I was looking for a destination to relax and reenergize while wrapping up Dussera vacation. After exploring a few options, settled down on Goa – a place that always has something new to offer even after several visits during the last fifteen years. For the uninitiated, Goa is a narrow strip of land sandwiched between Arabian Sea and Western Ghats, boasting a combination of pristine and party beaches. With its history of being a Portuguese colony for several centuries, you get a very different feel from the rest of India. It is truly an Indian paradise for visitors with its tourist friendly environment and the small state being entirely dependent on tourism helps as well.
Goa has two distinct halves. North Goa with the beaches of Candolim, Calangute and Baga is highly commercialized and ideal for party goers. South Goa is relatively quiet with the beaches of Colva, Benaulim and Mobor ideal for a family vacation. The only time I visited North Goa was almost ten years back as part of a business offsite. South Goa was more familiar to me and I decided to explore a bit of the North this time.
We landed at Goa airport on a Friday evening and surprised to see the relatively new airport already bursting at its seams with holiday crowd arriving for the long weekend! it took almost two hours to cover less than 35 Km from the airport to my hotel at Candolim with bumper to bumper traffic particularly around the Goan capital, Panaji. It was past 9:30PM and was wondering if we will be able to get some dinner but how wrong I was! The night was still young and as we were enjoying dinner at a Grill with a live band, we could see young couples on ubiquitous Honda Activas riding towards their party destinations.
I am not the party type but a runner! I had planned to run along North Goa beaches during the two mornings of stay. Covered 5 Km on the first morning running from Candolim to Aguada and back. After breakfast and a break, decided to walk along the beach again to Aguada fort. Stopped at one of the beach side shacks for a tasty lunch of fresh seafood. It was the fag end of monsoon season and rain was always in the air. While the sun held on all morning, it started drizzling towards the evening and had to hurry up to cover Aguada fort before the rain. I remember the fort from my visit ten years back and the imposing views made it a worthwhile visit again.
Took a local bus back from Aguada to Candolim and it was an interesting experience seeing how the local transport economy worked. Finally, had dinner at a trendy restaurant on Candolim Beach Road with the highlight being the Goan dessert called bebinca.
The next morning was time to cover the other side of Candolim – ran about 7 Km from Candolim covering Calangute and Baga. The persistent drizzle made it a bit difficult but more painful was the sight of garbage strewn all along the beaches. I wish the tourists are a bit more sensible and conscious about keeping the surroundings clean. I hope we learn this aspect from the west even as we adopt other cultural and aspirational aspects.
After breakfast, it was time to wrap up and head to the airport. The same distance took much lesser time now. Said good bye to Goa with some memories to cherish till the next visit – hope it does not take another five years like this time!