I think we managed to surprise a lot of people- friends, acquaintances, and other people who showed general interest in our Goa trip- when we told them that we wouldn’t be having alcohol at all. I don’t understand why Goa is synonymous with alcohol. I say this after having been there, because I realized Goa is so much more than just alcohol, because seriously that’s not the only liquid available there; there’s sea water too, you know! (Which is obviously not edible, but it helps you drown all your emotions in it, just try staring at the endless stretch of oscillating water, could be a great alternative to liquor). Because that’s what I’ve associated Goa with- Beaches and sea! But wait, there’s more too- for Eg: restaurants that are shut during lunch time. I’m not joking. That was the first thing we encountered when we actually got out of our rooms and because we had reached around lunch time, we decided to have lunch first and then walk towards the nearest beach- Anjuna. Little did we know that we would be having lunch that afternoon at the beach itself! We kept walking past closed restaurants only to find ourselves at a “cafe” which overlooked the sea. “Cafe Liliput” the sign board read, an arrow pointing towards the right which we followed and entered into the gate from where the sea was visible, the sound of which was heard from a distance already. It looked like the perfect place to have lunch, and it was! For all the time we were there, I couldn’t make my mind as to whether I should be devouring the amazing food or the mesmerizing sight of the sea that seemed to have changed its colour to a darker shade of blue at a distance from the shore. That moment, I knew why they say that everything happens for a reason (often good); Now when I look back, I feel good about the fact that all of the nearby restaurants were shut, which is what made us walk up to the cafe at the beach, though the walk was terrible because of the heat and our hungry stomachs; which also led to another good thing- a realization that we HAD to rent scooters as soon as possible, for the sake of convenience! And good for us, there was a bike rental right next to the hostel we were staying in. We got for ourselves two scooters, and decided that we’d be travelling around the nearby areas on them: double seat on one and triple seat on the other!
Also, if you’re wondering whether the word “hostel” written in the previous sentence was a typo, instead of which I should’ve written “hotel”, you’re wrong! Hostels, dormitories is not something that everyone opts for when on a vacation, it’s something some people opt for when they wish to save money- a LOT of money. I feel no shame in revealing the fact that my Goa trip was so cheap that if I plan for another cheap trip, I can execute it in approximately the same amount that I needed for Goa. And this is the biggest advantage of planning inexpensive trips- because you save a lot of money on one outing; it allows you to travel more. This, of course, is for the travel junkies. This is one major reason I would encourage travelling cheap; and why not, you don’t have to compromise on comfort, safety or anything that you would get in a pricey hotel (except for a feeling of luxury, which is not really needed as long as you are granted enough comfort).
So after a lot of hunting on the internet we came across this one particular Roadhouse hostel in Anjuna, of which the basic details available on the website pleased us enough to make further enquiries and shortly after, we fixed our stay at this hostel and I do not regret one bit- we got everything that we were looking for: A six bed air-conditioned dormitory and free Wi-Fi and good ambience. In fact, I feel glad that we opted for a dormitory because that way all of us could be together.
So according to the plan, the first two days we visited the vagator beach, Baga beach and fort Aguada. The beaches were good, no doubt; Aguada was the best (for me). But more than all these places, the real fun lied in the journey: the way we kept looking and asking for directions, the way we stopped every time we saw the traffic police because, well, triple seat was not allowed; hence every time we came across the police, we stopped, both my friends on the other scooter got off, walked past the police as we waited ahead, got back on the scooter and continued. We did this every single time. And yes, the most unforgettable part being how lonesome the narrow streets, without any streetlight, became even at seven or eight in the evening that we feared losing our way back to the hostel; And once we were close to losing our way when we happened to take a single wrong turn and after roaming a lot, we happened to reach the same place. Thankfully we were in the vicinity of our hostel and from a distance we could see the “Cafe Liliput” light- the guiding light. Losing your way is fun sometimes! So that’s how we travelled to the nearby places. The fourth and the fifth day we visited the Calangute and the Candolim beach (Candolim beach was the cleanest and the least crowded of all of them), and the Mapusa market.
However, the third day we had planned to visit Old Goa and hence we had to hire a car. After having visited the Temples and Churches, we were left with Dona Paula beach, and I had the best time there because of the weather- it had started raining and there’s nothing like a combination of rain and sea.
Time and again, I have come across experiences that have led me to believe that local people are the best part of a place. The driver, Harish, was a friendly person whose mannerisms made us believe that he had taken the responsibility of making sure that we had fun and that we reached back to our hostel safely. But we were glad that was not the last time we’d be dropped back safely. The last day, we hired the same car to reach Thivim station, from where we were to board our train to Mumbai. And Harish, who was accompanied by the shop owner from where we had hired the car, had come to drop us at the station. When we reached the station, they told us to let them know that we had reached home and we saw them waving at us as we walked away until we were out of their sight.
Goa had welcomed us on a good note and Goa had bid adieu to us on an equally good note; which is why it will always be etched as good memory in my mind. I have bought souvenirs from Goa, but nothing can match up to that one souvenir that I call the experience.
Also, if you’re wondering whether the word “hostel” written in the previous sentence was a typo, instead of which I should’ve written “hotel”, you’re wrong! Hostels, dormitories is not something that everyone opts for when on a vacation, it’s something some people opt for when they wish to save money- a LOT of money. I feel no shame in revealing the fact that my Goa trip was so cheap that if I plan for another cheap trip, I can execute it in approximately the same amount that I needed for Goa. And this is the biggest advantage of planning inexpensive trips- because you save a lot of money on one outing; it allows you to travel more. This, of course, is for the travel junkies. This is one major reason I would encourage travelling cheap; and why not, you don’t have to compromise on comfort, safety or anything that you would get in a pricey hotel (except for a feeling of luxury, which is not really needed as long as you are granted enough comfort).
So after a lot of hunting on the internet we came across this one particular Roadhouse hostel in Anjuna, of which the basic details available on the website pleased us enough to make further enquiries and shortly after, we fixed our stay at this hostel and I do not regret one bit- we got everything that we were looking for: A six bed air-conditioned dormitory and free Wi-Fi and good ambience. In fact, I feel glad that we opted for a dormitory because that way all of us could be together.
So according to the plan, the first two days we visited the vagator beach, Baga beach and fort Aguada. The beaches were good, no doubt; Aguada was the best (for me). But more than all these places, the real fun lied in the journey: the way we kept looking and asking for directions, the way we stopped every time we saw the traffic police because, well, triple seat was not allowed; hence every time we came across the police, we stopped, both my friends on the other scooter got off, walked past the police as we waited ahead, got back on the scooter and continued. We did this every single time. And yes, the most unforgettable part being how lonesome the narrow streets, without any streetlight, became even at seven or eight in the evening that we feared losing our way back to the hostel; And once we were close to losing our way when we happened to take a single wrong turn and after roaming a lot, we happened to reach the same place. Thankfully we were in the vicinity of our hostel and from a distance we could see the “Cafe Liliput” light- the guiding light. Losing your way is fun sometimes! So that’s how we travelled to the nearby places. The fourth and the fifth day we visited the Calangute and the Candolim beach (Candolim beach was the cleanest and the least crowded of all of them), and the Mapusa market.
However, the third day we had planned to visit Old Goa and hence we had to hire a car. After having visited the Temples and Churches, we were left with Dona Paula beach, and I had the best time there because of the weather- it had started raining and there’s nothing like a combination of rain and sea.
Time and again, I have come across experiences that have led me to believe that local people are the best part of a place. The driver, Harish, was a friendly person whose mannerisms made us believe that he had taken the responsibility of making sure that we had fun and that we reached back to our hostel safely. But we were glad that was not the last time we’d be dropped back safely. The last day, we hired the same car to reach Thivim station, from where we were to board our train to Mumbai. And Harish, who was accompanied by the shop owner from where we had hired the car, had come to drop us at the station. When we reached the station, they told us to let them know that we had reached home and we saw them waving at us as we walked away until we were out of their sight.
Goa had welcomed us on a good note and Goa had bid adieu to us on an equally good note; which is why it will always be etched as good memory in my mind. I have bought souvenirs from Goa, but nothing can match up to that one souvenir that I call the experience.
mast
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