Playing With Pointers

This post is admittedly a little (okay, a lot) late but I had to put it up nevertheless. This December three of my friends, Pratyush (Pondy, PP), Ashutosh and Anurag (Annu, Juice) went to Goa for about seven days.  Anurag had a neat Club Mahindra thing so we got free 5 star accommodation. One always learns from experience and so for people who plan to go to Goa in the near future, here are a list of pointers.

1. If you have a girlfriend, try to get her to come. No kidding, there are plenty of things for couples to do in Goa (other than the obvious) and you are sure to have a good time.
2. Rent bikes on the first day. There are people in Goa who will rent you bikes (geared or non-geared vehicles at your choice) at affordable rates. We rented two Honda Dios from a guy named Steve for 300 INR a day. Don’t  underestimate the kind of fun you will have just riding around drunk on empty roads, especially if you are an all guys group (like us).
3. Ethanol. Booze is cheap in Goa but make sure you don’t end up drinking Kingfisher all day – try native stuff as much as you can. Almost every beach in Goa has a bar and there is really nothing like having a Goan sunset sitting on a beach in Goa during sunset. Here are two specific places you might want to check out.
   1. Tito’s – Due to certain circumstances we could not check this one out but everyone we know who’ve been to Goa swear by Tito’s. You might want to pay them a visit
   2. Micky’s – One of the smaller places where you can kick back and enjoy. These guys have wonderful live music and an awesome crowd. While I found the waiters a bit too busy, you’ll, in general, be enjoying yourself too much to notice.
4. Residence. We spent our first night in an awesome place called the Varca Beach Resort. Though we did not shell out a penny, rates generally range about 35k INR a night at around the time we stayed there. Needless to say the place was amazing, with swimming pools all over and a proper spa + gym. For the other six days we were put up in the Jasmine resort, which, too was great. I found it slightly dull but I guess I was spoilt by Varca.
5. Buying Stuff. Shopping may be a concern if you have your better half with you, which was not the case with us. I did, however, drop down to Newtons and pick up a bottle of El Charrow Tequila, a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label, a can of Twinings coffee and a bag of Nilgiri Tea. As mentioned, booze is cheap in Goa and one must make the most of it.
6. Water Sports Frankly, this was a little disappointing; not as exciting as one would imagine.