Friends are such a lovely thing to have especially when they love travelling. Not only do you get a good company but you can also entice them into writing a whole blog post for you! This is exactly what I did :D What follows is my friend, Prateek Gupta's list of recommendations for things one should be doing in Goa. I am going to do all these things when I next visit Goa, will you?
Traveling to Goa always feels like traveling home. There is
this refreshingly calm and serene ambiance during the day and then there are
nights when one would think all the party-loving people have assembled in a 30-km radius space
and are willing to mingle and party with anyone and everyone around.
A piece of advice you can hang on to: If you are a
peace-loving person and looking to just relax in Goa, try renting an apartment
instead of a hotel/resort. I lived in a 2 BHK furnished apartment in the quite ambiance
of Vagator which turned out to be an amazing experience. You can search for
apartments @
www.airbnb.com.
Having been to Goa 5 times now, I have discovered many
places, big and small, where one is recommended to go. Some of them might
already be listed elsewhere, some may not. But then, read along if you are just
too lazy to go blog-hopping.
Before I even get to the places you must visit, here is one
you mustn't: Tito’s ! It’s like a booby trap and it will keep sucking you towards
itself while you are in Goa with advertisements on every wall you will
encounter and the huge buzz outside on the Baga beach. If you haven’t been
there, you’ll probably think it’s the most happening place ever and this is one
place you must must go. And as soon as you go inside, you’ll realize it’s the
most dingy and down-market club you have ever been to. And if you have been
there before, you’ll know what I am talking about.
What follows is a heart-felt review of some of the best
places in Goa:
Curlies, Anjuna Beach
This is probably my and most others’ most favorite place in
Goa. Reason is very simple: There is just so much to do there. You will
probably need at least 5-6 hours (or more) there to enjoy every bit or probably
need 2-3 visits instead. There is this normal café which serves probably the
most amazing Arabiata Pasta I have ever had. It also serves Hookah if that
fancies you. Then there is this arena with small mattresses and minimal
lighting made of small bulbs hanging almost at the same level as your head.
This is where you can lie down, take a power nap and rejuvenate yourself or
just keep talking to your friends for as long you can. For some weird reason,
this place is reserved for couples. Then there is this small open field,
probably the size of a half Volleyball court. This place is heaven for
trance-lovers since you would have only “high” people around, dancing their
heart out to some never heard-before trance music. And then there is the best
part: The beach ! The sound of the waves. The faint music. The chilly breeze.
And the beach-side back-rests. If you don’t chill out there for an hour, you
might as well have not come to Curlies. Trust me!
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| Image courtesy: Google Images |
Deltin Royale, Panjim
<Read along only if you are interested in going to a
casino or else skip>
They claim to be the best casino in Goa and I don’t find even
one thing wrong with that claim. There is a barrage of casinos on that river
along Panjim and all of them just serve as Plan Bs or Cs to Deltin. When you’re
on the bridge connecting Panjim to North Goa, look out for the most expansive
ship on your way: That’s unmistakably Deltin. They take you in a small jetty
and then you descend to this amazeballs ship. Inside is everything you imagined
about a ship after seeing Titanic. The food and drinks are free inside (of
course they have to, since they burn a hole in your pocket before they even let
you in on the jetty) and what you see is a sea of people happy, sad, excited,
frustrated, abusing their throats out regardless. If you’re a first timer and
there to just experience the life inside a casino, don’t even dare to go near
the Poker table or the Blackjack table. Just keep playing small bets on the Roulette
and you’ll be just fine.
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| Image courtesy: Google Images |
Mango Tree, Vagator
Imagine partying till 4 last night and waking up at 12 Noon,
famished so much that you can go eat an entire Turkey yourself. Where do you
go? You come to Mango Tree to indulge yourself with wine and one of the most
amazing English Breakfasts being served in Goa. The place is just so chilled
out, you’ll see folks in their night ensembles with one eye still closed with
sleep, all around. So just walk in in those cute pyjamas and boxers and gorge
away to glory.
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| Image courtesy: Google Images |
Café Laval, Baga Beach
This is one of the many nondescript beach shacks you’ll see
in Baga and you’ll never be able to figure out where to go. So my suggestion
here would be instead of going to an expensive place like Britto’s, try Laval.
Once you enter Laval, you might wanna come back and whoop my ass that why
should you even go to this place. I’ll tell you the reason: the Music. Every
shack in Baga will offer you cheap beer, Hookah, massage and tattoo services
but not everyone will play Bollywood, Guetta, Axwell and Honey Singh on the
same music system like there is no effing difference whatsoever. There is no
dance floor as such, but I have never come back from that place without
dancing.
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| Image courtesy: Google Images |
Club Cubana
Imagine a small hill
converted into a night club: That ladies and gentlemen, is Club Cubana for you.
There is an entry fee but it’s peanuts considering the drinks are free inside.
It feels like a big resort when you go inside and the biggest challenge is
where to go first. There is this kickass disc (needless to say, playing trance)
with a separate area for women to dance. You might see some beautiful latino
women gyrating better then Shakira, if you’re lucky that is. There are three
bars, a pool-side area and countless cozy places to chat with people you meet
there. They say it’s one of the best places to mingle in Goa because somehow
the crowd that comes there is so very open to conversations. Imagine having a
conversation with a hot and/but cute media person from Mumbai while one of your
friends is being hit upon by a Russian hunk and the other one hitting on 3
girls with mixed nationalities, simultaneously.
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| Image courtesy: Google Images |
Down the Road, Panjim
This place is literally, well…
down the road. Located opposite a small bridge in Panjim, this is a
really small and cozy café. You can spend hours looking and observing the local
Goa cadre while sipping your beer while there are couples (both blind dates and
actual couples) happily chatting away in the back alley. Unlike a typical café
in Goa, they also serve amazing north Indian food which is usually hard to come
by in Goa.
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| Image courtesy: Google Images |
So, this is a list of places which I usually visit when I am
in Goa. I am sure there are many more which I haven’t visited and are equally
amazing or better. Would love to hear about such places from you guys and visit
them in my subsequent visits.
Prateek Gupta is a
24-year old soap-addict, compulsive traveler, blog-hopper and Quoraholic by
choice and Strategy Analyst by profession during the day. By the night, you can
find him either partying at a friend’s place or curled up in front of his
laptop listening to electronic music.
