The second time, oh, that was another trip altogether. A carefree, unplanned, aimless trip. With a..erm..the chappie I eventually married. Maybe it was that novelty, or that quirky supermarket in Anjuna, or the really cheap but good rooms, or maybe it was love... Goa etched itself into my mind. I remember it as if it was yesterday... getting lost as we rode around in the Activa and not really worrying about it. Joking about how everyone talks about that one little cheap shack where they had the best fish curry of their lives, but hoping we could find one of our own. That distinct cool nip in the air as the road rose into slightly higher ground. Hot afternoons neutralized by the cool breeze and chilled beer and great fish.
We couldn't get lunch around 3 at Vagator, because everyone was asleep. Siesta time, we were told. Charming, I thought. But some kind souls took pity on us and served us their left over fish curry in the veranda-cum-cafe of their home.
I returned to Goa, with another gang of girls, desperately trying to recapture the magic. But women are another kind of travel company altogether. Yes, there was the free booze at Tito's. And we had the craziest time dancing away, while being watched by lonely men, but the bouncers were comfortingly close and we really couldn't care less. But I've realized since then (to my complete shock), that traveling in a mixed group or with a group of men is when I've had the best times.
I returned to Goa, with another gang of girls, desperately trying to recapture the magic. But women are another kind of travel company altogether. Yes, there was the free booze at Tito's. And we had the craziest time dancing away, while being watched by lonely men, but the bouncers were comfortingly close and we really couldn't care less. But I've realized since then (to my complete shock), that traveling in a mixed group or with a group of men is when I've had the best times.
No craggy brown peaks, just reams of undulating green. Green life sprouting everywhere, even the walls have plants with full-sized leaves growing on them. And there's beautiful bright green moss coating the orange laterite everywhere.Even the seaside sported it's own variation of green seaweed.
And finally, in August is when we discovered OUR little shack with cheap fresh fish. Unluckily for us, they charged us double of what they were charging the taxi guy at the adjacent table. But that king fish and mackerel fry was the freshest I've had outside of my seaside hometown. And for someone living in fish-deprived Bangalore, that was my Alleluia moment.
Goa will always bring images of fresh butter garlic squid, strong cocktails, afternoons so hot and humid you can feel it weighing down on your brain, afternoons just right for lazing in a shack with beer and fish, cool evenings by the beach and long, never-ending rides on an Activa.
