My Escapade to Goa!

Finally, I am writing about something that left me mesmerized for days on end! 😊

Go! Goa!! Gone!!!

True that! If you go to Goa, you are gone forever.. The memories and an urge to visit again always stay..

Each site resonates with at least one of our many varied emotions. I am really thankful to my dear friend for pushing me into this adventurous trip while I was on an altogether different emotional ride.

So, are we ready for a virtual tour?

Traveling Back in Time!

A morning of September 2019, all excited to hop on our flight & reach our beachy destination. Of all the feelings that we developed during our excursion, amused is one expression that never left me; could be as it was my maiden visit to such a place or it is actually fascinating enough to give you goosebumps. 😄

Anyway, when we finally made it to the destination after what can be referred to as in itself an adventurous journey, considering it was already 11 pm and our bodies had no energy left after a day’s long travel and not much in our belly! 😑 The feeling that we already “wasted” a day was kind of upsetting until we heard a voice, “Ma’am, kindly freshen up and we’ll get you the dinner in the room. When ready feel free to visit the nearby beaches & marketplace — Goa is a place up all night, here people sleep after 6 am — nothing is wasted, you have time to enjoy its exuberant nightlife!” 💥

All charged up we marched towards the nearest places. The dearth of time permitted us to visit only a few parts of North Goa. I’ll revisit some (not all 😜) of the experiences from the voyage.

Baga Beach

A 5 minutes walk from our resort, stood the grand Baga beach. Full of hippie music, sounds, and perfectly lit shacks, the aura of the place filled me with awe. After spending hours on sand and seeing people around, we left to have a good night’s sleep. To be honest, the first look of the never-ending darkness surrounding the beach scared me, so we visited it again early next morning, and yes then when it hit me — we are really in Goa — enjoying the beauty of water, sky, and the distant sight where the skies appear to be merging with the waves.🌅

Aguada Fort

Unless you have actually been to Goa, you hear most about it through the shooting of different movies at different locations. One such location was Aguada Fort which we had to visit — why? Why because Dil Chahta Hai was filmed here! It was definitely worth the number of stairs we climbed to reach the 17th-century fort and the scenic beauty that encapsulates it. Photos, photos, and photos — is all that we did there!!

Vagator Beach

This was the BEST part of the entire trip, at least for me 😍. Sitting on one of the rocks, air breezing through the hair, and watching the sunset, all words in the dictionary combined cannot compile that heart-throbbing experience. All I wanted to do was sit alone for hours in peace and not talk to anyone (also wanting my friend to vanish for some time.. Sorry Ritika 😅). The only thing missing was soft music or you can say a guitar in my hands 🎸😂 …

Casino

Being to a casino was one thing the thought of which used to excite me the most, before actually visiting one 😐. Thank goodness we stepped into a comparably small one, as even this one intimidated us, not sure what the big one would have done. In a nutshell, we were lost, confused, and our faces clearly indicated that we have no idea what to do here 😆. However, even this was a good experience and the dinner was fab!

Tito’s

No party, no escapade is complete that lacks a floor-breaking dance 💃. An amazing and excessively popular Goa’s Tito’s club DJ played absolutely choicely picked songs & we danced our hearts out!! Initially, we seemed a misfit when all were properly dressed up while we graced the place in our jammies 😹; however, nothing can beat a pajama party!!

Dona Paula

The place had a real hypnotizing impact — the depth and vastness of the ocean engrossed us entirely. Definitely a romantic spot, resonating with the love story of Dona Paula. Our experience was superbly enhanced by the light and sweet drizzle and cloudy sky. If only our hungry stomach had allowed, we could have stayed there much longer!!

Miramar Beach

A long walk along the beach while collecting different shapes and sizes of shells, and writing our names on the sand 💗, it was yet another peaceful yet exciting experience we gathered!

Cruise

Whoa & W😍W — the most happening place that rejuvenated & refreshed every core of us physically and mentally 😄! In the middle of deep waters, surrounded by grand casinos, my eyes were unable to focus on one thing at a time. I wanted to capture everything around in one go, and hence my eyeballs 👀 were revolving and rotating round and round for quite some time. And then BOOM 💫, music all around, random dancing numbers, and people dancing, brought all my focus within the cruise. Then, what happens, well that you can guess 😎.

Churches

Well, undoubtedly Goa is home to a number of churches, each with its own remarkable structure, story, and attached artifacts. We also got the opportunity to visit two such unique ones, with definitely a well-planned architecture, a nice way to offer prayers, and an immensely large area to support a good number of visitors.

Calangute Beach

Well, this is the tenth place & I’d make it the last one on the list, as it was actually our final destination before bidding adieu to Goa 😶. The beach proved to be the best takeaway memory — it was swamped with happy families, laughing youngsters, and kids running in and out of the water along the shore. It was indeed heavily crowded with joyous people, and while we wanted to stay longer, time constraints did not allow us. However, we used our brains (which we shouldn’t have) — considering Calangute as also very near to our resort, we started marching our way from Calangute -> Baga -> Our Room. With the blessed thought of enjoying the best of both the beaches while on our way back, we were tired like hell & too late to back out from the decision as we were already in the middle of nowhere 🙆!

All said and done, it was truly heart-breaking to return from a place like this!!

Well, that was 2019 — now is 2022! Things for everyone around have changed now, I am hoping for the better — now trip plans, backpacks, itineraries, room bookings, travel modes, use of things & places during the journey would all be done more cautiously & rightfully so.

Enjoyment and Self Health Care must now go hand in hand!

Avani Raj Arora