Goa is more popular for its beaches, parties, clubbing and gambling scene. Most people spend their time there tanning in the sun on beach sides, taking part in water sports, or drinking and dancing through the night. Others may take the ferry ride to explore the cultural programmes; and the rest take tour buses around the city exploring popular churches and markets. The most popular time to visit Goa, among the tourists is winter, owing to the pleasant weather and the new year and christmas carnivals that add to the Goa experience. Fewer people may choose summer time, for the cheaper prices, bearing with the humidity and sweating. The least explored time of the year, spent by tourists in Goa is the monsoon season. If you are anything like me who enjoys bike rides, spontaneous plans, and unexpected dancing in the rain, monsoon may be the best time for you to explore some hidden gems of Goa, that are missed by most people who cannot see beyond the party scenes in Goa.
Our very first day, we arrived at the airport and took a taxi to the bike rental place and rented a thunderbird for the trip. On our bike we travelled all the way to Calangute and checked in , into a guest house in the area. Since it was already evening, we decided to grab a bite in a near by eatery in Saligao and rode through the streets in the vicinity, while it drizzled.
The next day we left a little early to explore the smaller village areas of Goa. We took a bike ride through the Chorao Islands. It is interesting to note that Chorao Islands are not so much about the destination , as much as they are about the experience of the journey. The various old houses along the way, the different farms along the route, accompanied by a light monsoon drizzle and few stops on the way to explore just the scenic beauty of the area makes this place a pleasurable experience for those seeking newness in Goa. Reaching Chorao Island and exploring the area, we got back and took a ferry to the other side to take lunch in Ribandar.
Following this we took a ride back to the main Panaji area and explored the church named Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. This was followed by a visit to a beautiful Portugese area called the Fountainhas which holds beautiful buildings of Portugese architecture, along with various art galleries, book cafes and back packers' hostels.
We ended the day driving back to Paliyem beach, watching the sunset, playing in water and finally ended the day spending the evening by the beach side at Calangute.
This day we decided to drive in different directions . We visited the areas of Cansaulim first, which is home to the Three Kings' Chapel, that is said to be haunted and coloured with the legend of a muderous family. After spending a great deal of time exploring the vicinity of the church we headed to the Bogmalo area. The Bogmalo beach is one of the lesser explored beaches which is hidden in a small village area where you don't find any tourists. The place is only occupied by the local residents, who take up fishing or such as their occupation. It is a clean and quiet beach, where we spent hours bathing in the water and looking at small crabs that crawled over the rocks around the beach.
This day we had a unique experience. Goa is home to quite a few plantations that have been turned into sights of tourist attraction for those who may have some interest in either unusual experiences or those that enjoy the various processes involved in plantation. To enjoy the same we visited the Sahakari Spice Plantation. It requires almost the whole day, which includes a guided tour of the plantation along with lunch. Sadly, the elephant rides provided here in the small river that flows in the premises were closed due to monsoon, which I now hear , have been all together banned. The plantation tour was worth every penny and the food was so scrumptious- a combination of good konkani, goan , southern and maharashtrian dishes.
The last day we decided to check out of the guest house, we shifted to a small hotel on our way, and visited near by Parsi eateries and a book shop cum cafe that is one of its kind and a haven for book lovers in the Calangute area. The place was called Literati. It housed a plethora of various genre books and the hostess was very warm and friendly. I spent a couple hours exploring the many books in the cafe. Sadly, the eating place of the book cafe was under renovation, so we couldn't stay there much longer, but Literati was a one of a kind experience in a city that is only famous for parties and beaches.
