We spent over a week exploring both north and south Goa, and found slices of paradise at each tip. Here's the lowdown.
North Goa
Anjuna
Prison hostel is the only place to be seen in when it comes to hostels in Anjuna. Known as the party hostel in this party town, this is the place to be if you're up for late night parties, Bhang on the balcony and cheap beer.
Every item in the honesty fridge is 50rps, so you just sign the book when you come home hammered and drink 4 cartons of tropicana and make yourself a Maggi's. The 'cell' beds are between 400-500rps a night and include a hangover breakfast of omlette sarnies. A 10minute stroll to the beach puts it in a great location, too.
Curlies takes up one end of Anjuna beach, offering free sunbeds in the days, good appetizers (don't bother with the mains), thumping music 'til the early hours and dozens of women cooking up noodles for 100rps a pop to finish the night.
We ended up partying with a group of Indian guys, necking far too many jägerbombs and going to a weird psychedelic rave...
Head to Artjuna café for great coffee and a good brunch and lunch menu. It's Goan prices, but worth it for the chilled out expat vibe and leafy decor.
Israeli fare at Artjuna
I never thought I'd be recommending a burger place in Goa, but Burger Factory is definitely worth a visit. Chicken, beef and veggie options for between 250-350rps; the burgers were bigger than my head and, paired with 50rps beers from over the road, made for the perfect hair of the dog kind of a meal.
Vagator
Just a 10min scooter ride down the road you've got the slightly quieter Vagator beach. Stay at jungle hostel, prison's sister, for a slightly more chilled out atmosphere (think hammocks and mango trees). You'll pay between 400-450rps for a dorm room with free breakfast and access to the honesty fridge.
Visit Thalassa on the hilltop for awesome views and great Grecian food in a setting that'll make you think you've just taken a left off the main road and driven into Mykonos. The wraps start at 350rps, and there's Bombay sapphire for 180rps a shot.
Shubu Panjab, 5 minutes down the road from jungle, serves up the best tandoori chicken we've found. At 450rps for a whole chicken it's better than any nandos and a fraction of the price.
Watch sunset at the fort on the hill. It's a 10minute walk or you can scooter up to it via the road.
Arambool
Arambool is about a half hour from Anjuna, so we joined a convoy of scooters and headed up for the day. It was awesome and, in hindsight, I wish we'd've stayed for a while.
The beach is lovely, with boats available for dolphin trips and restaurants and bars lining the sand. We ate at Geckos, and the food was good, even if it was a little over priced. I'd've eaten there for the music choice alone: a good curry, a big beer and 80's power ballads? I'm in.
The Main Street is lined with shops and it's worth having a browse. The art shop, half way up, has some beautiful prints in just about every size which are really affordable. By the time I was done with the place every inch of floor was covered in bright landscape paintings and batik's of Ganesh.
The German bakery, with it's rooftop bar and excellent pastries, is the perfect breakfast spot.
The sweet lake was definitely the highlight, though. Scale the steps on the far right of the bay and walk along the path, lined with shops, restaurants and bungalows. I'd recommend eating in one of them, the views are great. The bay itself is lined with trees, and the sweet lake sits behind them.
You can venture into the jungle and visit the mudbaths for 150rps per person, but we had a small incident with a snake that ended in me completely freaking out and the majority of our party returning to the lake for a dip.
South Goa
Palolem
Palolem is pretty great. Check out my other blog for things to do: <http://1girlandherbackpack.blogspot.com/2014/10/visiting-palolem-in-offseason.html> We had hoped that returning a week later, and therefore further into the season, things would be starting to get a little more lively... I can't lie and say that was the case, but we bought 4 people with is this time so we were able to make our own fun.
Shop around for hotels and bungalows. We stayed at Gaspah's guesthouse for 500rps per night, which wasn't the cheapest (we were offered a 300rps room), but the rooms were nice, the beds were big and there was wifi. Location-wise we were about 5mins from the Main Street.
Fresh chapatis at Fernandes
We headed back to Fernandes as we has previously and were chuffed to see it busier than when we'd last been there. Cafe espresso, too, was buzzing and we ended up heading there for dinner and drinks on the first night. Large bowls of fresh chicken salad for 220rps were a welcome change from the usual curry and I think the team took a likening to is because they plonked some free waffles on our table at the end of the meal (best waffles EVER.) We discovered frozen vodka lemonades, too, for 140rps - try them they are awesome.
Shopping in palolem is good, better than anywhere else we had been in goa. We didn't know that until we returned, but were sure to take advantage of it on our second visit. Johnny Babah's is good for leather: more expensive than the cheap shops of Rajahstan, but okay priced and Johnny doesn't take any shit which I like. Towards the sea, on the left, there's a shop which sells really unique clothes that I have only ever seen in this one tiny stall in palolem. We bought shorts, vest tops and dresses; all of which can be worn at home, for 200rps a piece.
On our penultimate day in Palolem we attended Rahul's cooking class (www.rahulcookery.com), and had an awesome morning cooking up a storm in his private kitchen tucked off of Main Street. For 1,100rps per person we made 3 main dishes, a bread and a chutney. Rahul purchased the ingredients from the market at 6am, so we cooked the freshest prawns and chicken we'd had since we've been out here and the prawn masala we made was honestly one of the best things I've eaten in India. Rahul gave us a recipe book to take home so we can try our recipes elsewhere, and considering how simple he made everything sound, I genuinely hope to recreate the dishes some other time.
Patnam
Patnam is a beautiful bay, just round the corner from Palolem. You can get there on foot, or jump on a scooter for a 5min ride to the entrance. In the high season the beach is lined with huts, but when we visited it was more of a construction site. You can tell the potential of the place though; less commercialised than Palolem with a slightly calmer feel to the place.
Agonda
We hired scooters from Palolem for 200rps per day and headed to Agonda, which is about a 40min scoot down the road.
The huge bay was lovely. Quiet, lined with huts ready for the high season, and life guarded by 2 Indian guys in a red truck. The Agonda cottages resort was open for business so we headed there for a drink and some free sunbeds.
The sea is rougher round here, so be careful if you're not so strong a swimmer.
For lunch we headed back into town a little bit to a locals joint called Fatima's corner. Busy, resonably priced and efficient service made for a good stop.
Goa is beautiful. The landscape is a lush green, with rows of paddy fields lining the side of the roads and unruly jungle spreading for miles in-land. The beaches are picturesque; miles and miles of white sand and rough sea, and people are so friendly and welcoming. The dress code is more relaxed, and you can wear bikinis on the beach and dresses and shorts elsewhere; there's no need to keep your shoulders under wraps. It's more expensive than the north, the locals have ramped up the prices due to the popularity of the region, but if you know where to look you can stay, eat, drink and play here way within your budget.
Explore, because there's so much to see.
L&A. X
