I was longing for this one. Days before I was to start, I was making arrangements. Fan belt? Check. Engine oil? Topped up. Tyres? They’re like new. Brakes? They work, and work well. So, I’m all set. Despite living very near to water bodies, I’ve always been a mountain guy – I’m a north-Indian, afterall. A holiday for me means the solitude of standing in a deep valley, being caringly watched by the mountains or standing on the edge. So when the chance to travel to a sea-land for a holiday came up, I was apprehensive at first. But I am a traveller at heart and a staunch one at that, so I took the plunge and started for my first ever sea side ‘holiday’. It’s one of those fantastic things about India that attracts travelers from world over. The little stories that we can find in the deserted yet amazingly beautiful landscapes and the hundreds of what-ifs that confront us when we pass by them are what make the simple journeys so intriguing. By the time we reached our resort in south Goa, we were dead tired. But that’s when something amazing happened. Our resort was about 200 meters away from the lovely Varca beach and walked to the beach. The heat and the drive had robbed us of all our visible strength, but we still did. It’s just amazing what a combination of a clear night sky, a cool breeze and the soothing touch of waves – playing hide and seek with your feet – does. Suddenly all our tiredness was gone. The sky is seldom so brilliantly lit with stars and the moon is rarely so alive. You can’t help but feel the ecstasy of being close with someone special and the whole world seems to just come to a standstill. And a different world it is in those moments because all the little experiences that we generally give a skip in our busy city lives suddenly become larger than life. The simple back and forth motion of waves, the lighthouse in the distance and amazing sounds of the sea in the silence that is well spread around, all but add up to an experience thoroughly beyond words. The vastness of sea which really seems like the end of the world is the most humbling feeling that a human mind can experience. So it was obvious that none of us came back to the hotel till it was very late in the night and the waves were fast catching up with us. But it was clear why a simple beach walk makes for the most riveting experience for a human mind. Goa had made an amazing first expression on all of us. Sure enough we were up early next morning again for the sunrise – and what a picturesque setting it was! Beach slippers off, cameras out, and we all set out to capture the most amazing stills of a red morning sky we’d ever seen – which of course was made truly spectacular in background of a early morning blue ocean. By the time we went to bed again at 8 in the morning, our faces bore the expressions of a worn out but a smiling pilgrim who may be physically tired but mentally is fresh enough from the ecstasy he has just experienced. One of the well established facts about travelling in Goa is to do it yourself. You can rent bikes at a nominal cost and experience the party that Goa is. And the bikes on rent aren’t hard to find. Every second home can offer you one of those. The people are friendly to guide you along the way – and that’s what helped us discover this unique state so intimately. Goa reflects a strong influence of different foreign cultures. So the Russian, Portugese and French flavor in the state is impossible to ignore. We had already discovered the peaceful heaven which is southern part of the state and which is definitely the place to go for anybody in need of a quiet and meaningful ‘away from the frenzy’ holiday. However, we were now headed towards what we could only describe as the ‘other’ Goa. It’s wild, happening and a party that just goes on and on. That’s the only rule that really seems to comply with the surroundings. Headquartered at state capital Panjim, this part of Goa is only meant for people who enjoy adrenalin rush. You forget your regular life in this Goa as well but definitely for a very different and much earthier reason. But it is the Goa of the in between that really catches your imagination. The beautifully interspersed rural and urban life and the super simple lifestyle of an average Goan is refreshing. And at the end of it all, it’s the charm and enigma of biking around the city or walking along a beach that work like magic we all famously refer to as Goa.

Ankit Jain, Pune