Today I spent the morning at the Mapusa Market doing a photography tour, the afternoon wandering around Calungute doing some last minute shopping, last drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe with Anita and Geoffrey, and then off to the airport to go home.

One of the highlights of this trip has been the photography tour I booked with Francisco de Souza. I was lucky enough to be able to book a one-on-one private tour for approx $AU75 which meant that I had a full three hours to wander the Mapusa Market with Francisco. We spent half an hour chatting and I was taught some handy photography tips before we ventured over to the bus station, and then through the market. It was a great experience, not just for the fun (and maybe even good) photographs I was able to take, but also for learning how to approach people to ask their permission to take a photo of them and what to do once you've taken the photo. Not only is Francisco a great photographer, but he is a man with a very kind heart - something that was very evident in his interactions with the many people we spoke to in and around the market. I would definitely recommend booking a tour with Francisco to anyone planning a visit to Goa.

After the tour was done, I caught a taxi back to Calungute and spent the afternoon wandering the streets and doing some last minute shopping. The majority of the shops in the area are selling clothes, jewellery, spices, tattoos (yes, there were a lot of tattoo parlours there), and handicrafts. I picked up four paintings from Babaji fine art gallery and am looking forward to having them properly framed and up in my house soon.

Whist wandering the streets, I ran into Anita and Geoffrey and we headed for the Hard Rock Cafe and were able to confirm for ourselves the positive feedback we had heard from others about it. One last drink together, and then we went back to our hotels to get organized to go home.

Our driver arrived early and we headed off to the airport at 8pm. Unfortunately, not all of our bags would fit in the car, so Anita's had to go on top - a little bit of rope to tie it down and all was well, it made it over all of the speed humps and stop starts along the way (much to her relief). Our flight to KL was easy and I slept almost all of the way. The flight from KL to Melbourne was not so great, I was sick and the last three hours felt as long as the first six. I was very happy to land on solid ground, get through customs and get in my car and drive home.

I had an amazing time in Goa and would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't been before.

I was up at 3:30am to get picked up to go hot air ballooning, went back to Baga Beach for lunch, had a quick sleep in the afternoon and then dinner at Antares in the evening.

Hot air ballooning

Wow! This was an experience I won't ever forget. Hot air ballooning in Goa was amazing. After the failed attempt on Sunday I was very grateful for the effort made to get us up in the air on Monday, albeit with only two hours sleep!

Our pilot Trish was highly skilled and very friendly, she certainly related well to us Aussie's which was nice. The combination of a sunrise, mountains and mist were stunning. I feel like this is one of those experiences where pictures say a lot more than words, so I've put a bunch into a flickr album. This was definitely a highlight of the week and I would do it again if I had the chance (Ralph had a good time too).

Antares Restaurant

Sadly, I have to say that this was a disappointing experience. We were looking forward to an evening at Antares because it is run by 2014 Master Chef Australia contestant Sarah Todd. The pros were that my meal was excellent - I had the chicken skewers (not actually on skewers) for an entree, pork belly and broccolini (which was broccoli and came out before my entree), and chocolate brownie for dessert. The food itself was great, although the others weren't as pleased with theirs as I was with mine. The down side of the experience was that to begin with, we needed to get out the torches on our phones to read the menus because of poor lighting and poorly printed menus, then the side dishes for the mains came out before the entrees. We met with excuses when asked for feedback and generally whilst we had hoped for an engaging encounter with a fellow Australian, it wasn't as warm and friendly as we had hoped. We probably should have gone next door to Thalassa like we were advised.

This morning started with a failed attempt at hot air ballooning. On the way back to the Ramada we made a quick stop and I was able to visit a clinic where polio vaccinations were being administered which was great to see. We returned to Ramada for breakfast and showers, and I ended my part of the FAM trip there. I was picked up at 12:30 and driven to Calungute where I stayed for the rest of the trip. I met up with Geoffrey and Anita in the evening, we went to St Anthony's on Baga Beach for dinner, and then headed to LPK nightclub to finish off the night.

A failed attempt at hot air ballooning

After four hours sleep we had to be up early to go hot air ballooning, leaving the resort at 6am. After a 40minute drive, and then about the same time waiting at a church where we were supposed to be meeting someone who would take us to the balloon. A car arrived, and we followed it for some time until we came to a road block. The driver of the car removed the road block sign and continued to drive, a couple of local ladies advised us not to follow so we waited. Unsurprisingly, the car came back to tell us we couldn't continue in that direction. More driving and spotting of the balloon in the air followed. We soon realised that what we were doing was chasing the balloon so that we could get in it once it had landed. It was all a bit strange. We waited in a field for a while, and impatience got the better of us and we opened the bottle of wine we had brought for a post flight celebration. Once we found the balloon and talked to Trish the pilot we had the option of following her, and waiting for her to set the balloon up in a different location to do a tethered ride. Collectively we decided against it, but had the option of trying again tomorrow. Goa Tourism offered to come and pick those of us who were travelling north up from our hotels so we agreed and crossed our fingers that it would work out the second time around!

Polio vaccinations

Sanjeev went and spoke to the nurses giving polio vaccines and asked if I could come inside to talk to them and take some pictures. They are currently running a campaign to vaccinate all children against polio and have administered over 160 vaccines since November.

Calungute

I arrived in Calungute at about 2pm and checked in to the Calungute Grande, a 3-star hotel about five minutes walk from the main street in Calungute. It was clean and had everything I needed for the next couple of nights. The only downfall was that I had to go downstairs to the restaurant to access the free wi-fi, but that's not really a big deal.

After checking in, I went downstairs to the restaurant and had a beer and made use of the wi-fi. Then I went for a walk to explore Calungute on my own a bit. It was busy and dusty and fun. I managed to find a chemist, a shop to buy a card reader, and get some cash out so all of my jobs for the day were done nice and easily. As I expected the shop owners are all very keen for you to come and spend money in their stores. I learnt quickly that avoiding eye contact is the best way to avoid it if that's what you want.

Dinner at St Anthony's on Baga Beach

I caught a taxi from Calungute to Baga Beach to meet up with Anita and Geoffrey for dinner. We gave our calves a good workout along the beach as we rejected the many offers from staff working at the bars and restaurants trying to persuade us to eat at their place. Eventually we found what we were looking for and had a great dinner and beers by candlelight on the beach. The beach was busy and well lit up with many restaurants to choose from. I can see why many people say that this part of Goa is where the tourists flock for the nightlife.

LPK nightclub

After dinner we headed for LPK (Love Passion Karma) where we had been given names to drop (thanks again to Sanjeev) for VIP entry and treatment. We were able to skip the long line and get straight in. We found a table and paid for a drink each but after some discussion, went back to the bar and showed the barman the text message we had received. In a few minutes, we were greeted by two men who showed us to our reserved table, collected the money we had paid for our drinks for us, brought us two plates of finger food, and advised the bar staff to provide whatever we asked for. Anita and I hit the dancefloor for a bit and had a great time. Despite there being a much larger proportion of men to women, I found that people generally stuck to themselves, and it didn't appear that the few women in the room were being hassled (unlike the clubs I've been to back home) so that was good. Knowing that we had to be up early we left at about 1, got home at 1:30 and was up again at 3:30 to be picked up for our second attempt at hot air ballooning. It was a very cool venue with interesting architecture. I would go back there again, and more than likely stay longer than I did this time around.

Today we visited the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Old Goa, the Tropical Spice Plantation and had dinner at Dona Sylvia. Before dinner, I managed to find some time to wander around the Ramada and spent a little time on the beach before grabbing a cocktail and relaxing for a bit. I had a great day, it felt a bit more relaxed than the previous days and I think we needed that!

Grand Hyatt Hotel

Our first stop today was at the Grand Hyatt hotel. I went in feeling uneasy at how elaborate is was after seeing all of the shacks that people were living in nearby. The difference in wealth was clearly evident here. The Grand Hyatt was very elaborate, the rooms were nice and the buildings and grounds were gorgeous. It also has access to a very nice beach. It is only four years old, but has a kind of old feel to it, there was a 16th century chapel in the gardens that had been kept for historical purposes. Again, it appears to be the kind of place that you wou

ld go to and not really leave, although it did seem to be not too far from places to visit if you wanted to do that.

Old Goa

Old Goa has a lot to see. We didn't have a lot of time, so we stopped at three different places. First we made a very quick stop to the ruins of a convent to take some pictures. We got back on the bus and headed for the main part of Old Goa and visited two churches - one that is still operational, and the other that is open for viewing but is no longer used as a church. If I went back here, I'd definitely make sure that I had at least a few hours to see everything that is there. If possible, I would recommend going here with a guide so that you can learn about the history in addition to exploring the area.

Tropical spice plantation

The spice plantation was good but I’m glad that we also got to go to the other one, this one is definitely set up for tourists with the tours and lunch and little shop to purchase spices and oils from. We went on a tour and were shown the different plants that the spices come from which was interesting. I think my favourite was the cinnamon tree, I didn’t realise it was bark and it was pretty cool to be able to eat some of it. We were given lunch and drinks and there was a lot of food (again) - I feel like all I've done is eat for five days! I bought lots of spices and some oils (neem and cade) that are said to help with eczema so I'm keen to get home and see if they do really work. The other plantation that we visited near the petroglyph's was good because we actually got to see people working there rather than just being shown different spice trees.

Dinner at Dona Sylvia

Dona Sylvia was nice, and also very close to the Radisson Blu which we visited earlier in the trip. It had nice rooms and we could see lights and hear music coming from the beach. They were celebrating their 25-year anniversary. They had three different restaurants and the same sorts of facilities that many of the other hotels have (facilities for kids, swimming pools, activities etc.). Dinner was a buffet and the food was good. I especially liked the goan fish dish, and the enchiladas.

I'm kind of getting sick of buffets and looking forward to my couple of days in Calungute to try actual restaurants. I’m also keen to do the photography tour and get a massage if I can fit them in!

On the itinerary was a trip to Panaji to watch a presentation about Goa and then a meet and greet session with various hoteliers and others in the tourism industry. After that was lunch at the Mandovi hotel, tea and dessert at a Chinese restaurant, a bakery visit and then back on the bus to see the Calungute Beach. Following the beach trip we headed back to Panaji to go to a handicraft market, and then dinner and gambling on a casino boat. It was a big day.

Panaji - primary school visit

Whilst the travel agents met with potential contacts, I was able to visit a primary school. Sanjeev's wife is a headmistress and she came and picked me up and took me back to visit her school. I stayed for an hour while she showed me the classrooms and we talked about the differences in education between India and Australia. It was great to hear about the things that she does at her school, and I particularly liked her buddy system of getting students to support each other with their difficulties. She liked the idea I gave her about calling students parents once a week to tell them something good that they have done.

Then it felt like we ate for about three hours – we went to the Mandovi Hotel, a very old hotel with quite a grand restaurant (including a lady playing the piano). The hotel would be convenient for anyone wanting to go to the casino, the rooms were not elaborate, but contained all one would need for accommodation that is central to the casinos. We then went to a Chinese restaurant for tea and dessert, and then a bakery where we were all given a basket of goodies.

Calungute Beach

After all of our eating ventures, we got back on the bus and went to Calungute. We visited the beach, which is renowned for being the best beach in Goa. Whilst it was nice, I felt like Colva beach and the beach at the Ramada resort were nicer and had less rubbish around. One of the things I felt was quite different between the beaches in Goa and Australia was how people make use of them. In Goa, it seems that there are more people standing and watching the water than are actually in the water. I am told that this is because a lot of people (including us) visit the beach as a tourist destination so come and look, but don’t necessarily come for a whole day trip to enjoy the beach. There were people in the water, and they seemed to be having a good time. There were also lots of boats, one of which was set up for parasailing – that looked like lots of fun! Having seen the beach today, I don’t think that I will plan for a day of relaxing on the beach when I come back, I might see what else there is to do in Calungute instead.

Handicraft Market – Kala Academy

The handicraft market at the Kala Academy was something most of us had been looking forward to since the start of the trip. Sanjeev had told us that there were over 500 stalls there and he wasn’t wrong. We had lots of fun wandering around, bartering with stall holders and picking up some great bargains to bring home. After an hour and a half, we headed back to the bus. I believe that this is an annual market so if you are in Panaji in January definitely check it out!

Deltin Royale Casino Boat

By the time we left the market I was exhausted and not overly enthusiastic about spending the rest of the night in a casino. It was a five-storey boat that is situated just off the land, along with four or five other casinos doing the same thing. For some people I’m sure this would be fun, but gambling doesn’t interest me and so I spent most of the time there in the bar with a couple of other group members and we had a good time listening to the music and chatting. Others went off and tried their luck at the tables for a couple of hours.

Bubbling lake

The bubbling lake is more like a pond than a lake. We were able to walk down to it, take off our shoes and put our feet in the water. The temperature was perfect. This site is of interest because of the way that the water ‘bubbles’ when you make a clapping sound. There are also tiny fish that supposedly will eat the dead skin off your feet – that didn’t happen for me but others in the group had a few little bites.

8500 BC petroglyphs and spice plantation

The highlight today for me was visiting the petroglyphs (rock carvings) and the spice plantation. The rock carvings were quite incredible, and even more strange was the fact that there is probably more sitting under dirt that is yet to be excavated. We then walked across the little bridge to the spice plantation. We had a young man climb a tree and pick coconuts for us which he then cut open. Drinking real coconut water is sooo good, and then eating raw coconut is very refreshing. I lost the group at one point and instead followed our drivers who had found a papaya tree and cut a couple of pieces from the tree which they shared with everyone when we found them again.

Lunch at Alila Diwa

We visited Alila Diwa for lunch – a very fancy resort. Again, I personally couldn’t justify the money it would cost to stay there but it was very nice. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a resort only holiday.

It is also disturbing to learn that many of the fires we see are burning plastic. Water is an issue here, and we have been drinking a lot of bottled water which made me wonder where the bottles go. I was sad to find out that often they are dumped or burnt. Both bad options.

Once we got back to the hotel I was able to squeeze in a quick cocktail at the poolside bar which was very nice. I hope that there will be more time to do that again!

Colva Beach

We visited Colva Beach on the way back and it was nice. Probably wouldn’t go back there deliberately though. I was surprised at how many people were on the beach and fully clothed. The rubbish around here is also disgraceful.

Dinner at The Heritage Village Club

Before dinner we managed to squeeze in a quick drink in the swim up bar at the hotel – it was good to be able to stop for a little bit!

We went for dinner at the Heritage Village Club, the food was great. The accommodation was also nice, although the all inclusive package deal seemed to encourage people to stay at the venue rather than venturing out which isn’t my style.

Back to the hotel in the car because the bus has gone to pick up the Malaysians who were joining us for the remainder of the FAM. We had lots of laughs on the way back, and then sat in the lobby for a drink before bed. I got a triple bailey on ice – perfect end to the day.

I am writing this sitting on my balcony, spiced rum and coke by my side and the sound of the ocean not far away. It is incredibly relaxing. Today started with a fabulous breakfast, I had a young man make me an omelette to order and it was super yummy! The waffles with mango sauce were a special breakfast treat – I’m going to have to go on a diet when I get back, the food here is hard to say no to! This resort is amazing, my room has everything I could need and is so nice that I could simply stay here for a relaxing holiday and not go anywhere else. But, I want to experience all that I can in Goa and today was an excellent start to that. We visited temples, and I think that anyone visiting these temples should consider going with a guide because it definitely added to the experience having somebody explain the deity’s and the way that the temples are used. The view was excellent too! A school group were also there and the children instigated the taking of many photos, they seemed pretty excited to have their pictures taken with us which kind of surprised me. I have always thought that is was tourists that prompted such photos but in this case, that was certainly not how it happened. One of the highlights for me was seeing monkeys jumping through the trees, there were a lot of them and they bounced around from branch to branch, with the younger ones looking like they were in training – clumsy and awkward, but still making it work.

We ate at three different places and the food everywhere is fantastic. I must admit that eating in hotels is not my preference, and although the food is good, I would still rather be trying actual restaurants and local eateries.

Today’s highlight was seeing the monkeys in their habitat, and hearing that we’re going hot air ballooning on our last day! I also really enjoyed the short time we got to walk along the street tonight and to go to the chemist. Everything seems quite cheap here as well, and the mini bar drinks are cheaper than buying drinks at the bar. It’s a shame this place doesn’t have free wifi in the rooms and that it’s expensive. As a result I’ve decided to just use the wifi in the lobby. It works well and is all I really need.

Sri Chandranath Temple

After breakfast we got on the bus, which by now we had nicknamed ‘Gus’. There were a few phone calls exchanged by Sanjeez (the excellent Goan historian who was our guide for the trip), who was organising for a man to help a couple of the group members out with Indian sim cards. That happened as we left the temple. It was pretty funny to see how someone could just get on our bus and sort it out, that would never happen at home! We learnt that you have to have a visa that is longer than 30 days to get a sim card which is helpful information for anyone planning to travel. Although it would have been helpful, on such a short trip I managed by using wifi when I had access which was fine.

On the way to the temple we stopped once and while we waited for Sanjeez to copy our itinerary we took lots of photos. One thing that we noticed was how many men are around, it was basically only men, except for one woman I saw on a balcony, and two others that we saw in the street. I noticed (and took a photo) of the front page of the paper today that said ‘20% of Goan married women are childless’, I wish I’d taken the time to read it – it looked interesting!

The temple was pretty cool. Sanjeez is giving us lots of time explaining things, which I am forgetting quickly. We first walked down to one building and took photos – and lit a firecracker we found on the ground. It didn’t go off, so we assumed it was a dud, until about a minute later we heard it go off and gave most of us a good scare!

Then as we began walking up the stairs to the temple, there were a couple of school groups, the kids were super keen to have their photos taken with us. I felt kind of weird about it, I’ve always had a bit of a response to photos of people on holiday with kids from the country they are in. Now that I’ve experienced it, it feels less exploitative than it looks – these kids instigated the photos and were very excited and happy about doing it.

The temple was interesting, something about it being built around meteorites, although there is some question as to whether or not they are really meteorites – it’s never been proven. Either way, it was a nice place. There are enormous trees in many of the places we have been. And it was hot! A good walk for us given all of the food we’ve been consuming. And we got to see monkeys on the side of the road as we were leaving.

Lunch at the Raddison Blu

This looked like a nice place to stay, I particularly like the look of the villas. There was a wedding on but we didn’t see anything (except a sign for the same couple at another place we went for dinner-evidence of the long and multiple events involved in an Indian wedding!) Lunch was very nice, so much food, including a very elaborate dessert table. I’m sure I’ll go home about 10kg heavier at this rate, I feel like all I’m doing is eating sometimes!

Festival preparations

After lunch we went to the preparations of a festival at another temple. We wandered around and looked at the different stalls being set up. We tried some food – roasted chickpeas and an orange dessert like thing that I liked. There were also dogs and cows on the roads which was something I hadn’t expected.

Hotel visits Royal Haathi Mahal and the Byke Cavellosim

We returned to our hotel to freshen up before heading back out for a drink at Royal Haathi Mahal and then dinner at Byke Cavellosim.

At the Royal Haathi Mahal we inspected a room which was very spacious but had a damp/stale cigarette smell. We were told that they don’t have any non-smoking rooms at all and all of the rooms ‘smell like this’. The bar on the other hand was great, it was well set up and the drinks and food we were offered were excellent. We later realised that we should have eaten more of the snacks we were offered because where we went for dinner was pretty bad!

We arrived at the Byke Cavellosim and were given a drink that tasted like strawberry quik. Nobody wanted it, and it didn’t help that we’d all been drinking – the thought of milk didn’t seem to sit well with anyone. We were shown a few rooms, with the ‘deluxe’ room coming first. It wasn’t very nice at all. The next rooms were ok, but nothing special. Others commented that even if the rooms were free they wouldn’t be recommending it to their clients. Once we’d seen the rooms we moved on to the restaurant for dinner. They didn’t seem at all ready for us, and eventually when we sat down, the tablecloths were dirty. It was all a bit unclean looking. The food was actually not bad though, it was all vegetarian and I tried everything that we were given and nothing was awful. Still, I don’t think I would bother going back there.

We also found out this morning that we’ll be going hot air ballooning on the last day!!!!!!! I’m super excited about that as I had it on my ‘to do list’ for myself.

In October 2015 I attended an event coordinated by Travel and Taste and sponsored by Goa Tourism to showcase Goa, India. Along with six other attendees (four who came on this trip with me), I was fortunate in winning the prize to visit Goa for five days for a FAM trip. I extended this trip by two days to have some time on my own and explore the northern part of Goa myself. This blog provides a summary of the things that we did and saw over that time. I am a 33 year old female student/academic so this blog is written from my perspective and not that of a travel agent or experienced traveller

.

Overall, I really enjoyed Goa, this was my first trip to India and I can see that there is a lot more to see and do, which I hope to get to in the future!

I am writing this post after being awake for over 24hrs (with a bit of sleep on the plane) so this will be short and sweet. After much confusion with our Air Asia flights, everything worked out well and I arrived in Goa without any problems. We were met at the airport by delegates from Goa tourism and got on the bus to go to our accommodation at the Ramada Caravela Beach Resort Goa.

I have a room to myself and it is fantastic. I think I could actually just stay here for a week and be happy. I’ve got the cutest little balcony outside my room (I’m on the third floor) and it looks out over the crystal blu

e pool and palm trees. Everyone is very polite, and there appear to be multiple security systems in place (including guards, a big gate at the front, and a guard who checks under the bus as you enter).

My first impressions of Goa (being mindful that all I’ve done is drive from the airport to the hotel in the dark) is that there are a lot of religious shrines, wild (I assume) dogs, people on motorbikes, and very cool little shack shop like things. I guess I expected that it would be more city like but so far it’s not, and I like that it’s not what I expected.