Chilling in Goa

Goa which is a state in India is commonly defined in two different areas separated by the airport. North Goa is a busy place, packed with tourists during peak season, with plenty of options for restaurants, bars and clubs.  South is quite the opposite, much quieter and less developed.

Zalor Beach, South Goa

In 2008 I stayed in North Goa, on this occasion I decided to stay in the south for 2 nights and then go back up north for 3 nights before travelling up to Mumbai to catch the start of the T20 cricket world cup.

Not knowing too much about South Goa I picked the beach I was to stay near by finding a good hotel. What a find it was. The Lazy Frog in the village of Carmona, had a user rating of 9.7 on Booking.com and was priced nicely at just £11 per night. It wasn't directly on the beach but was easily walk-able.

Lazing about at the Lazy Frog

The hotel was absolutely amazing, the hosts were extremely friendly and often I would lose an hour chatting about life whilst sheltering from the sun under a coconut tree.

Zalor Beach

Zalor beach was lovely, vast expanses of fine clean sand in both directions as far as the eye could see. The beach was fringed with coconut trees making it a lovely setting. Very few people were on the beach, one day I walked for over an hour south and only saw 3 people (5 if you include lifeguards).

The beach was never too crowded

The main Zalor beach had handfuls of tourists which just about kept the few beach shacks in trade. Most days I would go down the beach and walk either North or South for an hour or 2 until I found some civilisation, grab myself a bite to eat and a large Kingfisher beer (£0.80) and catch the public bus back to my village.

Handful of tourists and a couple of cows made up Cavelossim Beach

Goa is on the west coast of India so this provides great sunsets over the Arabian Sea. Those who have followed my blogs will know I do love a good sunset.

Sunset over the Arabian Sea

Zalar beach at sunset

Sunset through the coconut trees

The area was great for bird watching, and no I'm not talking about the Russian girls on the beach! Walking to the beach I would regularly see Kingfishers, Eagles and loads of beautifully coloured birds flying about. On the walk to and from the beach you would see water buffalo's grazing in the field or cooling down in the pond.

Life was all done at a relaxing pace and soon you adjusted to the slow way of life. Each day I extended my stay and ended up not going to North Goa.

My lack of desire to move on was not helped by a case of Delhi Belly, or more accurately Goa Guts. It was a struggle to move out of my room one day, the next couple I didn't go far.  I had a walk down by the river one day and another I went into Margao to arrange transport to Mumbai. I plumped for an overnight bus to Mumbai for just over £10, hoping that my tummy would behave throughout the journey as I doubted there would be a toilet on board, and even if there was it might not have been a good one.

Margao Municipal Gardens

Margao Municipal Gardens

The bus had sleeper beds and when asked if I wanted upper or lower I thought that the upper deck would provide nice views of the Goan coastline at sunset and a nice view of Mumbai the next morning. I didn't realise that upper was the top bunk around 3ft from the roof, so sitting up wasn't an option. The top deck also didn't have a protective rail to prevent you from rolling out during the night. It had a support bar which was half way along the bus. During the night the bus traveled at great speed and when it hit a mountainous region the bus slammed into corners, at times I woke hanging off the bed staring at the ground clinging onto the curtains to stop me falling.

Selfie with my bus to Mumbai

Bed on the bus for the night

The 'highlight' of the journey was a little way in when we stopped to get some more passengers and a bulky Russian lad sprinted off the bus for 3 cans from the wine shop. 

The bus started to pull away his girlfriend started going crackers with the driver, then I saw him legging it (all the while the bus was still going about 5mph) he tripped over a massive rock and went flying superman style, with his cans tucked under his arm, he was like a rugby player scoring a try. 

His sandals went off in different directions and he lost a can. Still the bus kept going, he scrambled to his feet, hobbled and dived in through the open door. He was covered in dust with blood starting to seep through both elbows, a forearm, one leg and the tops of both feet, and his toe had taken a massive hit. 

His mother (I presume) had a first aid kit and when we stopped a couple of hours later he was like a mummy, everything was bandaged and he was tip-toeing in his mothers shoes (which were half the size of his feet) to the toilet, which was flooded. When he came back I asked him if he was OK to which he replied, "Of course, I managed to save 2 beers". Neither him or surprisingly his pride were seriously hurt - the things these lads do for a Kingfisher.

The bus arrived a little late on the morning in Mumbai where the purpose was to watch some T20 Cricket World Cup.