Old Goa, majestic beyond words

After we set off from North Goa we headed for Panaji which is considered a part of Old Goa. The distance from North Goa to Old Goa is roughly 15 kilometres and though the road is good but we got struck in a jam for sometime.

  We planned to stay for one full day in Old Goa. Panaji is a small but beautiful city. It has many buildings made in Portuguese style. The itinerary for the day included visiting some of the churches of Goa and a sunset cruise on the Mondovi river, the ticket for which we had already bought from our hotel in Calangute.

  So from North Goa we drove straight to Old Goa via Panaji where all the beautiful churches are located. The road from Panaji to old Goa is very beautiful as you drive along the Mondovi river to your left. We saw the Basillica of Bom Jesus, a spectacular church built by the Portugues in the 16th century. The basilica holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. We also visited Se cathedral, Church of St Catherine, museum and Church of St Francis of Assisi. It took us almost 4.5 hours to see the churches in detail. There were some more churches which we decided to see the next day. 

The churches are open from 9:30 AM to 5 PM everyday for public viewing. The entry is free but for the museum you need to buy entry tickets worth Rs 10 per person. Photography is also allowed inside the churches but not inside the museums. We wrote a detailed blog post on the Churches of Goa. You can get more info/pics in thas post.

Bom Jesus Basillica

  We headed back to Panaji where our boat cruise was supposed to start. We already had the tickets for the sunset cruise which starts from 6 pm and is a one hour boat ride on the Mondovi river. There are many other cruise slots
available like sundown(7:15-8:15 pm), dinner cruise(8:45-10:45 pm). We booked tickets for the launch Santa Monica.

  Since the cruise was scheduled to start at 6 pm so we were told to report to the ticket counter of Santa Monica at the jetty at 5:45 pm. The jetty office is just below the main Panaji flyover. Apart from santa Monica there were ticket counters of many other boat services like Paradise and all. We reported to the counter at 5:45PM. There is a paid parking near the jetty where cars/bikes can be parked.

  The seating arrangement on Santa Monica is on first-come-first-serve basis. If you come early you can choose your seats but if you are late then you have to be happy with whatever seat is left. Consider yourself lucky if you can grab
a seat by the sides of the boat from where you can see the sunset. There were some boats with open roofs but unfortunately ours was not.

View of sunset from inside the deck of Santa Monica

  Once the boat starts the crowd will be greeted by a DJ. There will be performers who will dance traditional Goan dances. You are also solicited to join them. The experience of catching the sunset from the river is amazing. The boat will go along the scenic river banks and every moment of the boat ride is very enjoyable.

Performance on Santa Monica

Traditional performance on Santa Monica

  As the sun sets, the boats will get lit up and you will get to see similar other boats on the river all lit up brightly by colour bulbs and the light getting reflected in the waters. The several advertisement boards also
get lighted up giving the Mondovi waters a different feel. Food and other beverage are also available on the cruises but have to be brought.

Sunset on Mandovi River, as seen from Santa Monica

One of several boats on Mandovi river; just after sunset

  As we were getting down from the boat there was another very long queue of people excitedly waiting to get in. We checked in our hotel Panaji residency(owned by GTDC), strategically located overseeing the Mondovi river. The hotel has an open air restaurant and from there we could see the boats cruising on the Mondovi river. There are also many casinos that we could see from our hotel.

  There are many tour packages available from GTDC like the Dudhsagar Falls tour, North Goa tour, South Goa tour. These can be booked from any GTDC hotels or office in person. The tour buses/jeeps will pick and drop you at the
GTDC hotels. You can also avail considerable discounts on this package tours if you stay in GTDC hotels.

  The next day we planned to see the remaining Churches Of Goa that included St. Augustine Church, Church and Convent of Santa Monica, Church of our Lady of Rosary, Church of St. Cajetan, Arch of Viceroy, Panaji Church along with Miramar beach and Dona Paola.

Miramar beach, Panaji. After sunrise.

A view from the top of Dona Paola. After sunrise.

  Miramar beach is located in Panaji. Since we went there early in the morning we saw many locals doing their rounds of morning walks on the beach. Dona Paola is also a nice view point a little far from Miramar. On the way we saw the statue of Abbe de Faria who is considered the father of modern hypnotism. The statue shows him hypnotizing a lady patient.

Abbe de Faria

  Further from Miramar beach is Dona Paola from where one can have a fine view of Marmugao Harbour. It is a place where two rivers meet the Arabian Sea. Some bollywood movies have also been shot here and it is a favourite place for tourists.

  So with the visit to all the beautiful churches, enjoying sunset on a boat cruise and stroll on beaches our Old Goa tour came to a happy end and we headed for South Goa.

Things that you must see in Old Goa:
Churches in Old Goa:
Se Cathedral 
Basilica of Bom Jesus
Chapel of St Catherine
Church and convent of St Francis of Assisi
St. Augustine Church
Church and Convent of Santa Monica
Church of our Lady of Rosary
Church of St. Cajetan
Arch of Viceroy and Panaji Church

Things that you must do in Old Goa:
Mondovi river cruise
Enjoy the Goan cuisine

North Goa, full of sun, sea and good food

Our Goa tour started from North Goa.

  On reaching Panaji we crossed the Mondovi river and drove staright to Calangute. The distance from Panaji to Calangute is almost 15 kms and the road condition is also good. Also driving to any beach in North Goa is relatively easy as you have direction markers everywhere on the road and also
people are very friendly and helpful.

  We reached Calangute around 3:30 PM. The road near the beach is bubbling with tourists and various shops that sell everything from fancy beach wear, beach accessories like sunglasses, hats and all.... to goan handicrafts, readymade seafood(yummy), tattoo shops and lots more. The road is also crowded with tourist buses and cars.There are plenty of budget hotels and homestays in Calangute.

  Since we did not book any hotel in advance so we first went for hotel searching. The best hotel in Calangute is undoubtedly Calangute Residency owned by GTDC. It is located nearest to the beach and from the cottages you can have a slice of the sea anytime. Though it was not the season but still there were no rooms available in that hotel. The hotel manager directed us to another hotel, very near to Calangute Residency, also owned by GTDC. It was Calangute Residency(annex). This time we were lucky. There was only one room available and that too only for that day. Since we had planned to stay in Calangute for one night, this was okay for us.The room charge was Rs 1040 per night in off season (I hope I remember correctly)

  It is good to know that the checkout time in hotels across Calangute is 10 AM. Only for hotels owned by GTDC the checkout time is 12 noon. 

  After getting some rest in the hotel we went to the beach. The beach is very popular among tourists and so is a little crowded even during off season. The beach has life guards like most beaches in Goa and if you walk along the beach for some 1 kilometres you will reach Baga beach which is a much less crowded beach.

Calangute beach. Sunset.

  We saw people roaming around in Goa in rented bikes and cars. Bikes can be rented for as little as Rs 200 a day (depend on your bargin) but the person taking the rent must have a valid driving licence. In Calangute sea food is damn cheap and tasty. The food prepared in the small roadside shops are tasty and very easy on the pockets. We enjoyed a medium sized pomfret fry for as little as Rs 80 and the food quality was really good. The roadside shops sells various seafish, crab, prawn, chicken fries.

  In Calangute, there is a 200% chance that you encounter people trying to lure you with attractive offers like free resort stays, complimentary dinner etc. By luring with the offers they will later try to sell time shares and we would definitely recommend not to fall into their trap. Its always better to ignore them from the very beginning.

  The first half of the next day was reserved for seeing the other major beaches in North Goa namely Anjuna and Vagator. We started pretty early; at around 7 am.

  Anjuna beach is some roughly 9 kilometres from Calangute and to reach there you have to go through Anjuna village. There are plenty of homestays near Anjuna beach. Anjuna is a beautiful red rocky beach. The beach is made of big red colour stones and coconut trees line the entire beachline. Though very beautiful, it is not a beach for sea bathing or strolling.

Anjuna Beach

Anjuna Beach

Texure of the rocks in Anjuna Beach.

Anjuna Beach

  From Anjuna we went to Vagator beach which is very nearby, approximately 4 to 5 kilometres. This beach has yellow sand and black rocks. There are also many water sport facilities available.

Vagator Beach

Vagator Beach

Vagator Beach

Vagator Beach

  From Vagator we went to see the Aguada Fort. For that we had to come back to Calangute and from there take the road that leads to Aguada Fort. Anjuna/Vagator beach and Aguada Fort are on either sides of Calangute. Fort Aguada was a Portuguese fort and is now protected by the Archaeological Society of India. A nice view of the Arabian sea can be obtained from here.
Next to Aguada fort is a lighthouse which can also be visited. The Sinquerim Beach is also located near to Aguada Fort. It is an upcoming beach.

Aguada fort. Entrance.

Aguada fort. Stairway.

Description written on the top of the fort.

Aguada fort. Top.

Agauda fort. Top.

Entrance to light house at Aguada fort.

View of the sea from the top of Aguada fort.

  It was almost 10 am when we reached our hotel. The check out time was 12 noon so we hurriedly packed our bags and went for a heavy breakfast.
We booked two advance tickets for the sunset cruise on river Mondovi from the hotel reception. The price for each ticket is Rs 150 but for guests staying at any GTDC hotel the price is Rs 100.

  We bid adieu to Calangute and proceeeded towards Old Goa. Our next mission will be to see the churches in Old Goa.