Goa, we had a flight to Goa on 14th Feburary 2012. I had planned it in such a way that we could reach there on the eve of Valentines day. We had made the reservation well in advance at Ginger Hotel Goa. I prefer to stay in Ginger for following reasons: 1) It is reliable (a Tata group hotel) 2) Economical 3) Smart (Except luxury you will get everything you need)
The moment we came out of GOA airport, we could feel the difference between Ahmedabad and Goa climate. Though Ahmedabad is usually very hot for most of the time during the year, it was a decent whether this Feb. The hot air of Goa was burning the skin. The airport arrival lounge was very small and it made me wonder; is it one of the finest tourist destinations of India? We took a prepaid cab and reached Panjim where our hotel was located.
My experience with Ginger has always been good. We spent the evening at the hotel itself as we were tired with the wedding formalities also. I didn't have enough time to research about the place and hence decided to go with a tourist bus in the morning. Got seats in the bus and were hoping for a good experience.
Tourist Bus Experience
Our experience with the tourist bus was bad for many reasons:
1. The crowd wasn't good
2. It took us to places where we thought it was waste of time
3. We couldn't find any beauty in Goa
4. The bus stopped at very cheap restaurant; didn't even take the lunch
5. Gave us very little time to enjoy the places we liked
The only part which we liked was Calangute beach. We did some water sports at the beach which was little adventurous and made us happy. However, we knew that we will miss out tourist bus and we did. We called the bus conductor and he said, the bus left just 10 minutes back. There is another bus waiting in the parking which can pick you if your want. To which we agreed.
Cruise Experience
We thought our Goa trip was going into a disaster. We were upset, but tried to make our evening better by going for a cruise. The cruise starting point was very near to Ginger. We could walk. There was lot of crowd, but we decided to experience it at least once. Again, the experience was bad. It wasn't was I was expecting. Some stupid dance and jokes cracked by the anchor. Crowd was also a concern. However, I enjoyed the beauty of the sea and breeze for almost an hour at a very reasonable rate.
Access gave us Access to the heaven
Next day we decided to rent a two wheeler and see the city by ourselves. We got up early in the morning and took the bike on rent from the travel desk. He gave us many options, but for some reasons I chose Suzuki Access 125.
Panjim
We went to Miramar beach at about 8:00 am. It was a beautiful place and was very less crowded when compared to other beaches that we had seen the day before. We spent lot of time there, took some photographs and then decided to go further on the road.
Our next destination was Dona Paula. The temperature had gone up by this time and there was just a concrete structure extending into the sea. We also went up through stairs and found that the view from top was worth going there on the hot afternoon.
We then moved towards our final destination on that day, the Bambuli beach. Our journey to the destination was equally satisfying when compared with the satisfaction we got at Bambuli. The way to the destination was through the campus of Goa University which looked like a beautiful place.
We returned back to the hotel and then took some rest. In the evening, we again went back to all the 3 beaches around Panjim. Though people recommended me not to stay in Panjim saying there is not much you can do there. However, I enjoyed the Panjim beaches most. The beautiful view from Mandowi river and the sailing casinos. Though I wanted to go to the casinos, but didn't dare to do so.
I am definitely going there next time I visit Goa.
Next day we kept exploring and somehow reached to the church area. Again the most enjoyable part was the road to old Goa where the churches are located. The road was running on the side of a river/canal and the breeze made the ride very memorable. The churches had very huge structures and cool architecture. The Goa visit would have been incomplete without going to the old Goa.
The best part of Goa trip was Candolim beach. We traveled about 20 Kms to reach there. While entering the area we got filled with joy. This was looking like a tourist place. There were foreigners lying on the beds near the shore. There were colorful umbrellas which were protecting them from direct sun rays. The beach wasn't much crowded, but still it had decent number of people which made us feel we are in a safe place. We also rented a sunbath chair, applied the sunscreen, kept our bags at the side of the rented place and jumped into the sea. We played sot about an hour in the sea. Though we feared about theft of our belongings kept near the rented place, but we found them safe after returning to the rented place.
At first we thought, we made a mistake by coming to Goa. However, at the time of leaving we wanted some more days to enjoy the coolness of GOA.
The moment we came out of GOA airport, we could feel the difference between Ahmedabad and Goa climate. Though Ahmedabad is usually very hot for most of the time during the year, it was a decent whether this Feb. The hot air of Goa was burning the skin. The airport arrival lounge was very small and it made me wonder; is it one of the finest tourist destinations of India? We took a prepaid cab and reached Panjim where our hotel was located.
My experience with Ginger has always been good. We spent the evening at the hotel itself as we were tired with the wedding formalities also. I didn't have enough time to research about the place and hence decided to go with a tourist bus in the morning. Got seats in the bus and were hoping for a good experience.
Tourist Bus Experience
Our experience with the tourist bus was bad for many reasons:
1. The crowd wasn't good
2. It took us to places where we thought it was waste of time
3. We couldn't find any beauty in Goa
4. The bus stopped at very cheap restaurant; didn't even take the lunch
5. Gave us very little time to enjoy the places we liked
The only part which we liked was Calangute beach. We did some water sports at the beach which was little adventurous and made us happy. However, we knew that we will miss out tourist bus and we did. We called the bus conductor and he said, the bus left just 10 minutes back. There is another bus waiting in the parking which can pick you if your want. To which we agreed.Cruise Experience
We thought our Goa trip was going into a disaster. We were upset, but tried to make our evening better by going for a cruise. The cruise starting point was very near to Ginger. We could walk. There was lot of crowd, but we decided to experience it at least once. Again, the experience was bad. It wasn't was I was expecting. Some stupid dance and jokes cracked by the anchor. Crowd was also a concern. However, I enjoyed the beauty of the sea and breeze for almost an hour at a very reasonable rate.
Access gave us Access to the heaven
Panjim
We went to Miramar beach at about 8:00 am. It was a beautiful place and was very less crowded when compared to other beaches that we had seen the day before. We spent lot of time there, took some photographs and then decided to go further on the road.
Our next destination was Dona Paula. The temperature had gone up by this time and there was just a concrete structure extending into the sea. We also went up through stairs and found that the view from top was worth going there on the hot afternoon.
We then moved towards our final destination on that day, the Bambuli beach. Our journey to the destination was equally satisfying when compared with the satisfaction we got at Bambuli. The way to the destination was through the campus of Goa University which looked like a beautiful place.
We returned back to the hotel and then took some rest. In the evening, we again went back to all the 3 beaches around Panjim. Though people recommended me not to stay in Panjim saying there is not much you can do there. However, I enjoyed the Panjim beaches most. The beautiful view from Mandowi river and the sailing casinos. Though I wanted to go to the casinos, but didn't dare to do so.
I am definitely going there next time I visit Goa.
Next day we kept exploring and somehow reached to the church area. Again the most enjoyable part was the road to old Goa where the churches are located. The road was running on the side of a river/canal and the breeze made the ride very memorable. The churches had very huge structures and cool architecture. The Goa visit would have been incomplete without going to the old Goa.
The best part of Goa trip was Candolim beach. We traveled about 20 Kms to reach there. While entering the area we got filled with joy. This was looking like a tourist place. There were foreigners lying on the beds near the shore. There were colorful umbrellas which were protecting them from direct sun rays. The beach wasn't much crowded, but still it had decent number of people which made us feel we are in a safe place. We also rented a sunbath chair, applied the sunscreen, kept our bags at the side of the rented place and jumped into the sea. We played sot about an hour in the sea. Though we feared about theft of our belongings kept near the rented place, but we found them safe after returning to the rented place.
At first we thought, we made a mistake by coming to Goa. However, at the time of leaving we wanted some more days to enjoy the coolness of GOA.
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