Mumbai to Goa on the Mandovi Express. We had an early departure with no time for breakfast. Fortunately, the Four Seasons was kind enough to pack two large food boxes with a variety of items consisting of freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, assorted pastries, bread with jam and preserves, small sandwiches, fresh fruit and yogurt. There was no charge since breakfast was included in our stay.

This may not have been the best part of our trip, only because we traveled during the day by train when we should have traveled overnight. Although the train is called an express, this is a 13 hour train ride that left Mumbai at 7:10 AM and arrived at Madgaon train station around 8:30 PM – over an hour late. Having seen several movies that featured train travel throughout India – The Passage to India, Bhowani Junction, to name a few, we thought we would have a similar experience. In hindsight, we naively were looking for a private car, nicely decorated, clean windows to view the landscape, food delivered on trays by well-dressed waiters. However, what we got was a train that was old and beat up, the car was unpleasant and cramped and the windows quite dirty. We spent most of the trip sitting by the sliding door where the air was better to breathe.

There isn’t much to see along the way in terms of landscape. You might pass cows grazing in the fields, small towns along the way, but nothing spectacular. We now realize why people take the train at night, arriving early in the morning. So, if you decide to travel from Mumbai to Goa by train, you should definitely consider taking the over-night sleeper train, or better yet, take a plane. We felt we lost a whole day with this train ride when we could have had an extra day in Goa.

On the upside, train travel throughout India, even for long distances is inexpensive. There are eight different ticket classes for train travel. For our trip to Goa, we chose air-conditioned First Class AC1, which is available on most long-distance trains. The accommodations in these compartments have individual, lockable 2-berth and 4-berth compartments with bedding (sheets and pillows) included. The berths also convert into seats.

It is important to keep in mind that if you intend to go a long distance, the trains tend to be crowded and AC1 and 1A accommodations are very limited in number, so book a few months in advance of your travel date. There are a number of sites online that can be quite helpful in taking you through the process of purchasing train tickets in advance. One of the best sites is: www.seat61.com/India.htm.

Another tip about distance train travel is that you should bring your own food and water; enough to last the trip. If traveling AC1 or 1A, meals are provided free, but we did not eat anything on the train, or on the streets in any city we visited. If traveling in another class, food can be purchased from the kitchen onboard the train. Meals can be also be bought from vendors who board the train at various stations along the way. However, in either case, one cannot be altogether certain as to how the food was prepared. We were most grateful for the food boxes the Four Seasons prepared for us.

After traveling throughout the varied landscapes and observing the many elements that comprise India, Goa was a great place to unwind, rest and collect our thoughts about everything we had experienced. This southern portion of India is located along the Arabian Sea and we were looking forward to lying on the white sand beaches and taking time to just relax. South Goa is apparently somewhat less popular than the North Goa, hence, much less crowded. We were very happy and grateful to have made this discovery.

We’ve been to sea- and ocean-side resorts in many places around the world, but we can say the Benaulim Beach in South Goa ranks among the best. The beach is wide, the water is clear, clean and amazingly calm, and the overall feeling is tranquil – take a look at the video below. You will encounter a few people selling jewelry, simple clothing items and the occasional CD of Indian music. These people are not particularly aggressive or annoying; rather, they are interesting to speak with and friendly. In fact, you see the same people as they walk miles of beach daily so you get to know them.

Fern Beira Mar Resort: Our stay in Goa was enhanced by the accommodations. We stayed on Benaulim Beach at the Fern Beira Mar Resort, a short taxi ride from the Madgaon train station. The Fern Beira consists of approximately individual 25-26 wooden cottages, spaced nicely apart, on a beautifully landscaped, immaculate property. Best of all, its location is literally steps from the beach and the Arabian Sea. We recommend this place highly and it seemed popular with Indian tourists, so we suggest you book early. As with all the other places we stayed, breakfast was included as part of the fee for our accommodations. We were so anxious to get to the beach and explore the town, that we forgot to take our cameras most times! So there aren’t any pictures of the inside of the cottages, but you can view the cottages online. We did have enough video to compile a few frames of the beach and resort – see below. Really, all we wanted to do was to relax….

The town of Benaulim is about a 15 minute stroll inland from the beach. The town is small; however, whatever amenity or additional tourist shopping you require can be done here. It’s quite enjoyable and worth taking the time to walk through the back streets of the town because one can get a sense of where and how local residents live. We saw and met a good number of people, all of whom were very engaging, friendly and were delighted to have themselves photographed, especially the kids! Your awareness of the natural beauty of Goa is amplified by the vegetation which is magnificent throughout the region with thousands of coconut palms and cathedral-like Banyan trees. Also, the sounds of the variety of birds provided orchestral-type music as we strolled along almost deserted roads.

Generally, as we traveled farther south on the western side of the country we encountered a major Portuguese influence, particularly as we approached the area of Goa. This influence is reflected in the names of places, as well as, names of people.

Although Indian, many of the people have Portuguese names and are Christians. When walking about, we saw numerous churches and many of the residences had crosses either on the houses themselves or on the properties.

Another interesting aspect about Goa is the vast number of Russian tourists. There are so many, in fact, that a number of Indian merchants and people who run many of the guest houses have learned to speak Russian. It should be noted that almost everyone in Goa speaks English.

If you are not content with just hanging out on the beach, there are a number of places of interest to visit. In the north, Old Goa has the largest cathedral in Asia, while in Panaji, the Goan capital, you can see some of the historic buildings from the Portuguese era. Day and night cruises are also available to explore the Mandovi River.

There were many places in Goa both near and far recommended to us for dining. We ventured to a few of them including Martin’s Corner in Betalbatim, which is world-famous with excellent service, but rather average tasting food. The best parts of that experience were the tuk-tuk rides to and from the restaurant. Also, the artwork in this restaurant was done by the famous artist, Mario Miranda, one of India’s well-renowned artist. His artwork was not only in Martin’s Corner, but in our Fern Beira cottage and parts of the resort. You can take a look at the short video below to see some of his works.

It was just turning to dusk on our way to Martin’s Corner, so the palm trees were wonderfully silhouetted by the setting sun. The trip back was equally enchanting, due to the moonlight shimmering through the trees along back roads which made for a delightful Goan evening. Another restaurant, Pedro’s, which is on Benaulim Beach gets a lot of hype, but it’s not a place we’d recommend if you want real Goan or Indian cuisine. As things turned out, of all the places we ate in Goa, the Fern Beira Mar Resort had the most outstanding food. We dined inside, outside on the lawn, near the pool, under the stars and coconut palms, and it was exquisite.

All said, after many miles on planes, trains, taxis, tuk-tuks, bicycle rickshaws and on foot, Goa was the ideal place to end our India adventure!

Depart Goa to Mumbai: The taxi ride in the early afternoon from Fern Beira to the airport took us through back roads and highways with similar sights and sounds we had seen through India – poverty, wealth, slums, high rises, tuk-tuks, screaming horns of vehicles trying to get through the traffic, but Goa was different. The laid back feeling, quaint colorful cottages, swaying palm trees, incredible bird songs, and the Portuguese influence made it distinct. The airport was just average and the decision to fly back to Mumbai was the right one. The train ride to Goa was a bit painful and the thought of taking it back would have been a disappointing end to the trip.

Juhu Beach: Mumbai was our departure city from India, so we took a plane back from Goa to the city and stayed at the Novotel Hotel in Juhu Beach. We’ve read that a lot of movies and commercials are shot at this hotel because of its location. During our stay, a movie trailer was being filmed. There is not much to say or recommend about this hotel, other than it’s a place to stay and the restaurants within are fairly good. We chose this hotel because we had a view of the ocean. Also, if you are on a tight schedule, it’s good area of the city in which to stay since the international and domestic airports are located conveniently nearby.

Juhu Beach is adjacent to Bandra where you find the homes of the upper middle-class and several Bollywood stars. However, from a historical perspective, much of the city’s colonial heritage, both Portuguese and British can be found within its environs. As with every major city in India, there are large outdoor markets. Not being the exception, but the rule, there is a large outdoor market in this part of the city where you can find most anything and everything you can imagine.

What we would not recommend doing at Juhu Beach is going for a swim. No one goes in the water because it’s rather dirty and the beach has quite a bit of litter. These things notwithstanding, walking along the beach can be enjoyable particularly walking south with the views of Mumbai. As with all of Mumbai, the Juhu Beach area is bustling with activity.

One of the more fascinating aspects of India is how everything seems to seamlessly meld with everything else. As an example, in the area of Juhu (Juhu Beach) there is an impressive temple complex, the ISKCON temple, officially known as Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari Ji Temple. We know them in the West as Hare Krishna. When we visited, there was a cricket match taking place in the adjoining field or parking area which seemed to attract as many people as the temple. The restaurant at the temple offered good food so we ate there before returning to the hotel. Our flight was later that evening, so we packed up our suitcases for the last time and headed to the airport for our long trip back to New York.

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Click on the video to view the Beach and Resort:

 

Fern Beira Mar Resort

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Click on the link to view –  A Taste of Goa Video

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We discovered Goa artist Mario Miranda while in Goa. You should read more about him and view his work on the internet.

Click on the link to view – Martin’s Corner Artwork of Mario Miranda