Go GOA !!! (part 2)

GOA !!! Day 2: It was a perfect way of starting the day. Sleep until the sun has already finished half of his Journey across the sky. And then sleep some more just because hey, everyone else is sleeping. And then as the bodily mechanisms kicked off (matters dealing with pressures) lazily people woke up. It was quite sometime since we last had any food so, hunger was on every body's mind. So we ordered for some Sandwiches, fries and pakoras along with some tea.

This was the day reserved for water Sports. People (amongst us that is) who had visited earlier told us that water sports were there at Miramar Beach, Panjim. Panjim was a an hour or so away from our place. So of we went towards Panjim.

One word about panjim, its Beautiful. The city has amazingly preserved the old portugal architecture within its administrative buildings, Churches and its ports. A visit to this city or just a walk around was to finish your visit to GOA.

Going on we reached the beach Miramar. And the beach was, well, empty. The activity at the beach was nil, a black sheep among all other goan beaches. We rushed to the nearest stall , a Gola wala, asking him if there was any water sports on the Beach. He answered, smilingly, that there were no water sports until April. Our hearts sank, because according to our trusted and experienced friends any waters sports always happened on this beach. However the guy quickly added that water sports were now happening at Calangute. The adrenaline pumped in again and in all graciousness we all decided to have golas at his stall.

After the Gola session, and a photo shoot we headed back to Calungute. As we neared the beach, we just hoped what the gola wala said was indeed true. The beach looked normal as any, when a Parchute sailed into my view. Yippeeee!!!!! It was Water Sports time. As usual, Vasim got us a nice package of all rides. This included a jet ski ride, the infamous Banana Boat ride and a para Sailing ride. The day had just started.

The Beach had a air of thrill and excitement and was jammed with people. people all around were either famished from all the rides or buckling up for the next. The Sea was lined with speed boats and jet skis zipping across from everywhere. Far off along the horizon were the parachutes gliding around. The guy helped us deposit our valuables and footwear and we stepped on to the beach. From that moment onwards time lost its meaning. We were zipped up with Life jackets one by one and got us ready.
The first ride was Jet ski ride. The jet ski ride was accompanied by a driver who did most of the maneuvering.Watching people, we realised that the seas were choppy. The jet ski ride wasn't so great however, with the driver behind you swearing his life at the waves and hogging at the control. But it sure gave us a head rush.

The next ride was the "BANANA BOAT RIDE". This was recently made famous by the MTv Roadies show where the ride was a part of a task. For people who don't know about the ride its quite simple. You ride on a banana shaped floating raft which is tied to a speed boat that takes you around. Right when you reach the middle of the sea, the men who take for a ride decide to get rid of you and and topple you over right in middle of the sea. If you are able hold on to your dear lives and scramble upon the boat, he might topple you over again. After you have had enough saving your own life he'll bring you back to shore.On a serious note however, you are well protected by your life jackets (and the other life guards around). Thats all!!

The ride was for 5 people at a time, so we had taken two rides. All were quite excited by now. First, i stayed back while the others sailed away. The ride looked quite rocky itself. I watched them go into the deep sea and when the boat took a nasty twist and all the five fell into the sea. Most of them had no idea of swimming. So, when they fell, they instinctively looked for ground beneath their feet. But there was no ground but water and thats when the Fear factor came into picture. Splashing around hoping to get near the boat, most of them got exhausted. Somehow they made it to the boat and got on with only Nooresh left behind. By size if others were sharks, then nooresh was easily the Great white. In his attempt to haul himself on the boat, he hauled the rest of the gang into the water. Then again a series of splashing, kicking and saving yourself from drowning happened. Not to mention the regular thrashing of waves. This time again a a few got on board, but the Boat gave away throwing them back into ocean. They say, the cycle happened to them at least four times. At last, Vasim and nooresh quit and got into the speed boat that pulled them around. And the Banana Boat returned. No body looked really Happy when they returned. Or rather they looked happy that they did return.

None of them, looked like they were going to accompany me for the second round. I had almost left hopes, but Amit and pushkar agreed to tag along. I now admire for their feat, because it was a crazy thing to go back on that boat.
I sat on the banana Boat holding on to only a small piece of rope. We were at the shore waiting for a Speed to tag us, when a large wave threw us off the Boat. That fall gave me an idea of how it would be. I tightened my Life jacked got back on. The ride on the boat along the choppy seas was a like a roller Coaster. The Boat went on for some time and i felt at ease. That was the precise moment when i felt i was losing my balance and

Splash!!!...
Gurgle!....
Gasp! ....

When i did break the water i saw the upturned banana sailing away and the two life guards swimming in a distance. In a few moments the banana Boat returned and we dashed towards it (or we tried to do so, cos i feel the boat finally came towards us). The guard got on, and gave me a hand. Amazingly I could get on quite easily. The others got on too, they were quite experienced by now. And we went on. I prayed it won't happen again, when banana took a steep turn, and i felt the Losing CG again. Splash!!! back into the ocean. Amit looked positively tired of falling into the sea so many times. We again scrambled to the Banana Boat ready for the guard to give us a hand. But this time, the guards were in no mood to do that. They were merrily playing and at the same time having a nice laugh watching our panic stricken faces. (we must have been looking quite stupid i presume). It was only when we started to verbally mention our condition, they got back to their jobs.

Sailing back, near shore the ride ended again with a splash. I was so used to the deep sea, that I did even try to look for land. It was when the Guard walked behind me and mocked me that i stopped splashing and started walking.

The Next ride was para sailing. We were thoroughly exhausted by our previous ride that we never felt we could do this one. But it was actually quite relaxing. When you sail up from the boat, you first experience complete silence. The wind blows , while you are hanging high above in the air with the blue ocean stretched in front of you. You feel this moment to never end.

Coming back, to the shore, with hearts still racing a bit from the Banana Boat experience, we settled in the shacks. Beers were ordered. The GOA feeling was then and there. Got some beads to wear on and as souvenirs. We got a nice Full body message. Some of us got ourselves Temporary tattoos. Sipping on chilled beer and chatting on with your best buddies while sunset into the ocean, you would wish you could freeze time


That night we freshened and headed to paradiso, the night club at Anjuna. This place was haunted more by the Firangs. Our dear friend Soham was ready to treat with a party here. The place was nothing like i had seen. The architecture was unique and seemed Gothic. With Unlimited booze we jived all night dancing around with the firangs. Bar tenders revved it up with some pyro technique shows. Towards the end, one of our friends got a bit too drunk, and well got out of control. We were only hoping he wouldn't get stupid enough to get into a fight. Somehow we got our drunk friend home safely. Putting him to sleep, we all settled down. It was one the best days of entire lives.

The next day also started lazily. Vasim, unfotunately had to head back urgently due to some office related work. That put off the excitement for all of us, and we also decided to leave that evening. After having breakfast, Vasim left and we five decided to goto Vagator or the DCH fort. At the fort we went Photo crazy. Every minute spend there didn't go without clicking a photograph. With more thousand photos of us clicked there, we returned.

That night, we left for mumbai from GOA and from one of the Best holidays ever!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go GOA!!!

It was a hot thursday afternoon, when i was idly staring at this square fluorescent object known as my Computer Screen. I was trying to make sense out of an ensemble of English letters, numerals and utterly ridiculous phrases which we loving called as Code. It was making no sense, even though it had been only a couple weeks that i had finished writing this "most beautiful piece of code" ever!!!. For those who feel lost let me explain. i am an Software Developer (Many of my peers will disagree on that :P) who works in a so-so IT Services Company in India. My job is to (try to) write programs that makes lives easier for people staying all the way across the globe. Well, More on that later.

As i was saying, i was analysing code waiting for the lunch time so that i could take a break. Frankly, what i wanted was a break from this Daily schedule itself. Break free and take a vacation. And as if Angel listened to my Hearts plea, i saw a mail Pop-up on my screen. It was from Amit, with subject line 'Its Better in GOA!!!' suggesting a vacation to GOA the coming weekend.
I was not the only one tired of the Developer's life, most of my buddies were too. They had long been planning a vacation,but as 'always' with plans , they never materialized. This time i wanted this to happen, and almost immediately replied 'Me in'

And after long discussions, futile persuasions, mailing lists and a few phone calls six of us got ready for this vacation. Amazingly it was just the five of my closest buddies i had since i had joined this IT company. Something told me this was going to be One hell of a vacation.

The Tickets were booked (at a fairly cheap price thanks to our dear Vasim's bargaining skills. I must say it helped us a lot all the way through the trip)
The mood was set. I was finally going to GOA. Yippeee!!!

Saturday Afternoon, we set foot in GOA. The salt and peppered crownd (a lots of whites amongst us browns) was already setting the tempo. We had already decided on a resort and soon left for the place. We checked into Mello Rosa Resort at Arpora. The Room was cosy and spacious and facing the pool side. A dive in the pool seemed a perfect way to beat the Summer Heat. With a glass of chilled beer we started the roller coaster ride.

Hiring three Bikes, and geared with bandanas and shades we hit the roads. First Stop pet puja. and Sports Bar, Calangute was the Location. Some one said a game of pool and soon four of us were of shooting pool while sipping on a bud.

After Lunch, we reached Anjuna beach, one the hottest foriegn tourist haunts. First we enquired about "parties" that happened in that Location. GOA is know for its 'parties' and we were not going to miss one. Amazingly, the roadside Ice cream wallas doubled as agents to these parties. Hell, they offered a lot more 'Services' for those interested. We got whatever we needed from these people
and then we stepped on to the Beach. The view at the beach was something to be seen to be believed. I swear, i had never seen a bigger crowd of white babes and dudes in a single place. The place was infested with Firangs. I saw foriegners in every possible size, shape, features, age and clothing (and a few without any) You could take a pic over there and easily claim that it was Acapulco or Miami without raising suspicion. The presence of so many of them and the absence of any Indians actually made us think if we were allowed in to the Beach. We found a nice beach side shack to hang out and enjoy the view.It partly nice because of some beautiful (read as partly nude) chicks sun basking over there. A beer was neccesary to bring down the temprature.

Amit had known, from a goan colleague of his, that there was a virgin beach, Arambol, that people rarely visited but was good. It was only coincidence that we also understood that there was going to be a party there at the Beach. We decided to catch the sunset at Arambol. The Beach was however at other end of the town and took us quite long.
Looking for the beach we came across a really virgin beach, with pearly white sand,blue sea, and was virtually untouched by Humans (Whites or browns). The beach was simply inviting. The entry to beach was across a small creek over which a wooden structure was built with bamboo shoots. The weak structure made the beach more inaccessible and equally more inviting. We crossed the bridge praying it will be able to hold me and Nooresh together without giving away. But the cross was seemed worth. Golden rays of sunshine glimmered across the calm ocean laden with nothing but peace and tranquility. That was when the GOA feeling started to sink in. Resting on the Beach and watching the Sun ebb away was truly glorious. Excited as we were, few us headed for a dip into the sea, while others enjoyed a beer served right at the Beach. We thought life couldn't get better, when two locals appeared there with a volley ball. Not to mention there was a Net and Court already in place. What better occasion for a game of Beach volley Ball.
The Teams were set and the games started. Even I played and my team won the game. (well partly be cos we let the other two expert players in our team play).
Exhausted, we decided to leave to the Saturday Night Flea market that GOA was known for (Again courtesy; Amit's Goan Colleague).
But i guess, even destiny was jealous of all the fun we were having. Unfortunately, Amit lost the keys to his Bike. The next hour went in digging up all the nearby sand in hopes to find the keys. As the last of Sunlight vanished. we decided the Keys were lost for sure and decided to get the duplicates from the owner. So Vasim and Soham headed of to fetch the keys while we did nothing but wait.
As we waited we decided to go to the shack/ Hotel near the Beach Exit. The place was lit up with colourful lamps of squares and Triangles that shed a Psychedelic aura. The time we spent there was mesmerizing. Soon Hunger caught up with us and we had some really authentic fried prawns. Vasim returned in a Hour or so later with duplicate keys. Exhausted as we were, we decided to go to the Flea Market.

The Flea market was nothing less than a Carnival in itself. It was large ground with stalls, food courts, entertainers in place. Flea Market was full of people, and majorly by Whites. It seemed more like a Caucasian Congregation rather than market.We seemed to have landed into an alien territory. Even, the sellers by the stall were white dudes not to mention all the white crowd. There were a bunch of whites who were doing roadside tricks. The chicks were dressed right from Punjabi dresses to really short mini's and much more( err.. Less that is). Spending time in that place made us feel insecure and we actually got tired of watching all the pale skin. Famished from all this we headed back to the Room after a quick dinner at sports Bar. The next day was reserved for Water Sports.

(More coming .. keep watching this space)