Goa, the very word has always evoked in me beautiful beaches, lovely laid back people, good food n drinks , lovely Portuguese style house and good old churches. A great place to cool your heels and just relax !! We decided to fly coz of short of time and now I think thats the best way to get to Goa, considering there is no good train connectivity and its a 10 hours long drive from Bangalore. So by taking the 1 hr arieal route. one gets more time in this sunny paradise !! Off from the airport we decided to take the bus to Calungute, I have always enjoyed bus rides in goa, agreed it a rickety ride, and all you have is metal skeleton, basic seats and no window panes what so ever for a bus but then the nice loud music, the warm people and the breeze makes it so enjoyable. There are quick, cheap and amazingly frequent. We had to change 3 buses to get to Calungute from Dabolim but then you just dint feel it.

In Calungute we decided to hire some bike and off we went to Anjuna for what would somewhat qualify for a late lunch. After the all the travel (the travel to and off d airport which was tiring some spicy fish and beer tasted even better !! divine I would say. Decided to look for accom in Anjuna itself  as its much less crowed than Calungute or Baga and also because the fish and beer in our tummies did not like to travel anymore Starting from North Anjuna we began our search in earnest and not wanting to compromise, we declined the shoddy ones and a few not so shoddy ones too and after more than an hours search we struck gold !! much to relief of the other crew members who by now just wanted a roof on their head so that they could start ‘experiencing’ goa We found this places called Sea Horse right on the beach with some nice bamboo huts and a pretty good shack. It was sure worth the effort considering the huts were just 10 steps away from the shack made it all the more attractive, coz after you ‘experience’ goa in the shack, even those 10 small steps might seems like climbing Mt Everest, you know what I mean, dont you

Our place was right next to this place called Cafe Lillyput (which according to our host is apparently world famous) and since it was a friday night they have live music on the beach plus some amazing show of talent, like the lady dancing with the ring of fire around her waist, some mind blowing tap dancing. And it was all free !! and considering that just 24 hrs ago we were trying to stay alive by navigating the horrendous Bangalore traffic, this was like paradise !!

I have always been amazed by the kind of talent most of the western travelers display, the entire show that night was put up by western travelers and it sure was impressive ! compared to we desi folks,the best entertainment that we can provide in a gathering apart from discussing code is prolly crack a joke from readers digest !

Having breakfast (its actually brunch !) in your shack looking at the sea is something I have always relished in beach destination. And after all the fermented grape juices that would gone inside all night, a glass of fresh Banana milkshake makes you feel alive !! And most shacks in Goa have their menu is Russian, Yes Russian !! considering the amount to Russians who come to this place they think its a easier option. And we being the only brown skin in the entire beach and ones to be clad with the maximum clothing (inspite of our best efforts) we sure looked liked we were in a foreign destination. Now come on, if you are getting a phoren experience like this from  just a domestic air ticket. It was more than what we could ask for

One of the crew members hadnt seen to fort Aguada so the rest of us were dragged to this place which I discovered due my recently develpoed interest in reading the rusted boards in front of most monuments, that it used to be a water storage unit for the portugese and it has been immortalized by the desi flick ‘Dil Chata hai’. I dont think anything/anybody has done so much good to goa tourism than this movie, after watching this movie every college going kid in india wants to go to Goa !! even we did back in college and how we ended up is a totally different story. will save that for another day. Later on when the rest of the crew wanted to ‘experience’ more of goa (read kings beer, its one amazing beer though !)

Later I went out to Panaji to visit the company called Synapse, housed in a Portuguese style bungalow , with open air discussion rooms, and large birds which I couldn’t name in the garden, it looked more like a resort than a work place for 30 odd people. Started by the ex- editor of Chip magazine. One of my clients on the Walking Tours had worked with them for a while and he wanted to to visit this place while in Goa. Synapse is into designs and in a niche category. Extermely creative people. By just touring their office seeing how they work, one can feel that they stand out. And seeing how they worked it sure a great learning. Like each individual department in the company is a pvt listed company in itself, like for ex, extra hands is the team which provides house keeping and takes care of catering and they also go on to offer this service to other companies. So its a compnay with in a company. Okay if this is not making any sense, lets just say something like this bring a lot of professionlism at work ! And yes their client list is impressive and so is there website !!

Late in the evening, in a slightly elevated state of mind an idea was dropped !!  ’how about getting a tattoo done in goa ?? ‘ and before we knew we were under the needle get a mark for life !! I have been frequently asked by people who have seen my tattoo as to, did it hurt ? frankly I cannot recollect may be thats why most people get tattoos done in goa, you know after the Goa experience you get kinda numbh !

The setting was just right for us to take it easy, with our shack providing us pool tables and dart boards to be involved in but then after a couple of Kings rather than getting the Bulls Eye you end up missing even the Bulls Bottom !! But then with good old friends its always great. No matter even if you are meeting after ages you still start off from where you left behind. And since one of the crew members was coming from the US and the other from the arms of his newly married wife all of 3 months (the marriage i mean !), for them taking time off for sure a big deal. But then our 3 days in Goa catching up on each others lives, laughing on old jokes and pulling the others leg on old college crushes was good fun. It sure was a welcome break for all of us !! n I throughly miss Kings Beer

I thought I had experienced it all in goa untill i heard about Goan Urak after I got back from buddy Mihir who runs a boutique hotel in Goa.. See now i got another reason  to go there again but hey !! whos complaining.. coz i’m always game for Go Goa !!