My job will have me visiting Goa India in a few weeks. Anyone been there, know what its like? My research indicates it is a resort area, and possibly the rave capitol of the universe. Firsthand knowledge is always best. Anyone?
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Anybody been to India? Specifically Goa.
- Thread starter brian1e
- Start date
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
I've been to India on business several times, but to Bangalore not to Goa.
I do know that Goa is one of the most 'touristy' destinations and has more Portuguese influence than other areas. I think you'll need somebody with specific Goan knowledge. India is a big place and, from my limited experience, every state and region has it's own separate cultures, customs and there are 122 different languages...so, each state and even cities are like different countries; even though they're all Indian.
I do know that Goa is one of the most 'touristy' destinations and has more Portuguese influence than other areas. I think you'll need somebody with specific Goan knowledge. India is a big place and, from my limited experience, every state and region has it's own separate cultures, customs and there are 122 different languages...so, each state and even cities are like different countries; even though they're all Indian.
I spent nearly a month in India (Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Agra). I didn't go to Goa but I've heard that it's nice.
Travel tips:
I was bombarded by beggars the minute I stepped outside the airport including young women holding babies (at 3 AM). Don't talk to them, don't touch anything they are selling, and don't give them money. The people of India were generally very welcoming and polite however there is no order, no waiting in lines, etc. Everyone shoves their way to the front so be prepared and don't take it personally. If there is a gap, it will be quickly filled. I kept my passport and money in a zipped pouch that would hang on my neck tucked into my shirt. Also, people will stare at you (not impolite) so don't be surprised.
I never felt that I was in danger but I wouldn't go walking around where I shouldn't be. Your weekly salary is more than most Indians earn in a year so, you're a rich man over there.
The food was great, everything was fresh. On one occasion I saw my dinner walking around just minutes before they cooked it. I only ate at the finest restaurants, stayed in 5 star hotels, and drank bottled water so I never got sick.
Get your shots before you go. Take an extra suitcase to bring stuff back in (gifts, etc).
It's a different world. The traffic is like a roller coaster ride. You'll enjoy it.
Travel tips:
I was bombarded by beggars the minute I stepped outside the airport including young women holding babies (at 3 AM). Don't talk to them, don't touch anything they are selling, and don't give them money. The people of India were generally very welcoming and polite however there is no order, no waiting in lines, etc. Everyone shoves their way to the front so be prepared and don't take it personally. If there is a gap, it will be quickly filled. I kept my passport and money in a zipped pouch that would hang on my neck tucked into my shirt. Also, people will stare at you (not impolite) so don't be surprised.
I never felt that I was in danger but I wouldn't go walking around where I shouldn't be. Your weekly salary is more than most Indians earn in a year so, you're a rich man over there.
The food was great, everything was fresh. On one occasion I saw my dinner walking around just minutes before they cooked it. I only ate at the finest restaurants, stayed in 5 star hotels, and drank bottled water so I never got sick.
Get your shots before you go. Take an extra suitcase to bring stuff back in (gifts, etc).
It's a different world. The traffic is like a roller coaster ride. You'll enjoy it.
Yeah, that bit about the differences across the country is for sure true.
I was in Chennai (Madras) for a week & my hosts took me out to dinner one night & let me order.
I noticed after a bit they they were almost not eating, because the things I had selected were all too spicy for them. They told me that the spicy things I ordered are usually served up North.
I think Goa will be a whole other ball game compared to non-tourist India.
I was in Chennai (Madras) for a week & my hosts took me out to dinner one night & let me order.
I noticed after a bit they they were almost not eating, because the things I had selected were all too spicy for them. They told me that the spicy things I ordered are usually served up North.
I think Goa will be a whole other ball game compared to non-tourist India.
Den said it better than I could! If you have any questions feel free to pm me. Or ask here. Goa has a rave scene but you can easily stay away from it if that's what you want or get access to it.
Gee if anyone is flying to new Delhi some one get me one of those used Aguilar SL cabs hah! For real though
I've been to India several times. It's a very polarizing country; people either love it or hate. I love it. It's a fascinating place, but it can be a shock to the system when first arriving. For the independent budget traveller, it can be challenging and difficult at times, but I think travel should get you out of your comfort zone and expose you to new things.
Having said that, Goa is very touristy and caters more to Westerners and Western comforts. It's known as a backpacker party island. 'Nuff said.
Having said that, Goa is very touristy and caters more to Westerners and Western comforts. It's known as a backpacker party island. 'Nuff said.
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And mosquitoes there is a lot of mosquitoes .. Depending on where you are... Am up at 5am because some how a ton of them got inside some how . so carry a mosquitoe repellent.. You get a skin cream for that LOL
But it is a friendly nice place, You will have a nice time after you get used to the staring LOL
Funny story. I travelled the exact opposite way of you. My wife and I stayed in cheap hotels and ate street food for three weeks with zero issues. We wanted to end the trip in style and comfort, so we stayed at The Sheraton in New Delhi the last two nights of our trip. Both of us good food poisoning from their dinner buffet. Go figure.
Yeah, those mosquitos...As well as Bangalore, I've had brief visits to Mumbai, Chennai and New Dehli. In some places the mosquitos are fine; Bangalore, for example, is pretty high above sea level so the climate means that the mozzies are not malarial, other places they might be, so you need to make sure what the situation is in Goa and get your jabs up to date as required.
Goa may be different, but even in the richest cities 5 star international hotels rub shoulders with shanty towns and slums, often with open sewers so that's a big culture shock for us soft westerners. Even carrying a modest amount of money by western standards means that you are absolutely loaded by Indian standards...our business party gave the driver who had been ferrying us around all week about $10 as a tip at the end of the week, only for our Indian hosts to tell us we'd tipped him the equivalent of a couple of days pay.
Traffic is completely crazy and the horn is used more often than the brakes by Indian drivers and you see some bizarre sights, like unlit buffalo carts on the freeway at night. I also witnessed the funniest thing I've ever seen on any road from the comfort of the Mitsubishi Shogun we were being ferried about in. At any major traffic junction, all of the hundreds of little motorbikes push their way to the front and, when the traffic lights change (if anybody is obeying them to start with) all these bikes race for their exit like the start of a motocross race. They also carry the most unlikely cargo, strapped anywhere they can get it on the bike. So, at this one set of lights I look out of the window to see a bike where the rider was sitting on the tank, so his feet were not on the floor. The job of keeping the bike upright when stationary fell to the pillion rider, and the reason that the rider had to sit so far forward was because the pillion rider was holding a huge tractor tyre, sideways, between them. The lights changed and the rider gassed it for his racing start. The pillion wasn't quite ready for this and tried to get his feet back on the pegs, but failed and his foot went back on the floor again...he tried desperately to stay on the bike by frantically paddling with his feet like a swan trying to take off, but inevitably he fell off the back of the bike. As he fell, the tractor tyre he had been holding fell neatly across the rider like a hoopla stall...snatching his hands off the bars and pinning his arms neatly to his sides. With no hands on the bars, no throttle and with the rider still sitting on the tank and unable to put his feet down the bike slowly weaved it's way to a halt, whereupon it fell over....the rider, still neatly pinned inside the middle of the tyre then fell off and rolled a few yards further in the tyre before finall coming to rest against the kerb....all this on the middle of a busy junction, and nobody stopped...just honked their horns and weaved around the chaos. Nobody was seriously hurt, just a few grazes from what I could see, otherwise it wouldn't have had me doubled up with laughter...one of those times when your sides just ache.
Goa may be different, but even in the richest cities 5 star international hotels rub shoulders with shanty towns and slums, often with open sewers so that's a big culture shock for us soft westerners. Even carrying a modest amount of money by western standards means that you are absolutely loaded by Indian standards...our business party gave the driver who had been ferrying us around all week about $10 as a tip at the end of the week, only for our Indian hosts to tell us we'd tipped him the equivalent of a couple of days pay.
Traffic is completely crazy and the horn is used more often than the brakes by Indian drivers and you see some bizarre sights, like unlit buffalo carts on the freeway at night. I also witnessed the funniest thing I've ever seen on any road from the comfort of the Mitsubishi Shogun we were being ferried about in. At any major traffic junction, all of the hundreds of little motorbikes push their way to the front and, when the traffic lights change (if anybody is obeying them to start with) all these bikes race for their exit like the start of a motocross race. They also carry the most unlikely cargo, strapped anywhere they can get it on the bike. So, at this one set of lights I look out of the window to see a bike where the rider was sitting on the tank, so his feet were not on the floor. The job of keeping the bike upright when stationary fell to the pillion rider, and the reason that the rider had to sit so far forward was because the pillion rider was holding a huge tractor tyre, sideways, between them. The lights changed and the rider gassed it for his racing start. The pillion wasn't quite ready for this and tried to get his feet back on the pegs, but failed and his foot went back on the floor again...he tried desperately to stay on the bike by frantically paddling with his feet like a swan trying to take off, but inevitably he fell off the back of the bike. As he fell, the tractor tyre he had been holding fell neatly across the rider like a hoopla stall...snatching his hands off the bars and pinning his arms neatly to his sides. With no hands on the bars, no throttle and with the rider still sitting on the tank and unable to put his feet down the bike slowly weaved it's way to a halt, whereupon it fell over....the rider, still neatly pinned inside the middle of the tyre then fell off and rolled a few yards further in the tyre before finall coming to rest against the kerb....all this on the middle of a busy junction, and nobody stopped...just honked their horns and weaved around the chaos. Nobody was seriously hurt, just a few grazes from what I could see, otherwise it wouldn't have had me doubled up with laughter...one of those times when your sides just ache.
I haven't been to Goa. A few of my friends from office went to uni there and apparently it's a pretty chilled out place - consider, for example, that it is only one of three Indian provinces where gambling is legal 
It's not the largest place in the world - considering that it is a full fledged state in India - but it's got a lot of places to see and hired two wheelers are a popular way to get around.
Forget malaria, when I lived in Bangalore, lots of my buddies got dengue fever from mosquitoes. Though this time of the year starts seeing the dengue rates drop quite a bit, it is best to take precautionary measures.
True for the most part. It does depend on the city as well though - I lived in Calcutta for 15 years, and the traffic was bad, but people were nowhere near as crazy as they are in Delhi. I would be very surprised if it were that bad in Goa.
The idea of Indian love for spicy food has been inflated to caricaturish proportions. Though the concept that spicy food = north, non-spicy food = south is somewhat misleading (see Telugu cuisine). Besides, I'm from the north (from Invalid Link Removedto be specific) and my family has zero tolerance for seriously hot spices
It's not the largest place in the world - considering that it is a full fledged state in India - but it's got a lot of places to see and hired two wheelers are a popular way to get around.Forget malaria, when I lived in Bangalore, lots of my buddies got dengue fever from mosquitoes. Though this time of the year starts seeing the dengue rates drop quite a bit, it is best to take precautionary measures.
True for the most part. It does depend on the city as well though - I lived in Calcutta for 15 years, and the traffic was bad, but people were nowhere near as crazy as they are in Delhi. I would be very surprised if it were that bad in Goa.
The idea of Indian love for spicy food has been inflated to caricaturish proportions. Though the concept that spicy food = north, non-spicy food = south is somewhat misleading (see Telugu cuisine). Besides, I'm from the north (from Invalid Link Removedto be specific) and my family has zero tolerance for seriously hot spices
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I had been living in Thailand for over 10 years at that point, so the spice level I was used to was like flamethrower material to the guys in Madras.
I ordered Thai for lunch from a popular place a few weeks back. I went without lunch that day
BTW, just to clarify, Telugu cuisine (that I referred to in the earlier post) is not what they have in Chennai (known as Madras earlier). Chennai is in Tamil Nadu so they have Tamil cuisine there. IME, Tamil cuisine is substantially lower on spices than Telugu, though both of them are from the South of India.
Thanks for all your replies.
Spicy (hot) food is not a problem for me, Tex-Mex is one of my favorite cuisines. I suppose some of the perception of spicy Indian food may come from the use of spices normally used for baking in western cooking. Things like anise, clove, cinnamon. From what I have seen they are often used in main dishes, and I find it to be very good.
It looks like I should be able to get a driver for ~$60-$70 a day. Getting visas is my biggest headache at the moment.
Spicy (hot) food is not a problem for me, Tex-Mex is one of my favorite cuisines. I suppose some of the perception of spicy Indian food may come from the use of spices normally used for baking in western cooking. Things like anise, clove, cinnamon. From what I have seen they are often used in main dishes, and I find it to be very good.
It looks like I should be able to get a driver for ~$60-$70 a day. Getting visas is my biggest headache at the moment.
You will get a driver for 10$ a day LOL.. I think? Ive never hiref one. And a car for around the same or double depending on the car . plus cost of gas
Ooh, it must be stunningly beautiful up there; I've been aching to see it for some time. One day hopefully.
Speaking of which, and OT apart for the tourist area aspect: how do you like Shimla?
(@thehangingmist too, of course.)
Ooh, it must be stunningly beautiful up there; I've been aching to see it for some time. One day hopefully.
Speaking of which, and OT apart for the tourist area aspect: how do you like Shimla?
(@thehangingmist too, of course.)
Shimla is a charming place, but it's become terribly congested of late by the sheer number of tourists and places mushrooming everywhere to cater to them, not to mention the uncontrolled expansion of the city that is not doing the environment any favors. It's a similar story in most popular places in the state, but there still are little towns and villages that are untouched by the mad tourist influx.
I'm from a smaller town halfway between where the foothills start and where Shimla is - this town isn't as popular with tourists and thus, not as congested as Shimla. There are mountains all around so it's still pretty, but then, it doesn't have the colonial charm of Shimla.
The driver cost is what the hotel says. This is for a 10 hr day. If I am at the clients site, the driver waits for me all day, and on call at night.
