The hues of Calangute beach, Goa

–Plabita Baruah |

“Travelling, it leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller”, Ibn Battuta was more than right when he quoted this thought. And we were more than right, decisively when I and my husband decided to spend the first weekend of the New Year in Calangute beach, Goa. Goa, the place to escape from the real India, the place that alleviates you from the never ending rat race that life is, the place where you can live as ridiculously as you wish and no one bats an eye.

On the first Saturday of yet another fine year, we reached the famous Calangute beach of Goa at about 9 in the morning from the hotel we arrived at the previous day. Apparently, we were among the handful few who were the early birds at this beautiful beach, owing to the happening night life in Goa due to which life starts a bit late in the morning. After parking our rented two-wheeler, we walked down to the beach through the number of vibrant shops adorning the way. From fancy beachwear clothes to various accessories like sunglasses, hats and Goan handicraft items, these colorful shops were a treat to the eyes even if you are just window shopping.

And then you get to witness the mesmerizing queen of beaches lying gracefully under the shade of palm trees by the side of the mighty Arabian Sea. Decorating the seaside, there were a number of brightly colored shacks and bamboo huts serving various delicacies and providing beach chairs for tourists to relax. After comfortably settling in the chairs we spent about 3 hours relaxing and watching the people from all over the globe flock to the beach. To spend more time relaxing in the chairs, all you need to do was order food from the adjacent restaurant which was absolutely no problem owing to the variety of scrumptious dishes they were serving. We tried a lot of seafood throughout the day among which I would recommend the must try, topping the list as Calamari followed by butter garlic king prawns, grilled lobster, king fish rawa fry, tandoori pomfret and tuna steak.

The beach buzzed with various water activities and it was almost irresistible to not try the exhilarating sports one by one. Though it was a bit scary watching people hover above the sea on a parachute, parasailing was an awesome activity making you feel like a free bird in the sky. Riding the Jet Ski amidst the furious waves of the sea was a little adventure in itself to get your adrenaline running. The banana boat ride where the boat flipping over in the mid sea really frightened the guts out of me, until I realized the lifejacket was making me float pleasantly in the marine waters. The bumper ride was real bumpy as you are tossed around in the little seat jumping vigorously through the waves. The locals were seen doing various businesses among which making tattoos, both permanent and temporary was very common and there were local women who moved around braiding stylish designs to your hair. After spending a wonderful day we returned from the beach after watching the beautiful sunset. We wound up our day after some shopping and dinner in an acclaimed restaurant in the Calangute town square. We had a bit of chit chat with a local shopkeeper who told us that the term ‘Calangute’ was coined from the local vernacular word-‘Koli-gutti’, which means ‘land of fishermen’.

It is truly said that while in Goa you can never have enough of the sea, sun and sand. Even simply playing among the enchanting sea waves or just laying on the sand was fun and enjoyable. The day spend at this beautiful golden sanded beach was a day to be added to my travel diary in golden ink. The tans will fade but memories of Calangute beach will surely last forever.