GOA - My Experience

Goa really is a branded tourist destination. It has everything for all kinds of tourist.No wonder foreigners just keep coming back time and again.The beaches calangute-baga-condolim are all good for enjoying the waves, the water temperature is also very comfortable, every other shop serves you liquor, place is always buzzing with happy tourists and there is not even a single dull moment in Goa.

Calangute is first stop for all Indian tourists, the number keeps increasing y-o-y. Scooter rides, para-sailing, banana ride keeps them excited and busy.In ten years time Goa will attract at-least four times as many tourist from India.With economy booming, middle-class population increasing by millions every year and people having started to spend money on travelling, Goa is going to get busier in coming years.The food is 20-30 % cheaper than other cities in India.Expect that to multiple at-least 3 times in next 10 yrs.As of now Goa as a whole is at least 30% cheaper than Phuket,Thailand with similar beaches & landscape minus the open sex elements.

I liked the beaches more during early morning around 6am and in the evenings after 6 pm. The tranquility and sounds of waves have therapeutic effect on your mind.Its like meditation, brings all your nerves to calm and you feel the joy within.Also, especially, in the morning there is hardly any one, so one can listen to sound waves without any interruptions or noise. No body seem to rise early in Goa, the localites work late in the night, and open their shops and shacks only after 9 am in the morning.Most of the tourists keep enjoying their Kingfisher late into the the night and very few can be found jogging early in the morning.The Yoga meditation sessions early mornings are like bliss.

Bikes/cars can be hired to visit other beaches & sightseeing.I hired a scooty for Rs200/- per day.One needs to pay advance and a photo identity and should have a driving license( random police checkings happens once in a week).These vehicles are generally in good condition, petrol costs Rs60/- a litre.

Several localites approached me for drugs & prostitutes.It means that drugs are still a big business there,though done in discreet manner.The guy gave me a complete list of narcotic drugs available on short notice with complete price list.They also mentioned Russian prostitutes available for Rs15,000/- per s... & Indian girls for over Rs 6000/- per night. The govt is trying to make Goa a clean tourist destination without drugs/prostitutions/massage par-lours. I think they need to cover some more distance in that front.

Several disco's have opened employing girls to lure you in, where entry charge ranges between Rs 200-500.These disco's are different from Tito. These are meant for single people, who go in there, buy drink for one of the lady dancers (one drink will cost between Rs 200-500 ) and then one can dance with her for sometime, its a money snatching scheme.When Dance Bars closed down in Mumbai, lot of people wondered whatever happened to those bar dancers.One can find them dancing on one of these Discos, playing with customers, making deals with them and talking in a way which is very typical of mumbai bar dancer.Heard they also double as escorts.

Kingfisher marketing team has done a fabulous marketing & branding exercise in Goa.Beer means Kingfisher in Goa, though I am fan of Budweiser and think its lot better than Kf premium & Kf strong beer tastes horrible. Kingfisher really have built a big brand by entering into F1 & airlines & the marketing exercise begins in England with direct flights from several cities there, that helps a lot in building the trust.The kingfisher villa in goa looks stupendous, liquor baron does have tons of money, though the airline biz is bleeding profusely. Its time other beer companies start reworking their strategy vis-a-vis Goa, good way to globalize the brand.

There is lot that can be said about Goa, the culture, friendly people, safe destination, opportunity for friendship, endless beaches, holiday spirit & atmosphere, die hard goa fans and unending beer drinking sessions.

Only sore sight for me was lack of cleanliness.Not even a single waste box in entire beach while lot of vendors selling eatable stuffs on paper bags and plastic cups.The sands in the beaches are mixed with paper ,plastic cups and other garbage.Either you provide waste bins every 20 meters or stop eatable vendors from selling things on beach.Action needs to be taken now.There is simply no arrangement for waste disposal.

        Taxi stands are too filled with waste strewn all over. How difficult is it to spend money on keeping city clean, where so much revenues are generated ever year ? Indians can create the worlds most sophisticated software but cant keep a city clean ? Make littering an offence and fine at least Rs 200 for each offence, discipline the shack owners and shopkeepers. Cleanliness is a culture, and responsibility should fall on everybody, handful of people cant be expected to clean mess created by millions of visitors.Its high time hygiene is taken very seriously with huge investment on waste management as well.