Reaching North Goa from Palolem was a struggle of its own. We could've taken the local buses to reach, but it was so hot that again, I gave in and told Karan how I did not mind paying extra for the cab. We did find a taxi, but we had to find three more people, to make this a long six-person trip. I was prepared to stand at the bus stop and ask random travellers if they wanted a drive to North Goa. However, thank heavens for the hostel we were in, three travellers agreed to pitch in since they had to go to Baga Beach, a popular place in North Goa.
I called shotgun, and the rest of the guys had to manage behind, but I did not care! I was so excited for yet another road trip. It took us nearly two hours to get there, and the roads, the views, the water on both sides of the road - It was surreal tbh. It was the 8th day of my trip, and as unplanned as my days were, I couldn't stop gushing about how liberated I felt. I couldn't help but click a few pictures, send them to mom and tell her how amazing I was doing while I was on the go. It was a Saturday, and oh my! What a lovely weekend in Goa.
Even though the drive to North Goa was longer than that from Gokarna to Palolem, I couldn't wait to get to the hostel we had booked, again through Hostelworld. This time, we decided of giving Bucketlist a shot. Bucketlist was at Vagator, and its price was not too costly. The only downside of it was that it had no AC in any of the rooms. However, I didn't think it would be much of a problem, because we had to stay there for one night. After that, we were supposed to leave for Bangalore on Sunday!
On reaching Bucketlist, I was rather amused by what I saw there. There were huts, very small huts which could NOT fit four/six people, yet, we were allotted bunk beds, accordingly. The huts had a rooftop made with hay, and while it could've given me a nice vibe, it didn't. I felt suffocated the minute I entered the dorm room/hut. The outdoors of the hostel was quaint, pretty and the bar area was filled with travellers. The washrooms are very low compared to the number of travellers in the hostel, but I guess a few people care only want a place to crash. I was wrong when I said no AC rooms didn't matter. The first hour for me inside the hostel was very difficult. I started getting a migraine because of the heat, and I had no idea how I'd survive my night here.
Aman, Karan and Priyank seemed fine with the hostel because the heat didn't matter to them as much as I was bothered with it. We reached North Goa around the late afternoon, so we were hungry af and wanted to find a place with good food. While they asked around, I managed to rent a bike for the next 24 hours (The same price in Gokarna - 350 bucks for 24 hours!) Tried Zomato-ing, got reviews of cafes from travellers and concluded that we'd eat at the Burger Factory, which was known for its exquisite Burgers. I started getting sick right after leaving Bucketlist for Burger Factory that these guys decided to stop by at the first cafe they spotted for food. I needed to be fed, and my headache was getting worse. There were cafes, but none of us could make up our mind with what to eat and where. After hopping from places to places, we ate some snacks from a small roadside bakery, thinking the migraine could subside but in vain. After some time, we found Burger Factory, but it was so popular that we had to wait for 45 minutes to get a seat or even takeaway. I thought I would pass out, so Karan, Aman and Priyank collectively decided to get me to a Cafe where there was some AC so I could cool down.
They decided of coming to Burger Factory after I ate something because Burger Factory did not have good vegetarian options. Thirty minutes on the road, under the scorching heat with a red face, I spotted a small cafe (whose name I forgot!) and decided to hit there. Thank god for these people who were with me; else, I literally would've passed out due to that unbearable migraine that hit me hours ago. As I got better, we decided of hitting the road but not before getting a few clicks!:D
These guys were terrified of seeing how sick I had gotten that Karan suggested I book a hostel with an AC room. I wanted to stay with these guys, but I also knew I couldn't stay at Bucketlist for that night. So we made a booking for the night at Dreams Hostel, just for me. It did cost me double because I had also paid at Bucketlist, but health over money ANYDAY!
Did we get to go to Burger Factory? I didn't, but Priyank and Aman did, and the reviews were good! You should add this place to your list of eateries to go to if you are a foodie and love burgers.
Back at Bucketlist, we were all sitting together outside, and an impulsive decision was made to not go back to Bangalore on Sunday.
I was all in for this plan because I was not done with my trip. Yes, my parents were expecting me to come back on Sunday, but soon after this collective impulsive decision of ours, I informed my folks about a delay in my plans. I was so grateful for my parents being so chill with this that moment that the adrenaline rush in me for Goa tripled with excitement. I had work on Monday, but I knew I could pull it off because that is what I did in Gokarna too.
As impulsive as this decision was, our next step was even quicker than we had imagined. We booked another hostel called Wonderland Hostel at Anjuna for Sunday night. We didn't make a long booking! We weren't sure of when we would want to leave for Bangalore, so we took our trip, one day at a time. The following evening, while we were all chilling at Bucketlist, I came across two travellers 20-year old and so chirpy and high on life. It was wonderful to talk to these kids, and I couldn't help but think about what I was up to when I was 20. I was slogging in my law school, with no motivation to travel to Goa.
We all played a little TT, chatted a tad and out of nowhere, Aman tells us how we should go to the Casino at Panjim. The idea sounded fancy, but did I want to spend 2k just on unlimited booze, food and gambling? I wasn't so sure, but these kids sure were excited :D
I was just out of a very bad migraine, so was I ready to go on a long night at the Casino? I thought of spending some alone time, so I told them that I'd head to my new dorm room at night to sleep and unwind. All these guys were cool with it, and at that point, I felt so nice that I was here on a solo trip and not with friends. The thing is, when you travel with friends, you plan on doing the same things together, that even if one withdraws from it, there's so much drama that unfolds the minute someone wants to do something else. Each friend circle is different, and while what I may say might differ, but I knew that I couldn't pull off from a plan if I were with my friends from school or college without encountering some high-level drama.
When you travel solo, even if you meet people and decide on plans together, you're not obligated to one another. This instance gave me a reality check of how a solo trip is beneficial for those who want to travel as per their plans. So why compromise on a trip for others when you're equally entitled to have fun?
I had heard a lot about the Turtle Nesting sight at Morjim, and I wanted to spot turtles, so I asked my friends if they wanted to join me for Sea turtles hunt! The idea seemed fun, so Priyank chose to rest since they had to hit the Casino later; Aman, Karan, Nitish and Kevin (the kids, haha) and I left for Turtle Beach. It was a very, very long ride, but my migraine had disappeared, and the cold breeze, the views, Goan streets filled my heart with smiles and all love. I loved my decision of staying back, exploring Goa my way, and from a gang of four, we became a gang of six while I maintained the title of a Boss! :')
The boss led a five people troop to Morjim to see turtles. A 40 minutes ride and 5 minutes walk later, we were bummed when we were told that the turtles are usually spotted in the early hours of sunrise, and spotting one at 6:30 PM would be miraculous. I was super confident of spotting turtles, so I again led my troop to an evening beach walk in the high tide. We must have walked for close to a kilometre when someone said the nesting site was in the opposite direction. Did I go back? No. I kept on walking and instead collected tons of seashells. Decided of making the best out of the situation!
My small hands couldn't collect all the seashells, so I started giving everything I collected to the guys, who were surely cursing me for torturing them and getting them to walk aimlessly! The Morjim beach was surprisingly the cleanest beach I had seen in Goa till now, with no plastics around it and shacks very far from the shore. A two-kilometre walk later, as I started to get bored, I told these guys how I wanted to go back and sleep. I am sure there were curses hurled at me that time, too, because they all wanted to go back and rest way before I told them. But well, as the Boss said! :P
So, was this ride to Morjim a total waste? I was bummed that I couldn't see the turtles, but I saw a dead Eel with a fish stuck in its throat, what we mistook for a long black snake initially. I collected many seashells, all thanks to Nitish since he helped me get a few exotic shells. I accidentally caught a few crabs that scared the crap out of me, and in total, I had a blast in the high tide with these people. Each day, as I met new people, I thanked my stars for new friends.
Whoever thinks Goa is all about Beaches and open roads, you're mistaken. We hit some deadly traffic in the main city on our way back, and it took us nearly an hour to reach Vagator. I bid these people a good night, and as Karan dropped me off at my new hostel, I was prepared to hit the bed ASAP. My new room was beautiful, and the hostel was really pretty. I could hardly spot people inside the common seating area. Having met so many people in the past eight days, I was absolutely fine with not socialising with people for once since I only had to spend a night here. I was drained. So after having a quiet dinner of Chai and Pasta from the hostel Cafe, I hit the bed and had the sweetest sleep, all recharged for the next crazy morning!
My room had six bunk beds, and I did have a few roommates, but I was so hung up on meeting my friends the next morning that I didn't bother interacting with anyone that night. So that night was ideally my first solo trip night where it was just me, with my thoughts, chai, and gratitude.
The next morning, Karan and I decided to hit for breakfast since all others were exhausted from a night out at the Casino. We spotted a shack by Anjuna Beach and had whatever was available in the morning. I wanted to have an English Breakfast, but we couldn't locate Artjuna Cafe (pretty well known for amazing food), so I made my peace with some cheese sandwiches. We had to drop off the scooter at the owner's place in an hour, so we had a quick breakfast, and Karan dropped me off at Wonderland and went ahead to return the scooter. The check-in at Wonderland was not supposed to be for another two hours, so I decided to pass my time at the common area of this hostel, where I met a group of three guys from Delhi. With eight days on the trip, my social skills were on point!
They were sweet, asked me if I were a solo traveller, and after I narrated the whole Gokarna-Goa story, they said I was brave enough to do this. Come to think of it, I was, and I was super stoked. Remember, I met two travellers from Chennai at Palolem's hostel in my previous chapter? As it turned out, they too decided of booking Wonderland Hostel after a brief conversation that I had with Sid last night and from a troop of six, we were now a troop of eight. So, while Nitish and Kevin had their bookings at Bucketlist, the six of us - Rimona, Sid, Aman, Karan, Priyank, and I were now going to stay together. This, again, was not a part of the plan, but when was anything going as per any of our plans?
Wonderland was a nice hostel. Surprisingly, the hostel owner said all the six of us could get a whole cottage with six bunk beds at the time of check-in. This was going to be a new experience, and we were all so excited to be each other's roommates for the next day. I dumped all my luggage (including the leftover emotional baggage that I had brought from Bangalore) inside the room, rushed outside to chill with the whole new troop, with so many people. A few of us decided to get a whole crate of beers from a nearby shop and celebrate the fact that we were in Goa. However, a little miscommunication with the hostel owner and we were debarred from storing our beer bottles in the common fridge! They wanted us to buy beers from their in-house Bar, but why would we pay 120 bucks for a 60 Rupees beer!? Yea, Goa is indeed very cheap for alcohol, and I couldn't believe the cost initially!
It was time for lunch, so we all hit for Curlies, a very well-known eatery at Anjuna beach, which was a few metres away from this hostel.
Curlies was crazy with the food, the beach view and the vibe in the afternoon. What was supposed to be a lunch at Curlies became an eight-hour rendition by the beach, where we ended up playing Frisbee despite the scorching heat. I didn't care for the washed hair, new dress. I, too, gave in to the Goan Vibe and hopped around to play Frisbee with Sid, Aman and Rimona. Karan and Priyank, the sleepyheads, went back after Lunch to sleep, but I chose to stay. I wanted to soak every bit of this Sunday, every bit of the breeze, the views, including the heat, so that I would have no regrets. I wanted to live every nanosecond, and this is what I was doing. I even got one of those foot massages and took a short nap post looking at the beautiful sunset.
Sadly, because of the seaweed water where I fell a couple of times while playing Frisbee, I was left soaking with itchy sand and saltwater. I wanted to change into a fresh pair of clothing, but I had no mood to go back to the hostel. So, I did what a normal person would do. I went to one of the street side shops and picked up a very hippie shirt, which was so loose and big that it became my dress. Whoever invented washrooms have my utmost regards because that's where I changed into this oversized hip piece of clothing and made an entry back to Curlies. I felt so comfortable, so very comfortable, that I decided of being in it for that whole night.
We ended up sitting by the beach till 9 pm, bought some funky headgears, watched the fireworks and had a little pre-dinner, post which we walked back to the hostel. That night, we all sat together, talked, and the eight of us bonded over failed love stories, rejections and some Poker! I did not want this to end, I wanted to stay for one more day, but could we do that? We had not booked our room for the next day. We weren't sure where we'd head if we didn't get the room for Monday night.
The Sunday night had many questions, but we slept over it and left the decision to leave or not leave for Monday.
And on Monday, we decided to explore more of Goa and decided to stay back for a few more days. We extended our stay at Wonderland, worked during the day and scouted Goa in the evening and night. I, for the first time ever, even hitch-hiked with my friends because we wanted to see the sunset and we had only 15 mins left.
I even went to Portuguese Street near Panjim, got a lot of pictures clicked, thanks to my friend Sid, who happened to be my photographer for the day. From playing frisbee by the beach, to dancing our hearts out, from four to fourteen people on my last day, Goa gave me a lot. I took my own sweet time to explore Goa and chose to not go to the touristy places, rather roam around, explore the local area first. A blog or even two blogs is too little for me to write down my experiences, my memories.... so I am just going to leave it here.
Sure you'll hear things like Goa for a solo traveller is not safe, esp a female. I heard too, but now that I've lived it, I don't think you can categorize a place as safe and unsafe, to be honest. When you're travelling solo, be sure to be alert for your surroundings. Don't drink alcohol if you feel you cannot take care of yourself post it. You're yours to take care of on a solo trip, so be mindful of where you're going. Be trustworthy in your intuitions and trust me, solo trips turn less scary. My two cents on this are - Stay in a hostel rather than a hotel when you're on a solo trip because you get to be around people, even when you're alone. That's the best. To interact or not to interact is your choice, but having people around is really nice, on solo travel. You never know, where and how you might stumble upon a nice story for yourself! :)
For some time now, the travel is on hold as the second wave has hit the country. I will soon be updating my third solo trip (if I get to go at all!!)
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