Below is travel guide I wrote for a friend of mine who was going last year. Hopefully it may give others some insight to this lovely corner of India.
GOA - TOP TIPS!!
Airport
When you get off plane – walk fast to the terminal. It can take up to 2 hours to clear immigration, so get as far up the queue as you can!
Don’t change any money at the airport – rate is not very good. There are plenty of places to change money (or use ATM) in Calangute.
Have a pound coin handy – your cases will be ‘grabbed’ by a porter to take to the coach/taxi as soon as you get through baggage claim. They expect a £1 tip!
North Goa
The main tourist areas are to found along the stretch from Sinquerim (where the shipwreck is) up to Baga. Candolim and Calangute in between.
Sinquerim is pricey and quiet– Taj Heritage Resort here plus high end 4/5 star hotel – mostly all inclusive. There is a small fort that goes out into the sea and has great views along the beach.
Candolim is busier, but not OTT. Lots of really good restaurants etc here. The beach shacks are also very good.
Calangute is very busy – but dead compared to Blackpool! Very popular with Indian tourists. The weekends can get very busy with out of staters coming for stag parties etc. I tend to keep clean of the beach on a Saturday/Sunday, as it can be too busy.
Baga is loud, brash and for the young crowd. Lots of ex-pat bars, always loads going on. The only nightclub of note along the coast is Tito’s and it’s outside bar Mambo’s – worth a visit at least once.
Further along the coast are Anjuna (hippy market etc), Vagator (rave parties – used a lot by Israelis), Morjim and Arambol (both beautiful and well worth a visit).
Calangute
Depending where you are staying you will be either right at the heart of the action (Mira, Silla Goa, Park Avenue hotels) or out in the sticks (Village Royale) Even if you are in the centre of Calangute the nights won’t be too noisy – everything calms down by 11pm usually – apart from the hotel bars.
The main focal point of the village is the roundabout. This is half way between the market/bus stop area and the beach. To your right is the Tibetan jewellery market with the ‘football’pitch behind it. The road to the right takes you to Baga.
Ahead is the road down to the beach. There is a statue just before the steps on to the beach.
The road to the left goes into the residential area, but has a few shops, bars, hotels and restaurants eetc.
Back towards the market there are lots of restaurants, shops etc, a supermarket (Menzies), an ATM etc. This is the ‘high street’.
Eating out
Veggie: The Plantain Leaf on the ‘high street’ is brilliant. A veg thalli of 8 portions, plus rice and puri will cost about 60Rs – (75p) and you won’t be able to eat it all. Yatri on the steps by the beach – up stairs above some shops. Masalla Dosa is good here – about 20Rs each.
Steaks etc: After 7 in Candolim is very good, but pricey. Continental cuisine which is good sometimes – you can’t eat curry every meal! Hot Plate in Baga is also very good and cheap.
Tibetan: The best place is The Tibetan Kitchen on the left hand side opposite the football pitch. Try to get a table away from the toilets though!
Breakfast: Infantria on the left hand side on the Baga road. Fresh breads, real coffee, fresh juices (inc watermelon). Jon Jenesis (I think that the name!) is a café in the left just before you get to the steps – good coffee and they sell English language Goan newspapers.
Fish: Available everywhere. The beach shacks are usually good. My mate Louie is a fisherman and spends his leisure hours at Dee Joy’s – usually the first shack to the right when you on the beach – and supplies them with most of their fish. Also a great place to watch the sunset with a Bloody Mary (quad vodka and FRESH tomato juice!)
Other stuff: Viva Goa on the left hand side on the main Calangute/Candolim road is a bit like a café, but sells the best biriany I have ever had, and cost less than a £1.
The Midas Touch is good (and air conditioned), sells a wide range of stuff – steaks, Indian, Chinese etc. Usually live entertainment, if you can get the night with the local dancing is best, otherwise you might be stuck with karoke!
Verundavan’s on the right hand side on the road down to the beach is excellent, as is Casandra’s- almost next door. Capricorn across the road is also supposed to be good, but not tried it yet.
Bars
Hundreds of them! 2 of note are:
O’Yes Bar. On the left hand road from the roundabout – about 20 yards on the right. In the garden they have dug out seating areas and are covered with canopies. Do Hooka Pipes here, if your into that sort of thing. Owner is a nice guy, who used to have a Scottish girlfriend. Bar open all year round – popular with backpackers.
Molly Malone’s. Irish pub, but has draught Kingfisher! (about the only place I have ever seen draught beer in India. On the same lane as Yes bar, about 200yds further on the left.
Days out
Anjuna market. Wednesday. World famous. Crowded and fun. Very rare to get any bargains to be honest. Worth having a look in a fixed price shop like Satagura (opp. The football pitch) to get an ideal of what things should cost.
Mapusa (pronounced map-sa). A real Indian market. Great for getting spices, unusual gifts etc. You can get their on the bus from Calangute, or a 15 minute taxi ride. Don’t go on a Friday – all the Anjuna crowd take over. For a break there is a place called The Pub on the road on the left of the market (if you look at it from the bus station), you can sit up there and watch all bustle.
Mapusa also has a good night food market. I’ve only been on a Saturday, but believe its on most nights.
Ingo’s Night Bazaar. Saturday night – market – live music – great food. Based the other side of the river between Siolim and Morjim. Great fun.
Morjim. One of my favourite beaches. Quiet, great shacks (I usually go to Planet Hollywood!). If there is a full moon when you are there, see if you can stay over and help the turtle hatchlings into the sea!
Arambol. Still a hippy hang out, deserted beach. Lie on a sun lounger and watch the dolphins jumping near the rocks at the end of beach! You can also hire a beachside tree house for a night. I believe this is the beach used at the start of The Bourne Supremacy.
Waterfalls/Hindu temples/Spice Plantation/Old Goa. Full day, early start.
You’ll need to get a taxi for the day – and start out at about 7.30. It’s a 2 hour drive to the village where you transfer to a 4 wheel Jeep, then about another hour into the jungle. The waterfalls are another 15/20 minute walk, but well worth it. 2nd highest in India, water is freezing but worth a dip, take some bananas to feed the monkeys etc.
On the way back stop off at one of the Spice Plantations for a tour. It’ll cost about £4 each and includes a buffet lunch. Takes about ½ hours.
The get your driver to take you to a couple of Hindu Temples around Ponda, before heading for Old Goa and it’s Portugese architure and stunning churches.
This will possibly be the most expensive day, but should be less than £30 each!
Agonda/Palolim. Combine either of these two beaches with on overnight stay in a tree house. Both are stunning and picture postcard. Agonda is the quiter of the two.
Panjim. The capital is very European looking – understandably!. Great walking city, with lots of great buildings, a lovely park by the Mondovi (Campinal) where the film festival is based. The huge market is also worth a look at. There’s a great restaurant, The Quarterdeck, on the riverfront. Great place to watch eagles fishing.
The Sunset Cruise is a most – about £2 each – leaves the jetty at 6pm each night and lasts about an hour and a half. Try and get there early so you can get on to the one which has Indian entertainment, the other has ballroom dancing! You can bet you will be the only white people on the boat, but it is hilarious – also beer and food for sale!
After go the Delhi Darbar. The nearest you’ll find to an English Indian Restaurant. Food is excellent, air conditioned, expensive by Goan standards (about £6 per head!!) and a guy in full Maharajah’s costume greets you. Was in there 2 years ago and it was full of Bollywood stars, and ‘Tinhead’ of Brookside!Above: The Delhi Darbar, April 2006, with Karen, Chris, Tony (Shrek) and my lad Ashley. We were in Goa for the Cricket
If you get a bike a good ride is to see the Prison at Fort Aguada, then up the hill to the fort itself. About 15 minutes ride from Calangute.
Coco Beach is ok. It’s on the Mondovi, fairly quiet. You can help the fishermen drag their catch in. Boat trips will also take you out to see Crocs, dolphins, the prison etc. The setting in good, and you have to travel along some very rural lanes to get there.
No comments:
Post a Comment