For our second weekend in India, Nick and I decided to hop on a plane down to Goa. We woke up early Saturday morning and boarded at 6:30 AM flight. By 8:30 we were eating breakfast at our Hotel in Calangute.
We spent our first day in Goa exploring the beaches and towns of Calangute and Baga Beach. Both of these towns are known for their beaches during the day and their parties at night. However, this being Monsoon season, they were really more like sleepy beach towns. The beaches were largely deserted with the exception of an occasional woman selling jewelry. One of these women approached us and indicated that she could see me from miles away due to my white skin (apparently my Hawaiian tan has faded).
It was so hot and sunny that it was surprising that it was still monsoon season. That was until the rain came out of nowhere and came down in a torrential downpour. Fortunately, it only lasted 20 minutes, and 5 minutes after that everything was dry again.
On Sunday we decided to take South Goa tour. It was really less of a tour than a driver that took us on a pre-defined circuit of tourist traps with an occasional point of interest thrown in. We started at a museum that housed rather poorly painted portraits of all the Portuguese Governors of Goa. Next we hit up a temple of unspecified importance before heading to a spice plantation. This was the most interesting part of the day (and had we known that at the time we might have skipped the rest of the tour). We were given a tour of the grounds and then fed a buffet lunch. Afterwards we had the option to go on an elephant ride. I expected that the ride would take us through the grounds of the plantation, but instead we just circled the parking lot. I felt a bit ripped off but it was the first time I had an opportunity to pet and elephant so I was still happy.
With the exception of stopping at a beach in South Goa, (where we learned that swim suits are rare and most people swim fully clothed), the rest of the tour was rather disappointing and not even worth describing.
It was so hot and sunny that it was surprising that it was still monsoon season. That was until the rain came out of nowhere and came down in a torrential downpour. Fortunately, it only lasted 20 minutes, and 5 minutes after that everything was dry again.
On Sunday we decided to take South Goa tour. It was really less of a tour than a driver that took us on a pre-defined circuit of tourist traps with an occasional point of interest thrown in. We started at a museum that housed rather poorly painted portraits of all the Portuguese Governors of Goa. Next we hit up a temple of unspecified importance before heading to a spice plantation. This was the most interesting part of the day (and had we known that at the time we might have skipped the rest of the tour). We were given a tour of the grounds and then fed a buffet lunch. Afterwards we had the option to go on an elephant ride. I expected that the ride would take us through the grounds of the plantation, but instead we just circled the parking lot. I felt a bit ripped off but it was the first time I had an opportunity to pet and elephant so I was still happy.With the exception of stopping at a beach in South Goa, (where we learned that swim suits are rare and most people swim fully clothed), the rest of the tour was rather disappointing and not even worth describing.
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