Goa in January
Visiting Goa in January was different from our regular March trips. We woke up in the mornings without having switched on the air conditioner at night and found the mornings to be nippy. Once on the beach, entering the sea needed some initial effort as the water felt awfully cold. Thankfully the kids did not allow me much time to think as I was pushed into the water as soon as I reached the periphery of sea.
Soon one becomes used to the cool water and the surf of the sea gives an exhilarating feel. The feeling becomes even better if you are adventurous enough for water sports. Devicka thought that the Banana boat was the safest, so very happily joined us to be taken into the middle of the sea sitting on the Banana boat which was pulled along by motor boat. She thought it was great fun, till, by previous design, the maneuvering motorboat dumped the occupiers of the Banana boat into the sea!
Sitting in my favourite shack ‘The Big Banana,’ between Calangute and Baga beaches, I found the sea looking delicious. The beach was full of white skinned people trying to turn into brown skinned, lying on beach beds. The sparkling sea had loads of people swimming and several colourful parachutes dotting the horizon. These parachutes were part of the Para-sailing all over the beach. There were water scooters, bumpy rides, water skiing and hordes of other water sports. The bad part of all this was that the sea smelt of fuel of these water scooters and motor boats. The way these zoom around, for the swimmers these unregulated motor boats could be a big hazard. The owner of ‘the big banana’, Francis, was happy to see us. He knew that for a few days there will be a lot of orders for fruits, beer, prawns, fish, steaks and fried rice.
It was time we tried some new dining places for dinner other than our regular ‘Souza Lobo’ and ‘Brittos.’ The atmosphere in this peak season was quite festive. People had forgotten about the security threat and ventured to Goa in hordes. We tried ‘The stone house’ at the Sinquerium Beach near Taj holiday Village and ‘Over the flame’ at Candolim. Both turned out to be good and gave good value for money. The atmosphere was relaxed, music was peppy and no one makes tandoori prawns the way the Goans make it.
Candolim looks quite busy in the evenings. It has shops, restaurants, beach and now a hip massage parlor ‘Snip.’ While the Calangute-Baga road is very narrow which results in several traffic jams, the Candolim road is a lot better. So we stayed at Baga but mostly dined and wined at Candolim. Unfortunately, the trip was a short one so I could not get the famous ‘Snip’ massage this time. At the airport I met a friend who asked me if I had got a massage done at the Snip. My regret became manifold when he extolled the virtues of the Snip massage by petite Indonesian girls.
This is now an incentive to go back soon.
Soon one becomes used to the cool water and the surf of the sea gives an exhilarating feel. The feeling becomes even better if you are adventurous enough for water sports. Devicka thought that the Banana boat was the safest, so very happily joined us to be taken into the middle of the sea sitting on the Banana boat which was pulled along by motor boat. She thought it was great fun, till, by previous design, the maneuvering motorboat dumped the occupiers of the Banana boat into the sea!
Sitting in my favourite shack ‘The Big Banana,’ between Calangute and Baga beaches, I found the sea looking delicious. The beach was full of white skinned people trying to turn into brown skinned, lying on beach beds. The sparkling sea had loads of people swimming and several colourful parachutes dotting the horizon. These parachutes were part of the Para-sailing all over the beach. There were water scooters, bumpy rides, water skiing and hordes of other water sports. The bad part of all this was that the sea smelt of fuel of these water scooters and motor boats. The way these zoom around, for the swimmers these unregulated motor boats could be a big hazard. The owner of ‘the big banana’, Francis, was happy to see us. He knew that for a few days there will be a lot of orders for fruits, beer, prawns, fish, steaks and fried rice.
It was time we tried some new dining places for dinner other than our regular ‘Souza Lobo’ and ‘Brittos.’ The atmosphere in this peak season was quite festive. People had forgotten about the security threat and ventured to Goa in hordes. We tried ‘The stone house’ at the Sinquerium Beach near Taj holiday Village and ‘Over the flame’ at Candolim. Both turned out to be good and gave good value for money. The atmosphere was relaxed, music was peppy and no one makes tandoori prawns the way the Goans make it.
Candolim looks quite busy in the evenings. It has shops, restaurants, beach and now a hip massage parlor ‘Snip.’ While the Calangute-Baga road is very narrow which results in several traffic jams, the Candolim road is a lot better. So we stayed at Baga but mostly dined and wined at Candolim. Unfortunately, the trip was a short one so I could not get the famous ‘Snip’ massage this time. At the airport I met a friend who asked me if I had got a massage done at the Snip. My regret became manifold when he extolled the virtues of the Snip massage by petite Indonesian girls.
This is now an incentive to go back soon.
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