Chillax in Goa

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Whoa GOA!!!



Beaches for miles, the sand and the surf, tall drinks in coconut shells, laze, munch on goan fare, snore………………………snort, thump …ouch - wake up pal, smell the coffee--- woke up on a wet flight from Delhi to Goa last Thursday. The flight has a stop at Mumbai where you change planes and with the drippy rain finding its way everywhere, its not exactly what gets your senses tuned to a visit to the Mecca of beach country in India—my reco; get that early morning straight flight from Delhi into goa. Add to this the fact that I was going to Goa on work - two business off-sites back to back. What a waste of an opportunity! Whilst you visualize running like a wild bronco down the beach side, the reality I knew would be intense business discussions in a conference room with large glass windows facing the beach where, if lucky, you could probably just dip in your toe & pinch yourself for having tasted the goan beach and sea!



With so many thought trains cruising my brain lanes, we finally hit lower altitudes and the greenery of goa hit me. In the monsoons, the sea might look a bit gray and choppy but the rest of goa looks awesome - green foliage all over and the earth has a rich brown color (did you know they mine iron ore there?). So when you are up a few miles, the contrast of brown and green is a refreshing change from the gray cement/glass structures that you see when you hit a city. So with a gentle squeak of rubber on tarmac, we were in Goa. If you look around when you disembark, most of the folks have a spring in their steps…the newly weds almost entwined like creepers as they slither down the plane stairs or the Korean group that excitedly gesticulates at the ground staff or the bohemian Israeli couple that clutches on to their lonely planet guide like an artificial respirator- all of them have that “We are here, lets go there, do Goa” feverish look in their eyes.



Having got our tribe together (4 of us), we jumped into an Indigo (a made in India, by an Indian company for India and the rest of the world sedan!!) for the Taj Exotica—one of the new properties in south goa. It is set on a 53-acre campus bang on the beach….more of that a bit later.



The drive to the hotel is rather nice in this kind of weather. There is still something virgin and laid-back in goa that is so appealing. Take that narrow winding road up the hillock or take a peek at that quaint old house with nice pillared facades and large Portuguese / hacienda styled windows and doors. Almost all houses are no more than two-storey tall with red tiled roofs…if you are lucky you might just catch that old lady rocking on her very old chair sipping her coffee as you pass by - a nice picture of contentment and hopefully - peace. That to me is the essence of goa - chill, chill & relax - Complete Chillax!!



45 minutes ride later you get into the Taj. One word for this property - it is LARGE!! the second word - it is EMPTY at this time of the year. With rains lashing every 15 minutes and missing noisy revelers it’s a good get away with that someone special or if you just want to be by yourself - so all wannabe writers, thinkers, philosophers, honeymooners etc etc what say you…make a beeline for goa before monsoon bids adieu. It stimulates thinking and much more in this kind of weather.



The Taj property, as all Goa properties should be, is designed for leisure. So if you are there on business when time is a priority, it tends to be a BIG mis-match as your room might just be a good 500 meters away from the conference facility and given that you have to walk or wait for a golf cart - in the rains that’s not a great feeling. On a holiday I am sure that would be heaven. The room at the Taj is usual Taj - done nicely, nothing outstanding or refreshing, the food is just about right. The bar is above average and the evenings have some goan dancers who are rather nice & inclusive… above all and may be given the paucity of guests, we had two service personnel to every guest and that bordered between feeling nice and a feeling of invasion of privacy --- so there.



The second day we moved to the Park Hyatt that is a 15minute ride from the Taj. Though the entrance is kind of weird, the hotel has a distinct uniqueness. It has the usual hacienda construct but a look within that is Spartan and I think, classy. There’s a nice mix of cane, wood, tiles that add up to a cozy setting altogether. To offset this you have some lovely paintings of palm fronds everywhere. There is a lot of nice use of natural light and it reflects well off the walls….if I could afford it, I could call it home. The Park also has a plaza that is a cluster of eating joints all done again very well. In the center of the plaza courtyard sits a fountain. The restaurants offer a mixed cuisine of goan, south Indian, North, Italian (not sure about Oriental ) cuisine. One word for the food - Y-U-M. To wash it down you can pick some good Indian (Sula) wine from the cellar. I liked the place—the ambience, the music (Spanish / Portuguese / world / goan) the people - its kind of inclusive. The rooms at the Park reflect the same sense of simplicity and class. I liked the bedside lamps and the bathrooms. You have the option of a sunk tub or a shower in the open (it does open up to the skies) in your skin without a soul peeking in to your privacy - it can be kinky yet very nice. I got this really nice room that faced the beach and it felt like my own little fancy world - very cool and under different circumstances - very chillaxing..



On my last day, I did manage to crawl to the beach at 6 in the morning. The rain gods were merciful, there was a cool breeze, a tempting beach with a strict ‘No swimming in Monsoon” sign (Not so great) and guess what…35 local fishermen (I counted !!) hauling the nets in. Enough for me to hang around get the catch to the beach. 20 minutes later, there was a mound of quivering silver fish and woefully, a mound of plastic garbage ( dirty us !) A quick segregation of the fish mound threw up a longish sea snake (had never seen one so close) that was promptly disposed on the beach where it lay for some agonizing minutes gasping for air and in its bid to stay alive regurgitated a half dissolved fish (yucky but interesting)..soon some wise guy picked it by the tail and threw it deep in.



I had all the plans for a neat spa massage ( had some hours poring over the benefits of a Swedish aromatherapy vs. traditional Ayurvedic massage)..as I said when you are on work, leisure is out - so no therapy, a hurried lunch and a last minute dive had me into the aircraft on time. So that was Goa - Chillaxing in ambience but wholly frustrating given the agenda. Lesson learnt - avoid offsites in Goa - you come back sulking for wasting that opportunity.



But all’s not lost - my wife’s seen the pics & we might just land spending some time in goa doing that - naughty you - just CHIILLAXING !!

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