Been to Goa a decade ago…. But things change drastically, i was a backpacker then landed in Goa by bus and went to a hostel, first of its kind started back then at Candolim, met some travel buddies with whom i travelled in SE Asia. But now it’s a different travel game altogether, exploring some posh localities of Goa.

We hired a car and started our drive from Mangalore towards south Goa. There are a lot of places to explore and definitly some unqiue experiences not to be missed.

Our first stop was at Murudeshwar, to visit the famous Shiva temple and have some lunch at a beach side cafe. Due to monsoon, most of these places were closed. We visited the temple but it started to rain midway, quickly got back to the car and headed to the next destination.

We reached a mangrove forest, walked on the boardway…. You could see the mangrove forest on either side, an eco system unique to mangrove forest can be observed here. I liked walking around the boardway and a nice experince if you are around here.

We went during the low season, hardly any crowd in the vicintiy on “Palolem beach”, the property was called “the shore Palolem”…. Evenings we took a stroll on the beach, drove a bit to reach a resto called” The Leopard”. Hardly any crowd and the entire place was there for us. Stayed there until sometime before we crashed as it was a long day and we drove all the way from Mangalore.

Next morning, we hired a Thar to drive for next few days. Started from Palolem to reach a small village on a moutain slope to taste and learn about the famous Goan feni. The place had been brewing it since ages and with a variety of flavours too. The guide who took us for the tour explained in detail how they differ from rest and about their brand “Cazulo”. They also made us sit right in the middle of a stream to have lunch and an umbrella to safe guard us from rain. This was defintely an unquie experience to try while in south Goa.

Then we started off from here and moved towards the north. Initially the south of Goa seemed more like a forest as it was full of scenic greenery. As we moved towards north it felt a bit busy. We reached our property called Thalassa boutique. This place felt like Bali. It was a beach resort, the vibes in the restaurant which was right next to the beach, light music, small cafe, causal dinning on the beach sand gave the Balinese vibe for sure. You can just sit there for hours together.

 

Evening we took a drive on the coastal road, the view was spectacular. You will drive through some villages, the golden hour light during sunset, slight drizzle this is defintely a goa thing.

Later that evening, we ended up in a resto on the beach for some fire dance performance and food. Then we crashed early that night.

Next day went to some well known cafes in Goa, each one had it’s unique Goan touch. Kiki by the sea, Thalassa greek cafe, Purple Martini, Mayan beach club all of them where photogenic and had unqiue feel.

We also visited the famous Goan Thali place vinayak, stupendous food… loved their Solkadi and kokum juice, it was top notch. I always liked the konkan food and this spread was ultimate. Highly recommended, if you like Goan food.

Evvening i went to an event hosted by an Ukrainian person, this was lovely place… Made a lot of friends, amazing vibe. Shared a lot of travel stories, this is definitely some thing i love to do, interact with many people. That was very well organised one.

Our routine was almost the same for couple of days then went to place called Diaz there two kinds of event happened one was bollywood and another was techno. In Goa most the eateries open until early morning, went to small eatery had dalkichidi that was amazing to have at that time.

 

It’s time to wind up the trip, one final breakfast in the resort packed our bags and headed stright to the airport, handed over the Thar to the travel company from whom we hired. This trip was a nice experience altogether.