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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Goa ..... a taste of konkani

In another blog i had described my love of konkani songs from childhood . (Henry Mendez ...ye ye Katrina )  ...No wonder that rings around as background music in my ears though i have no Katrina in goa.

If you are looking for a beach holiday goa is one of the perfect places . With the number of beaches close together the water is everywhere be it the Calangute beach , the Baga beach , Anjuna beach and that is just the beginning  ..  I visited Calangute beach in the daytime and though crowded  the touristy atmosphere is good there . Thats especially good if watersports is your aim . Jetskis , Parasailing etc are there which are missing in kerala beaches (though i love our beaches )  .  Beach shacks which sell the fresh catch including fish not readily available in kerala is nice . Of course the people on the water from different parts of india as well as abroad completes the picture .

Calangute beach is one of the busy beaches  but  for a romantic getaway there are less crowded beaches . The point is  depending on your company (dont ask me mine  .. i went alone  as it was a half day holiday clubbed with an official work assignment )  you should choose which beach /beaches you should go  .  Then of course there are the beautiful resorts  like Dona silva where i stayed last time  .

Goa is the only place where you can gamble (if you want it of course ) . There are casinos which are mostly on ships docked on mandovi river . For a fee of rs 1500  approx  you get entry and chips for playing . Since its gambling depending on your addictive behaviour you can lose thousands or occassionally get thousands or more . But if you can control yourself and stick to the original amount only just for the experience it ought to be good . Gambling is a bad habit right  ?

Drinkers paradise :  Many people go to goa just to drink . Anyway for people like me  thats not an attraction  except  to get tiny miniature souveniers of fenny the local drink for some of my  drinking friends (not alcoholics  )  .Here too i found stark difference from kerala which has high standards of morality  . In kerala  people stand in long queues blocking the road in some places to buy their drink from government owned beverages corporation . Here it is freely available so for a visitor it looks less vulgar unlike kerala  .

Goan food  :  If seafood is your forte  goa is the place . Spicy , coconutty squid,crab,prawns in addition to all the fish under the goan sun you name it you get it  . I  had  goan seafood from ethnic houses in the lunch time ,  vivandi the ethnic goan restaurant at panjim at night  and a host of authentic goan restaurants on other days

The churches :  centuries old churches and houses done in portuguese architecture give a distinct feel and overall i felt the goan people friendly .  Also with music in their blood its natural that friendliness is in their blood too  ...Regionalism is there so for a long term stay i dont know how it goes  ..

Goa is well connected by air , trains and buses .  More on goa after my next visit in a month  ...






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