...this time in Goa...

Mario Miranda inspired wall tiles at Infantaria, Goa

We had a beach trip planned for quite some time and what better place than Goa, eh ? Goa gets quite hot and humid right from February. It's officially summer from April since hotels reduce their tariffs. But we discovered that summers in Goa can be good fun too - provided you have air conditioned (ac) accommodation, you venture on the beach in the early morning or late evening and you go to market places after 5.30 p.m. While at the beach, the sea breeze keeps the weather pleasant.

The Beach
We wanted to check out South Goa this time so we booked at Cafe Del Mar at Palolem Beach - they have ac huts by the beach.
The huts were basic, had all necessities like running water, hot/ cold shower, european toilet, mosquito netting for the bed, a tv, a cupboard, etc. A mini veranda with 2 chairs and a stump of a stool along with a cosy hammock surely added to the appeal. (as a traveller i am fussy 5 out of 10 times ; but if you score a 10 on 10 then such beach huts are not for you) 

The main attraction of course is being able to walk to the beach in 10 steps.

South Goa beaches have yet to "arrive" but they have managed the shacks, food, sun loungers, umbrellas very well. Rather the beach fronts are serene and well maintained. The water looks more clean and no garbage on the beach - thank heavens.

coco-hut at cafe del mar - palolem

The ac in our room wasn't working well and to their credit the staff sent for an electrician right away and when even he could not solve the issue they allotted us a different room which had  a good ac. We give them benefit of doubt for allotting us the previous room. 
Food at Cafe Del Mar is awesome though the waiters need to quickly come into the spring summer mode and have more enthusiasm and jest.
South Goa is costlier than North (touristy) Goa, but it scores over north thanks to it's still pristine beaches and atmosphere.

sights at Palolem and its twin beach Aurum

The Agonda beach is 15 mins. drive from Palolem. Apart from these there are many more South Goa Beaches that you can explore and enjoy. 
With a promise to make a separate trip targeting South Goa, we proceeded to our habitual North Goa destination - Candolim/ Calangute.

We wanted beach accommodation so we had booked with Cocobananagoa.com - it's a guest house / home stay kinda option (not a B&B - only stay). They have maintained their properties very well and you are in for "extra" comfort and care when you reach. However, there are strict rules laid out about use of their properties during the stay - e.g. no visitors, no loud music, etc. So while we enjoyed these rules as a family, if you plan to party day and night and have a problem sticking to the rules, then better give this one a miss.

at Casa Leyla - a cocobanana property

This place is 4 houses away from the beach - so you basically walk to the beach and it's part of the calangute village, quiet and away from the humdrum of Calangute and yet just a minute away from that chaos. However, unfortunately this place has a single phase connection which reduces the fan and ac power until midnight - it's Cinderella upside down - so ac starts working post midnight.

We seemed to be having an ac jinx but to our pleasant surprise, the jinx actually worked in our favour. We informed Walter, owner at cocobanana, about the ac not working and he helped us out in no time. We were upgraded to a beautiful private residence - although a 5 minute drive from the beach - but extremely well maintained, very well equipped, with lots of ac everywhere including the hall and the complex had a squeaky clean swimming pool too. The same set of rules apply: no noise, no visitors, etc. 

Food and markets
How can we not have the most sumptuous and delicious food when in Goa. From ham n cheese croissants to stuffed omelets and from stroganoff to Goan mussels, we tried to savour as much as our tummies could take. The tummies were also being overloaded with "chilled beverages" all the time you see. 

the best mussels fry ...at Shirodkar's - a roadside joint on the 

mapusa calangute road - landmark is NAGOA Resort very near it

We also had some amazing food at the Saturday Night Market (SNM) in Arpora. Arpora is a 10 minute drive from Calangute and Ingo's (a German man by same name) SNM, started in 1999, is a chaotic bazaar that is surprisingly well organised. While foreigners enjoy eating indian food and shopping for indian wares (clothes, accessories and more) we Indians can enjoy world cuisine by foreigners and the shopping. I liked the pretty spanish style frilled wrap around skirts, beautifully designed Kashmiri leather purses n bags and some good italian designer tops by Holy Cow.

Arpora Saturday Night Market

The markets of Goa are a phenomenon to be experienced. The indian traveller will see most stuff from all over india - something you can buy even at the fair/ exhibition in your own city. However, you also get exclusive Goan food items like Cashews, Bebinca (goan cake) and Feni (cashew based alcoholic drink), amazing liqueurs from San Andre, Goan bread, biscuits and cake variety, Goan sausages, antiques, etc. at a market like Mapusa (friday until sunset is chaotic but fun, but other days are good too - sunday partially closed i am told).  

 

mapusa friday market

In Calangute/ Candolim, we liked eating mussels, recheado masala mackerel fry, butter garlic prawns and mutton xacuti at Shirodkar's (mentioned above) - icing on the cake being it's an absolute value for money place too. We also liked bakery items and stuffed omelets at Infantaria (calangute baga junction) - but the milk in the porridge and coffee tasted funny so those we did not consume and beef chilly fry and squid chilly fry at Babute's on Top (on the main candolim road). 
But top marks go to the penne pasta in bolognese sauce and chicken stroganoff at Cafe Del Mar, Palolem. Just yummm.

Sightseeing

Churches and shrines almost anywhere you look, beautifully architectured "deepstambh" (lamp tower) outside every temple of a hindu deity, the Big Foot museum at Loutolim are just a few examples of what you can see in Goa. 

From Pune to Goa
The better route to Goa as on date is via Kolhapur-Amboli

We had taken the Belgaum route however, even now the roads are pretty bad, although the mining related traffic has stopped due to a court stay order on mining. Google maps say that Pune-Kolhapur-Amboli-Palolem is 522 kms and takes 9 hrs 34 mins. whereas Pune-Kolhapur-Belgaum-Palolem is 522 kms and takes 9 hrs 5 mins. - However the first hand experience is totally opposite. The Amboli route has just a 10 min. rough patch (that too tiny road construction activity) whereas Belgaum has a solid 1 1/2 hour bumpy ride. The square inch from where Goa border begins, the roads magically get transformed and become smooth as butter. 

If halting at Kolhapur, you can opt to stay at either Hotel Sony Palace (slightly cheaper than orient) or Wamans Hotel Orient Crown. They are in adjacent compounds and hardly 1 1/2 km from the highway. Sony Palace is pure veg (dunno the taste) whereas Orient Crown also serves delicious non veg food. We stayed at Sony and ate at Orient. ;-)

On our way back we halted at Kolhapur for a lunch break at Hotel Padma in the Tarabai Park area and were stuffed after eating the special mutton and chicken thali's, sol kadhi and aamras (mango puree dessert). Good food.

Do use your car charger to keep the GPS on your mobile phones running. In Goa, due to hillocks, you tend to lose the service provider range many a times so keep your next targeted destination and its path saved. GPS is a good way to navigate your way in Goa....almost everything seems to be covered by google maps.

Expenses
If you are not keen on spending a bomb for Goa travel, then average stay expenses are between Rs.1,500/- and Rs.3,000/- per night per couple (kid below 5 is usually not charged for), During off season these rates slash further.
The average food related expenses will be about Rs.1,000/- to Rs.4,000/- per day depending on what and where you eat.
A two wheeler can be easily hired for Rs.200/- per day (for ease of maneuvering around beach areas and parking comfort) - petrol you got to fill from the nearest station.
Booze and shopping as per the depth of your gut and pocket respectively :-)
Loutolim Big Foot Museum has 2 types of attractions. One is a lights and sound show and another is the village life with background sounds - walking tour.They charge Rs.50/- to Rs. 100/- for adults and half of that for kids.
You do not pay any toll inside Goa for using their well kept roads - although you pay every 30 mins. for roads outside Goa - (kidding abt. every 30 mins.)


Sleep, relaxation, lots of sun, surf, booze and food and before you know it, its time to drive back home. We had started from Pune on a Tuesday evening for halt in Kolhapur and returned back on Sunday late evening. Sunday we drove back from Goa with only a lunch halt at Kolhapur. So a total of 5 days and 5 nights trip. There's never enough time to cover all of Goa - and that, apart from many others, is the reason you keep going back again and again......

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