Goa is a place that I love going to....I can safely say this despite my recent experience!!
We usually head to South Goa - we like the tranquilness of this place and gives us the much needed break from maddening civilization. This time we decided we should explore the sun kissed beaches of North Goa. There we were, on one of our favourite rail routes in the country - the Konkan railway route. With kids, sometimes, it can get pretty tedious but with the amount of travelling we have done this year, our kids have adapted really well and they enjoy themselves from the time we leave our home! Touchwood!
This time around Goa had something different to offer us! Apart from the sun soaked beaches, every second person we bumped into was a foreigner! Every second house in every single lane, housed a restaurant offering anything from local Goan delicacies to all kinds of European cuisine! Trinkets, 'Original Fake' (!!!!!) items, Tibetan shawls and antiques, beach wear, see through clothing, you name it and it was there for picking up in every nook and corner of Baga and Calangute beach area. By the end of day one, I was tired of bargaining and started giving every shop owner those dirty looks when they quoted an astronomical price!!!
Didn't I have my fair share on day one? Do I need to go on on day two and exhaust myself further??!!!
The never give up spirit in me came alive after my morning cup of tea on day two and I was damn ready to attack the flea market the next day! What was in store for me was something I didn't expect and bargain for!
Here was a place that had more than 200 stalls mostly run by Indians. Just like what was on the streets, u could just about get anything for dirt cheap price in these markets. What took me by surprise was not the vast array of things that were available nor did the haggling and the bargaining! For the first time in my life, I was being treated like a second citizen in my own country!! Every stall you enter, you look around and pick things you like and start a conversation with the stall owner....the minute they realize a foreigner is close to entering their stall, they drop you like a hot potato and go behind them without really bothering about your existence!! Time and again I experienced this in all the stalls and in almost all the places we went to from there on.
I do realize that their main source of income from the foreign tourists and Indians go there on short holidays (like honeymoon) or during the christmas / new year season only. This does not mean that the rest of the population are right royally ignored. I managed to pick a discussion (which later turned into an argument then a sermon!!!) with quite a few people there! Somehow this experience didn't go down well with me and I am still trying to reason it out....
Until then I am going to enjoy and share the good memories of the trip and bask in the happiness and contentment of having spent a decade with my companion!! Cheers to us!!! :)
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