GOAN PARADISE
Sun, sand, sea, surf, coconut
trees, ethereal beauty and lots of fun…..Goa is synonymous with all of these.
One thought of Goa is enough to bring cheer to people’s lives. What Goa does to
people is absolutely magical! I’d say it brings out the best in people. You can
be completely at ease in Goa, the land of love, the land of unlimited FUN…..
One trip to Goa and you are
bound to fall in love with the place. It is like that beautiful woman whom you
see once and can’t stop looking at again and again. Goa attracts you just like
that woman. An affair with Goa is just inevitable.
As much as we love Goa,
regular visits haven’t been possible, but this time, the opportunity came in
the form of hubby’s seminar. Seminar of course isn’t any holiday but that was a
wonderful excuse to plan a getaway to this wonderful place. We planned a pre and
post seminar holiday keeping the seminar days in between. So it was like a warm
up session (pre seminar), and a cool down session (post seminar).
Our first resort was at a
location which no one actually even considers a location for a holiday. It was close
to Bogmalo beach and the resort was called Stonewater Eco Resort. It was what
you can truly call a hidden treasure. Placed very strategically with lush green
tress all around and the vast sea hitting the shores right under the hillock;
the beauty of this place is indescribable. It wasn’t that I just happened to
stumble upon this property….it’s just that I had spent hours looking for the
perfect place where I would like US to spend a few days…..and this place
definitely didn’t disappoint me at all.
Tucked away from the noisy
world, this place looked like it was a fairy tale destination.
We had booked a sea view
chalet for ourselves and that provided a perfect view of the sea and the pool.
Just imagine taking a dip in the pool with a view of the sea and the sun
setting in the pink and orange hued horizon!!!
In terms of service and food,
it wasn’t up to the mark though, but we weren’t concerned about that at all as
we were totally enamored by the beauty of this place. If the monsoon was
playing spoilsport elsewhere, here it was just adding to the beauty of the
place.
The owner, Nisha and the
manager Vanya, both were very forthcoming when it came to giving suggestions
about places to visit.
Day 1- We checked in on
Thursday and were told that there’s live music at Firefly shack in Benaulim.
Since it was raining cats and dogs, we decided to hire a car, instead of our
usual choice of a two wheeler in Goa. The rainy car drive from Bogmalo to
Benaulim was a memorable one with some old Kishore da tracks playing in the
mind.
Firefly was just the place to
kick start our holiday with. A local guy Emmanuel was crooning some awesome
tracks on the microphone and then a lot of people from the audience sang
perfectly like rockstars while we swayed to the music!
Such was the experience that
we felt, the long drive to Benaulim was totally worth it.
Must try at Firefly –Seradura (Goan Dessert)
Day 2- The day started with
buffet spread which wasn’t quite appealing. However we ate a little and
ventured for a tour to old Goa. First stop was St. Augustine’s Tower. This
tower was built by the Portuguese between 1597-1602 and is now a ruin. However,
the ruins present such a marvelous picture, that this place is a cameraman’s
delight. A quick tour and numerous pictureslater we had to run for cover, as
the mighty rain God started playing his tunes again.
We then headed for the
Basilica of Bom Jesus, which is a world heritage site. The beauty of this place
lies in its gold plated architecture and this place is famous for the fact that
it holds the mortal remains of St. Francis, which is open to public view. What
is surprising is that his body has not decayed over the years. This is a huge
miracle and believers from all over the world flock this church to seek the
blessings of St. Francis.
Opposite to this church is Se
Cathedral, another noted monument.
Tired after all the
sightseeing, we decided to hit the very famous Ritz Classic restaurant in
Panjim for some authentic Goan cuisine. The Goan Fish thali here is delectable,
which my hubby devoured in no time and me the poor vegetarian had to eat Veg
Biryani which turned out to be pretty tasty as well! We ate to our heart’s
content and then headed back to the resort to brace ourselves for a jazzy
evening.
Must try at Ritz – Goan Fish thali
Our manager, Vanya, had
briefed us that we must eat at Claudi’s before hitting Joet’s if we wanted some
real good food. So the foodies that we are, Claudi’s was out first stop for the
evening and I must say that the food here was worth every penny. Hubby relished
some superb stuffed crabs and tandoori squid/calamari. Since vegetarians in Goa
are sinners, I’ll skip my reviews about veg food and only focus on the seafood
part. So coming back to the food, the seafood here was simply mind blowing! After
filling our tummies, it was time for some music so we shot out to Joet’s.
Must try at Claudi’s – Stuffed crabs
Joet’s shack is at Bogmalo
beach and they have live music every Friday. To our pleasant surprise, the same
guy Emmanuel from Firefly was performing at Joet’s as well. This time round,
hubby couldn’t control his singing urge and entertained us on the mic. Dancing,
singing, eating and drinking……It was a fun filled evening, packed with
entertainment. The highlight of the evening was, a nice long friendly
conversation and dinner with yesteryears cricketer, Ajay Jadeja and his
charming wife.
Must try at Joet’s – Sausage paratha(highly
recommended by Ajay Jadeja who ordered it for us)
Day
3 – This day was meant for relaxation after the previous late night, so we woke
up comfortably and lazed around only to move out for lunch at John Seagull’s
shack. This place was suggested by my bro-in-law (a BITS alumni), who was a
regular at this shack during his BITS days. Turned out the food was yummy and
this time the poor vegetarian also got a good option of noodles sizzler while
hubby ate his seafood sizzler.
Must try at John Seagull – Noodles
sizzler
Back
at the resort, we decided to take a dip in the pool as the rains had finally
spared us and we could dare to step inside the pool. Swimming in the pool while eyeing the beauty
of the sea is one unforgettable experience!
Dinner
was planned at Martin’s corner, an upmarket restaurant, said to be Sachin
Tendulkar’s favourite. We drove down to Betalbatim to try out food at this
place but weren’t quite happy. The sausages didn’t look like sausages at all
but the crew was adamant that they were sausages. We were still unconvinced and
soon realized that the people on the next table too were being wrongly
convinced by the crew about some dish.The live music too wasn’t appealing and
so I wouldn’t rate the place as a must visit place. We soon left the place.
Day
4 – This was the day we had to check out from this heavenly resort and check
into ZuriWhitesands resort for the seminar. Coincidently this was also the day
when the sun shone brightly for the lone time during our entire stay. ZuriWhitesands
isn’t one of the best 5 star properties of Goa, but it does have a lovely
stream like pool, which opens up to a large pool. The large expansive lawns and
the white sand beach right outside the resort are an asset to the place.
Day
5,6 and 7 – Hubby was occupied with the seminar all the 3 days, while I enjoyed
some moments of solitude, reading through my novels. The highlight of the stay
was early morning walks along the beach, that started in the dark and got over
an hour later when the sun came up. Seeing the fisherman bringing back their
boats after a night out at the sea, emptying their nets and sorting the fish,
eagles hovering over the boats in search of a quick catch and dogs eyeing an
opportunity to grab some fish….it was all spectacular!
These
days also provided me an opportunity to interact with hubby’s shore staff and
it was wonderful to hear them talk about various incidents, some of which made
me feel mighty proud of hubby dear.
The
gala night, which is held to celebrate the success of the Seminar, was a fun
event; complete with music, dance and sea service awards. Hubby dear too
received his sea service award which felt great!
Day
8 – With the seminar finally over, it was time to start the next leg of the
vacation. Packing our bags and baggage, we drove towards North Goa’s Anjuna
Beach where we had booked ourselves in a Portuguese boutique hotel.
On
the way we stopped for lunch on the Kanyakumari-Panvel highway near BITS campus
at a restaurant named Antique Mardol. This was our second visit to this
restaurant after a gap of 5 years, as it’s the only place on Goa which offers
Goan Veg Thali. I didn’t want to miss it for
anything in the world. The food was yummy-liscious and I lapped it up hungrily!
Must try at Antique Mardol – Goan Veg
Thali/Goan Fish Thali
On
reaching the hotel, we were taken aback.The expectations were too high and they
didn’t fall in line when we were shown our room. It was in total contrast to
our earlier resorts and we didn’t want to disappoint ourselves with a dull
room. We intimated the manager about our discomfort and he was courteous enough
to upgrade us to a far better room. That was the saving grace. We rested a
while to prepare ourselves for a reunion with our lovely friends from Goa, in
the evening.
Britto’s,
it was, at BagaBeach…..the destination for our reunion. It was special as we
were meeting our friends, Neeraj and Jyoti, after about 5 years. A lovely
session of food n drinks followed, coupled with some nostalgic conversation and
soul to soul talks.
We
then parted with the promise of catching up again soon.
Must try at Britto’s – Prawn Curry Rice
Day
9- This day was earmarked for some sunning and tanning at the beach but the
weather didn’t seem to favour us and it kept pouring. It
wasn’t supposed to dampen our spirits….so we decided to checkout the famous
joints at Anjuna.
First
stop was Artjuna, a quaint café, offering some Mediterranean food. As we
weren’t too hungry, we just hung around for a while, sipped a drink and left
for Café Liliput. This place normally holds beach parties and so we were
inquisitive to check it out. But blame it on the weather or the muddy seas, we
weren’t enamored by the place at all. So we stayed, had a drink, ate some
prawns and salad and then made up our mind to hit Curlie’s shack.
Curlie’s
shack is a walk down a narrow lane after you have parked your car and you seem
to wonder as to where you are heading, but once, the walk is over, you realize,
there’s some huge space out there, ready to embrace its guests.
Curlie’s
is a huge shack built in two levels and we went up straight to the first floor.
The cool breeze of the sea, the splash of the waves hitting the rocks, the
wooden structure and people enjoying themselves….all added to the charm of that
place. The only drawback of the place was its unresponsive attendants. We did
raise this concern with the manager, as however pleasant a place is, the smile
of the person who serves you makes it even more pleasant. On the contrary, a
frustrated attendant, ruins the entire experience. The manager was apologetic
and assured us that it wouldn’t be repeated.
Must try at Curlie’s – Indian Fish
Masala Fry
Sun
was setting and we had clubbing on our mind, so it was time we left Curlie’s
and freshened up for the night-out.
Sinq
Club at Sinquerim Beach was the place we had on our minds. Party there starts
at 10in the night and goes on till 3 in the morning.
The
entry to the club was 1500/- per couple with unlimited drinks inside. It took a
little while for the momentum to pick up but once started, there was no looking
back. To my delight, it was Bollywood night and the DJ was superb in his song
selection. Not single track was repeated entire night and it only got better
than the last one.
The
bartender was liberal with the drinks and made sure, the unlimited stays
unlimited. Also he was quick to remember the drink you ordered first and would
refill the same one without delay, whenever you approached him next. The thin
crust pizza was also lip smacking!
This
place provided us with an awesome clubbing experience after years!!!
Lots
of dancing, eating and drinking later, the night, or rather morning, was
wrapped up by playing a game of pool at the pool table.
Note – Look out for Sinq club vans on
the roads. They hand out discount coupons worth INR 500/-, so if you have it,
you just pay 1000/couple entry fee.
Day
10 – Tattoo Day…..this day had been specially reserved for our tattoos. Goa is
the place where there is no dearth of tattoo parlors but identifying the right
one is the key. Getting inked is not an easy task, as one wrong tattoo and you
are stuck for life, unless you go through the pain of laser removal.
This
time around, we chose RK’S Ink Exposure at Baga, after careful survey. A week
prior to this, we had discussed our respective tattoos with the tattoo artist,
Rakesh and he had assured us that we wouldn’t regret it.
Rakesh
is a very confident artist, does his work meticulously and maintains hygiene.
My tattoo took just about an hour and a half and I was quite happy with the
results but before starting to work on hubby’s huge tattoo, we decided to take
a lunch break at Fat Fish, Baga. As to tattoo was to be time consuming, we
quickly ate some good food.
Must try at Fat Fish – Tandoori Prawns
and Vegetable Xacuti
The
tattoo’s design was quite detailed and it took about 6 hours with almost no breaks,
to finish the tattoo beautifully. The artist as well hubby, both were completely
exhausted after this tattoo making exercise. However, both of them were proud
and satisfied at the result.
Since
there was no time as well as energy left to explore some new places for food,
we decided to eat at Crazy Crabs at Arpora, which was on our way back from Baga
to Casa Anjuna hotel.
The
ambience of the place is not worth mentioning, however, the pleasant staff and
the low priced scrumptious food is definitely worth mentioning.
Must try at Crazy Crabs- Crab Xacuti,
Mushroom Masala and special mention Tandoori Roti.
Day
11- The final day of our holiday. Time to go back. The heart was divided
between wanting to go back and to stay there but real life was beckoning. It
was time to bid adieu to this dreamland. Since the last day too had to be
special, our friends invited us for a hearty South Indian breakfast at their
place before flying to Delhi. The wonderful hosts that they are, they weren’t
hassled about feeding us a lavish spread at 8 in the morning even though it was
Jyoti’s birthday. As if that wasn’t enough, I was handed over a tiffin box with
some delicious PuranPoli inside. The last day of the holiday was converted into
a mini celebration.
Rejuvenated,
refreshed, satiated and extremely happy about getting such a relaxing break, we
left Goa, with the promise of coming back soon. Adios, Goa. Wish to be there
soon again.
