Saturday, October 26, 2013

Goa: Joy & Nirvana ...

Goa, the smallest state in India by area, is located in the western region of India known as the Konkan, and the Arabian sea forms its west coast. It is among the top growing states in India in terms of the GDP.

It was my first trip to the state of Goa and also amongst the most awaited ones. We reached Goa after an overnight journey of 12 hours by road from Bangalore. When I got up in the morning, the bus was taking turns somewhere in the lush green slopes of Dandeli forest range. It was raining mildly which made the complete surroundings majestic. Since the bus was air conditioned I could not get the feel of air but the misty weather was a  real treat to eyes in the early morning and I should say a perfect start to long awaited Goan vacation.

It took another 3-4 hours from there to reach Goa. Mostly all the buses drop at the Panjim bus stand which is also the capital of the state. Our resort was in Calangute area which was approximately 14 kms from Panjim. The roads were narrow and mostly empty. As the monsoons had just left, trees on both sides of the road were covered by a lot of mini climbers. It was so beautiful, I leaned backed on the seat and simply enjoyed the beauty around me. It took approximately 30 minutes to reach the resort and by then, we were already in love with Goa. 


It was a well decorated resort with plants all around the place. After some unpacking, I jumped into the swimming pool which was very relaxing after a long journey. Some coconut trees were standing tall at the sidelines of the pool and that made it look more beautiful. Rest of the group arrived after sometime and it was fun being on a holiday with your college friends although the freedom was partial as we are married now. After enjoying in the pool for 2-3 hours, we came out completely rejuvenated and were ready to explore Goa.
Goa is termed as the land of beaches and fortunately one was just 100 meters from our resort. With all the excitement we paced towards the beach & got the first glimpse of it in next few minutes. It was such a beautiful sight to watch - there was a long sea coast line separated by hillocks. We removed our slippers and kept meandering on the wet sand following the unwavering sea waves for a while. The touch of the repeating waves was so soothing. It was a divine experience to be expressed into words.
After a while, we started playing like kids on the beach. We also indulged in some water sports activities & spent some good time there. We did some negotiations with the hawker & went for Parasailing. He took us in small boat to somewhere in the middle of the sea and then shifted us to a bigger motor boat for sailing. They tied a rope to our body which was connected to the parachute from the other end & let the boat run on full speed. As the boat was speeding up, the parachute was taking one up in the sky. After the initial hesitation, I started enjoying the ride. The view was panoramic from the sky. To the extreme far end, it looked like the sea has formed a circular curvature. I wanted to be in the sky for long but it ended after few minutes.

By the time we came back, it was becoming dusky. The different color formations in the sky were mesmerizing. We adored this beauty and tried to capture some of those in our camera. This ended our first day in Goa - we were all rejuvenated & contented.

For more beautiful skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch Page..