Travel Diaries - Goa

2020 a year which started with a lot of chaos and was declared as a pandemic year with global infestation of COVID-19. The entire world went on a stand still mode with everyone getting locked inside the house and restricted from stepping out until the need arises. Travelling on leisure, to hometown was not any more a priority but being safe in their respective homes was. Many of us started exploring their respective passion and created new hobbies. Video calls and Work from Home (WFH) was the new norm for being connected with the outside world in the time of an apocalypse. After 9 months of being confined within my house, my best friend Sheeba and I decided to travel to Goa after giving it a lot of thought. Goa is a place that we never get bored off and just mentioning the state name brings a smile to our face. After months of travel deprivation, and visiting the neighboring supermarket became a luxury, the thought of leaving to another place; away from the four walls that we have been regularly staring at; excited us. I have lost track on how many times I have visited Goa, let it be a planned trip or drunk booking. Goa has always amazed me for its rich culture, simplicity and of course the lovely beaches. However, this time it was a bit different. To start with we did our bookings within an hour and were sorted. We decided to stay at an economic place for the first four days and move to a 4 star and above hotel on new years eve; keeping in mind there might be an in-house celebration for 2021. Sheeba and I have never stepped foot for even one new year party and always preferred a silent indoors party or a silent night with a glass of wine and good food. However, this year with a total lockdown, the excitement to celebrate new year outside was making us more excited. So finally, we did our booking in this gorgeous stay through booking.com at Candolim, Casa Legend Economic for the first 4 days. It had a good private pool though it was not functional due to the safety norms being followed and lovely rooms with big balconies with a small kitchen set up. The back gate led to the beach that was accessed by the local people and not something accessible by most of the tourist. The lovely banyan tree stood there with such elegance covering the entire backyard from the harsh ray of the sun. It was a very old tree that looked charismatic with all the branches spread across. The place had a feel of a heritage bungalow and was far away from the nightclubs and noisy beach sundowners. I loved every minute of my trip. The balcony’s looked towards the backyard where it was lush greenery and had the view of the swimming pool lined with the benches where you can sit and relax. The room had all the modern amenities including an electric stove and water dispenser. The stay was comfortable other than wifi not working, service was good and was a budget friendly place neatly maintained. The last few days as planned we moved to Park Inn Radisson which had better ratings than Radisson Blu. This was a lovely property. The architecture though was of recent, had been made into a heritage property with Portuguese architecture. The long passages and high ceilings characterize the beautiful spaces and the lush greenery in the property left us spellbound. The room had a wooden floor, a four-poster bed and large doors that opened out into the balcano. The balcony complimented the Portuguese look and had a view of the bar lounge and swimming pool. For lone travelers who want to stay indoors, this was the place to chill, read and enjoy a drink. The staff were friendly and ensured they were accessible for the guests. It was a good decision for us to stay at Candolim and chose these two properties through ‘Booking.com’