INDIA. What a wild but beautiful country you are. Actually, I can’t speak on India as a whole- since I’ve only visited Goa and Chennai…. two very different places, but only a segment of India itself. I’ve been so keen to sit and write about my recent travels to India & Sri Lanka, but I’ve been struggling on where the hell to start… there’s SO much I want to cover on each country. Let’s start from the beginning shall we?
T H E P L A N .
I’ll introduce my travel trip to you, since, this was a little under the radar on my blog… I hadn’t spoke about my travel plans much on here before leaving, so I best inform you all now! Me & Jack wanted to start in Goa. It was the cheapest to fly in to, as we got our flight for only £260 one way with Jet Airways. (Though, there are some fabulous return deals to Goa I’ve seen recently on SkyScanner for £330!). Now, we didn’t have much of a plan when it came to where we were going to go in Goa. I had been doing a lot of research on where and where not to go.
Here’s what I found from searching online, and actually going to these places:
The North – Go if you like to party.
The South – Go if you like to chill.
But what is north Goa? What areas are in the south?
I know right, it sounds odd that Goa is seperated in to halves… but I believe this is because of the shape of Goa. It’s a bit like a… cucumber. It’s pretty simple to identify what’s north and south. Any where south of Dabolim (International) Airport is considered south, then north of the airport is considered north. (I’ll be talking more in depth about where and where not to go in Goa in a separate post!) So, we started in the north. Me and Jack don’t like to party that much really, but we decided to check it out any way. My friend Betsy was up and around that way, so I thought it would be a great way to start our time in Goa. The areas we visited in the north were: Anjuna, Arambol & Baga (for one gross night).
A N J U N A
From the airport we got ourselves a cab share to Anjuna, which turned out to be some crazy ass ride with Knightrider. (It’s ok, we turned up alive, which is a good start). The airport arrivals lounge is pretty small, you’ll see a private taxi stand within the airport which I recommend using, unless you want to try and haggle with a driver outside the airport… but check the prices that are stated on the board inside for a rate guide. Anjuna, Anjuna, Anjuna. This part of Goa is particularly known for parties, though we didn’t see or hear many whilst we were there for 3 days. There are some popular places on the beach that host beach parties though (follow the lights at night and I’m sure you will find them).
As mentioned earlier, we didn’t stay here for too long at all. Our guest house was really expensive since we had just arrived a day after New Years. We just wanted to put the feelers out for our first few days in Goa. So, we got stuck in checking out what Anjuna had to offer. The beach is quite nice, but the main attraction besides partying, is the weekly flea market. I love me a good flea market I do, and this one just kept giving and giving. It was HUGE! This is held in Anjuna once or twice a week. It’s so fabulous, I really recommend you checking this place out. I really regret not buying any thing…. YES you heard me right…. A.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. Seeing as this was the first few days of our trip, I didn’t want to swamp my bag with shopping so soon. The place we were staying at was only a 3 minute walk from the flea market which was a result.
There’s some great food in Anjuna. Throughout our trip we used TripAdvisor for some amazing recommendations around us. India is a dream spot for veggies and vegans. I absolutely LOVED every dish I tried out there. I recommend finding a place to eat that’s not on the beach, unless you want to be paying that bit extra for the view. TOP TIP: Eat either before or after sundown…. you will be consumed by mozzies if not. They come out to play just as the sun sets… it’s painful to try and eat a meal whilst twitching every 2 seconds to shake the mozzies away.
You can catch a stunning sunset at the end of the beach in Anjuna. I really recommend that you head around the rocks (near by to Curlies bar) and chill there to watch the sunset. It’s stunning, and pretty quiet too.
A N J U N A O V E R V I E W
Where we stayed: Pebbles Guest House.
How we got around: Foot.
Anjuna Highlight: The Flea Market
Annoyance?: The amount of persistent sellers on the beach
Would I go back?: Just for the shopping!
Are you planning on visiting Goa soon?
I’ll be writing more posts on my time in Goa, I just wanted to get the ball rolling with my first introduction post! Please do let me know of any questions you may have.
