Exotic Goa Beaches

Stuck up at work, I realised that something had been troubling me for a few days. But what? I gave a deep thought, and concluded that It had been around a year since I have had my last vacation. I felt an urge to lie in the lap of the mother nature to relax. Such a state of mind! such a desire! All I needed was a place worth enough to rejuvenate myself.

It was then that I came across an advise that poured from the Decent Indo Tour, a leading travel agency based at Delhi and I made up my mind to grab the opportunity to play with the Sun, Sand and Sea, at the perfect heaven on the earth, Goa. I was told that Goa is one of India's special tourist places with a huge rush of tourists from all over the world and since November, December and January would be the best months to visit Goa, therefore to avoid inconvenience I should make the bookings beforehand. I followed his advise and did the same.

Also known as the Pearl of the orient, Goa is a small state located on the western coast of India. I took off for Goa by air from Delhi and landed up at the Indian paradise with its capital at Panaji on one of the cold mornings in the month of January. From the airport straight away I headed towards the hotel at Panaji, where I had a room booked for myself. My first encounter with Goa caught my attention with gentle breeze, swaying palm trees, twitter of the birds with the never ending shore lines at the golden sand beaches, which were regularly lapped by the calm waves. The weather was delightful as it remains the same between October and April with generally low humidity. The land of tranquility, Goa that got free from the Portuguese in 1966 has over 40 lovely beaches to boast about. In a short visit of four days, though I could not overlap all of them but whatever I came across, made me consider myself a lucky goose to have visited the place. I was not the only person along with other tourists to feel glad, but the coconut and palm trees also stood quietly as witnesses of the mystic union of the lazy, cool blue sea stretching itself to meet the vast blue sky. The beaches lined across 131 km long coastline of Goa.

My travel agent, Decent Indo Tour had informed me that though a bit crowded, Anjuna beach would be the perfect place to laze around in the warm sand, pampered by the smooth sunrays and caressed by the moist sea breeze and his description was so lively that I decided to pay a heed to the advise. When I reached the beach I fell in love with it at once. The white waves that frequently ran to embrace the golden sands on the beach as if in love with them further left me spellbound. Water always attracts me and the same thing happened here also, when felt a desire growing in my heart to try my luck with the sea water but was informed that it would be dangerous to go for it without the life guard, so I kept on pampering myself with the sunrays on the beach itself.

When I headed for some shopping, I realized that the distance of 29 km from Karmali railway station was worth enough to cover as the beach had an added popularity for its extensive shopping market. It was Wednesday, the day of flea market at the Anjuna and it provided me with the opportunity to purchase Tibetan Kashmiri handicrafts along with swim-suits and a second hand camera at a throw away price. In the evening after some refreshments, I came back to the beach to attend the famous evening party at the Anjuna beach, a trend that was once started by the hippies. As the evening gradually passed the beach flooded with the tourists. The party went on till midnight and we rocked.

The next day I went to see the magnificent Albuquerque mansion built in 1920, which I found an antique architectural art with classic balconies. Then I headed towards the Chapora fort, built by Adil Shah of Bijapur, a domain of the Muslim rulers before the Portuguese took it over in1617 A.D. It was nearby Anjuna beach and provided me a view of Vagator beach, my next destination as well.

It did not take me long to reach the Vagator because of the short distance from Chapora fort. Since I had a plan to spend my night there, therefore I made myself comfortable in one of the rooms at a guest house there. After having the lunch and a brief rest, I headed towards the beach. What caught my attention was the pure white sand, doted with black rocks along with swaying palm and coconut trees along the shore. The beach was less crowded unlike the Anjuna and therefore facilitated my way to have some calm interactions with the waves. It was the time of sunset and what I saw is still in my memory. The sun appeared as if sinking in the sea and seemed to be so near that I felt like touching it which was naturally a childish desire and impossible! It was at the same moment when I saw fishermen in local attire coming back home after the day's catch to their tiny cottages(huts). Some of them were laughing and looked very happy. 'Would you like to share your happiness with me', I tried to ask one of them who was in his teenage and probably accompanying his father. He simply stared as he could not get what I said. Then I tried to ask him through my gestures, and this time he smiled and shown me fishes of varying size, colors and types. He was so happy that his face glazed though he looked a little tired, but through his expressions I was able to make out that they had collected a good amount from the day's catch. While I was trying to talk to the enthusiastic young man, others simply stared at us from the distance. At late evening, I went to the local market from where I bought some artifacts in the form of candelabras, made of exquisite blue China woven baskets and earthen pots. When I returned to the guest house, I had sweet banana 'bebinca', a refreshing Goan delicacy made from tender coconuts.

On the third day of my vacation, I moved to my next destination, Calangute beach, 16 kilometers away from the state capital, Panaji and because of lesser distance, it did not take me long to reach there. Also known as the queen of beaches, the Calangute beach is the busiest and most commercialized resort of Goa. I was informed that the name Calangute derives from 'Koligutti', which means the land of fishermen. The beach is the proud owner of the palm trees, which adds to the beauty of the coast. On the beach, I came across children making sand castles and collecting sea shells brought out by the vibrant waves to the shore, and young and old ones lying under the sun rays. Since the wind was blowing in the right direction, I looked forward to windsurfing, water skiing, and parasailing which I along with others started in the afternoon and went on till sunset. I was now happier to carry out the water sports over here, and could explore the things that I was deprived of at the earlier places. After the sunset, I moved towards the market that had a wide range of high quality Karnatakan, Rajasthani and Gujarati textiles.The market had similar stuffs that I had come across in the Anjuana Wednesday market. After the market, I moved on to the Church of St. Alex, which displayed the beautiful architectural style with its two towers. The tourist guide informed that in 1996, Calangute celebrated the fourth centenary of the church. My next sight in Calangute was The Kerker Art Complex, which I was told that, is only of its kind on the beach. In the complex, the exhibition of art and crafts of local artistes caught everybody's attention. Since it was a Friday, the day of connoisseurs of Indian classical music and dance at the Kerker Art complex, that provided me a golden opportunity to explore the glorious Indian culture. It was late at night when I reached my hotel and had a rest to make my next move to the Baga beach on the next morning.

A few minutes away from Calangute, The Baga appeared as an extension of the previous one. Though the only difference that I could make out was that unlike Calangute beach, the Baga beach had more varied and picturesque scenery over here. Most of the tourists I came across on the beach had come for picnics, strolling and sunbathing. When I heard of the medicinal value of the springs' water at Baga, I also decided to have a bath and felt the same - Ah! said I, it was wonderful and relaxing. Since it was the last day of my short vacation I decided to live it to the fullest. I had come to know that Baga has the best range of restaurants in Goa, therefore I decided to give it a try. I had traditional Goan meal at the eccentric Casa Portuguesa, and found that the quality of food was very high and the price was very reasonable perhaps owing to stiff competition among the food-hubs. In the evening, I decided to give a try to the nightlife which is the liveliest there. I went to the Tito's which has the only dance floor. However, I was amused to find out that the entry of women is free, and only unaccompanied men and couples have to pay.

On the next morning, I returned to Panaji to catch my flight back to Delhi. The vacation was worth taking. Though I regret not having attended the Goan Carnival that was to be held in February due to my short trip and not having explored other beaches such as Colva, Condolim and Varca among many others, but certainly would do in the near future.

David
Traveller from Australia