouraged to dance to the pop stuff. There is also a bar and snack counter on board.

Goa offers the cheapest booze compared to anywhere else in India. People usually buy cartons of 12 bottles of beer at a time. Port wine is also very common. But most popular of all is the fiery drink called Feni. Cashew feni is hot stuff. A couple of pegs of feni and you would be ready to walk naked over the south pole. The big trouble with feni is that you smell of it even the next day. Your sweat, your urine, everything smells of feni. Another speciality of Goa are the pork sausages. Pieces of pork are dried, pickled in a pungent paste of toddy vinegar, red hot chilly peppers and some spices I don’t know anything about, stuffed into some thin membrane and dried again. This can then be preserved for months. You cook the sausages before you eat them. There are also the Goan sweets like doce, dodol and the delectable bibinca.

There is plenty of accommodation for tourists in Goa. Your best bet is GTDC again. They run several hotels and resorts with double room rates starting at just Rs 350 to 750 ($ 7 – 15.5) a day depending on the location.

Do go to Goa. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your stay.