"Goa is a gem" a Goa Travel Page by traceyspacey

We visited Goa twice on our trip. The first time we spent a 2 1/2 weeks traveling through. We stayed in Anjuna, Panjim, Candolim and Palolem. Our only reason for spending time in Candolim was so that my boyfriend could watch his team Nottingham Forest getting beaten by Chelsea.

We found Goa to be a culture shock in reverse. It was strange to see a lot of westerners in the same place. Goans are proud of their culture and history. This is evident in the capital Panjim. Goa was taken over by the Portuguese in 1510 and the Portuguese did not leave until 1961. Goa has an additional independence day to celebrate this. As with other parts of India, Goa has it's specialty dishes such as Goan sausage, Vindalho.

Goa made such an impact on us, the beaches, the sunset, friendly people and cheap prices.

We were at the end of our trip and we had decided to spend Christmas and New Year in Goa. We arrived from Bangkok, arriving in Bangalore before getting a connecting flight to Goa. We started back in Anjuna, spending 3 nights there. Our favourite bar is in Anjuna (Shore Bar), next stop was Baga. I personally found Baga too noisy and busy. It wasn't that relaxing. The further you got away from the beach, it was better especially by the river. So we decided to go to Palolem to spend Christmas and New Year. It was my first Christmas in the heat which was very strange. We had a wonderful time there and met some great people.. I am not sure that I would go back for Christmas again. I think that the best time to go is in February. More relaxing, lower prices.

Because we spent so much time in Palolem, most of my tips on my Goa page are for Palolem.