Wednesday 4 March 2009

Go Goa

So I am back from Goa and nothing much has changed. Except for the fact that I have a lot more of NaCl (engineer hoon, can't help it!) in my system and my skin colour now matches with my black watch strap. A lot of people have noticed this. Some of them have put it very well. "You have worked up a very strong tan, Shawn." Others (my sister included) have been a little more blunt. "You look uglier than before." But coming back to Goa, it was a lot better than I expected it to be. I thought it would be expensive and have a lot of tourist traps. I was wrong on both fronts. A week long trip can easily be arranged within five grand and of tourist traps - there were none.

There is very little to see in Goa apart from the beaches. You have some 100 stones arranged in the form of a circular wall and this doubles up as the 'Chapora Fort'. History has it that this fort served as a protective covering for lusty couples from the Ram Sena. Cause honestly the only thing you can see here are couples making out. The other non beach attraction was the casino. It is a must visit, given the fact that the 200 buck entry fee includes unlimited non vegetarian food. Coming back to the beaches, they were surprisingly clean! If you are planning a trip to Goa avoid the 'popular' beaches like Calungute and Bagha. Bagha has the water rides, but otherwise it is very much like apna Juhu Chowpatty! My best beach was Morjim. We stumbled upon this beach by chance. Very few locals know that such a beach exists. We happened to be following two chicks on a scooter and landed up here. Morjim, apart from having topless sun bathers, has white sand and clear waters. And since it isn't that famous, you will hardly find any locals here and just a handful of tourists. Another beach worth mention is Anjuna. You cannot swim here because of the rocky ocean floor, but is a fisherman's haven.

Moving to the not-so-good side of Goa. If you are a vegetarian wanting to turn non vegetarian, Goa is the place to be. The veg food here is worse than that had by the tribals living in Port Blair. The non veg food is extremely tasty. But because of the laid back, slow nature of the Goans, any order takes the best part of an hour to arrive. For my first meal, I had ordered squids. The chef took the squids out of the freezer, cleaned it, thawed it and then proceeded to cook it. Food here is also very expensive. No wonder so many Goans and tourists resort to the cheaper Fenny and liqour.

I know the ending is kind of abrupt, but then I am no writer :P

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