[deepak_misra]

Authors note: This trip was made in the last week of April. I started writing this blog on returning but then it just joined the vast amount of bytes languishing on my computer. When I was vigorously dusting my todo list, I found this unfinished literary masterpiece and was motivated enough to resume it.

A couple of days before D-0

It has been a couple of years since my last blog. In this period, I have had a few vacations and numerous travels which cannot be classified as vacation. Somehow nothing has really given me the drive to pen a travelogue but with a lot of free time, I thought I would get down to it on this Goa trip.


This is my 4th travelogue with the earlier ones being chronicled in:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...-sorpotel.html (Love Story - Sun Surf Sand and Sorpotel)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...potel-goa.html (Return to Sun Surf Sand but no Sorpotel - Goa!)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...asinagudi.html (From Chaotic Bangalore to Calm Masinagudi)

From the statistics one can see that Goa occupied 75% of mindshare despite being a minority in travel/vacation. For the records, the hit rate of travel travelogues is of the order of a few decimal point percentage.

What could be the reason for this? I have hardly traveled to Goa, just 13 times that’s all. Just in 1972, 1979, 1983, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016(twice), 2021, 2023 and now in 2025.

As I had mentioned earlier in different words, in some previous post, Goa is an experience. There is something about Goa that cannot be described in words. My previous travelogues capture this in slightly more detail. I am talking about the old Goa and not what it has now become. If I start ranting on the new Goa, this travelogue will be double the length and I am desisting though I will come back to it later.

In my younger days,when I used to drive down to Goa, the air smelt different as soon as one crossed the state border. HOw can an artificial line drawn by people impact the air we breath ? These are among the many questions that fill the brain and many more questions will surface as I keep writing.

I think above photo captures the essence of Goa. DO note that this photo has become part of the template of whatever I write on Goa.

This is a different way of documenting in terms of fewer photos and more text. I belong to a generation where text was the norm and photos the exception. The high price of processing and printing photos in the pre-digital age might be a reason for the austerity measures.
The advantage with text only is that it helps retention of memories for the writer, far more than any photo will. The other advantage is that you are not distracted by trying to take the perfect photo in an “instagrammable” spot waiting for the perfect time and completely missing what you might have come to see.

As with every trip, the starting point is the plan. The process begins with researching all places around Bangalore, starting from Nandi hills, proceeding to Mysore and drifting from there westwards towards South Canara and in other directions North towards Hampi, and East towards Chennai/Pondicherry. After discarding all the research, we as we normally do, we finally settle on Goa.

Now a checklist is a very useful tool for travel planning. A checklist is useful in any case for anything. In fact, a whole book has been written on this subject. I have not read it ofcourse since the book can be summed up into one sentence. “Make a checklist for god’s sake".

So here is the Goa checklist. Though the intellectual property vests in me, in a spirit of generosity and sharing, I am open sourcing it to the world at large. Readers are free to use it for their travels and even modify for their needs.

Note: After 2 hours of attempts, I gave up trying to paste or upload the table into the post. Due to some ego issues, did not ask in the forum for help and rewrote it in this form, which is certainly fits into category "How not to format a checklist".

Checklist:

Item: Tickets booked.
Status: Done.
Notes: It took about 2 hours of deep thought to decide if to take the 19:00 flight or the 20:30 one. Indecision forced my hand since the 19:00 flight prices shot up after my frequent querying.

Item: Accommodation booked.
Status: Done.
Notes: No brainer since we were staying where my friends who we were joining had booked.

Item: Book taxi to Bangalore airport.
Status: Done.
Notes: It took another 2 hours to decide if we should use Uber, Makemy trip or Shoffr.

Item: Find “I love Goa” t-shirt from the old pile of clothes.
Status: Not done.
Notes: I remembered I did not have one and was not sure if I could find one in Bangalore.

Item: See if 17 year old swimming trunks fit and are usable.
Status: Not done.
Notes: They seemed to fit but again did not and I took the easy way out by dashing to Decathalon and purchasing one. As as aside, it took 2 hours of decision making if to take car, auto or metro to Decathalon.

Item: Buy swimming googles.
Status: Almost not done. See about sunscreen
Notes: Not planning to buy (see comments on real men below), but Decathalon had some offers so impulsively purchased one.

Item: Find my old blue shirt with sea, sail and dolphins print and Goa written all over
Status: Found but not taken
Notes: The shirt was made of some synthetic material which would be brutal in summer. There was moreover a risk of me being mistaken for service staff in shacks so reluctantly dropped.

Item: Buy sun screen lotion.
Status: Nah – meant for sissies. Real men do not use sun screen, rather coconut oil if at all.
Notes: Decided to buy coconut oil but then thought why not buy it in Goa itself. Purchased in Goa, not opened and left it for the next occupant of the residence.

Item: Take a bunch of books to read in the unlikely event of boredom setting in.
Status: Done
Notes: Had about 30 books on kindle and ended up reading none.

Item: Search youtube on how to reduce 3 inches of waist in 3 day
Status: Dropped
Notes: Was not convinced it would work so reluctantly dropped.

Item: Take helmet and thick jackets in case of attack by the militant Goa taxi drivers.
Status: Dropped
Notes: Decided to risk it and not take, since not sure how to carry as luggage. Thankfully not required.

Item: Install apps to keep occupied on flight.
Status: Done.
Notes: Installed speedometer, altimeter, compass, and offline maps. My smart watch already had ECG and blood pressure. Useful to know at what speed, in which direction and at what altitude we are flying. Also useful to know that there is a restaurant 30000 feet below.

Item: Search online for training on better decision making or TED talks on same.
Status: Not done.
Notes: From checklist status, it is clear that this is required, but abandoned because of the fatigue from all the checklist items. Will look once back.

In the good old days one did not have the kind of tension we undergo nowadays, largely on account of the lack of options. This should be evident from the notes on my checklist. Now we are just spoilt for choice which impact decision making.
As the famous writer C Northcote Parkinson mentioned in some other words the amount of time spent on something is inversely proportionate to the value of what you are doing.
As an aside this has been disputed by Russians who claim that this phrase was coined by Prof Dr Parkinsonofsky from the Moscow institute of applied economics , by then that is neither here nor there.

[deepak_misra]

Day 0 – The journey


On a hot summer evening, we set out in a taxi towards the Bangalore airport. Bangalore airport has become very efficient and we were through security in hardly 10 minutes after entering the door.
Having time to kill and a card that unlocked the lounge, we used the facilities kindly provided by the airport.
There was a slight unpleasantness when entering when a group of people were crowing around the corner hoping this would speed their entry. A mild verbal and sarcastic altercation followed which was judged in my favour by the front counter who asked the guys to maintain distance and stad kin a line. Karma can be well understood when I marched in triumphantly and saw that all the cards being provided by the opponents being rejected.


1 hour of an uneventful flight (in spite of me continiously monitoring speed, direction altitude and interesting places 30K feet below) and we landed at MoPa airport, at the unearthly hour of 10:00 PM.
We were not attacked by taxi drivers and could safely get a goa miles cab. Note that if you are taking a self-drive car, do not ask for pickup from MoPa airport. The taxis occasionally block them from entering and you waste a lot of time in coordination. There was a blast of extreme Goa heat from the airport exit to the taxi but the super effective AC alleviated the atmosphere.
The small town of Candolim is 40 minutes mostly highway from the airport. The roads are just beautiful and we whizz past. Many cars have speed governors restricting speeds above 80kmph which can be frustrating on empty roads. It was almost 11:00 PM when we reached our deemed GHQ for the next 3 days – a serviced apartment in a big complex. Check-in was a breeze – you just go to the row-house, find the door open and no one in sight. So, you take your luggage and park yourself. Can anything be simpler? The layer of security was provided by 2 sleepy dogs having a snooze in front of the door and wagging their tales at all those who crossed. We were joining friends who had checked in a day earlier so the rest of the time till post-midnight was discussing next day’s plans. A flash of realization struck us that were in Goa where no planning is required, so we resolved to sort it out the next day. In the midst of this flash of realization, there was a flash from the air conditioner plug which almost caught fire making the AC inoperative. This cut short our planning abruptly and we decided to live in the moment. Luckily the bedroom air conditioner worked so sleep was not impacted.

Day 1 – Mostly about food and music

A well earned sleep and we headed out to stroll in the beach between Candolim and Calangute. I was seeing the ocean after many years and got engrossed watching the waves.

By law, such photos are mandatory on any write up on Goa

I got into a philosophical mood and was thinking about the Japanese phrase Mono-no-aware (excuse the accent). Discussion on mono-no-aware will take up a separate blog, but suffice to say that it is the wistful feeling you get when you think of the impermanence of things. You watch the waves, but each individual wave vanishes and you know it is not going to come back. So much thinking is not recommended early morning on an empty stomach and we rectified the situation by parking ourself in the nearby shack and asked the friendly waiter to get all that he offered. A sumptuous breakfast concluded, we resumed the planning excersize in the shack itself. To old wage earners, this was a very offbeat planning without white board, paper pen, minutes of meeting and the works but we somehow managed. The main thoughts were if to go south to Varca or hang around in the north.

Old house in a small byelane. How long will these survive?

To give some background on why Varca:
I know this fantastic violinist who plays with his friends and I wanted to hear him. I had only heard him once before 4+ years back but their playing had left an imprint. As I remembered he mainly performs in the south.

See samples below which I recorded in 2021:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56SZ-3P3ws0

This is a modern version of an old Konkani classic called "Rajan ani Prema". It was so beautiful but by the time I started recording it was over.

I connected with him and he said he was not planning on performing but offered to play if I was going to this specific restaurant where he sometimes jams with his friends on Sundays (needless to say, very nice of him).

Unless you hear the violin live you don’t realize what a beautiful instrument it is.

He then changed his mind and said he had an evening gig and could not come but his friends would be playing. Now the problem was that Varca was a good 50 kms away from Calangute. By popular vote we decided to go ahead and set out to this lovely place called “The Farmhouse”. 2 of the group (Omar and his brother in law Errol) were singing and playing the guitar. They are well known musicians and I would strongly recommend listening to them if you are into western,pop, rock and country. I would highly recommend this place, particularly on Sunday afternoons when the duo are playing. The atmosphere was livened up by the food and their music and we hung around till there was a risk of us being evicted.

Omar and Errol on the job

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz-KkFC43wM

More action

With a full stomach, glazed look and fogged brain, we set back to Candolim. We made a short detour for essential groceries and ice cream to cool the overheated stomach and started planning the next meal - dinner. We were quite stuffed but a few more calories will not do any harm to the system.

Due to decision paralysis we decided to just drive up and down the main road and see what looks interesting. That was the first shock of the day. All Goan restaurants seem to have vanished and replaced with North and South Indian places. A majority of them were “pure veg”. Don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against vegetarians. Some of my best friends and family are vegetarian and I recall being one myself off and on. But this is somewhat jarring in the Goan heartland. When I had visited Goa 23 years back, my children had a sudden yearning for Idlis and the kind father that I was went hunting for them and was always met with puzzled looks. “Idli/Dosa ? What is that?.” One guy had then helpfully told that he had heard this was available 20 kms away in the evenings. Now there seems to be a glut of everything under the sun except Goan food.

Multi cuisine Goa

Driving up and down a couple of times did not mitigate the decision paralysis so we took the easy way out and selected the place with the fanciest name and live music with the added attraction of valet parking. There are 2 valets for parking. One drives the car and the other follows on a scooter to get him back. The same process is repeated on the return. The place called Jambalaya had a fancy enough name but the benchmark from lunch gave it a handicap. The food was average and the music amateurish. Ofcourse we were comparing with Omar and Errol from afternoon and it was a disappointed and tired lot that returned home after ofcourse anesthesia-ing the stomach with a cooling icecream.

[deepak_misra]

Day2 – All about Azuleos and at the beach:

We wake up early morning to the sound of a blaring (it sometimes seems melodious, but this depends on ones mood) cycle horn and immediately accost the “Pao guy” who comes on a cycle with a basket full of Paos. A whole book can be written on the Pao and its role in the common mans life. The Pao-vala comes in a cycle with a blue tarpaulin cover and a standard horn with a decibal level as per some ISI standard. ISO is also planning to standardize it and UNESCO is on the verge of declaring it as the best cycle horn in the world.
Now Pao making was an exclusive Goan domain and all pao-wallas were Goan. However, from the last few visits I have found that they have made a strategic exit from this business and the business is now dominated by outsiders. The last 2 guys were from my home state of Orissa and we made casual chat.

The choice of Soft Pao, Kadak Pao and Poe causes a lot of mental taxing and indecision on what to buy. I take the cowardly way out and buy all 3 varieties. In a short time I start polishing them one by one. If you are new to the Pao-world, note that this has to be had oven fresh with blobs of butter smeared liberally. This has the dual advantage of allowing the bread to slide down the throat smoothly and prevents acidity (I am talking from experience). A bit of ham, salami and scrambled eggs further enhances the culinary experience. If you close your eyes when devouring the Pao, you can actually feel the cholesterol forming in the arteries. It also brings out the poetic instinct in you.

If you have visited Goa, you would have seen most houses have quaint name plates made from tiles with a particular shade of Portuguese blue. I found out from my Goa expert friend that these are called Azuleos and through her found a place which makes them. This was in Panjim a good half hour away. The summer heat was unbearable but making a name plate had been on the bucket list since we shifted to our new house and so we braved the elements and went to this place called https://azulejosdegoa.com/. It took some time to find and climbing a very steep staircase found ourselves in some rooms full of paintings, tiles etc. The place looked as if it had not been touched for 50 years or so and was fascinating.

Example of Azueluos

The proprietor Ollando was a good friend of my friend and we chatted a lot about Goa in between the phone calls he kept getting every 2 minutes. I discovered he is also a well-known musician and he played some of his videos for our listening pleasure.
The main problem with such places is that you want to buy everything you see and after much deliberation we purchased a small painted tile. Azuelos name plates take almost a month to make and so shelved the idea. A small tile did not seem a high ROI for a half day journey in the hot sun and so we took an additional 2 hours to select and purchase one more big tile. The management were impressed with our interest in their products and gifted us a nice fridge magnet.

Beautiful painting of a Balcao

A balcao was a standard feature of old Goan houses and the entire family congregated in the evening sitting and mediating. My limited research indicated that not much was spoken and telepathy was used as a medium of communication.



Tile finally purchased



Compliments of the management - fridge magnet

All this thinking and deciding burns a lot of calories and it was time for lunch. A light meal of a sandwich would have been appropriate but the 2 or 3 places we went to were closed and we finally settled on this place called Fika.
This had everything going for it. It was neat and clean and had a decent menu. What it had was more than made up by what they did not have – viz: service.
It looked like a startup still trying to figure out things. After a gap of 20 minutes of ordering we were informed items were not available. This happened twice and we ate a salad and a pizza, both good. In the spirit of a kindly uncle, I counseled the staff on the need to get their act together and how a more aggressive person than me would have eaten them alive. They gave me a lame excuse that they could not make the salad because they sent a guy to the market who phoned from there that the leaves were spoilt. Also, that they were understaffed. I don’t think he believed the story himself and I showed them the 6 front end people were taking care of 4 of us customers. They magnanimously waived the service charge.

With a lot of icecream to cool the stomach we headed in the north by north westerly direction back home with an ongoing discussion on what and where to eat dinner.


Sitting on a sofa in an airconditioned room, ruminating on life’s mysteries I realized that there was a feeling of incompleteness and after I racked my brains for some time, it hit me. We had not made a beach visit yet.
This flash of realization coincided with a blaring of a cycle horn. My friend the Paowalla was announcing his arrival and I rushed accosted and purchased the ubiquitous Pav and his entire stock of 20 Samosas to accompany them. Some samosas were devoured and the remaining were distributed to the staff on duty and the complex. It is always good Karma to share joy after all.
It was already late and we just rushed to the beach before sunset.
Entering the beach caused the second shock of the visit. There was a shack right at the entrance playing some strange for want of a better word, music. I will just share the video and leave it to you the reader to form your opinion.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=AKJ-QDzCVFM?feature=share

Words fail me

As an old time traveler to Goa, the shock is a bit too much. The Goa I first visited in the seventies was a gentle Goa, lack of people and gentler music. What is this monstrosity? Anyway with a couple of shudders, we went far away and swam in the sea. At 6 PM the water is wonderfully warm and the large waves were soothing.
A favorite of mine is wave surfing, taught to me a couple of decades ago by an old Himalayan master. One faces the beach in the yogic pose called Cat and Camel. If you time it right, just propel yourself when the wave forms and you will shoot like a torpedo. This is a skill which takes 5 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. At the risk of sounding conceited, I am almost at master level and did some practice for the master black belt. The video below demonstrates how not to wave surf.

https://youtu.be/0ZqmgfM80h8

Masters , even if near black belt fail at times

After a couple of surfs, I started observing the waves and got into a deep meditative state after which got completely into a mono-no-aware wistfulness and time gradually stood still.

Sunset was at around 6:30 when the lifeguard armed with a whistle started shooing everyone from the water. My wife and I decided to walk the approx. 3 kms back to Calangute much against my views and stamina. However, it was a nice walk and made all the more pleasurable when I found that the distance was less than 2 kms by the beach contradicting googles claim of it being 3 kms.

The long walk had digested the lunch and We were craving a proper dinner after the lunch fiasco and settled for a beach shack called Palm and Sand or something on those lines. As an aside, all shacks in Goa, by law, need to have at least two of the words "Palm, Surf, Sand, Waves, Dolphin, Beach". This had good reviews which were true to the mark. The place had a beautiful and scenic view and we sat on an elevated place looking at the beach. After a lot of snacks, we realized we had not ordered dinner and went around to it. As many Goa-philes would know, the signature dish of Goa is the Pork Vindaloo. I have been writing a thesis on this subject which remains a work in progress after 30 years. One of the key research involves sampling Vindaloo at every opportunity. The Vindaloo here was a disaster with big chunks of overcooked meat. Anyway you can’t win them all I pondered philosophically.
India has become the diabetes capital of the world, and Indians are cautioned to reduce their carb intake. I have a different theory which is yet to be validated. If you stuff yourself with Carbs, protein and fat simultaneously, the human system gets thoroughly confused and does not bother about elevating blood sugar and such nonsense. I try to empirically validate this hypothesis but till now have failed. I keep persevering and hopefully research will someday validate my anecdotal experience.

Given my distaste for taking photos, I dont have much. This is the only one, heavily redakted out of shape and just included to give a view of the beach from our table.

As always, ice cream neutralizes the fiery Vindaloo and it was a contended me who went off to sleep

[deepak_misra]

Day 3 – Low energy

This is going to be the last day in Goa and we are exhausted with the heat and all the overeating. After eating a lot (more than advisable for sure) of Pao, we get into a very static mode. The rest of the team had work to do and I am wondering how to kill time. There had been an old plan of meeting my friend John whom I know since many decades. It was also many decades since I saw him last, and so after a couple of failed attempts we decided to catch up for coffee. There was this nice café called “something-or-the-other” and we spent an hour reminiscing. John made Goa his home a couple of years back and is a travel industry veteran. After working with all the big names he operated on his own and is my go-to person for travel advise and more critically arranging self drive cars.

John and Self

When you meet someone after 45 years, time flies and after a successful compression of 45 years into an hour, it is time to leave. Hopefully we will not wait 45 years for the next meeting.

It was now time for lunch.

Now when you visit a new place, it is good to taste and experience the local cuisine. This was unfortunately not possible in Candolim as has been mentioned earlier since the local cuisine and become everything but Goan. With some research using Zomato, we zeroed in on a Goan restaurant called Susegaddo which seemed to be as Goan as they come. What was attractive was the complete lack of Idli, Dosa, Paneer in the menu substituted with some local names. The house seemed to have been around much before World War 1 which was confirmed by the affable owner Allwn. He mentioned that the house was built by his grandfather (or was it great grandfather) and served as residence before he converted it to a hotel. He did not want to be a multi cuisine restaurant and decided to specialize in Goan with some token standard fare for tourists. It was the first time I was seeing Ladyfingers on a Goan restaurant menu.
The place looks like a museum and I was surprised to find the same tile on the wall that we had purchased. I questioned him and he confirmed that he had purchased it from the same place and in fact the owner and he were childhood friends. It was fun exploring the place and seeing different paintings, tiles, and curios.

The restaurant

Inside



See whats next door. In case of emergency

We had some excellent Goan fare along with his home-made deserts. Alwyn was a bit reticent about sharing any of the recipes. The desert obviated the need for ice cream and we headed back home waiting for my friend the pao-walla to make his appearance. A very light snack of a couple of samosas and paos helps build up the appetite and it was time to start the discussion for dinner.
We did realize that we had not paid a customary visit to the beach so dashed down at around 6 PM, hoping to get some time in the warm water before being evicted by the stern lifeguard. The water was warm as the previous days and we watched the sun go down for the last time of our trip, with a twinge of sadness and thinking about how time flies.

The descent

The last day in Goa is always a depressing one and we decided to go for dinner to the stately old Souza Lobo which has also been around for decades and used to be the "True goan restaurant". Calangute parking is somewhat like Bangalore and we were lucky to get a prime spot. Navigating through all the tourist traps of stalls selling trinkets, shops selling “Pure Veg food” and jostling with tourists we entered Souza Lobo. It was quite empty and we got a vantage point where we could see the ocean and ordered food. The best test of a restaurant is to order French fries or sweet corn chicken soup. It is almost impossible to mess up either of these, but they did manage to with the French fries. We were too lazy to start the process of finding some other place and decided to just eat there which was not the best of decisions. I ordered my favorite pork while the rest of the contingent ordered prawns. The prawns were huge and had potential but the cooking had messed it up.

Approach to the beach





Cuisines of India.



Grand old Souza Lobo



Disclaimer





Less said the better

All in all, a very mediocre meal and with a heavy heart we started our journey back to HQ.

[deepak_misra]

Day 3 end and Day 4

It was a somber feeling driving back after dinner. As mentioned earlier it is very depressing, the thought of leaving this pleasant madness and returning to the unpleasant madness of the Silicon City.

There was a niggling tension of reaching the airport since I decided to take a risk and book the app based Goa miles. There was no backup plan, so I made a couple of invocations to the taxi gods and went to sleep.

My prayers were answered in that the cab driver phoned in the morning after casually checking if there were any homicidal looking taxi drivers around.

The pao-walla reached and ensured that we did not leave on any empty stomach.


The tile painting we had bought was huge and did not fit in the suitcase. There was some doubt if the airlines would allow us to carry it as hand luggage, but the fears were unfounded. We had no problems and reached Bangalore in time for lunch.

Drive was smooth and in some time we were airborne, monitoring as usual altitude, speed, heading, places of interest on ground.

The vacation was over.

Some thoughts:

The old Goa is disappearing at a very rapid rate and I think in a short time there is nothing to distinguish it from any other tourist place. Old houses are being knocked down and paddy fields filled to construct apartments to meet the ever increasing demand.
There is nothing Goan any more . The beach shacks which defined Goa for decades are now like any other place with no local flavour or atmosphere.
This is inevitable ofcourse as mass migration happens and is a natural progression, but one still feels sad.


This travelogue has been mostly about food and this has been on account of traveling at the wrong time. If one travels when it is slightly cooler, there is so much to see all around as long as one is not obsessed about eating and the beach.
Hopefully, I will make one more trip before this year end with less food obsession and share the experience in this forum.
Till then.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[dailydriver]

I don't know if you are happy with what you do for a living. But if you ever fancy a change in profession, rest assured that I will be the first to pay to read whatever story gets cooked and served from that very fertile mind of yours. You can even explore the possibility of running an imagery for hire business. And since you are anyway at it for three decades, a doctoral thesis on the gems of Goan cuisine would surely be an apt addition to your portfolio.

Believe me sir, this is one of the best travelogues that I have had the pleasure to peruse in a long time. Funny, irreverent, idiotic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic - and yet highly insightful and intelligent. This is a veritable masterclass in the art of storytelling.

Of the plethora of diamonds dotting the writeup, this Kohinoor demands to be quoted:

If you close your eyes when devouring the Pao, you can actually feel the cholesterol forming in the arteries

Please keep writing.

[deepak_misra]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

I don't know if you are happy with what you do for a living. But if you ever fancy a change in profession, rest assured that I will be the first to pay to read whatever story gets cooked and served from that very fertile mind of yours.
.....
....

Believe me sir, this is one of the best travelogues that I have had the pleasure to peruse in a long time. Funny, irreverent, idiotic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic - and yet highly insightful and intelligent. This is a veritable masterclass in the art of storytelling.

.....

Please keep writing.

Thanks so much for the kind words. I am indeed touched and almost motivated to dash right back to Goa today just to write one more travelogue.

I am neither happy nor unhappy with my current profession, given a lack of it.
To plagiarize from 2 of my favourite authors ,I am a gentleman of leisure, living of my pension and wits, both hopelessly inadequate.
Your kind words have triggered me to look at writing.
Thanks once again

[Stryker]

Ah, but this is awesome! Goa like I have never read before. Note I didn't say "seen"! The focus on breakfast, lunch and dinner is single minded. Are you a Libran by any chance? Indecisiveness seems to run in your blood, just like me!

[deepak_misra]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Ah, but this is awesome! Goa like I have never read before. Note I didn't say "seen"! The focus on breakfast, lunch and dinner is single minded. Are you a Libran by any chance? Indecisiveness seems to run in your blood, just like me!

Haha yes. Indecisiveness is ingrained in my DNA. As i mentioned, lower the value of the outcome higher the time spent.

And no not Libran. Close though - Virgo.

Regarding food, something happens to me when in Goa. The neural paths in the brain which regulate discipline, moderation etc. short circuit. Something with the air I guess.

[powertrain]

Lovely read DM!!

Do share pics from the 70s & 80s

Would be an interesting glimpse on how Goa was when it was still pristine

Regards,
Powertrain

[DasAuto1985]

Haha was a lovely read!! Your style of writing keeps the reader hooked. Please keep visiting more places and write more about them. As an indecisive being myself, could definitely relate with the initial portions of the travelogue.

[nishakal]

Reliving Goa – A Journey Through Time

Your post brought back a wave of memories from the past. It feels like high time we plan another trip to Goa—although with the next three years already booked by the Home Minister, it might have to wait a bit!

Here’s a nostalgic journey through my past Goa adventures:

1997 – The First Escape
My very first trip to Goa! A bunch of us friends traveled from Vadodara to Mumbai, and then boarded a train to Goa. We spent five unforgettable days there. It was our first taste of freedom, and every moment felt like magic.

2001 – Budget Dreams & Beach Nights
Fresh out of college, we decided to celebrate New Year’s in Goa. Without any hotel bookings and very little money, we ended up sleeping right on the beach. We were on a tight budget—just two days in Goa—but what we lacked in planning, we made up for in pure joy and spontaneous fun. One of the most memorable, if chaotic, trips of my life.

2006 – Family Vibes
This time, it was a family tour on a bus. A completely different experience, slower-paced, but full of shared laughter and photo moments. A calmer Goa, seen through a different lens.

2010 – The Epic Bus Trip
Now this was a wild one! We rented an entire 2x2 non-AC tour bus—43 seats—just for our group. Friends and family together on an epic road trip from Ahmedabad to Mahabaleshwar, Kolhapur, Goa, Lonavala, Imagica, and back to Ahmedabad. Eight nights, nine days of chaos, laughter, and unforgettable memories.

2014 – The Long Drive Begins
For the first time, I drove from Ahmedabad to Goa in a single day. Started at 3:00 AM and reached Baga Beach by 6:00 PM. Tiring? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.

2018 – Road Trip, Round Two
Another road trip from Ahmedabad to Goa. By now, it had become a ritual—Goa by road, music on full blast, and the excitement building with every passing mile.

So many stories. So many memories. And yet, Goa still calls.
Let’s see when the stars align next—but one thing’s for sure: Goa always finds a way back into our lives.

[gtonsing]

At first, I thought, what is this travelogue all about? Then I kept reading each line and slowly it dawn on me how cleverly thoughts and ideas and the sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much sarcasm and once I realized the way it was written, I went back to line 1 and re-read the whole thing. Amazing write up. I will go and read your other writings now, when time permits.
Keep writing.

[deepak_misra]

Originally Posted by powertrain

Lovely read DM!!

Do share pics from the 70s & 80s

Would be an interesting glimpse on how Goa was when it was still pristine

Regards,
Powertrain

Thanks so much. A camera was a very luxury item in the 70s and one needed a bank loan to process the film. It is unfortunate that I dont have any photos from that time. In 1979 a cousin had accompanied us. He also did not have a camera but was a good sketcher and just sketched whatever he saw. However I dont think he would be having the sketch book any more.

Originally Posted by DasAuto1985

Haha was a lovely read!! Your style of writing keeps the reader hooked. Please keep visiting more places and write more about them. As an indecisive being myself, could definitely relate with the initial portions of the travelogue.

Thanks. My indecisiveness is much more than what was disclosed in travelogue. I felt embarrassed to disclose the true picture.

Originally Posted by nishakal

Reliving Goa – A Journey Through Time

Your post brought back a wave of memories from the past. It feels like high time we plan another trip to Goa—although with the next three years already booked by the Home Minister, it might have to wait a bit!

Here’s a nostalgic journey through my past Goa adventures:

1997 – The First Escape
My very first trip to Goa! A bunch of us friends traveled from Vadodara to Mumbai, and then boarded a train to Goa. We spent five unforgettable days there. It was our first taste of freedom, and every moment felt like magic.

2001 – Budget Dreams & Beach Nights
Fresh out of college, we decided to celebrate New Year’s in Goa. Without any hotel bookings and very little money, we ended up sleeping right on the beach. We were on a tight budget—just two days in Goa—but what we lacked in planning, we made up for in pure joy and spontaneous fun. One of the most memorable, if chaotic, trips of my life.

2006 – Family Vibes
This time, it was a family tour on a bus. A completely different experience, slower-paced, but full of shared laughter and photo moments. A calmer Goa, seen through a different lens.

2010 – The Epic Bus Trip
Now this was a wild one! We rented an entire 2x2 non-AC tour bus—43 seats—just for our group. Friends and family together on an epic road trip from Ahmedabad to Mahabaleshwar, Kolhapur, Goa, Lonavala, Imagica, and back to Ahmedabad. Eight nights, nine days of chaos, laughter, and unforgettable memories.

2014 – The Long Drive Begins
For the first time, I drove from Ahmedabad to Goa in a single day. Started at 3:00 AM and reached Baga Beach by 6:00 PM. Tiring? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.

2018 – Road Trip, Round Two
Another road trip from Ahmedabad to Goa. By now, it had become a ritual—Goa by road, music on full blast, and the excitement building with every passing mile.

So many stories. So many memories. And yet, Goa still calls.
Let’s see when the stars align next—but one thing’s for sure: Goa always finds a way back into our lives.

Interesting. You should write about your travels. You don't even need to post them but they are priceless memories. Every time I read my old accounts I relive the whole journey. Photos just dont have the same effect.

Originally Posted by gtonsing

At first, I thought, what is this travelogue all about? Then I kept reading each line and slowly it dawn on me how cleverly thoughts and ideas and the sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much sarcasm and once I realized the way it was written, I went back to line 1 and re-read the whole thing. Amazing write up. I will go and read your other writings now, when time permits.
Keep writing.

Thanks so much.