Go Goa.....

About Trip:

We went to Goa on Aug 30 , 2011 and came back on Sept 5 , 2011. We stayed there at Calangute residency which is at the shore of Calangute beach and quite famous also. It is a govt run hotel. We booked a cottage. View from the gallery was very beautiful & picturesque.

One can rent bikes from anywhere in Goa, which can make the commute economic, fun filled and easy. Petrol near the beach area is available in the bottles only and one can have it nearly from every shop.

Goa is famous for its beaches, Churches, all around Palm trees, Cruises, rich and royal culture, Hippies, Tattoos, foreigners and most of all Cashew Fenny.

Goa sightseeing is divided into 2 parts (i.e. 2 districts) North Goa and South Goa. We roamed in North Goa by hiring an Activa and for South Goa we booked a bus from Calangute residency. In North Goa we went to Calanguate beach, Baga beach, Aguara fort, Candolim beach, Chapora fort and Anjuna beach. In South Goa we went to Dona Paula, Abyss marine aquarium, Colva beach, Ancestral Goa museum, Shanta Durga Temple, Sri Mangesh Temple, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Se Cathedral and Wax world museum. 

 

Calangute Beach

Calanguate beach: It is very beautiful beach also known as the "Queen of all the beaches". It is most famous of all the beaches in Goa. Since we went in off season the beach was rough and not convenient for swimming. Also boating and water sports were not there. The good thing was that there was not much rush. One can spend any number of hours seeing the waves, sunrise, sunset, playing with sand and clay. All around are the Palm trees that further enhance the beauty of the beach. On beach you can enjoy good street food. Its clean and organised. ATMs are also available near the beach. Calangute market is very good and one can purchase Goa souvenir from there very easily.Do not forget to do bargaining there. There are life guards also to prevent any mishap to occur.
 

Baga beach: It is also very beautiful beach. Rather it the most lively beach. Here one can enjoy any type of food with drinks also. Again due to off season water sports were not there. Crowd was adequate. Its also clean and organised. There are also pubs on the beach. In the evening one can dance at the awesome music. There one can take sun bath and play with the waves. One can enjoy good massage also. Life guards are also there to prevent any mishap to occur.

Aguara fort: It is worth a visit and very near from candolim beach. Its well-preserved and interesting fort. One can have great views of Sinquerim and Candolim beaches. There are many good photo clicking locations. One should use sunscreen, umbrella and a hat, and bring plenty of water to get rid of sun rays. Food and drinks are not available nearby.

Candolim beach: It is very lonely beach. One interested in fun and enjoy can leave going there.

View of Anjuna Beach while climbing up the Hill

Chapora fort: It has a commanding view of the Vagator beach and is near to Anjuna beach. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions of India. To reach at the fort one has to trek up the very steep hill for about 3-4 KMs. Be careful of the slippery red soil while trekking. Today, most of it is ruined but gives a spectacular view of the Vagator and the Anjuna beach. Here one can enjoy the mystical air and spectacular views of the sea, swaying coconut and palm trees, sun, sand, and greenery from the ramparts of Chapora Fort. Chapora is pronounced as 'Shapora'.The walls are still strong. It is also the bollywood attraction and some of the scenes from famous "Dil chahta hai" movie were filmed here. Here also don't forget water bottles, umbrellas, hats, sun glasses and most of all water bottles. 

Dona PaulaBay: It is peaceful as well as joyful beach. One can have couple of good clicks here. Here shooting of the bollywood movies Singham, ek duje ke liye took place.





Abyss marine aquarium: It contains so many different types of fishes like star fish etc and other water animals. There was a golden fish which is said to be a lucky fish to keep at home. Its price is Rs 1,60,000. There was also a silver fish of Rs 70,000 which is also said to be a lucky fish.  There is also a guide who introduces about these fishes. 
  

Star fish

Golden fish

Colva beach: It is white sand beach. Colva beach is one of the longest in the world (24 km). Here also the the crowd was not much. It is most worth seeing among the south Goa beaches.Life guards are there also.


Ancestral Goa museum: Once it was the house of a Portuguese rich person. It describes their aristocratic lifestyle and rich culture. It is also shown as Ajay Devgan's house in Singham movie.  

Shanta Durga Temple

Shanta Durga Temple:Goa is not only known for its beaches and churches but also accentuated by the auspicious presence of various old and beautiful temples. One such temple is Shanta Durga temple. It is dedicated to Goddess Durga. It is very attractive to see. The Goddess Durga gets the name Shantadurga because once she made peace(shanti) between Vishnu and Shiv. The temple has beautifully carved interiors. It also has a very beautiful light house in it.

Sri Mangesh Temple

Sri Mangesh Temple: Its is a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, distinctive with its white towers, welcoming at the entrance. This temple is situated in the village of the famous singer Lata Mangeshkar.






Basilica of Bom Jesus: Its a very beautiful and big church and is the oldest one in south Asia. It preserves the mummy of St Francis Xavier from so many years. Outside scenery of the church is also very beautiful. On the top of the building some words are carved. These words are IHS which means "In His Service"

Inside view of Church

 Se Cathedral: It is one of the largest church in Asia. It is the first church built by Portuguese in India. Here at a time 16 marriages can take place. It is also a very beautiful church that speaks the royalty, richness, power and fame of Goa during the Portuguese time. Outside scenery is also fantastic. It is declared as the heritage site by UNESCO.

Inside view of church

Inside view

Outside view of church

Wax world museum: It is India's second wax museum. There are a lot of statues made of wax like the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Sai Baba, Swami Ravishankar, Veerapan along with the scenes of Jesus Christ's birth, Radha Krishna, anti-drugs, last supper etc. One can also buy candles from there.

Radha Krishna

The last supper

Birth scene of Jesus Christ

Calangute residency: An average...... not so worth for money....but good for clicks (review)

It is situated on the shore of Calangute beach with beautiful views from the hotel room. But service provided here is not so good. Cleaning of floor, utencils is not so good. Bathrooms are untidy. Balcony is very dirty. Staff is not so friendly.

Restaurant was shut down for repairs. Breakfast provided was very bad. They dint even cover the food while bringing  from restaurant to the rooms, even if it is raining. So we prefer to take coupons which you can reimburse from the nearby Sagar hotel.

Rooms are big but so suffocated that you need AC. The AC may or may not work. It is also not sure that they will provide you the remote of AC. When our AC stopped working they even dint have another vacant room. Moreover they told us we cannot do anything until the manager in the morning come. Also rooms are crowded by useless furniture.

At the night time frogs can easily come into your room. Voices of cats and frogs can disturb you whole night. Moreover there is also danger of mosquitoes in the room.

One good thing is hotel has buses for north Goa and south Goa sightseeing at reasonable prices. They also provide a guide for the entire trip.

Overall it was an average hotel......not so worth for money.

Neeta bus service: An average service with no importance for your precious time(review)

We went there by Neeta bus  and came back also using the same bus service.We went by 2*2 multi-axle A/C volvo sleeper for both the onward  & return journey.One must book the seats around 2-3 months earlier to avoid higher prices and inconvenience to get the tickets. Buses were late by 2 hours and by 5 hours respectively. But once the bus came it went smoothly. There were 2-3 stoppages of around 10-15 minutes. Space for sleeping was also very less. Only a single person can manage to sleep at a time. Blankets provided were very very very smelly. Also it dropped the passengers 10-15 KMs away from the main destination. A/C worked properly.