Goa was one destination I always wanted to go since my childhood but could never go for first 25 years. But since then I have been there 4 times in last 3 years, each journey with a different group of people. Each journey has been a different experience and ideally I should have written four different blogs for those!
How to reach: Regular flights from all major cities of India, Direct trains to Madgaon and Vasco from major junctions
Places of Interest: Mangeshi Temple, Shantadurga Temple, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Dona Paula point, Big Foot (Ancestral Goa), Old Church of Panaji, Aguada Fort
Beaches: Miramar, Colva, Calangute, Baga, Arambol, Palolem, Varca, Anjuna
Food: For a non-vegetarian, there are plenty of options. For vegetarian like us, options are limited but they are available all around Goa. We found Rajadhani in Panaji a better choice.
Goa is located on the western ghat of India. Goa state has been divided in two districts: North Goa and South Goa. During my recent visit, we decided to go Goa by train from Pune and to explore the South Goa. Our stay was in Margao Residency governed by Goa Tourism. There are some advantages of going to Goa by Train. There are many tunnels on the way and of course, there is Dudhsagar water fall.
For most tourists, Goa is a land of some wonderful beaches. We explored Varca beach and Colva beach which were nearer to our hotel. Colva beach being a more popular one is always crowded and offers variety of water sports. Varca is lesser known and therefore is preferred by visitors who want to avoid crowd and enjoy the soothing Arabian sea. One can easily get vehicles on hire for reasonable rates in Goa. We hired one two wheeler and explored the area around Madgaon.
P-1 Sunset at Colva Beach
Goa tourism organizes daily site seeing tours to North and South Goa. There are other special tours also. Next day we decided to go for the South Goa site seeing. This gave us chance to explore Goa mainland and its culture. We visited Shantadurga Temple and Mangeshi Temple. We also explored various churches of Old Goa including the Basilica of Bom Jesus which houses the relics of St. Francis Xavier. This journey also took us to Big Foot – Ancestral Goa. As we roam around in the village created, we come across various idols which depicts the culture and life style of Goa. It also has Saint Mirabai sculpture which is India’s longest laterite sculptor. There was also a Portuguese house there which depicted lifestyle of Portuguese who once rules Goa.
P-2 Basilica of Bom Jesus
Though we visited Panaji during our South Goa site seeing tour earlier, we decided to explore more on two wheeler. Panaji is around 30 km from Madgaon and it was a pleasant journey on NH-17 as the weather was not-so-cool-not-so-hot. Panaji(or Panjim) is one of the beautiful city of India. Nicely constructed roads, road-side greenery and well maintained market add to its beauty. We spent some quality time at the Miramar beach before heading to the famous Panaji Church. Located in the center of the city, this is one of the picturesque churches around Goa. One might have seen it in some Bollywood movies shot in Goa! After exploring the church, we went to Dona Paula point. Again this point has been popular for movie shootings. It has a nicely constructed platform where one can sit and enjoy the vast sea in front.
P-3 Panaji Church
As always happens with Goa, we never realized how days went by but we enjoyed every moment of our stay in this beautiful place. There are many places in Goa apart from the ones mentioned here which I explored during my earlier visits. Surely I would like to cover them in my next blog on Goa!
