The Loon In Goa - Part 1
I've done it. I've finally made it to Goa. And it's simply...boring.
After the endless conversations about plans to go to Goa all through high school and college, I've finally made it. The travel cost is much cheaper if I fly here from Bengaluru so I thought I'd better make the most of it. But, for some reason, there are very few flights from there to Goa, and the cheap ones at really odd hours. I took the 6:30 AM flight, which meant I had to wake up at 3 to get ready to leave by 4. Not fun, that. Surprisingly, there were a LOT of people travelling at that hour on a Wednesday.
The flight was one of the shortest ever, just 55 minutes of flying time, but still a painful one with a crying baby 2 seats behind me. Luckily the noise-cancelling on my JBL headphones works just well enough to drown out the wailing and murmurs. Once on the ground and outta the airport, the ride to the hotel was quite scenic and pleasant. I have to say, the roads here, as of now, are AMAZING and just a beautiful experience to drive around on. I myself am looking to find a self-drive rental car to make the most of it.
The hotel I'm staying at is really nice. Lots of facilities, well maintained, quite clean, and quite boring for people like me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the convenience of a well-serviced hotel especially after a long day, but it's not a high priority when I'm travelling. The main benefit is that they maintain their part of the beach so it's clean and nice and not too crowded.
The first thing after breakfast and check-in, I headed down to the beach. Interestingly my room is near the entrance so I have to walk through the rest of the hotel property to reach the beach. I got to see all the nice little villas of varying levels of luxury and accommodation and the different 'kinds' of holiday makers. Now, correct me if I'm too cynical, or don't, but if you come to a hotel at the beach, why would you spend most of your time inside the hotel swimming pools? Rather than taking a dip in the sea? With all the little houses being right next to each other, does it even feel like a vacation? You still get neighbours?! And I hope that my lady can push myself to not be that guy with a pot belly in his 30s chilling in the pool. The only way I take my shirt off in public is if I'm at least reasonably fit.
Anyway, after a short and uninspiring sit down at the beach, I headed out the hotel and down the road towards nowhere particular. On my way out, I enquired about how I might get a self-drive rental car and learned that the hotel I'm staying at, is one of the few places that is not catered to by car rental guys in Goa. FML!! Anyway, I'm still trying to work my way around that, I'll let you know how that goes in subsequent posts. In an attempt to walk off the frustration, I headed out down the road, with an objective to explore and find a place for lunch. I ended up walking a total of 14km today. In sandals.
I stopped at a place called Papa Joe's for lunch and enjoyed some Goan cuisine in the form of fried Pomfret fish and beer. The food was nice, the hospitality was pleasant and the lack of a crowd was just great as I enjoyed my lunch. The walk back to the hotel, however, was a troubled one as it began to rain and I was not carrying any rain gear at the time, poor decision, I know. I tried to walk through the drizzle but at one point I got caught up in it when the rain started to pour, barely making it to a shelter before my phones and wallet got soaked. Just 1KM from the hotel and there I was, jumping around to keep myself warm in my tee and shorts as it rained down. Not exactly a pleasant end to the day's adventure. Finally, the rain passed and I made it back to the hotel, wet and cold. I made a beeline for my room and washed out the dirt, dried up and got warm.
After a nice nap, I headed out to buy some more beer from a nearby wine shop and experienced the MOST friendly customer experience till date. Just the tone of the interaction with the shop owners, that made all the difference to me. After that came back and retired to the room for the rest of the day, let's see what tomorrow brings.
Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. Feel free to comment and share, and subscribe to get the update for Part 2.
After the endless conversations about plans to go to Goa all through high school and college, I've finally made it. The travel cost is much cheaper if I fly here from Bengaluru so I thought I'd better make the most of it. But, for some reason, there are very few flights from there to Goa, and the cheap ones at really odd hours. I took the 6:30 AM flight, which meant I had to wake up at 3 to get ready to leave by 4. Not fun, that. Surprisingly, there were a LOT of people travelling at that hour on a Wednesday.
The flight was one of the shortest ever, just 55 minutes of flying time, but still a painful one with a crying baby 2 seats behind me. Luckily the noise-cancelling on my JBL headphones works just well enough to drown out the wailing and murmurs. Once on the ground and outta the airport, the ride to the hotel was quite scenic and pleasant. I have to say, the roads here, as of now, are AMAZING and just a beautiful experience to drive around on. I myself am looking to find a self-drive rental car to make the most of it.
The hotel I'm staying at is really nice. Lots of facilities, well maintained, quite clean, and quite boring for people like me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the convenience of a well-serviced hotel especially after a long day, but it's not a high priority when I'm travelling. The main benefit is that they maintain their part of the beach so it's clean and nice and not too crowded.
The first thing after breakfast and check-in, I headed down to the beach. Interestingly my room is near the entrance so I have to walk through the rest of the hotel property to reach the beach. I got to see all the nice little villas of varying levels of luxury and accommodation and the different 'kinds' of holiday makers. Now, correct me if I'm too cynical, or don't, but if you come to a hotel at the beach, why would you spend most of your time inside the hotel swimming pools? Rather than taking a dip in the sea? With all the little houses being right next to each other, does it even feel like a vacation? You still get neighbours?! And I hope that my lady can push myself to not be that guy with a pot belly in his 30s chilling in the pool. The only way I take my shirt off in public is if I'm at least reasonably fit.
Anyway, after a short and uninspiring sit down at the beach, I headed out the hotel and down the road towards nowhere particular. On my way out, I enquired about how I might get a self-drive rental car and learned that the hotel I'm staying at, is one of the few places that is not catered to by car rental guys in Goa. FML!! Anyway, I'm still trying to work my way around that, I'll let you know how that goes in subsequent posts. In an attempt to walk off the frustration, I headed out down the road, with an objective to explore and find a place for lunch. I ended up walking a total of 14km today. In sandals.
I stopped at a place called Papa Joe's for lunch and enjoyed some Goan cuisine in the form of fried Pomfret fish and beer. The food was nice, the hospitality was pleasant and the lack of a crowd was just great as I enjoyed my lunch. The walk back to the hotel, however, was a troubled one as it began to rain and I was not carrying any rain gear at the time, poor decision, I know. I tried to walk through the drizzle but at one point I got caught up in it when the rain started to pour, barely making it to a shelter before my phones and wallet got soaked. Just 1KM from the hotel and there I was, jumping around to keep myself warm in my tee and shorts as it rained down. Not exactly a pleasant end to the day's adventure. Finally, the rain passed and I made it back to the hotel, wet and cold. I made a beeline for my room and washed out the dirt, dried up and got warm.
After a nice nap, I headed out to buy some more beer from a nearby wine shop and experienced the MOST friendly customer experience till date. Just the tone of the interaction with the shop owners, that made all the difference to me. After that came back and retired to the room for the rest of the day, let's see what tomorrow brings.
Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. Feel free to comment and share, and subscribe to get the update for Part 2.
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