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| This is what attracts me to Goa. |
- Safety mattered. We decided on no check in luggage. Didn't eat anything in the aircraft but did so before boarding. We used the covid preventing material (PPE kit) provided by the airline. There were many who would keep taking off their masks but the crew was rightly strict with them. One felt reasonably safe during the journey.
- Dickens came to pick us up at the airport. He is the guy who has been providing me self driven vehicle while in Goa for last decade or so. His cars are generally in good condition. This time also he gave a new Swift vehicle and promised me that next time it will be an 'automatic.' He has progressed quite a bit in this last decade and seem to be now owning a few cars.
- We decided to stay a night in South Goa. 'Beleza by the beach' at Colva beach was our first destination. It is just a 30 minute drive to Colva from Dabholim Airport. It was a sensible decision as North Goa was buzzing with lakhs of people who had come for new year. South Goa was nice and sedate. Hopefully many would leave North Goa for their homes by the time we reach there the next afternoon.
- We stopped by at restaurant called 'Fishka' at Betalbatim on the way. It appeared to be popular restaurant in these parts. It had a nice decor and good atmosphere. Food took a long time coming as the place was full and staff was unable to cope up with the new year crowd. Food was average but I wouldn't judge it just on basis of one crowded day.
- Beleza by the beach turned out to be a nice resort. The rooms were on one side with spa, pool, bar and a restaurant. Our room overlooked the green farming fields. On the other side - which was a 5 minute walk from the room - there was an outdoor cafe which overlooked the Colva beach. Approach to the beach was directly from here. They also had sun beads lined up for the guests.
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| Swimming pool is near the rooms at Beleza by the beach. At this time the pool was shut due to Covid19 |
- There are several nice restaurants in south Goa coastal belt. There are several good restaurants at Margaon/Madgaon as well. Prominent restaurants are Martin's corner at Betalbatim, Fisherman's wharf at Cavelossim and Mickey's at Colva. There are others like Joecon's near Taj exotica and the famous Zeebop at Utroda which we have frequented in the past. The 5 star hotels are a plenty in South Goa and some of them boast of very famous restaurants, so there is no dearth of good restaurants and food in South Goa. The ITC Grand hotel has really a good Indian & an Italian restaurant. The temptation was to go to Martin's corner for the lively atmosphere and their chilli crab. But as we were here just for a night so decided to enjoy the cafe at our own hotel. The bar was at the centre of cafe and music was good. Food was pretty decent. They did make good fish with Rachaedo Masala and Devicka was happy with her grilled chicken breast. It was an enjoyable evening under the stars.
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| View from the room. Very soothing. |
We started the morning with a walk on the beach, followed it by breakfast and then I spent a couple of hours at the beach - mainly swimming. Devicka spent this time at the spa. It was then time to check out and leave for North Goa.
It took just a little more than an hour to drive from South to North Goa at this time of the day. The gigantic structure (Bridge) over Zuari river is coming up fast which would join the highway and that would further connect to the the new cable stayed bridge commissioned over Mandovi a couple of years back. The idea is to have seamless travel from the Airport to North beaches and from Karnataka to Mumbai. It's a great feeling driving on the new Mandovi bridge - it is very high and very elegant. It looks very pretty at night when it is beautifully lit up.
- The 'O Resort & Spa' at Candolim beach is a long hotel starting from the Candolim beach road to the beach. It has a casino at the entrance so remains popular. Direct access to the beach was our reason for choosing this hotel. There were hordes of guests checking out when we reached for check in. One guy was asking his wife to go back so he could stay for a few days more and gamble a bit more. Apparently casino was providing him a free stay. Casino's know the sources and their deep pockets which provide them of revenue.
- As you exit on the beach side, the very popular Calamari bathe & binge shack/restaurant was just on the right. At around 2.30 PM the restaurant was full but we managed to get a table. The place was buzzing with tourists and the crowd was upmarket. The music was superb and everyone seemed to be in a mood for fun. There was dance, laughter, cocktails, wine and relaxation. No guest wore any mask or seemed to have heard of 'social distancing.' It appeared from the behaviour of people that at Goa 'Covid19' was also on vacation.
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| Calamari bathe and binge. One of the most popular shacks of North Goa |
- I have always found the food at Calamari to be good without being exceptional. This is a place where people come for cocktails and atmosphere. The beachfront location helps a lot. You can also lie down on their beach bed and get a foot massage done. Many who come for lunch leave at 6 PM and many who come for dinner are asked to leave at 2 AM. Many come for sundowners at around 6 PM and leave after dinner. When you are on holiday - the time has no value. The place has energy in it and it can be felt as you sit there sipping your cocktail and watching people talk & dance.
- Candolim is a very popular beach of North Goa. There is one long beach which comprises of Sinquerim, Candolim, Calangute and Baga. It starts from Taj Aguada and ends beyond Brittos at Baga. So the beach is one long seamless coastline but has 4 names at different places. This belt is famous for beaches, food, nightlife and roadside shopping. I like staying on this beach as it offers a lot and keeps you busy. One can always walk out of the hotel and go for roadside shopping. The holiday lane opposite the Le Meridien leading to the beach has some really good roadside shopping as well as some high end restaurant like A Reverie. There are some big stores like Newton's and Delfino's which stock groceries, clothes, liquor and whatever you may require. People often come for a longish period and they either own houses in Goa or they hire an apartment for a couple of months. They can get all their groceries from Newton's. Newton's has a very good variety of liquor. The Calangute junction itself now has hundreds of shops and restaurants. No wonder they say North Goa is lively.
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| A roadside stall at Candolim |
- On our fist evening at North Goa we took a walk on the beach from our hotel to Taj hotel and back. I managed to swim a bit as the sun went down and then we were asked to get out of sea by the life guard. After a shower we took a stroll down the Candolim road before settling down for dinner at another popular restaurant called the Fisherman's Cove. This roadside restaurant seems to be always busy. They have expanded as well and still remain full. The service is super quick. I like prawn sizzlers they make so one visit per trip has become a norm. As the evening progresses the music becomes louder and DJ does well to get participation from the audience.
- Indians prefer to crowd the beaches in evening rather than morning/afternoon. The sun is a bit too harsh in Goa during that peak sun period. It can really burn you. I am a beach lover so we find a shack with adequate shade and while Devicka orders her pineapple and coconut water and reads her book, I spend an hour or so in the water. Then it is my time to order prawns in Richadeo masala or butter garlic and chilled beer. This happens day after day.
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| Fisheman's hut is near Calamari and is quite popular. This is also open for Lunch and then shuts late at night. The afternoons are quiet at the beach. |
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| It is the evening time which attracts the people to the beach. The atmosphere is lively with people swimming, jogging or just enjoying sundowners at the shacks. |
Afternoon/early evening is siesta time in Goa. Most things shut down other than food places. It gives us also time to recuperate from the sun and sea tiredness. But before that it is lunch time and we headed for highly recommended 'Lazy Goose' restaurant under the Nerul bridge. It was riverside setting with great live music and loads of Sunday crowd. The food was really good here. Butter garlic prawns spanish style and the tandoori pomfret was exceptional. It was a good place to discover. On this trip The Lazy Goose gave us the best food and the best atmosphere. Highly recommended !
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| The Lazy Goose under Nerul Bridge is just 5 minutes drive from Candolim. |
In the evening it is time to take another long walk and then decide where the dinner would be. Our room doesn't have too much artificial light so I like to go out as soon as possible. Wok & Roll near Fort Aguada is another favourite restaurant owned by a friend's brother Allwyn. The Pan Asian fare is tremendous and the pork ribs are really delicious. Crab, lobster or prawns in different asian sauces taste divine. Unfortunately we can't order too much variety as there are just 2 of us. It is a nice and spacious restaurant and in a remote corner where there is peace and quite. Near the restaurant is the famous nightclub Cohiba which comes alive when we had already left after dinner. There are other nightclubs as well. Tito's at Baga was the first to start the trend of nightclubs and I still remember those long queues that used to form outside its entrance. LPK is a bit away but they have pickup and drop facility. Sinq is very near the Taj. Much crowd is swarming at these nightclubs as people have been deprived of these activities since a long time.
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| Special Ice Cream at Wok & Roll |
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| Ribs at Wok & Roll are one the best that I have eaten. |
- Next morning we try out a new cafe called the 'Cafe Candolim .' We had gone to have breakfast at the lovely 'Chocolatti' but it appears that it never opened after the lockdown. Cafe Candolim was quite nice and gave great breakfast. Breakfast was included in the hotel package but Devicka decided that she didn't want to eat there as no covid19 precautions were being observed. So we discovered this new place. The egg I ordered had an interesting name called 'Anda Ghotala' which comprised of scrambled egg, spices and minced meat. It was quite a handful start to the day along with Lavazza cold coffee.
- Fat Fish is another restaurant which remains extremely busy. It is on way to Arpora from Baga. I love their fish Thali. After our usual morning at the beach we headed for Fat fish only to see a long queue. We also overheard that they had run out of fish and chicken thaalis. But we were presented with a solution. The restaurant incharge informed us that they had opened another large restaurant at Anjuna beach which was around 15 minutes away. He confirmed that fish thaali was available there. So we drove to this new branch of theirs and it was pretty impressive. The thaali was available and was as good as ever. It comprises of a large pc of Rava fry fish and accompanied by gravies of prawn, mussels and crab along with vegetables. Its quite a meal. They have a lot of open space so it would be nice to sit out in the evenings.
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| The Fish Thaali at Fat Fish |
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| The New Fat Fish restaurant at Anjuna |
- As we sat in the hotel lawns in the evening, one couldn't help noticing a couple of mismatched couples. By mismatched one means the man to be a pudgy 50 and the companion to be petite 20. It soon became clear that the companions were the companions just for this holiday. Things are happening in India !
- Taj holiday Village is the most famous and popular hotel of North Goa. It is quite spread out and has cottages as accommodation. Their Thai restaurant is called the 'Banyan tree' as it is next to a 300 year old beautiful Banyan tree. Our last evening was spent here in very romantic settings. The food was as good as ever and the place had a lot of calmness about it. There was some party going on at Taj and music could reach us sitting at the other end of property. The music was good so no complaints.
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| The 300 year old Banyan Tree at Taj holiday Village. |
It was time to go back home now after a 4 day trip. For me it was a successful trip as I could spend a lot of time on the beach, in the sea and at some lovely restaurants. This is what Goa is all about for me. Dabholim Airport is always quite messy even though they had built new terminal buildings a few years ago. This must be the only airport without a single restaurant where one could have a meal peacefully. There used to be a restaurant earlier but they have shut it down. So coming early was a waste of time. We could have stopped at Sheela restaurant near the Airport for lunch instead of looking at chaos at the kiosks serving food. So if you are hungry after check in and security, then one has to stand in a long queue at one of the crappy kiosks. So if you want something to eat or drink to sustain yourself before the flight - then forget the social distancing and fight for your idlis or biryani.
After a lovely trip like this I think we deserved a better send off. Goa requires a much better airport than what it has.
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