Goa Part- 1

What can be a better post than G for ‘Goa’!

Recently, I started liking two particular urban phrases (by genius anonymous) which says, ‘You cannot make everyone happy, you are not Goa.’ & ‘The worst thing about Goa is- Leaving Goa.’

Goa Anniversary Trip

Although, these lines sound cheesy and cliché, but I strongly believe them after my recent trip to Goa with my best friend- the wife during our 6th wedding anniversary. It was also our first visit there. I wanted to visit Goa since 2007, which I eventually managed in 2023. It was a proper planned trip. We usually try to plan a good trip during our anniversary every year. But, we could not do it because of Covid since a couple of years. Even a planned trip to Auli had to be cancelled during March 2020.

Finally the much awaited Goa trip

Obviously we were very excited for this trip. Although we wanted to make it a budget trip initially, but slowly it turned to be a real expensive one-especially the hotel bookings. Got some really great hotel discounts since tourist season was waning in Goa (believe me it actually wasn’t!!). Just that the crazy rush was over.
I won’t be writing a day-wise itinerary here. In this post, I will just share with you all our experiences through my perspective.

Kolkata to Goa

We took a direct flight from Kolkata and reached Goa at around 15:00 hrs. It was a slightly lengthy flight, but was an enjoyable one since we binged on an interesting series on Netflix for straight 3 hrs, which we hardly get to do these days. During the pandemic house arrest however, this would go even 7-8 hours at a stretch sometimes.

Goa Airport was full of different types of people from all over India and world. It was interesting to watch just people. Everyone seemed highly enthusiastic, wore weird colourful clothes and excited for their trip.

While planning the trip we wanted to find out that can we get self drive cars in Goa airport? Fortunately we could and it was the best option for us.

We hired a self driven car from one of the highest rated travel agents in Goa searched through google (Name shared at the end of this post). It was a smooth process and the car was new as well. We were happy to get it.

Tips for hiring a self-drive car in Goa

• Always take a close up video of the vehicle before receiving the vehicle, especially along the corners where chances of bruising/scratching are very common.
• Ask for a relatively new vehicle. Clearly mention the type of vehicle you want or comfortable like manual/automatic etc. They usually comply with customer’s request.
• Always park your car at designated parking spot only.
• Refuelling is tricky and should be done carefully since it is very difficult to return the car with the same fuel bar while receiving the car. Else, you will unnecessary end up paying more for the fuel. It would have been great if we get a tank full receiving/return policy.
• Always hire a car having a commercial number plate. Speed limit is capped at 80 km/hr in commercial cars. You cant go beyond that. It is overall safe to hire a car from authorized travel agents. Worked well for us.
• Drive safe and enjoy!!

I felt having a car is the most essential thing for movement in and around Goa. Many people prefer two wheelers as well which is relatively quite cheaper. But, if you plan for North Goa-South Goa tour in a single itinerary, then getting a car is highly suggested for ease of movement with luggage.

North Goa

Goa is beautiful. We started our trip from North Goa. After a few winding turns and bends from the airport, we could see the water, blue sky along with coconut groves in the foreground. The views were mesmerizing.

I will share a few photographs with you all out of thousands clicked during the trip. We had a wonderful late lunch at The Fisherman’s Wharf in Panaji and headed for the beach-front hotel near Baga beach.

Believe me, it was not as smooth as it sounds. Panaji is congested and some road construction was going on. This whole process took around 3 hours instead of usual 90 minutes.

Beautiful government building at Panaji

We checked into a beach front resort (Colonia Santa Maria). It was nice, but had to fight with the front office guy for room inside the resort property. Now-a-days I have seen in a few places, the hoteliers sublet adjacent houses and make it part of hotel especially in popular crowded areas. It’s a beautiful, well maintained property, but some of the staff needs proper training. Room amenities were average, but landscaping was awesome. Other than that, the stay was great. Stay tuned for further exciting stories in the subsequent posts.

To be continued….

This post is part of  #BlogchatterA2Z challenge and this is the G- post