Goa (India) > Reviews > Goa Chaotic but Chilled

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Excellent
Shopping	Good
Nightlife	Good
Ease of getting around	Excellent
Family Friendly	Good

Advantages:	Cheap, Wonderful people, Good food, Plenty to See, Weather
Disadvantages:	Poverty, Mosquitoes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

A truely amazing place, certainly a must for anyone that wants great weather, excellent food and drink at super prices. My girlfriend and I went for my birthday in January this year and completely fell in love with the place. We stayed at a 2 star hotel the middle of Calangute which was clean and tidy if basic with a few mod cons, air-conditioning, tv and a fridge/mini-bar containing reasonably priced beers, water, soft drinks and breezers. People we had spoken too previously had said Calangute centre was too busy for them, but for a youngish couple that generally enjoy people watching, eating and drinking of a night it is ideal and very cheap.

Calangute Town
We arrived early evening and were suprised just how chaotic the road seemed around our hotel when we first ventured out, but in no time at all we had found our feet. The centre of Calangute has many really good resteraunts with a wide range of cuisines varying from Italian to Indian all very reasonably priced approx £7 a meal for two, starters and main course with a couple of beers thrown in. In the two weeks we were there I can honestly say I never had a bad meal.
Though it is busy daytime and early it is a lot quieter by around 11pm. There is still no shortage of bars to sit in or outside until the early hours and watch the world go by many charging 30p or less for a beer and not a great deal more for spirits. For those that wish to go for gold and rave it up there are clubs(still reasonably priced) only a short taxi or tuk- tuk ride away for £5 or less the driver (depending on your negotiation skills)will take you there and wait outside till your ready to call it a day.

Beaches
Calangute beach isn't the best but still worth a visit, we preferred to get tuk-tuks to neighbouring Baga and Anjuna beaches on our chill days. The food and service at most of the beach shacks is really good , the staff are really friendly and go out of their way to look after you . The only hassle we found were people touting the shack they work in constantly as you walk the beach, a polite no thank you! always did the trick. We took a taxi to Ashwen beach one day a must for people wanting to totally get away from it all.

Trips
We did two overnight trips, one into the hills to spend time with the elephants and the other spending a night on a rice boat, both were excellent value. The elephant trip consisted of an early morning start taking you to a spice plantation followed by a swim in a river before heading to the elephant sanctuary. The accomidation is in mud huts which have working showers and wc's. At the sanctuary we were allowed to ride the elephants and spend as much time as we wanted with them. There was an elephant show put on for us eating our evening meal and a bit of a sing song around a camp fire. We were early to bed as we went on an early morning walk through the forest at 6am followed by yoga at a temple.Then back for a hearty breakfast. Then off to bath the elephants which was a really cool experience. We also visited a local village before going home. All meals were provided in all excellent value.
The rice boat was also excellent value, the scenery stunning and food excellent, the only problem being not a lot to do after dark in the middle of a river, but it was still a nice chill out all alcohol being included in the price.
We visited Ingos Saturday market twice and bought most of our presents while we were there excellent bargains if you haggle hard(we set prices in our own heads and walked away, usually to be called back). The atmosphere is wonderful and it really deserves a full night, good food, live bands and bars when we return in November we will definitely definitely go back.

Overall an excellent holiday, lively but still really chilled. The sights and sounds need to be seen to be believed will return this November as there is still so much we want to see.

Tips
Haggle hard (especially with taxi drivers) , buy mosquito repellant from the chemist in Goa (less than a quid) Eat and drink where the long stayers are(people that go to Goa for 2 or 3 months every year) Don't take a lot of luggage, you can buy most things at a fraction of British prices(t-shirts, shorts, medicines etc) Take a torch (for the nightly power cuts)