Experience in Goa

The planning for the GOA trip was on for quite a long time. I planned this along with 2 of my close friends (Andy and Dipu). The travel and accomodation booking was done well in advance. Another friend was also supposed to join us but he pulled out at the last moment owing to some project work.

We boarded a Bus from Mumbai on the night of 21st Oct from Mumbai. The bus journey was very comfortable. Damn I really love those Volvo Buses.

We reached Mapusa (a small town in North Goa), next day morning. We took a cab from there to Bardez where our resort is located. Julma resort is a very popular resort located near the famous Baga Beach. In fact the beach is 200 mts from the resort. The famous discotheque Tito's was also nearby. The rooms were decent. A double bed A/C room costed us Rs 800 per day.

Day 1:
Started off with a heavy breakfast in the morning. Once we refreshed ourselves out we went to the Baga Beach. The beach is very clean and is one of the most popular beaches of Goa. The season had just started but there wasn't much crowd. If you want a more or less secluded Goa, then October is the best time to go. We enjoyed the 2hours in the sea. I was a little bit more careful then my friends about going deep inside the sea. The reason being that I don't know swimming, but I didn't let that act as a dampener to the proceedings. Slowly I started gaining confidence and I started to go a little deeper into the water. Baga is much safer than the other beaches of Goa. After the brief stint in the water we went to a Shack on the beach and rested. We ventured into the sea again. By 2 In the afternoon everybody was tired and we decided to get back to the resort. On the way back we hired two motorbykes for travelling around Goa. The hiring charges were Rs 150 per bike per day. We had a good few hours of sleep. In the evening we went around on the bike. We went first to the famous Suza Lobo beachside restaurant in Calangute Beach. It was almost 10 in the night. We then rode to another popular North Goa beach called Anjuna. My friends ate sea food in one of the restaurants over there. By around mid night we returned back to our rooms.

Day 2:
We woke up at around 9' o clock in the morning. Had a quick breakfast and off we went to Vagator beach. Vagator is the northernmost of all beaches in Goa and is one of my personal favourite. This was my third visit to Goa and everytime I make it a point to visit Vagator.
This beach is famous for its natural scenery. If you get down from the right side of the hill you shall reach a small beach.This beach is mainly frequented by the Indian tourists. A vey nice picturesque fort called the Chapora fort overlooks the beach.
The natural beauty of Vagator gives you the feeling of a surreal atmosphere. The beach surrounded all around by hills gives it a look different from any other Goan beach. On the right hand side of the beach there are a few rocks. Once you cross the rocks you would reach a small beach. This small beach is very beautiful and is also not crowded at all. There is a small shack on the beach. We had light snacks there and then ventured into the sea. The sea at Vagator is not very safe. The beach is rocky and large rocks jut out into the sea. Also there is a undercurrent in the sea which pulls you towards the rocks. We spent the whole day on the beach. The whole day was marked by spells of liquor by my friends and then bathing in the sea by everybody. The entire experience was so good that we decided to return the next day to Vagator again. We returned to the resort in the evening. All of us had tanned quite a lot inspite of taking necessary precautions. Evening was quite similar to Day one. We went to the same hotel in Anjuna for food.

Day 3- The last day:
Woke up quite late actually. After breakfast we went to the nearby Baga beach again. We tried out the Water scooter. It was a nice experience. Although my friends enjoyed a lot more than me. In the afternoon as decided we again went to Vagator. We took a surf board and went out into the sea. We played around in the water for an hour or so. Suddenly we realised that we had ventured a little deep into the waters. Our feet were not touching the ground. Andy realised this first. As I didn't know swimming I started panicking a bit. My life was entirely dependent on my friends and the surf board on which we hung upon. The undercurrent was also very powerful. It was pulling us towards the rocks. All three of us were using the surf board as a support. Both my friends knew swimming and took on the task of taking me to the shore safely. I just hung on to the surf board while my friends desparately were battling against the current. After a gruelling half hour we finally touched the ground and safely reached the shore. I will never forget this experience. I am forever grateful to my friends for keeping their cool heads otherwise it would have been a disaster. After that horifying experience we decided to return to the resort. It was already 5 PM and our bus for Mumbai was scheduled at 8: 30 PM. So we packed our bags and checked out of the room. We did some shopping and then went to Mapusa for boarding the bus. We had another horrifying experience awaiting at Mapusa. When we reached there we realised that the travel agent made a mistake in writing down the departure time of our bus on our ticket. Actually the departure time of the bus was 7 PM, and he erringly put it as 8:30 PM.
We then hired a shared SUV for our trip back to Mumbai. The trip back to Mumbai was very uncomfortable. Anyways we reached Mumbai the next day.

The entire trip was filled memorable experiences, some good and some bad. It was a truly a life time experience for all us. Goa is rightly regarded as the paradise on earth.