Tag Archives: goa

“Yes, Calangute and Baga are crowded, choking you with vehicle pollution and cacophony of city life you intend to escape from. Anjuna? Come on, everybody who comes to Goa goes to Anjuna. It’s for wannabes. Let’s be a little different. The truth is its expensive. How about Arambol? Well isn’t that for penny picking travelers, drug addicts and hippies. Anyways, lets give Arambol a chance. Let’s go to Goa.” And that’s how we arrived in Goa and in Aramabol in Goa. The start wasn’t good. But by ten in the night, we had a room we sort of liked. Next morning we were ready to check out and head to Hampi, Kerala, anywhere but here. That is when things began to get better. We started the day with beautiful walk along the beach that quietened the soul. Where else in the world will you find people hitting the beach to do yoga independently in such large numbers? Well, some of them were looking away from the sun therefore aiming the surya namaskar wrongly, but what the hell, its okay, they had a pursuit of the higher in mind. A bunch of people seated in the sand singing bhajans, some practicing Tai-chi, some walking their dogs and about a hundred others simply running along the beach. None of them was Goan but they all looked like they belonged to Goa. A lot of them looked they may be walking here but are present somewhere else. Most were in deep introspection. What is it about Goa that makes you question life? Is it the new age pilgrimage of the industrialized world? And hey I realized that those people with dreadlocks, no they are not here to smoke up and drink till wee hours. People with no dreadlocks and corporate jobs are more …

Goa has always been tedious for me because we are: Not willing to take flights to save money and why the hell are the train stations in Goa so far from everywhere Not willing to be duped by taxi drivers and the Goa heat is ideal only for beach bumming and not for bus rides Not willing to live in cheap beach huts for howsoever much beaches are fun but after sunsets we need four walls around us Not able to go with recommended guest houses because you see our definition of budget doesn’t include dirty shit hole of a room Therefore, getting to Goa, getting to someplace when you are in Goa, and then finding a room was a challenge I didn’t feel I was upto. I remembered Goa for: the beaches full of young couples parading the tiniest clothes in their wardrobes the babies of IT boom buying beer after beer men displaying their recently waxed chest and new sunglasses the tiny lanes around Calangute and choked with SUVs of wealthy families from surrounding cities breathing smoke and stress and the shack owners not happy to serve brown skinned Indians and giving extra of what we call footage to the fair skinned cientele For those operating businesses in Goa, you are just another wave in the many million waves that hit Goa beaches. There will never be smiles to welcome you. They look at you, size you up and blurt a number quoting a price, take it or leave it. The room, the service, the food quality doesn’t matter. Forget it. You can’t reason with them. This is Goa. If you leave someone else will come and take your place. But Vikram was convinced that if we have been traveling for over a year, then we have to …

Every time I hit the beach anywhere, I am boggled by the huge number of people who are so in love with sun that they lay themselves practically coverless on the sand to be baked in the heat. Well lucky those who come from the country of no sunshine. I, on the other hand was blessed to be born in India where the Sun God is merciful all year round. I have been travelling twelve months now with layers of tan all over me. It didn’t bother me enough but I finally got tired of seeing someone else in the mirror every time I looked so I decided to fight that sun. And I learnt how the likes of me can protect our perfect, if may I say so, sun kissed complexion from being sun smooched: Early mornings and late evenings – Wake up early, walk along the beach watching the sun rise. You will be first up and the privileged ones with the beach all to yourself. Switch to sun set if you are West coast. And evenings just as the sun is setting is the best time for a swim. There is still light and the sun is not scorching you as the waves wash that heavy dab of sunscreen Cover up – I have seen women in Vietnam wear socks, gloves, full arm jackets, conical hats, typical of Vietnam and face masks to keep the sun off. You don’t need to go that far but you need a light cotton jacket to cover your arms and a scarf to cover your neck and face. A Cap or wide brimmed hat is must if you are going out. Over that walk under the shade of an umbrella if you don’t want to look like a shade card at …