Goa

Day 14:

From Udupi we took the morning train to Goa. The train was supposed to come at 7:30 am at Udupi. As with any train journeys in India, it came late. It takes around 4 hrs to travel from Udupi to Madgaon (the central railway station in Goa). It was Gela’s first journey in a local train in India. It is quite slow and stops n number of stops on the way. But in India if one wants to know the pulse of India then the train journey is a must do activity. It is a unique experience, and I hope she enjoyed it.

 

Goa in west coast of India is a former Portuguese colony and therefore has a mix of Indian and Portuguese cultures in food and in architecture. The state is famous for its beaches and in the 60’s the hippie culture put it into the international limelight. Now the state gets visitors not only from the foreign tourists but also from the Indian tourists. It is also one of the most peaceful states in India.

We reached around 1 pm at Goa, and took the taxi to our hotel in the Bagga beach in Calangute. We had our reservation at the Little India Beach Resort, which was not so easy to find. But both of us found out choice of accommodation perfect in every sense. The resort was small in size with less than 10 cottages in total, but only few meters from the beach. On the beach front it was walkable distance from the main shacks and restaurants. So in a way away from the party sites but also close to the beach. Being in an offseason, majority of the accommodations and the restaurants are closed in Goa at this part of the year. The peak season in Goa is from mid-November to mid-February, which is almost the same south India.  So the only ones that are open are at popular beaches like Calangute or in Vagator.  So we were extremely lucky that we found this place.

 

We planned to stay for 5 nights there. Whenever I go for long holidays I make sure that the last 3-5 days I stay at one place doing nothing. It always helped me to relax and recharge myself both mentally and physically. So being at this place with Gela was perfect in all sense.  I loved it.

Other than the beaches the capital city of Goa, Panjim/Panaji, is famous for is churches which has kept the old-world charm all these years, especially the Bom Jesus Basilica, where the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier is kept. We didn’t feel like roaming around and we relaxed at the beaches the whole time. During our stay I ate mostly local Goan food (especially fish) at restaurants, which I liked very much.  The rest of the time we didn’t do much there other than just lazing around in the room, hitting the waters and the restaurants once in a while. It was beautiful times. We also got lucky with the rains as the monsoon didn’t reach Goa in full strength yet.

Day 18: Kochi

On the fifth day morning we flew back to Kochi from the Dabolim airport in Vasco da Gama, the Goa’s only airport. It took almost an hour to reach there. But the roads in Goa are well maintained and the less traffic when compared to other parts of India.

We booked in a hotel close to the Kochi International airport, which is about 15 mins from the hotel (Airlink Castle). The hotel was really good, but there is nothing around the hotel to see. Its mainly for the tourists coming and going from the International airport. We just relaxed and enjoyed the food in the restaurant. Gela flew back on the next day morning. And I took the train back home.

Altogether it was a good trip, with a mix of culture, landscape, wildlife and the beaches. We managed to stay ahead of the monsoon majority of the time. Being a peak summer season the climate was extreme only in Madurai, where we escaped the heat because of the air-conditioned rooms.