Heading in the wind's direction is a stubbornly powerful romantic idea. Harsh reality, somehow, still struggles to stifle the joy of unexpected sights. Even as it beckons for us to make detailed plans -- or at least cut them down to be easily achievable.
Going to Goa, an Indian state famous for soothing coastal life, cemented this feeling. My siblings and I came with an eye for relaxation. Admittedly, my eyes tend to reach for excitement, exploration. Taking the trip a little slower is a skill I had come here to develop.
5 o'clock in the morning came early, bringing with it a flight. For some reason, the Mumbai airport was especially busy with many lines. Queues formed at strange places, like some additional verification checkpoints. We were happy to make it to our flight in one piece and take off.
As you can see, a brilliant sunrise was incredibly timed with our decently long drive to the hotel. Hotel sent a black car with that new car smell and a fancy feeling. There were, unfortunately, a few billboards that obstructed my sight. Photography was a little harder on this way as a result. Upon arrival at 7 am or so, the hotel room provided a venue for catching up on sleep. At some point, I wanted to move, and headed to breakfast. This concept of "time at the hotel" is a little foreign to me. Had to rework my brain's plasticity to make some peace.
A reward came to me in the form of a coastal viewing. The Colva Beach below my soles, lined with boats. A mere half kilometer from the hotel, which was doable even for my legs. The route was not exactly severe given that we just followed a straight road. A powerfully suspicious smell filled our nostrils -- it was drying fish.
Once there, I noticed the sand was thin, hardy yet complemented by ships off and on the shore. Far from the platonic ideal, but there is a charm to the Colva Beach. Surprisingly, the air surrounding us was drier than expected, despite the waters abound. Sweat gently beaded on my body, under the direct sunlight, as we returned.
Encountering the fish again on our return gave my big sis and I a bit of
a craving for fish. Just before the hotel, a few cows and a few white
birds occupied the same pasture within a close proximity. Little sis and
I exchanged our verbal jousts of "aw, it's your friends!" (And they are friends!)
There are certain stereotypes associated with staying at beach resorts. For example, relaxing by the pool outdoors. In honor of this relaxation thing....I brought a book to read. The Nobel Prize recipient The Bridge on the Drina, capturing Bosnia across 4 centuries. I had previously put the book down in part 1, but now as returning. Surprisingly, my reading 'neurons' seemed to fire. What helped me was listening to Glenn Gould's daring performance of Bach's infamously tricky Goldberg Variations.
A powerful state of calm was required for me to pull this off. Trust me. Getting in the pool and swimming (more half-floating in my case) is something I had not done in a while. It felt surprisingly nice to disconnect from the land momentarily.
Actually, I must confess that my planning mind got to work during our first rest. My brain just can't quit it!! Deferring to our mutual goal of "keeping things chill", I crafted a plan for us to venture forth for a few hours in the evening. With the hotel's help, we hired a driver for 40 km/4 hours (whichever came first).
First destination was Benaulim Beach. We actually reached the town first, granting sights of beautiful, bold colored buildings. A Goan specialty available to us even without traveling to the capital of Panaji! Palm trees are admittedly common in India. Still, a unique vibe still permeated this area.
As for why Benaulim? Well, a road jam made this excursion clear: a chance to see Carnival, a festival inspired by the Portuguese tradition, without traveling to Panaij (where the floats were concentrated today). All thanks to a kind hotel staff from the area giving us good advice.
This festival commemorates the start of Lent soon, at which point much of Goa would quiet down. All this to say...we had by pure coincidence arrived at an excellent time to be in Goa!
Though I only glimpsed a little, this was a delightful experience. Expressive floats against the eye-grabbing buildings. Goa came to life here, a land of color. Compared to nothing at all, surely this was a strong improvement. Cheerful music against the color explosions made for a deeply immersive ten minutes.
The adventurer in me feels ecstatic, though my internal completionist insisted on more. Only ten minutes? Can we call that enough? This completionist can only be reasoned with so much. However, within context of our vacation, this spice deepened the flavor.
A tune called "Let's Get Lost" by Carly Rae Jepsen extols those romantic ideals of travel I mentioned earlier. That willingness to push boundaries, even if you get confused about your route. In this case, a chance to see the piercing monochrome homes. Mickey's, a Goan restaurant that served as our destination, might have been impossible to reach. To our knowledge, it sits on Betalbatim Beach, the place we aimed for.
We spent 15 minutes trying to find the restaurant, getting uncertain, and moving on. After correcting the driver a few times, I let the drive play out. This situation was almost like Waiting for Godot, with that pinch of existential angst. Still, it gave us a surprising familiarity with our immediate area.
After some time, we pass by Martin's Corner, the other restaurant my older sister had pointed out. A little further and wound up at Gonsua Betalbatim Beach, not Betalbatim. Fortunately, Gonsua Beach featured the silky smooth sand expected of a place, and a lovely sunset. Truly a remarkable cap on the earlier arresting sunrise.
After maybe fifteen minutes, we meandered back to the car. Turns out, driver learned from his boss that Mickey's was in fact totally closed. No wonder, we had so much difficulty.
Martin's Corner became our dinner spot. Service was a little slow; even getting in took some waiting, not to mention receiving the menu. Perhaps that fit the vibes rather well. My meal choice proved to be easy -- getting fish after seeing it near Colva Beach! Fish curry in the style of Goa, spicy with soothing coconut and tomato. Plenty of rice came with the meal. Fresh orange juice in a tall glass too. Needless to say, I dug in.
After the main portion finished, I filled up with curry and rice. A few
fries and some fried rice were donated to me by my sisters. All for the
greater good of clearing up plates. Once done, big sis made the executive decision for us to head back. We were rounding hour 3, which was probably good enough. This evening had certainly boosted our Goan adventure.
Trek over, I maintained my gym routine, followed by collapsing asleep. Being up from 2:45 AM takes its toll on someone!
Our second and final day was meant to be uneventful. Strictly speaking, it was pretty low-key, chill. Ate the usual breakfast but tried the South Indian dishes of idli (rice cake) and dosa (akin to a crepe). Trying dosa with sambar (a dipping sauce) was flavorful. Wish that I'd had the idli with that sauce too.
After food, my siblings and I headed to the pool for one more lie-down under Goan glare. Okay, in the shade honestly. Plenty of light for me to read Drina and listen, again, to some classical music. My bluetooth earphones had somehow stopped working -- so I played Ravel out loud on my phone. Somehow, no one noticed enough to comment.
There was one other delight in the pool area; seeing crows and other fliers congregate. A crow hung out on the drinks bar, and this small bird came close to the ground. Close enough for a photo.
With a ~1 hr drive to the airport, we finished our fun and said goodbye to bovine and avian friends. One more time in the fancy hotel car. Magically, our return route was markedly different. This alleviated my fears of the same drive and same sights from yesterday.
Goan greenery matched with striking architecture awaited us. Rising above the highway(?) was a remarkable dome structure that caught my attention immediately.
Angling for another shot of the dome required a hasty photograph. Blurry cow against the dome created an interesting expression.
We even passed by sky-dominating hills, a cricket match in progress on side of the road, and car dealerships. For me, the most remarkable sight was a mosque, given how Goa is predominantly Christian. Interestingly, the style fits the dominant mosque style, rather than the confident colors of Goan towns. White also seemed favored for the churches too!
Our first airport run had been mildly chaotic, but surely
this airport would play nicely. We arrived with time to spare. Yet really only
20 minutes of free time, waiting for our plane. You are maybe wondering why.
Dabolim airport, unlike Mumbai airport, is a defense airport and not as busy in
theory. However, the airport is bizarre in its layout with security on the
second floor. Even weirder is that I was split up from my siblings AND from my
luggage. A little past 2 PM, an hour before takeoff, I was reunited first with
my items and then with my siblings. With this step finished, we headed to the
gate, and waited patiently. Our plans to relax at the traveler's lounge were
unfortunately defeated by the airport's ineffective organization.
Flight proper was smooth, uneventful minus a touch of turbulence. This gave me
time to stop and reflect, do some writing, and realize we are already back.
After, we used our time-honed strategy of prepaid taxi to return back to the
homebase. Somehow, on this trip, we managed to bridge levity with high spirits,
having seen more of this world.
Deep down inside, I wish we had visited that famous waterfall two hours away,
or the churches dotting Old Goa. There is, however, only so much time in a day
and in a trip. Goa helped me improve at finding delightful small nuances that
make a trip worthwhile.
Thank you to Goa, a land of color.
No comments:
Post a Comment