Skip to main content

There is only 1 Goa in India

 Goa first came on the tourist map in the 60's as a hippie haven, probably the golden era of tourism in this tiny state. The tourists were more sensitive towards local culture and the environment. They consumed less and were happy living the life of the locals. 

When the benefits of liberalisation started to trickle down and when a new and ambitious middle class started travelling, Goa witnessed mass tourism in the 90's and 2000's. There was a sudden surge of investments, construction and development, the era of unplanned tourism growth. Everyone wanted to be in Goa and everyone wanted to invest here. 

The result of this era is what we experience in Goa of today, the relaxed vibe gave way to environmental degradation, overcrowding and cultural commodification, everything that this sunny seaside state was not known for. 

Yet there is only 1 Goa in India and tourists still come here in hordes to experience the beaches, architecture, cuisine and the Goan vibe. 

When we got the opportunity to plan a day in Goa for a group of runners we suggested an itinerary that we have pivoted into just recently. With the beaches being crowded there is no place where we can sit in peace and enjoy it to ourselves yet the guests want to experience Goa for all it's hype. The solution, stay in Goa and explore the beaches far away from the crowds in coastal Maharashtra or Karnataka. 

We travelled for a couple of hours from Goa to a secluded beach which  is clean, has pristine white sands with not a soul around. A short trek, a homely breakfast, hot roadside Vada Pao's. a ferry ride back to Goa and Lunch at a restaurant tucked away in one of the beaches. A curated trail of a day for a group of enthusiastic runners. 

We got the privilege to meet the Coach and learned about his accomplishments. There is joy and an energy that rubs on you when you travel with runners, we had this good fortune. 







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Please put in your comments here.

Popular posts from this blog

It's About the Bum

Crossing over from Goa to Maharashtra, Crossing the Karli river, had to really convince this guy. My ride on the boat on the river Karli Wadantar Back waters, near Vijaydurg Vijaydurg fort, it was a relief to reach here, the ride till here was never ending. Can I get a Thums Up please Crossing over from Vijaydurg to Jaitapur  Thank God ! it was low tide. My highest climb, so I thought near Ratnagiri.  from Dhabol to Dhopave. When you are down you just have to look around. A huge ancient Masjid in Dhopave. Just before crossing over to Raigad. The terrain, roads were fairly good !! Crossing over a bridge in Jaitapur Siolim bridge in Goa My journey through Konkan on a cycle Sindhudurg..... "Fear is a good thing." The night before I started my journey was a nervous one. Packing, unpacking, trying to make my backpack lighter, question's all over me - What if I get robbed? What if
9 comments
Read more

Anatomy of an Architectural Tour

We have been curating and planning architectural students tours over the past 2 decades and in this time the number of Architectural colleges have grown exponentially. It will be interesting to study the size of this market in terms of tours, competitors etc. We haven't come across this specific segment level analysis but we have many other learnings over time.  In this blog we try to articulate the anatomy of an Architectural tour, its different stakeholders and the impact these have in the overall experience.  Stakeholder 1 - The students Young and energetic and eager to explore, probably stepping out of the shadows of their parents and families for the first time. Their imagination of travel to a destination is derived from popular culture and Instagram. They don't know exactly what to expect but invariably these tours remain memorable for a long time.  Stakeholder 2 - The faculties and the management A destination is picked and finalised with an agenda that adds value to th
Post a Comment
Read more