Goa = The Sun, The Sand & The Sea (4)

The warm sun and a cool breeze greeted us as we set out for our day of sightseeing of a few gems of Goa.

Big Foot
We started our day with a visit to “Big Foot”. The project is spread over a nine acre hillock in South Goa, and represents an effort to recreate the “Old Goa”. As you walk through the “village” you are escorted by various guides who give you an insight to the models that are built and the life that the ancestors of Goa lived.

As we entered a cave like structure we were met by one more guide who proceeded to tell us about the “Legend of the Big Foot”. Legend has it that there was a wealthy landowner by the name of Mahadar always helped the poor. His greedy neighbours kept on asking him for help till one day they fleeced him of all his possessions. Soon after he lost his wife, and he had to make do with what he got. The Gods seeing this good faith asked him for a boon wherein he asked for a small place to stand and pray. He was given a hot rock where he stood on one foot and prayed. Seeing his devotion the Gods took Him to heaven leaving his foot print behind.

Another attraction was the 14m x 5m laterite sculpture of Saint Mirabai which is also in the Limca Book of Records as the longest laterite sculpture in India. This sculpture was carved by Maendra Alvares of Goa in just 30 days!!



Did you know?
That most houses in Goa especially the older ones have a “Rooster” on their roof? And in addition to this they may also have another smaller statue of a man in a uniform near their gate or at the porch of the house? Do you know the significance of these objects?

The Rooster is the National Bird of Portugal and as most of the ancestors of Goa were Portuguese; their houses all had the statue of the Rooster on the roof of their houses. The smaller statue of the man in uniform signified that one of the members of the family were in the Armed Forces.

Goa = The Sun, The Sand & The Sea (3)

Sunday morning we decided to have our breakfast at the much spoken about eatery – The Infantaria. The quaint little eatery drew us instantly and we made our way to a table and sat down to start our day with good food. We had a scrumptious breakfast of a mushroom - cheese – 3 egg omlette with toast with French toast and Strawberry milkshakes – though the milkshakes were not too good :(

After a day spent on the beach and lazing around, in the evening we made our way to the Mandovi River for our very first Ferry cruise/ride. As we made our way to the Ferry boat we heard music being played and our excitement grew with every step that we took to the top of the ferry. Upon being seated, we looked around and our eyes glinted with the lights all around us.

Soon our host started the show and we sat enthralled as dancers swayed to different kinds and types of music. As the show took a break, a huge boat went past us – the Casino Royale! It was beautiful! My interest rose to new high and I got tempted to go onto the Casino Royale but the same got squashed immediately when I heard that the cost of getting onto the boat was Rs. 4,000/- per head! Though I was disappointed, I made up my mind that one day I will go onto the boat and try my luck at the casino! :) Anyone listening? ;)

The ferry ride lasted an hour which sped by so fast that we were left checking our watches to see if the hour had really passed! The growling in our stomachs reminded us that it was time for dinner and we made our way to eat at an open air restaurant – The Fisherman’s Cove. Before we got to the restaurant we passed a shop called as “Original Fakes” – the name was interesting and their wares were more that a little interesting! They were amazing! This small shop sold bags – nothing interesting about that you may say, but if you walked out with a “Jimmy Choo” bag @ just Rs. 1,200/- wouldn’t that get your attention?? And it definitely got ours! Our stomachs were put on hold for the moment and we went a little berserk inside, ending up with 6 bags between the 3 of us! :)

With our shopping pangs satisfied it was now time to attend to our hunger pangs and attend we did – with a seafood platter and sautéed squids! A perfect end to a perfect day!

Goa = The Sun, The Sand & The Sea (2)

Most of you may have seen the stalls at Fashion Street, Mumbai – now imagine about at least 200-250 (or more!) of these stalls spread out over a huge piece of land, add to it music, lights, drinks and food, mix them all together and you get one of the most electrifying and amazing Night Markets at Goa – the Saturday Night Market at Arpora which goes on from 7.00 p.m. to 2.00 a.m.

We reached the venue around 8.30 p.m. on Saturday night and as we trudged down from the small hill on which we parked our car our eyes and ears started taking in the sights and sounds around us. Music swarmed all around us and we were engulfed in the beats being belted out. On arriving to the source of the music I discovered that there were performers singing and playing instruments on a stage, enthralling the audience who sat on plastic chairs with beers in their hands.

The market was swarming with people of all ages, colours, shapes and sizes. There were foreigners walking around us either fully clothed or just clothed ;)! The atmosphere had a buzz in it and made us dizzy with delight at experiencing something different!

Most of the stalls were manned and owned by Indians but there were a quite a few that were manned and owned by foreigners too. I thought that being an Indian I could get a better chance at bargaining but NO! I was wrong… I got no bargains at all! :( Then as I passed one of the stalls the lady there mistook me for a foreigner and started to sell her wares to me when I realised I could get away with some bargaining… and I definitely did!! :) So, I started bargaining and getting amazing discounts on some payals and bags and a table runner just by passing off as a “phirangi”!! Now that was an experience I will never forget!
We left the market around 11.00 p.m. as the place become more and more crowded with arms full of shopping and satisfied grins on our faces! ;)

Goa = The Sun, The Sand & The Sea

Q. Who in their right minds would book a 5.20 flight to Goa on a Saturday morning??? Ans: Me of course! ;-)

Yes, I took off from amchi Mumbai at 5.20 a.m. last Saturday to start my long weekend in Goa with my two other girlfriends. Over the next few posts I will take you with me on my holiday.

We landed after about an hour and were met by our resort taxi driver. The weather that greeted us was cool with a slight nip in the air. As we made our way to our resort, the fresh cool breeze caressed our faces as the sunlight played on the leaves of the trees that sped past our car window.

After a quick nap, bath and breakfast we headed out to the beach. As we reached the warm sand we suddenly attracted all the possible masseurs that were around – they each cam up to us asking “You want massage madam? Good massage? You want sun bathing madam? Sit here madam” pointing to beach chairs. Getting tempted we ventured to get our bodies massaged by the lady masseurs. And the feeling was divine!!! :) :) While we enjoyed our massages we were witness to a few strange sights too… like old foreigner men walking around only in the smallest swimming trunks that they possessed with all their belly tyres jiggling as they walked up and down the beach! In addition to them there were ladies of all ages and sizes in their bikinis sunbathing – some without their bikini tops!

For lunch we headed out to Baga to eat at Britto’s where “The Catch of the Day” was displayed and we indulged ourselves with the king prawns and squids!





As I enjoyed my food and my beer my eyes came to rest on the Ink Tattoo salon and I got drawn to it. My interest got further aroused when I discovered that I could get a temporary tattoo done and thus was born “Dolphi – The Dolphin” ;)

We are 2!!!

Yes!! My blog and I have completed 2 marvelous years on the internet and I have enjoyed each and every letter, word and phase that I have written.

The last year saw me become more active on the social networking front and getting more exposure for my blog. Though at times I was confronted by “blogger’s block” I managed to come back and write at least one post each month.

My first year of blogging was full of new surprises and comparatively my second year of blogging has been more of discovering myself through my writing and the feedback received by all my friends and readers.

As I started my second year I had had apprehensions if I would make it to the start of a third year and what do you know – here I am on the threshold of my third year of blogging!!!

I would like to thank all my friends and readers who edged me on to write and share my experiences through my blog posts (sounds like an Oscar speech! ;) hehe). So, without sounding too dramatic, let me end by saying….

Keep coming back and reading my blog!!! :)