My travels through the southern state of Goa were a wonderfully relaxing experience. From the idyllic beaches, to the phenomenal tropical scenery, great seafood, and laid-back people, I have only positive things to say about this region of India. Generally speaking, a visit to Goa is not the most “authentic” Indian experience and since I visited right at the cusp of monsoon season I didn’t even really get to experience the party atmosphere either. Instead, I had the opportunity to see a uniquely tranquil version of Goa that I few foreigners know about.
Many of you out there have heard of Goa before, but I imagine few of you realize that Goa is not a city but a state in India. After the tiring cities of Udaipur and Mumbai, my strategy for Goa was to visit the big beaches starting with Anjuna (map) to the north before heading south through Baga (map) and Palolem (map) on the other end of the state. The northern half of Goa is renowned for its over-the-top party atmosphere, great beaches, and loud electronic music everywhere. After all the cultural things I’ve done in India so far, I was looking forward to experiencing a little taste of Ibiza in India, but when I arrived in Anjuna I was stunned by how quiet it was! Goa was a world away from the usual loud, chaotic, dusty, and pollution-filled cities of India - it felt like a totally different country!
I’ve never enjoyed walking outside so much in India! The blindly bright sun overhead jumped between the passing clouds and illuminated the vibrant green palm trees that swayed happily in the breeze below. Narrow dirt roads wind erratically through the trees and are covered with a vivid, burgundy-red dust that contrasts sharply with the surrounding green vegetation. In-between the palm trees lay a blanket of deep-green foliage and plants laden with beautiful little flowers. All around a variety of animals go about their day completely uninterested in humanity’s existence while songbirds sing the day away in the branches above.
The temperature outside is nearly 37°C (~100°F), but thanks to the shade of the numerous palm trees and proximity to the beach, the air outside is cool and refreshing. Out in Anjuna, it appears the homes and roads are carved into the jungle-like environment. A variety of humble little residences flank the roads and range from solid hotels constructed of concrete and steel to flimsy shacks comprised of aluminum siding and tarps tied together. Occasionally a random scooter would pass me as I walked to the beach, but in general, it felt as if I had all of Anjuna to myself
India has it all – domineering mountains, bone-dry deserts, endless floodplains, gargantuan cities, and now lush tropical forests!
My first stop, Anjuna Beach, is what you would call a “holy” place for me. The beach itself is rather small and tranquil, but my favorite record label of all time, Anjunabeats, is named after this little stretch of paradise. Just like my experience back in Split, Croatia, I was in absolutely no rush to see another church, museum, or cultural attraction. While I love India, this country exhausts me so I opted to spend my first few days in Goa doing nothing but eating great food, drinking plenty of beer, sitting on the beach for hours at a time, reading to my heart’s content, and listening to and endless variety of electronic music. This, I felt, was the proper way to pay tribute to holy beach of Anjuna.
For all my talk of serenity and peace, my first hostel, Roadhouse, was full of backpackers and easily the most entertaining place I stayed out during my trip through Goa. Everyone was incredibly friendly and willing to immediately pick up a conversation, go drinking, or explore the surrounding area. Roadhouse was a never-ending revolving door of backpackers in an otherwise quiet region that had long since shut down for the summer. On numerous occasions the hostel itself was livelier than the rest of town and whenever we went out “clubbing,” the hostel group almost always accounted for >50% of the people in any given bar.
From Anjuna, I headed south to the town of Baga where I met two other travelers from Holland, Jolie and Jasper. The three of us hit it off almost immediately and spend the entire afternoon lounging on the beach eating, drinking, and chatting the day away. Even in June with the monsoon just around the corner, Baga beach was packed full of local Indian vacationers and we made the mistake of leaving an empty chair at our table. The entire afternoon we had on Indian after another wanting to take a picture with us – well, mainly just Jolie and Jasper. While cute at the beginning of my trip, the practice of taking “just one picture” with the locals went from flattering to annoying (this is why I grew out my beard and got a tan, so I could blend in and avoid these pictures). Thankfully both Jolie and Jasper are considerably taller and whiter than me, so they drew all the attention. Jasper on occasion was spared from the pictures, but Jolie being a tall, white, foreign girl in a bikini drew the eye of every single man that passed by – and they all wanted a picture with her.
I’m pretty sure if she charged each of them 10 Rupees per picture she could have paid for her entire trip.
Jolie, Jasper and I spent the entire afternoon at the beach, watched the sun set, savored the cool atmosphere, and even saw a small firework display by a local celebrating the end of the season. It was a great way to spend the day and meant all the more to me because I was missing a family vacation back in the US. Since I’m still traveling, I missed out on a vacation with my brother and father to Destin, Florida. Those trips are always been a highlight in my life, but while I’m sad I missed out, it’s comforting to know that they are on the other side of the world right now probably doing the same thing as me.
I’m with you guys in spirit!
Once Joli and Jasper left, my time in Goa became really quiet. There weren’t many hostels still open in Baga and the vast majority of people traveling were either young families or couples on a weekend vacation away from home. I decided to continue south Palolem in the hopes of finding other travelers, but the further south I went in Goa the quieter it got. Considering that the northern half - that is famous for its parties - was quiet, the area around Palolem Beach was basically a ghost town outside of the one main road leading to the beach. At the very least I was happy finally find solitude, but the feeling quickly faded once the monsoon started. Frequently I was the only person in the 25-room guesthouse and I only met one person in the dorm room, a guy named Ankit, who stayed for one night before heading up to Roadhouse Hostel at my recommendation.
Looking back, maybe I should have followed him.
All that said, I still had a great time. The gorgeous Palolem beach was a short walk away, there were miles of quiet tropical countryside all around, and my guesthouse’s patio overlooked a wonderful jungle terrain. For three continuous days it rained off and on and I was more or less confined to the guesthouse as I waited patiently for the train I scheduled to Kerala (map). It gave me plenty of time to write, but the rolling power outages were quite frustrating and resulted in my poor little laptop charger suffering an untimely and rather smoky demise.
I didn’t know Apple chargers could smoke so much.
While the rain was a bit of a downer for the beach, the monsoon was a soothing experience that I feel few travelers get to see firsthand. Since most people are on a tight schedule, rainy days are the worst possible thing that can happen, but thankfully I don’t have such restrictions. For two days I basically spent my time writing, reading, relaxing, and sitting on the upstairs patio listening to the rolling thunder and the rain trickling down the leaves of the surrounding vegetation. After the first storm the entire forest sprang to life; overnight the air became crisp and clean, the breeze felt like it was almost air conditioned, and the animals all came to life. I heard crickets and frogs chirp in a wonderfully erratic orchestra of sounds while swarms of fireflies danced in the distance. Not quite what I expected when I arrived in Goa, but it was a wonderful experience that few people I know ever get to see.
On my last day the rain miraculously subsided and the vivid, deep blue sky once again returned. I was thrilled! Even though I had to check out, run some last minute errands, and figure out logistics for my next destination, at the top of my to-do list was spend some quality time on Palolem beach. The rain from the previous few days scared off all of the tourists - local and foreigner alike – and there were less than 40 visitors on the entire stretch of beach. I swam and tanned to my heart’s content savoring the refreshing breeze, the cool water, and the picturesque palm trees that lined the beach. I accomplished absolutely nothing that afternoon and spent my last day in Goa doing what everyone should do in Goa, enjoying the beach!
While some of my readers may be disappointed that I didn’t get the “traditional” party experience in Goa, that is actually why I loved my trip through the region so much! I was expecting Goa to be an Indian version of Ibiza Town in Spain, full of flashy people, expensive bars, and crowded beaches, but thanks to the monsoon, I had Goa more or less to myself, which is a statement few travelers can claim. Goa is a beautiful region of India to visit and while I would never consider it an “authentic” Indian experience, that doesn’t mean you should avoid it; Goa is the quintessential beach paradise that many people aspire to visit once in their lifetime. It’s sad to think that my adventures through India are about to come to an end; now that I leave Goa, I have one last stop in India, Kochi, before I head off to Sri Lanka. How quickly that last four months have passed!