July 22-24, 2016 – Goa, India

What a holiday!

This was the last trip I took before I stepped on a flight to New York and left India for chasing new dreams and horizons. For that reason, this was and will always be a special vacation for me and I will forever remember it.

I remember taking a flight from Mumbai to Goa for this vacation. It was a late night flight, so, by the time I checked into my hotel room, it was well past 3 AM. It was an awesome feeling to lay on the hotel bed for a few hours before heading out for the first day of Goan exploration.

The day started by renting out a moped as I decided to explore Goa like Amir Khan did in Dil Chahta Hai. I think some of my friends also recommended exploring it using mopeds as it was the most convenient mode of transport and getting from one point to the other.

Aguada Fort was the first place to visit. Me and my friends that you see below decided to start our Goa journey with this place. I didn’t get a chance to research about the history of this place. It must be famous as I saw many people and visitors flocking into groups and enjoying many photo ops places.
You can see me posing like I am running just before a huge wall of this fort.

After driving between many other places and Aguada Fort, it started raining heavily and we had to buy some cheap raincoats, which were not enough to keep ourselves from getting wet. So, while exploring other places, we decided to head to the hotel and change into dry clothes and continue with our exploration. Back then, I was not into drinking alcohol that much, so, we ended up having lunch and continuing to the next spot, which was a beach – Candolim Beach.

After the visit to the beach and spending almost entire afternoon there, it was time to delve into the artistic side and visit a nearby famous art gallery/museum – Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts. A couple things which made me visit this place was the beautiful building and the fact that it was FREE to visit this place. When you are unemployed, anyway you could save money is welcome and keeps you stress free. Am I right?

I think in the below picture, the guy in the picture tried accusing me of something! Me and my bad humor! 😼

After visiting this art gallery, I remember clicking so many pictures at this place that I ran out of the battery and had to head back to hotel. After reaching hotel, it was time for dinner and I was so tired at the end of the day that I didn’t even realize when I dozed off.

That brings us to Day 02.
For the second day of this trip, we had hired a car with a driver to drive us around Goa and help us explore more places around the area.

The first place we were taken to was some type of museum again. I know, so many museums, even in Goa! I have always been fascinated with museums and have the best time there. IMO, museums give you glimpse of a period which is like frozen in time and I cannot fathom how much I appreciate the immense care the people working at the museums take and how proud they are of their possessions!

Here’s me standing somewhere and you can see the museum in the background in the distance.

And here’s one standing alongside the sign of the museum. The jacket that you see in the picture was a gift by my sister, Minu Tai and I loved it very much. Usually, I don’t like accepting clothing gifts, but this turned out to be a gem and I couldn’t get enough of it. I remember wearing it almost entire day when I used to experience the cold in the highly uncertain Bangalore weather.

After the museum, we were hungry and our driver knew just the place to take us. He drove somewhere outside Goa and told us that there was a local brewery which had a walking tour of their farms and how they actually manufacture the Goan famous Feni. It is a local drink which is made from the Cashew trees. I found the process quite involved and yawning through the description. At the end of the tour, it was time to eat some delicious food, and being as hungry I could be, I devoured the food. Surprisingly, the food was quite tasty and I think this was the first time I was enjoying the traditional Goan food.

You can see how happy I look with a tummy full of yummy food, in the picture below. The ladies that you see in the photo below were kind enough to pose with me for the picture. I think this was the traditional dress for all the resort employees there and gave me some homely feeling.

And that brings us to the 2nd and last evening in Goa. This was taken at the spot where our driver told us that Singham movie’s fight scene was shot. We immediately recognized the spot.

As you can see, it was a gloomy day; not a perfect sunny day to explore Goa, but I didn’t complain as I knew I wouldn’t get a second chance to visit this place again soon.

I made memories, I laughed, I ate good food, and had fun! This is what Goa stands for, right?

With that, I am excited to tell you the next travel stories!