So we’ve all heard about Goa’s party places and we’ve all heard about its old churches. We know how Goa’s seafood is scrumptious, how alcohol is cheap and in plenty, how South Goa abounds in expensive resorts and how Panjim’s ferry rides are fun. If you think about it, Goa is the quintessential travel destination, written about till death, exhausted beyond boredom.
Think again. Look beyond the crowds at Baga and Calangute to poke into the interiors. Once you reach the spot where the whirr of the two-wheelers die down, look around. You’ll see lovely low hills at the horizon, paddy fields stretching in expanses of green and backdrops studded with coconut trees.
Panjim, the capital city, often gets ignored by the holiday makers, or used only to touch base with the state. Much administrative work goes on in Panjim and it’s louder, more polluted, less interesting than the rest of the state. But delve in to the Fontainhas, Panjim’s old quarter, and you’ll see quaint Portuguese bungalows with colour-washed columns. Magnificent chapels here have windows decorated with marigold flowers and some have earthen lamps burning outside in an intriguing mix of cultures and religious practices.
31st January Road is one such spot. Flanked by neo-classical bungalows in shades of butter yellow, dull blue and faded olive on one side, and the Pato creek on the other, the cobbled streets of this area are reminiscent more of a European hamlet than an Indian capital city. The area is full of alternative art galleries and heritage hotels – places that preserve their antique furniture as well as architecture to give you a window into a past that once was.
Portuguese was the official language of Goa until the 1960s. This is still evident in quaint nameplates than hang outside these bungalows, delicately carved in wood, written in letters with a great flourish. Drive down Panjim’s main road that runs by the Miramar beach and stop to eat at ‘Mama’s Kitchen’, a restaurant wholly dedicated to preserving original Goan recipes – home food – with ingredients that range from vinegar to palm wine, beef to dried peppercorns.
Go further south to uncover the hidden side of Goa. Little rivulets here cut across roads to meet the sea. There are places where greenery shuts out sunlight and forms canopies for you to drive beneath, where tiny villages have rural lifestyles untouched by the touristy commercialisation the state’s been witnessing. Everywhere there are tiny water bodies with lotuses and water lilies. These places in Goa have a surfeit of green.
The greenery opens up to white sands and a blue, blue sea. Give the tourist-bus-friendly beaches a miss and head towards the isolated beaches. Betalbatim, Utorda, Bogmalo and Velsao are spectacular as well as spotlessly clean. Free from hawkers, some of these beaches are dotted with little shacks serving spicy vindaloo and gobhi Manchurian with beer – brewed from barley or of the fruit variety. Just take your pick.
If you’re visiting Goa for the first time, get a massage at Calangute by all means. Do buy trinkets from vendors at Baga and go shake a leg at Tito’s. But don’t forget to look further to discover these hidden places in this beautiful, laidback state.
