Why Do You Love The World? ~A Family Vacation to Goa~

Goa, a city where you show the wild side of the Indian that you are. Can you imagine a family vacation here? Oh, yes its possible. My next travel inspiration of travelling with seventeen members of my family and just having the time of your life. Its certainly a new experience and I am guilty of enjoying it throughly. It really gave me an open-minded perspective to what travel is with a large group.    

Day One was finding your comfort zone in a new place. North Goa rushed us and still was a good beginning, despite being a world travel, Goa was it! The Sinquerim Beach was great if you want to just relax on a boat ride. 

 We watched the dolphins dance around us, in pauses of course. But the excitement got us going. 

The Sinqquerim Beach

As we rested our tired legs

Aguada Fort

Since may of us were going to Goa for the first time, it was some time to see the most famous Calungate beach. It was over crowded as expected and as we sat down for some nice lunch at a restaurant, some of us could wait to get into the water. Unfortunately, the beach isn't how it used to be a few years ago. It has been abused literally by a lot of tourists and with garbage smell, drunkard men lying around abandoned, beer bottles here and there, I would not recommend this beach s a family beach anymore. If you love shopping though, do explore the market. Its good to window shop but this would be my last visit to North Goa. 

Paloem and its mystic waters

Cranberry mocktail

Shopping time!

However we didn't let that dampen our spirits because we did book a large traveller and headed towards South Goa the next day. Paloem was truly a tourist paradise. The entrance had an old structure as a gate and the soft sands touching our bare feet, let us feel free. We made ourselves comfortable somewhere near a shak where we could eat and drink without having to get up. With the kids who were only interested in being the water, we took turns to be with them. The best part about a family is they truly help out with the kids. Three of us also just headed out to shop little kick knacks for ourselves. From getting some wrap around skirts, tops and some aloe vera creams, we were actually having fun trying the clothes. Some shopkeepers were friendly towards us as Indian tourists. Many had their regular customers who were foreigners so they didn't try too hard to sell us their things. Honestly it takes a while to actually find clothes that fit your Indian structure. Not that anyone was complaining. 

The next day after a heavy breakfast at the Kamat hotel, that served piping hot idlies, dosas and vada with filter coffee, we headed out quickly towards the Spice Garden that also served us homemade food that included fish fry, chicken curry, rice, dal and papad. I absolutely gorged on those fish though. It was just so fresh and juicy. The claypots just added to the simplicity. Also I did pick up a few spices for my kitchen. It really didn't cost a lot. So don't forget to pick up your bit of shopping from this place. We had a guide throughout the tour and she showed us one by one the spices that were being grown, and the effort they put to keep them alive and thriving. The weather wasn't the best that day, so the coolness just soothed us while we followed each other.

A canal running through the spice garden

We were welcomed with hot lemon tea

Spice garden walking tour

As a couple we did take out a little time for ourselves to check out the clubs near Candolim. The beach was not very safe for the kids, so we stayed for a while and moved on to check out the market again. 

Despite the exploration within India, I understood the true value of a family. How travel can bring us all together despite us being so different from each other! My love for the world only increased because of this experience of a lifetime. I am looking forward to doing more such group travel because without family there is no life at all. 

Click below to understand different perspectives on why do you love the world? #SayYesToTheWorld

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Singapore Dairies

When you think about the horrid summers in India, all you wish that you lived on the top of a mountain but since its not always an option, this year we decided on Singapore. My son's first trip abroad and we were pretty excited about visiting another asian country for the first time. After Europe, I really didn't have much hopes on it but wow, how this country has surprised me.

We planned to stay at Punggol which is actually a lovely neighbourhood but a little away from all the tourist places. However, determined to make our way to all that we planned when we hardly had a wink, we went for Gardens By The Bay, popular for its super trees, Indoor waterfalls and their preservation of nature. The fully air-conditioning hits you with a blast as you enter and the shower of the gigantic waterfall greeted us with cool sprinkle of water.  Its almost as if you have reached some sort of heaven on earth. You can walk up or simply take an elevator up and as you go, you can comfortably relax at some spot of your choice and just watch the waterfall. Its one of a kind that makes your visit to Singapore a visit worth while.

After spending a really long time inside, we went for the Flower dome, where you can see how different varieties of flowers have been maintained under controlled temperature. They even had a tulip garden display which was just a delight to the eyes. A cozy cafe where they serve nice cappuccino, cold beer and some absolutely mouth watering snacks, we lingered despite wanting to stay put. Secretly i had set up a camp amongst the flowers and forget the life i live.

The SuperTrees Grove was another highlight of the place. You can see it standing tall, making its presence felt despite looking at the other structures. It makes you want to stare at them all day long. At around 7:15, they had the musical show started which was the STAR WAR theme. After a long day, I napped lying under them, listening to the very soothing with the volume just right that put me to sleep.

Its even more stunning when you stand in front of it

Many such art pieces were displayed along the way. This is one of them

Original carving from wood. What do you see? I see evolution.

Horticulture Heaven

A Road Trip To Matheran

I wanted to write about Matheran for quite sometime now but never got the time. And it's an experience that you can never forget. 

We drove some 700 kilometres from Hyderabad to reach this hilly town to enjoy the summers expecting it to be a little cooler than the other cities in India. Unfortunately there was no respite. It was as hot and we were sweating by the time the evening came. So, a tip, not really the best place to chill during summers. But what we loved about this place was its serenity and beauty. The best time it was to get up early in the morning and take a ride towards any of the points to enjoy a view of Matheran. Some of my favourite points have been Sunset point, Louisa point and Lion's point (Which is on our way towards Matheran). 

Haath Gaadi

Horse Rides all around Matheran

To to begin with we reached our resort one afternoon. We parked our car and took the horses and hate gaudy to reach up. If you have a backpack then it's great to walk up and down. A good exercise and you get to see and take a lot of pictures. I enjoyed my horse ride too much to let go of it. Let's just say that I felt like royalty on it and the steadiness of a horse and its warm coat just gave me comfort in this new unknown town. After dropping our bags, we headed on foot to the market where you see shops with leather bags on display and knick knacks that you could just do without. I did but a messenger bag to carry my phone (to take pictures) and a diary to jot down my thoughts and of course my son's bottle (for milk). So that my hands were free to hold the reins of my horse.  The walk was great in the evening because we had the shops to entertain us. There were no cars or bicycles only horses and hate gaudy dominating the paths. A lot of abandoned houses left behind. I could see many parsi surnames engraved on the names plates, so I am hoping that they moved on with their kids. 

The sunset point was two kilometres from our resort so we walked up and down and waited with a lot of other tourists to watch the sun set. It was a beautiful evening, we had our cups of tea and vada pau to pass the time. My parents had come along so, it really felt calm and peaceful chatting away. My son was for a change staying put and didn't run much. The sun had set but then and we clicked a few pictures and wow-ed at the beauty. Down below I could also see a tribal village (far far away) and I wondered their about their life down there. 

Louisa Point

For Louisa Point, we got up early in the morning, around 5 and had a leisure ride towards the place. It was still early so no tourists around and it really did look like a spot where movies could shoot a romantic song. But the horse riders told us that bollywood didn't come here for any scenes at all. It was just too much work to carry equipment up and then set up. The strict rules around for not having a car or any vehicle up to Matheran was really a put off and i wondered how much more this town could survive on just horses and mediocre tourism antics. I also heard another rumour while we visited another point that Anil Ambani was slowly buying off the hotels in Matheran and planning to shut the town down if they didn't allow cars up. And seriously it really didn't make sense to me. The beauty did depend of the soulless sighs of the mountains and we could just see beyond the stubbornness of locals here. 

Toy Train Back to the Car Park

The holiday came to an end and this time we took a train to the car park because we did spend a lot of the horses and hate gad. Taking a train was a better option- now that I think. The view was beautiful, the train was slowly and steady giving you a nice lull to the things out here.