Goa in Monsoon

An Experience called Life

Goa has always made me think of a sunny and congested touristy destination. Goa was last in the list of destinations I wanted to visit; thanks to the Tamil movie Goa! I was very apprehensive when my brother invited us to Goa where he was staying for a while. I was not even keen for me and my husband to visit Goa let alone my parents and in laws. It was june when we finalized our trip and most of our friends warned that it might be rainy. We decided to stick to our plan for the main reason Goa being wallet-friendly in monsoon.

After a delay of almost an hour due to the rains, our family landed at the Goa airport on a fine June evening. A misty, rainy and green city with narrow roads welcomed us. All of us were delighted — what a contrast to our perception! We had booked our stay in a resort named ‘Beleza by the Beach’ in Colva beach. Our hunt for a good resort in Goa revealed us South Goa being comparatively less congested than the commercialized North Goa.

The route to our resort from the airport was such a beauty that every one of us were mesmerized by it. The lush green paddy field with water bubbling over it was a welcoming sight; so were the canals, streams and rivers with one or two stylish yacht floating. The brightly colored Portuguese homes made a perpetual impression on the colourful life of the Goans. Each home was uniquely painted with bright colours like yellow, blue, purple, orange, pink, and even green. We’ve already fallen in love with the Konkan.

The Fields

The Narrow Roads

The Portuguese Homes

The not so-good welcome from the resort was compensated by the huge luxurious villa they offered. The villa had two bedrooms in the first floor and one in the ground floor. It was a beach resort but none of our rooms had a beach view; one however had a pool view. It was already dusk, we explored the resort a bit and swarmed near the pool. After recalling our good time stories, we had dinner which was such a let-down. The misty night and the starry skies with drizzling rain along with the steaming food made us forget the taste. The four poster beds offered a restful sleep for us.

Our Villa

The Restaurant

Beach View from Resort

The next morning greeted us with chilly climate and drizzles. We banged into each other trying for a better picture of this beauty. By the time my brother explained the laid back nature of the Goans, my father and my father-in-law were already brawling about morning coffee with the room service guy who was explaining that it might not be available till 8 AM. So we learned the ways of Goa with the help of a coffee maker. After a heavy breakfast of poha, pooris, bread and omelettes, we headed to experience Goa. The resort had arranged a vehicle for our sightseeing. Apprehensively, we boarded the Tata Winger, wishing we ourselves had arranged a vehicle. The narrow roads with the slow moving traffic and the drivers not competing to overtake made our journey stress free. Just for this reason, I wish I could settle in Goa. Look, what Chennai traffic has done to us!

The Rainy Mornings

The first stop was Anjuna beach. The beach was rocky and clean; definitely clean compared to Chennai beaches! We spent some time snapping and shooing the souvenir sellers. We headed to the Vagator beach next, where we again spent some time snapping.

Anjuna Beach

Vagator Beach

It started raining by the time we reached the Aguada Fort. The majestic fortress stood at the edge of the sea with breath-taking views from its top. The rain made the fort less crowded and we had our heart’s time exploring it. We managed to enjoy the slippery floor with the rain water pouring against our umbrellas which sheltered our cameras more than us. The black and maroon wall of the fort was quite a contrast against the blue-green sea, the blue sky and the green landscape. It’s my favourite spot in Goa, thanks to the monsoon which bourgeoned its richness.

Aguada Fort

View from Aguada Fort

The Lighthouse

The Calangute beach was a plain sandy beach like the Marina beach in Chennai. There were lots of shops selling items like the hat, jewelry and so on. This beach was comparatively crowded to Anjuna and Vagator. The families, boys and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun there. We pitied the lifeguard who had a tough time fighting with the kids and his whistle!

Calangute Beach

The exciting part happened next in the Dona Paula beach. We were standing atop the view point sinking in the view and a casual conversation. Serendipitously, we saw a black fin very near the beach which turned out to be a dolphin. Though the view was not clear, we could see the dolphin diving happily showing off its fin. Our cheering made our neighbours curious and everyone savored the moment till the dolphin vanished away. During our search for the resort in Goa, we were very excited by the Dudhsagar Falls, dolphin watching and butterfly island. It nearly broke our hearts when we realized that all these would be closed for monsoon. At least, we got a glimpse of a dolphin!

Dona Paula Beach

We retried for the day after a long travel. After dinner, we headed to the Colva beach adjoining the resort, only to find a flag warning us of the heavy currents. We gratefully went to sleep on the luxurious beds with the rain drops singing lullaby.

Colva Beach

The next morning, the rain was pouring down. We almost decided that we could never get out. But with high spirits and good mood we managed to stay put in our plans. We travelled for what seemed like hours to a place called Big Foot. It was a kitschy attempt to portray the Goan culture, however the flora and fauna were worth mentioning. It was an extreme waste of time but the route was scenic. The only interesting area here is the handicrafts shop where we bought some Goan magical lamps.

The Sculptures at BigFoot

Old Goa and its eternal churches stand as a reminiscent of the Portuguese period. The magnificent St. Xavier church with its rich green lawns looked as if it was out of a postcard from Europe. We had our guide Mr. Santosh Naik who explained every detail of the churches. Wish we had him in the Aguada Fort to tell timeless stories. There was an interesting museum with the impressive paintings’ of the Portugal period.

St. Francis Xavier Church

Se Cathedral

We spent some time in the Panaji Market. We got some jewelry made out of stones and corals for gifting. Then we went to River Mandovi for a cruise. It was a kind of okay experience with a traditional Goan dance and a Portuguese dance. Nothing much happened here except some drunken brawling. We enjoyed the river and the city under the rain drops and starry night. We were thankful that it lasted only 3 hrs. This day was not as much fun as the day before. We felt that we could have utilised it better.

River Cruise

Goan Fishermen Dance

Portuguese Dance

The next day was surprisingly clear. After breakfast we headed to Colva beach which was little dirty comparing other Goan beaches. We planned to go to the Panaji Market and shop again. We spent the rest of our day in the Panji Market. I personally didn’t find it interesting. There were lots of shops selling the cheap Goan T-shirts — that’s about it. The rest of the malls or boutique shops are just about the same as in Chennai. There were some interesting silver and stone jewellery shops, needless to say that we didn’t have much use for them due to their expensive pricing.

We had hitches here and there during our stay. This is mainly with the resort. Beleza was beautiful but the service needs improvement. The food especially was very bland and the taste did not change even after insisting that we’d like it spicy. Out of the four days, the alternate days we were served bland and almost plainly fried cat fish; no Goan special food in the four days. Choose a better place if you’re interested in Goan cusine. The vehicle could have been better. The Tata Winger reminded us of the school excursions; getting in and out of the vehicle was such a pain. They could have provided a better SUV for our sightseeing. For a steep 50 K for 3N/4D for 6 of us, we expected a better value at least in the off season.

There are many lessons that we learnt from the trip. We are too busy running the rat race that we forgot what it is like to actually live the life. From the slow paced driving to the slow service in Goa, life is at its pace. There is no hurry anywhere. We thought maybe this was how people lived at olden times even in Chennai. It was like the Goans lived a holiday throughout the year. It’s worth experiencing Goa’s unexploited, abundant nature. We are already planning our next vacation in Goa, indisputably in the monsoon!