Revisiting Goa

Country club representative stopped by the other day and sold me a package where if I were to take their membership, he would give me a 1 week vacation in Goa at Royal Goan Beach Club resort. I had been planning to visit Goa and I knew RGBC was a good resort to stay. I agreed to buy the membership if I could get the vacation during the last week of Dec (the busiest week) and probably the best week to spend in Goa. He agreed and got me the week I requested for both me and my friend Satish. Once the resort booking was confirmed, rest of the things were pretty easy.

We booked our journey from Bangalore by 3 tier AC coach. From Bangalore you can travel by Vasco express (you will have to board at Yashwantpuram and not Bangalore central station). Since Yashwantpura station is far from south Bangalore where we live, we booked our journey on Chennama express which starts from Bangalore central and reaches Londa 1 hr before Vasco express gets there. At Londa we switched over to Vasco express. Between Londa and Madgaon (Goa), the train passes through about 18 tunnels carved through western ghats. This ride is very scenic and enjoyable.

Also on the way the train stops at Doodhsagar station which is located right in front of the Doodhsagar falls, a very pleasant site.
We reached Madgaon around noon on Dec 24th.

Madgaon has a good Rly station and outside you will find prepaid taxis. We took a taxi to RGBC at Benaulim where our accomdation was booked. RGBC Benaulim is a good resort but not in top bracket. The good thing about this resort is there are plenty of eating and shopping places right outside and is within 10 min walk to the Benaulim beach, probably the best beach in Goa (more about it later). We had lunch at the resort (mediocre) and stretched out for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening we went shopping groceries in Madagaon and ate at Sagar Kinara (at Kolva beach) which was horrible. My suggestion is to skip this place if you are near kolva beach.

The next morning we walked to Benaulim beach and it is simply fatastic. If you are a person who likes shallow, white sandy beaches that are quiet and do not attract lot of tourists then this is the beach for you. Most of the popular Goan beaches are in the north and are swarming with tourists especially during December. Benaulim is in south Goa and is very quiet and beautiful. The beaches in the north Goa are brown sandy beaches and sometimes black and are also rocky. We realized how good this beach was after going to so many other beaches during the next 1 week and repeatedly feeling what a gem of a beach we have right next to where we stay.

That evening being Christmas day, we decided to go to Club Mahindra resort which was further south from where we were staying. The club mahindra resort is absolutely stunning. It is a 7 star resort if there is any such rating. Every single thing about it speaks of class. Next time I go to Goa, it will be at Club Mahindra resort.

Right next to our resort was this pair of bengali babu's who were running taxi service. One guy had a Qualis perfect for 8 of us to go if we were going far and the other guy with a diesel powered autorickshaw that could accomdate 4 adults and 4 kids comfortably for the short rides. The Autorickshaw guy whose name was Madhu was very helpful and would come and pick us up from any spot and all we had to do was to give me a buzz on his mobile. For about Rs 1200/- we rented Qualis to go see South Goa that covered parts of Old Goa with its numerous temples, churches and portugese neighborhood. As part of this tour they take you on a tour of an old Portugese Governor's mansion which was interesting to go through may be more so because of the guide.

However right next to it is a museum called Big foot and that is the most bogus, time wasting tour that I advise you to skip. It is waste of time and money as they have statues displaying village life which if you really care to see or experience then there are plenty of villages everywhere for you to see.

.The rest of the tour was visiting temples and the popular St. Xavier church and watching some crate which is supposed to hold the dead remains of St. Xavier. I have no idea what is the purpose of this since the photographs clearly show there is nothing left as far as the body is concerned. Just another one of those meaningless exercise of glorifying a dead body bereft of the soul of the saint that once occupied it.

The tour ended with what was supposed to be a river cruise. My suggestion is skip it. Goa, inspite of its huge foreign tourists doesn't have a boat worth speaking of and this sunset cruises are pretty lame. The feature couple of ugly dancers who are supposed to perform the Goan dance but were pathetic. The name of the boat that we went on was called Princess.

However, there was one bright spot to this. Our driver took us to a liquor shop and the prices of liquor in Goa is very cheap compared to Bangalore. As an example 1 ltr Teachers whisky costs Rs 750/- in Goa as opposed to Rs 1200/- in Bangalore. The cashew nuts from Goa are pretty good and of course the fenny, the Goan drink made out of cashew. Here is a tip. The Cashew fenny is not a social drink since it has a very strong flavor and also high on alcohol content. The coconut fenny on the other hand is very smooth and goes well with Sprite.

Panjim the capital of Goa is a nice town with a good beach and all those old churches and temples. Mandovi river flows through Panjim and joins the ocean. The boat crusises start right under the Mandovi river bridge. They also have a free ferry crossing for vehicles and people across the river.
Next day was spent in the resort with with kids spending most of their time in the pool and the activity center.

Following a day's rest we set out to see North Goa. There are many private tour operators in Goa who take you on this tour and charge you about Rs 150 per person. The tours are ok. The tour bus will take you to all the popular north Goa beaches like Calangute, Vagatore, Anjuna etc. The best day to go to Anjuna beach is on Wednesday's when there will be a huge flea market. We missed it but heard that it is a suckers market since most of the shoppers are foreigners. We however found some good bargains on Vagatore and Calangute beaches. It was sad that most of the merchandize sold in Goa did not carry "Goa" on it but some foreign brands.

To me the most exciting part of the beaches in Goa was the water sports and the sunset which are totally awesome.

Parasailing is a very fun sport and I strongly suggest you try it when you get a chance and especially near an ocean since the view will be truely memorable once you are airborne. Also, it is a very safe sport and everyone in our group from the youngest 8 year old to ladies tried and enjoyed it.

The first to be airborne was my brave 8 year old daughter Anisha who is always ready to try anything new and that is the best part about her. Never in doubt and never hesitant. Seeing her do it with ease gave everyone else the needed confidence. When she came back, she asked "Can I do it again?". Now, that's Anisha for you. We had negotiated Rs 500/- per person for parasailing which was cheap compared to what others were getting charged. Lesson in point, bargain and bargain. During parasailing, you strap on the parachute and then you will be drawn by a speed boat. This will get you airborne. Since we did it during sunset time, watching sunset from high above was an added bonus. Anirudh, my 10 year old son, had a great time doing both Parasailing and Jetskiing.

We also went Dolphin watching and that was a surprise to me that Dolphins are found near Goa and that to in such close proximity to the beach. The best time is to leave early in the morning before 8 am. We did get to watch 2 dolphins who sometimes came close enough for us to get a view of their bottlenose, but however they get chased away when all the boats rush to get a look at them. Most of the time you just get to see their humps as they come up and go down.

After all the fun, we celebrated Anisha's 8th birthday on our favorite beach, the Benaulim beach on Dec 29 after just having done the parasailing. She is a lucky girl since she celebrates her birthday every year in a different place because of the holidays.

The following day as we headed back to Bangalore by train again, I was reminiscing about my first trip to Goa 23 years back when in college which at that time had proven worth every Rupee spent if you know what I mean as nudity hadn't been banned yet in Goa. This revisit to Goa was special in several ways and will remain so for many more years to come.