Goa! Part 1

While Im thankful India provides meals to its passengers on planes, even on 45 minutes flights, I would prefer them to at least serve food thats at least edible. All the meals on our flights within India have been dreadful.Good thing I was so tired and delirious from staying up all night that it really didnt matter.

We land in Goa at about 6am and its time to party! Just kidding.... its time to sleep. We were staying at the Taj Vivanta in Panaji, the capital and biggest city in Goa. Its about a half hour drive from the airport but the hotel has complimentary pick up so it was a piece of cake getting to the hotel. However, my Delhi belly was coming back with a vengance so the trip was somewhat comparable to a roller coaster ride. Show me the loo immediately!

Fun fact: Goa was colonized by the Portuguese and were ousted from the area only 50 years ago. Consequently, there is a huge Portuguese influence on the food, religion and culture here.

Portuguese cathedral in Panaji

The Taj is a chain of very luxurious 5 star hotels in India and this one was no exception. It was catered to business men but still had amazing gym, pool, and spa facitilites. Shia, her finace Hoff, Jamie, Michelle, and I all check in and we get 2 rooms. The rooms are absolutely phenomenal! I feel like a queen, but also a bit out of place because we just spent the past week staying at guesthouses that cost $3 a night. Regardless, we all hit the bed face first a take a snooze before we get our first day in Goa started!



I only slept 3 hours because I know if I slept too long, I would totally screw up my sleeping pattern for the rest of the trip so I woke up at 11 and went to the gym. It was nice to work out again but it had felt like weeks with all the paneer, masala, naan, and dont forget the endless amounts of chai with extra milk and sugar! (So worth it) I was the only one in the gym except for one employee that hovered over my shoulder just in case I got confused about the machinery. I got it dude.... Haha.

I went back to the room where Jamie and Michelle were just getting up and showering. We went down to the hotels restaurant where we have free meals the whole duration of our stay. SWEET! And may I mention the quality of food? Holy crap, lets just say I wanted to eat everything on the menu. It was served buffet style but its definitely a 5 star buffet. I had a huge selection of food and desserts which I inhaled. When you finish, you just ask yourself, whens the next meal?

Shia likes to sleep in so she awoke at 3pm and thats when Pauvan arrived. He is a friend of Hoffs and stayed in another room next to ours and joined us on all the activites thoughout the trip. Once we were all feeling up to going out, we rented a car, which Shia and Hoff had already arrangd, we took off to north Goa, where all the action is. Depending on what beach you go to (Anjuna, Baga, Calangute, etc) its about a 20-30min drive. Even though it was cloudy with scattered showers, it was still beautiful.

They gave us a small driving tour of the area before we got hungry. We went to Alcove where they are famous for their Goan seafood. Seafood is the main diet of a normal Goan, and believe me, its delicious! We sit down where Shia orders a grip load of food. In fact, wayyyyy too much food but its hard to complain when you eat it all. Some friends arrive, including 3 other coulpes so theres even more to our party. It was also one of the girls birthdays so she orders a cake to top off the meal for us. For starters we had prawns masala and fried calamari. And if your mouth isnt already watering, just wait till you hear about the main course. There was a spicy crab curry and a butter crab curry from what has to be some of the biggest crabs Ive ever seen! All the while chasing our succulent meal with some Kings... the quintissential beer of the area.

After dinner and celebration (which mind you took about 3-4 hours), we got some road beers and headed back to the hotel. The party followed us so when we got back it continued as a dance party in Shia's room and then up to the pool deck on the top floor of the hotel. Michelle and I however, missed the after party because we were so bloody tired from not having properly slept in days. So we passed out while Jamie and the others took advantage of the evening hours. When we woke up (from our 12 hour slumber), we heard all the stories from last night and how one of the guys had split open his toe from trying to jump the fence around the pool. He had to leave to go to the hospital with his wife apparently hysterically crying. Everyone apparently partied till 4am. While it sounded like it would have been an unforgettable time, Im glad I got my much needed beauty sleep.

The next day was a recovery day (for a particular group of people.... ahem). I myself woke up refreshed from an amazing nights sleep. After eating breakfast and then taking advantage of the lovely room amenities, we got the energy to go to another Taj resort in north Goa so we could go in their pool thats basically on the beach. It was the afternoon but it was still coudy. We got to the pool and ordered plenty of drinks to last us the next couple hours. We splashed about with pool toys and all the little kids were envious. We took plenty of pictures when my camera mysteriously stopped working. I thought it was out of battery but upon later inspection, it was full of water. I bought a waterproof camera that aparently leaks water. Awesome.... Like I said before, all my pics are safe cause its on my SIM card but I cant access them without my camera working. So I sent it back to the states. Im definitely depressed I cant share the majority of my pictures with you from this time. My appoligies. But they will be up for viewing sometime in the future..... Pool time was a blast but pretty soon its time to go to back to the hotel for dinner. And just like before, the food was uh-mazing! We got some road beers and continued drinking until the wee hours of the morning.



Anjuna Beach

The next day is more of the same. Workout, eat breakfast and later get in the car for more adventures. We went to Brittos, a famous bar/restaurant on Baga beach for a late lunch. This place was really cool and the beach is phenomenal. You could tell how busy it gets during peak season. We parked ourselves at a table that overlooked the beach. We again ordered the staple Goan appetizers of fried calamari and prawns masala followed by squids in chili sauce and a few other items.

This is a good moment to talk about the driving and mopeds. Pauvan and Hoff were very nice and drive the entire time we were in Goa, but let me just say, they need some major lessons in the accelerate and decelerate department. Jamie got car sick while she was in the back but I think most of us felt a little queezy at least once during some point of the drive around Goa. I understand the road arent good and theres hella mopeds but seriously, it was scary 100% of the time being in a car with them. Not to mention, we were lost most of the time. I lost track of how many times we did a u-turn (in particular trying to find a famous German Bakery). Eventually it turned into a drinking game where you had to drink at every u-turn. The mopeds are another story. You can rent one for 200 rupees or roughly 5 dollars a day. Pretty sweet since this is the only efficient way to get around these parts. But its once again frightening to be on these roads as no one knows how to drive. AT YOUR OWN RISK! I even saw a moped accident where this guy slid accoss an intersection. Fortunately, he was able to walk away but his bike wasnt so lucky.

Happy to be in Goa! 

Before we know it, its time to party like the real Goans do because its Saturaday night! And also our last night all together. We head up to Curlies on Anjuna beach, where we were a few days ago for drinks. But this time, they are having a big trance party. Trance is a type of music thats seen in most raves and very popular around the area. Jamie is a big fan of trance so she was a happy little clam. We arrive and go upstairs where the bass is thumping and order a round of drinks and a sheesha. There are all sorts of people in this place from Indians, to foreigners to younng old, hippie, posh, drunk, high, whatever. Once we relax and get into the mood, we hit the dance floor for hours (or at least until we sweat our faces off). It was such a great time and definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Jamie is so photogenic!