Goa Diary- November 2013

Glorious Goa !

Dickens met us at the Dabholim airport and handed over the car. I have been renting cars from him last few years while in Goa. This vehicle would be our companion for next 4 days taking us all around North Goa. The place we stayed in was nothing great in terms of resort ambiance so we needed to be more out of the resort rather than inside. For this it was necessary to be mobile and a bit adventurous. If you are staying in North Goa, you need to enjoy different cuisines and different beaches. Our plan was very simple – enjoy each moment while on this short holiday.

The drive from Dabholim Airport to Baga is around an hour long. The Innova car was comfortable, the roads were good and the AC was effective but we needed some water and chips on the way. As we bypassed Panjim we started looking for a grocery store. We found many and they were all open. As we entered them, we realised that there was no one present to sell us the merchandise. We were bang in the middle of the notorious Goan siesta hours. This is the time when nothing moves in Goa. It was our welcome to the city of relaxation !

At Baga beach, Francis, the owner of Big Banana shack was complaining about the Government and the messy system of allotment of  shacks for the season. The shack had just opened the previous day and this delay was due to the fact that the Government was taking its own sweet time deciding on the licenses.'The  Big Banana' is a simple shack between Calangute and Baga where we have spent many  a day’s relaxing in the last 15 years. I am happy that Francis manages to get his license each year as we feel pretty comfortable in this little shack which serves us some juicy pineapples and yummy tiger prawns in garlic butter.

Waiting for the prey

The local youth are becoming a big pain in this tourist haven. Many of these men wearing vest and swimming shorts converge on these beaches looking for prey. They load themselves with extra strong beer and enter the water where bikini clad foreigners are having a nice time. They make sure that they stay close to these fair skinned women so that the waves push them close to these unsuspecting preys, resulting often in several ‘touches’. They do manage to disgust these women who have no choice but to retire to their sun beds at their shack. It is a menace which must be stopped.

Between Baga and Calangute

The beaches of Calangute, Baga and Candolim are getting too crowded now. Busloads of domestic tourists flock here day after day to enjoy the Goan beaches. Men in dhotis and women in salwar kameez enter the sea as if doing it a favour. Boisterous children take over the beach. Collectively they make a mess of the entire beach. The litter they spread around is unimaginable.

The beaches of Morjim and Ashwem are much cleaner

We decided to move further North to escape this onslaught. The beaches of Morjim & Ashwem are dominated by Russians who have actually bought many parts of the villages in these areas. The drive to these places is very soothing and picturesque.  There are miles and miles of swaying palms, the mammoth Chapora river , rolling green hills and small plantations all along the way. You can take a detour and reach the small hidden villages with the old world charm. The old Goan houses are fascinating. Once you cross the village of Siolim, you come to Chapora river and you cross the bridge to reach the beaches of Morjim and Ashwem. Many of the shacks were still not operational as the season had just started. We did thankfully find a nice shack called the ‘Golden Eye’ next to the 'Marbella beach resort'. The sea here was nice and clean and the crowd was good.  Hawkers, the troublesome locals and busloads of domestic tourists were thankfully missing. The sea was calm but did give us fair share of the kinds of waves we wanted to have a good time. We had a nice swim and nice relaxing time in the shade of the shack. The food was decent and the beer tasted good. We decided to come here again the next day.

Goa has been in News for all the wrong reasons last few days. A Nigerian was killed near Ashwem on October 31^st by some rival gang. Drug rivalry was suspected. The other Nigerians protested and came out in big numbers with their weapons and started attacking people in those villages. The peaceful area had become a battleground of rival mafia gangs. The Police moved in and clamped down on the Nigerians, making them run and take shelter in neighboring states.  Nigeria has warned India of repercussions. They have warned that they will throw out a million Indians on the roads in Nigeria. The local bodies of the Goan villages have passed a resolution not to give the houses on rent to Nigerians. The underbelly of Goa is out in the open. A few days back a Goan drug dealer and his family had disappeared from the face of the earth. Murders are becoming common and they are all drug related. The politicos and cops are all involved in drug trade as it is the fastest way of becoming rich. We will hear more about this in coming days.

Think Fest was organised by 'Tehelka' in Goa just a couple of days after we left the place. There was a buzz about Think fest while we were there as many eminent personalities were coming for the fest including Robert de Niro. Goans were not happy about a Taliban commander being invited there for discussions. This became irrelevant 10 days later when news of the MD of Tehelka molesting his young employee hit the newspapers and electronic media. He had done it in a lift at the venue during the Think fest. I am sure that the Goans would be more than unhappy at their state being brought into news for such terrible act of an outsider. They have reason to be upset !

I like the Calangute-Candolim road . It has become quite up market now and malls, designer shops ,  grocery stores, fancy restaurants and even spa’s  have sprung up.  Many Restaurants have live bands playing in the evenings and it is good seeing tourists relaxing and having a good time. There are a lot of hotels around this area and during the season, the occupancy is pretty good. The choice of cuisine is tremendous even though it’s the sea food which remains my preferred choice.  There are a lot of small lanes leading from this road towards the beach. Even these lanes have small shops and some lovely restaurants. The shacks on the beach do good business in the evenings as well and it is very soothing to have a drink there as the waves break on the beach. Our Diwali evening was spent at the Calamari shack at Candolim with some good music, nice food and the fireworks which dazzled the skies.

The shacks on beach are well lighted up in evenings and do good business

Restaurants, food and shacks are such an important part of my visit to Goa that I would  have loved to write a separate blog on it. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to devote time to it in near future. Gastronomically, it is wonderful to have great food day after day. In just 4 days the cuisine we managed to relish was Greek, German, Italian and Goan. Seafood was fresh at shacks and tasted great. We didn't get a chance to go to Panjim to the amazing 'Ritz' or 'Mum's kitchen' but had some good sea food at Brittos at Baga. Prawn stuffed with crab meat was just too good here. We gave Souza Lobo a miss this time but enjoyed the sea food delicacies at Fisherman's cove at Candolim. J&A ( an Italian Restaurant near Baga bridge) had not opened for the season yet but the popular Lila cafe next to it always had people for breakfast and lunch. It is most popular for breakfast. Lila Cafe just opens till 6 PM. Calamari Shack at Candolim remains popular and efficient but the quality and atmosphere at 'The Stone House' had really gone down since our last visit. Thalassa appears to be the most happening restaurant in North Goa and it is difficult finding a table there. It is upmarket and has tremendous atmosphere with great view of the ocean. Located at little Vagator beach, it is run by a Greek family and serves Greek food. I found the kebabs pretty good and the dips were really interesting. Tzatzika Dip or the Tiro Kef Teri with pita bread tasted very nice. The main course had Souvlaki wraps, Mousakas, Gyro platters of chicken or lamb. I had a prawn dish here which was good but expensive.
If you ask me and the kids which would be the best meal we had in Goa, my kids would say that they loved prawns in garlic & butter at the shacks. On the last day I had lunch at a small 'dhaba' serving 'fish curry' thaali. The restaurant was so small and ordinary that it had no name but was recommended to me by our hotel's manager. It was near Lila Cafe. I paid a bill of Rs 80 for this meal. This was one of the tastiest meals I have had in recent times !

A tribute to cartoonist Mario at Britto's.

When the sea is a bit rough and the big waves are there, my kids and I like swimming in the sea. My dad joins the fun.This time my niece of 21 months tried joining us in this fun. We try to ride waves and often manage to catch the the surf before they break for some body surfing. More often than not, we tumble and fall. The feeling is that of freedom and exhilaration.Luckily, the sand on Goa beaches is nice and soft. Each day we spend around 6-7 hours on the beach and in sea. We come back from the holiday all tanned and burnt. Before the plane touches down at Delhi, I start planning my next trip to this beautiful place called Goa.I am already set for march 2014.