Perfecting My Tan Line

About The Author: Shoaib is a 9th Grader who is enthusiastic, creative and dedicated to his work. He enjoys playing outdoors and listening to music (not together!) in his leisure time. He loves trying out new things, and has given a go at cooking and baking.

Nah, I didn't spare time for that. Anyway, this article is going to be about my experience in Goa (particularly, the north):

The Drive
Don't even ask. Not that I don't like road trips; I love them! As long as there is something worth being called a road. About 400 Km of the 700 Km long journey had speed breakers at just about every 100m, which really ticked me off. Put that with my motion sickness (which shows up only on bumpy or hilly roads), and BOOM-you've got yourself a painful, 13 hours long drive.

Day 1

After checking into Hilton the previous evening, we were too tired to go anywhere, so this morning, we visited Baga Beach, just to look around.

It was slightly unexpected, so I was in jeans. Horrible idea! I'd rolled my jeans up to my knees, and it seemed to do a good job of keeping my clothes dry. Until a wave decided to just rise a little OVER my knees. Let me tell you this-changing into shorts after wearing some wet jeans for about 10 minutes felt like walking into heaven.

Next, we went over to Calungute, using Route 66 (who gets that reference?) We had lunch at a place called "Brittos," as their food was supposed to be amazing. To be honest, the food itself wasn't as expected, but the Goan cuisine is probably meant to be bland in terms of taste. This may be due to the excessive use of coconut in their food, as it is a staple along with rice and fish.

From the left: Fish Xacuti and Prawn Cafreal at Brittos

That evening, we visited Baga Beach again, and night life at the beach is awesome:

     

Seashells that were washed ashore during high tide are visible during low tide

My mom and I got ourselves some glow bracelets

Some lighting put up by a shack to decorate the area

Surprisingly, there were no hawkers on the beach that were selling food, as there are usually on the beaches of Mumbai.

The beach looks much better in person than in any picture. There are more than 30 shacks, each serving a variety of food and drinks. Most shacks had tables and chairs placed out on the Beach, while others offered tents. In the morning, these are replaced with beach chairs with umbrellas. We had dinner at "La Shack," which means "The Shack".

Day 2
We headed to the beach to take part in some water sports. My brother and I went jet skiing.

That evening, we visited, or at least tried to visit Anjuna Beach. This is probably the world's most inaccessible beach by car. Even Google Maps couldn't help us get anywhere. Eventually, we parked our car and walked up to the beach. We probably got on at the wrong side (was Google Maps conspiring against us?), as it was stinky and empty, covered with weeds. In the distance, we could spot life, but walking on beach sand is tiring, particularly when you have to walk all the way back to your car, so we gave up on that idea.

I still managed to get a few pictures of the beach:

   

 

At the end of the day, we visited the Saturday Night Market. The simple way to describe it is-a bunch of tents put up, all selling different things. As you get deeper into the web of stalls, there are steps, and stalls are set up on several landings.

   

One shop was selling dry reef rocks, crystals and corals

Day 3
This morning, we visited Baga beach to just play, and do nothing else. While my parents and sister relaxed on some beach chairs, my brother and I played with the waves. We also saw some fishermen docking their boat, and it isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, it took them several minutes to do so. I finally saw the anchor being put to its fullest use. Next, we visited Panaji (Panjim in Portuguese, from which the name originates), the capital of Goa. On the way, we had to go across a bridge over the Mandovi River. In Panaji, we briefly saw the Immaculate Conception Church.

The view from the bridge

Immaculate Conception Church

It was soon time to pack our bags, and we were already planning our next trip to Goa. Ironically, we were so tired, that we wanted to be home in a jiffy.