Goa Travelogue

 

Goa Travelogue

31st March 2024 (Sunday)

Reached Ozhar airport in 25mins from home. The airport is a HAL property run by Indigo. Got the flight that is 80 seater. The wings of the plane are above the window unlike the conventional Planes. It swivels a bit more than the bigger planes.

Arrived Manohar international airport on time. Mopa is the taluka place (Manohar Parikar). It’s a new airport operational from December 2023.

                                             

The itinerary included both North and south Goa. We arrived at North Goa but the first         

       two days were planned for South Goa. On the way form North to South we came across Mudgaon, 

Vasco, Panjim as the major locations.

Varca :

The name has Spanish origin. A typical boat in northern Spain is called Barca and later the ‘B’ got replaced with ‘V’ to get its name Varca. Varca is around 70kms from Mopa airport. Sunday evening we all went to the private the beach of Club Mahindra resort called Varka resort. The beach was very clean and less occupied. It’s popular for its white sand. It was Easter celebration so the same night DJ with dinner was great fun. Being off season, the offers on combos of dinner and breakfasts were with huge discounts. It included diner with DJ and breakfast the next morning. The breakfast buffet was a sumptuous meal that included more than 50 eatables.

           

 Morning visit to Beach.

My Dawn fascination forced me to get up and explore the morning experience of this beach. Anu and I had visited Candolim beach earlier. In Dapoli as well I was rejuvenated by early morning beach walks. This time Varca in the morning was no disappointment at all.

Wishing a ‘Good morning’ to Varca

 

Varca in the evening:

Astrology:

The astrologer, Waikar-Joshi in the resort corner managed to impress Anu and Sarika by his skills. He wants Revo to be careful with Water bodies, Aryan to be watchful with Railings on high heights. Surprisingly he predicted my future in politics. The astrologer has plans to visit Nasik. Will call me once he hits Nasik this year.

Colva beach:

Was a disappointment. Colva was 15mins drive from Varka. Colva market is densely spread over 200m street mostly with garments, Tatoo shops and fashion accessories. Colva beach unfortunately wasn’t clean enough. Interestingly a lot of UP/ Bihar vendors and visitors were seen on this beach.

Dona Paula:

Why the name of the place Dona Paula?

DP was the daughter of the Portuguese Viceroy of Jaffnapatnam, Sri Lanka. She married Dom Antonio Souto Maior, a Spanish Fidalgo, in 1656, and the family moved to Goa in 1644. Dona Paula was known for her charity, and after her death, the villagers renamed the neighborhood Dona Paula in her memory. DP is 45km from Varka going from south towards North Goa. Dona Paula is the favorite place of Rohit Shetty. It is more popular for the old Goa houses of Portuguese era and the Bollywood shoots like Singham, Ek Duke Ke Liye, Pukar and many more. Singham uprooting the Pole while fighting with the goons was shot here.

                                        

Assonora resort:

Around 32kms from DP to Assonora. The resort is spread over 44Acres. The uniqueness of this resort is the eco-friendly practices. The vehicles they use from luggage carriers to two wheelers are all EVs. Assonora is a village in the Bardez taluka of North Goa. The name Bardez has its original pronunciation as Baradesh, Bara (12) Desh (territories). The “Desh” refers to the clan territorial limits, or to the Brahmin comunidades, of which the twelve are: Aldona, Anjuna, Assagao, Candolim, Moira, Nachinola, Olaulim, Pomburpa, Saligao, Sangolda, Serula, and Siolim

 

Vagator:

Vagator is 19km away from Asonora resort. One gets to see the city of Goa with narrow streets, steep up and down slopes. Vagator has typical brown sand that’s found on most beaches. The uniqueness is the form of a black rock cliff trying to see the long view of the Ocean. There are three entries to this beach. One should prefer the entry that has car parking followed by stalls on either sides of the road selling fancy clothes, trinkets and Hats.

Naman Jetskiing on Vagator Beach.

2kms from Vagator is the Chapora fort in Bardez. The fort saw many rulers starting from Adil Shah dynasty. It was called Shahpora that got altered to Chapora later by Malvankars on the request of Portuguese. It offers a view north across Chapora river to Morjim. The Portuguese who took it over in 1717 did significant repair work including tunnel and bastion making that extended over sea shore and banks of Chapora river. The Portuguese were enemy to the Hindu ruler of Pernem, the maharaja of samantwadi.

 

Lazy River in the Resort:

This was a real fun moment. We all became kids while rowing the air filled boat that took us through artificial tunnels, sprinklers and what not.

Reiveeka inside the Zorb ball

 Swimming pool:

Bunjee jumps:

It is in Maem at 9kms from Asonora resort via Mapusa Bicholim road. A jump from 50m gives an adrenaline rush says Naman. It’s ₹3k per person jump.

Candolim:

Reached my favorite spot in Goa that is 25kms from Asonora. Beautiful shacks on the beach, the streets full of foreigners, highly decorated restaurants with loud live music having singers singing the songs of 90’s makes candolim a must visit place. We again visited the Newton's mall and the restaurant bank opposite this mall. Like the kokan - Portuguese pronunciation of Panji - Panjim, perne -Pernem, Bicholi - Bicholim Candolim as its Konkan pronunciation of Candoli.

The colour of the waves are pinkish reflection of the colourful lights emitting from the shacks.

Candolim Street.

 Restaurant on Candolim street:

 

Goa – The Name – In the later Vedic period ( 1000-500 BC) when the Hindu epic “Mahabharata” was written, Goa has been referred to with the Sanskrit name “Gomantak”, a word with many meanings , signifying mostly a fertile land; but however, it is the Portuguese who gave Goa its name.