# Goanetters-2004 meet in Goa. Dec 21, Tuesday. 12 noon to 2 pm. # # Clube Vasco, Near Municipal Garden, Panjim. Pass the word around! # ##########################################################################
http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?t=5837
North Goa
Just to let anyone know who is intending to visit this season to expect it to be full to overflowing. As well as becoming much busier each season, this winter is the exposition of 'St Francis Xaviers' relics, an event expected to attract more than 3 million visitors. St Francis is the patron saint of Goa, and his remains are displayed to the public every 10 years. He can be seen[!!] between Nov21st and Jan 2nd. Added to this is the International Film Festival which is 29 Nov - 9 Dec. So, be prepared for extortionate prices this season.
I stayed on Mandrem Beach, about a 30 minute walk along the beach south of Arambol. So quiet, peaceful, as the sun was setting I'd often only see five or six people on the whole beach on my long walks. If you take the ferry from Siolim you can get a bus to Mandrem on the other side and enjoy the beauty without all the people.
Calangute is a trap. Prices were not bad but too many people and too much traffic. We stayed at Alexes guest house colse to the beack for 300 rs for a double, real nice room and nice beds. Clean. Calangute would be my very last choice for quiet seclusion. Do yourself a favour and stay well clear of Calangute. It's dirty, smoggy, chaotic, horrible.
I went along with wife to Candolim which was much more peaceful and cleaner than Calangute.
October is 'early season'; the weather should be pretty good and everything will be green shortly after the monsoon, but most of the 'beach shacks' will not have opened for the season and I suspect it is a bit early for the 'big' parties. The most activity will likely be in the Calangute-Baga-Anjuna part of North Goa which has the most mid-range lodging, bars, and tourist facilities so is more of a year-round destination than the quieter places further north or south.
Panaji Friends have stayed at the Panjim Inn in the old part of the city and think highly of it, but I haven't stayed there myself. According to the LP "....by far the most charming place to stay in mid-range. It's a beautiful 300-year old mansion with a large 1st-floor veranda and leafy garden. All rooms have four-poster beds and colonial furniture. High-season rates are Rp720-990. Ask to see a few rooms as they are all different. Across the road, Panjim Posada is under the same management and is also a comfortable, well-furnished place. The rooms here, from Rp 675-900 are perhaps even more pleasant than in the main hotel."
Try a meal in Panaji - probably the best place for some good Goan food. South for the beaches and do try a 'feni' bar...
South Goa
For my money, I would base myself in somewhere like Majorda (plenty of accomodation in the village, it's north of Colva) and then bicycle to semi-secluded strips of beach. The beach here is long enough that you can find your own private bit most times if you have transport. You'll need to travel a bit if you don't want topay the often outrageous prices in the beach shacks for food.
Colva is for the quiet person who wants to avoid the crowds. We rented bicycles for 65 rs for the day and headed to the end of the beach, 14 km or something close to that, and lots of it unpopulated. Nice sand, warm.
Depending on what you are looking for, Colva is a nicer beach, less people, less touristy, and more laid back - by far - than Calangute. We stayed at a place called Vailannkanna Guest house for 275 rs for a double. The room was adequate, staff great, but the beds were too hard. Sukhsagar Beach Resort? Tel 0832-2788 887, 2788 888
When you reach Margao, the "regular" exit from the station (Platform 1) will lead you to an area where taxis wait. There is even a "prepaid" booth there. Don't use it, or the taxis on that side! The prices are all artificially elevated through a taxi mafia. You will pay a minimum of Rs50 just to go half a kilometre, and they won't bargain to a more realistic price. Instead, cross over the lines (pedestrian footbridge) to Station Road. There you will find motorbike taxis and autorickshaws whose drivers are more open to bargaining (if it's very late, you might have to walk past the new residential/shopping unit to find a vehicle, but no more than ten minutes). Buses out to the beaches stop running after around nine in the evening, so taxis are the only way. I think it should be about Rs15 - 20 to town, (from the 'local' exit) if i could get them down to Rs30, i was more than happy with that, the prices they wanted for beach resorts were laughable.
I enjoyed Benaulim a lot. The positive thing for me was that it's quite central so you can hop on a bus for 1 and a half hours either direction and head just about anywhere in Goa. Secondly the beach there is in total about 10 km long at least so it makes for a nice tour with the mtb. Along the beach, Furtado's beach hotel was nice compared to what people told me about other hotels on that stretch.
Seagull Resorts in Betul, 17 km from Margao on the road to Agonda. Situated on the banks of the river Sal, it is peaceful and with the jetty nearby (it is at the confluence of the river) good, fresh fish is available. Its nine rooms are available for just Rs 200 each. They specialise in sea food and a plate of mussels (15 pieces) costs only Rs 40. A bit up-market is Betul Beach Resort, a three-star hotel owned by Ashok Rajyadaksha which has 32 rooms, the only snag is that only his Indian restaurant is open. His a/c rooms are Rs 700, delux, non-a/c Rs 600 and non-a/c Rs 450. River Sal is another hotel nearby but recently the service has been rather erratic.
Agonda is still pretty relaxed and there are a whole string of deserted beaches both north and south of Palolem. Hire a push bike or scooter and explore, you will find all the solitude you require! My favourite in South Goa must be Agonda Beach! Oh, it's so beautiful! Nothing like I had never imagined in my whole life, to be honest!
The food in Palolem is just amazing with something for everyone from pizzas to local fish curry rice!!
The area North South and East of Palolem is just great with loads of good day trips out on the bike, which you can hire easily for around 300 rps a day!! Agonda North of Palolem is quieter than Palolem but I feel it won't be long before it catches up but for now it's a peacful alternative.
Palolem: I first went 7 years ago, and it was indeed quiet and laid back, with maybe 4 or 5 shacks on the beach. When we went 18 months ago the beach had roughly 100 shacks and was pretty packed all day and night. The road up to the beach is now wall to wall restaurants and Kashmiris. I have never seen a place in India go downhill so fast.
We paid for a taxi to take us on a 2 hour ride to Palolem and wife and i loved it. Stayed in house on stilts on the beach for about 3 english pounds between us, it was unreal, would definately go back. Enjoy. I really regretted not staying in one of the beach huts on Palolem beach. Only went there for a day trip, but I absolutely loved it!
Palolem has become a beach bummers' slum, even if the beach remains attractive.
I would recommend Patnem or Colomb beaches as they offer a break from the massed ranks of tourist who now invade Palolem every year. But a 10 minute walk will get you into Palolem should you so wish! Personally I like Colomb as it nestles in a rocky cove between the more traditional sandy beaches of Palolem and Patnem. The accommodation is cheaper than Palolem and with internet and a few beach shacks you can live quite nicely here with forays into Palolem..
