We were a group of 7 who wanted to explore the real taste of westernised India. To give a brief about the 7, I will name them as ABCXYZ and me. X is a friend of mine. CXYZ are colleagues. A is a relative of C. A and B are close friends. C is the care taker of A and B, since they both are kids. Z is also a kid who has given the number of XY to contact in case of any emergency.
Bulb1:
The trip started with 4 of us, me XYZ, because at 12am C informed X that ABC are out of the trip. We tried seriously with heart and soul to cancel the hotel booking at 3 am in the morning in the airport. No wonder no one picked up the call.
Bulb 2:
With serious discussion on table about the accommodation we had a costly coffee of 400 rupees which made us forget that we were late to board the flight. By the time we realised, we heard the final call. Before we reached the gate the boarding was already closed. Z approached the crew but she denied the proposal. XY somehow convinced the crew and boarded the flight. To our surprise ABC were in the flight. No more confusions through alphabets because we all met in the Goa arrival and till we reach back to Chennai we were together in all ups and downs..
Bulb 3:
We were not aware that a shock was eagerly waiting for us in Goa. We booked prepaid airport taxi for 1100 and reached the accommodation which was supposed to be 3 mins walk from the breath-taking beach but we found that the information given by the agent was not even nearer to the reality. It's 7 kms from the beach. OMG. Still we checked in the same hotel with the hope that we will save atleast the initial payment. But they treated us like unwelcomed guest. We walked away from the hotel in search of accommodation near the beach. We used technology to book the hotel through OYO. But still we had a doubt what if that hotel is also not good. So we decided to go there directly and make the payment. To go there, but how!!!
Bulb 4:
We were 7 so we needed a 7 seater. Ertiga or Innova or a Jeep would do. We went during off season so price should be little lesser than the usual. But seeing our face, they quoted us 1000 rupees more than the usual. We told we are only 5 of us, meanwhile we asked those two kids to walk a few metres away from us. We negotiated for swift instead of Jeep to our affordable reasonable price, but then he made another check that we can hire only if it's for a min of 2 days. Again renegotiated for a day with little high price than initially agreed charge. We moved towards Calangute where we booked the Oyo hotel.
Bulb 5:
Again there was a shock. The hotel which we blocked through OYO didn't have a parking. Tried to park nearby but it took more than half an hour for me to understand that it's impossible to park over there. Without informing others few of us went in search of other accommodation. We ended up landing in a hotel named Sea Breeze Inn.
You may be wondering, if we enjoyed the trip or we finished our trip with all these shocks. All these difficulties happened within a short span.. precisely half day. All these flips brought us together. Though we didn't know each other well, we all supported each other's decision and stood by it. The real fun started from there.
Casino Royale:
Our actual trip started in the evening when we rushed towards the ship "Casino Pride". Convinced the Urrr faced receptionist for offer, but we didn't have original id proof. Though she initially didn't accept the scanned copy of the ID proof, taking a photo of the image in the camera sorted the issue. She never knew that solving problems are cake walk for us!!! Entered the casino but to do what? When everyone was busy gambling, we went to the top of the casino pride ship to do what we were good at. Of course! It's the buffet dinner. Filling the stomach, we went back to the gambling hall to check what's happening around. Though we don't know to play we wanted to test our luck. I'm sure no team would have a hat-trick win in that game. But we did. The way we charmed ourselves, made the entire floor to turn towards us. It was 12 am we reached the hotel. The day ended but we didn't want to end our day so we all walked towards the beach. Gazing at the waves, we forgot ourselves. And decided to move back to the room to welcome day 2. Forgot to mention the chat we had while strolling towards the beach. Finally we had to "leave the moment".
Beach & Fort:
Second day started with lunch @ a cafe which was just 5kms away. But we travelled for 2 hrs. It was just 15mins but felt like 2hrs, because we were sitting inside the hot box "Ertiga". I focused on making it cool but managed to bring down few degrees. Went to Chapora fort and had special Goan style noodles, "Maggie without water" sold by a marketing lady. Uak. With Hot water, sorry sweet hot water sold as Tea!!! We didn't have music system in the car but we didn't miss hearing songs sung by a male koel. Still there was a complaint about the husky voice.
Titto's Lane:
Refreshed and dressed up for party, we went towards titto's lane. But ended up in the beach for dinner. Through Raju, we had some discount for foods and drinks but the fun part is each one sharing about others. Expressions & the comments. After a good laugh we reached room for the second innings of laughter therapy. It went on till 4am in the morning since there was no one to tell story and make someone sleep.lol
Water Games:
Plan is to go for scuba, and do all the water sports. But the day as usual started at 12 in the noon. Went to a local market for purchase from there we headed to Arambol, one of the best beachs in Goa but we landed in Morjim. With all confusions in mind either to be in Morjim or move to vagator beach we spent around 5 hrs in Morjim. Ordered one pasta and 5 hands in one plate. It was with the help of one of our friend in Goa, two of us were able to do the water sports. Watching the sunset in vagator beach, we moved to Calangute for shopping and tattoos. It was at 12 we reached back room from shopping and no one slept except me for the next day's early morning flight.
Final bulb:
Even after the trip, the bulb didn't stop. It was waiting where it started. Yes in Chennai airport. It arrived in the baggage.
Baggage!!! Yes, it's really not important to know what was inside the baggage, but our hearts were filled with joy and sweet memories.
Happy reading!!!
Disclaimer: you (except ABCXYZ) may not understand completely because it may be intended for some other reason/incident happened at Goa.
