We opted for a package tour with our hotel stay, so our hotel had arranged for a two-day sightseeing tour of South Goa with a river cruise and North Goa. We chose to start with South Goa.
We left the hotel around 9 AM (Indian Stretchable Time) after breakfast in a non-AC bus accompanied by a local guide. The itinerary included Dona-Paula (bypass Miramar beach), Old Goa churches - Bom Jesus Basilica and Se Cathedral, along with two temples Mangueshi and Shantadurga dedicated to Shiva and Shantadurga (goddess of Peace), a visit to Ancestral Goa/Old Portuguese house, and Colva beach. To wrap it up, there is a river cruise at the end.
Actually, this kind of package is a good way of getting around Goa in a short time. It seems they are more appealing to Indian tourists wishing to combine a peek at all top sights with a whistle-stop tour. Sometimes, they include certain places inland that you wouldn’t otherwise consider visiting.
Anyway, Colva beach was not even attractive to us, even though it is the oldest and largest fishing beach. There were international tourists marinating in the sun and overcrowded domestic visitors paddling. The beachfront is dismal as the stench of drying fish wafts from a nearby village.
The river cruise on Mandovi was a one-hour trip overcrowded with mostly Indian tourists. Professional troupes performed the Dekni Temple Dance, the Fugdi Dance, and the Corredinho Dance with live music. You can shake your leg too as it will tempt you to dance to their beats. They do try hard to entertain, but there is no chance to glimpse the Sun as it sets in the Arabian Sea. It’s a pity that this boat company makes sure you cannot view the sunset as there is a big backdrop on the west to hide the Sun from you. Maybe they do it on purpose to make sure everyone is seated and not leaning on the side of the boat to take a picture of the golden ball as it goes down.
Other than this, they took us to a souvenir shop (where they get a commission) - i.e., one souvenir at least a visitor always carries home from his holidays in Goa are cashew nuts, spices, and wine. Cashew trees abound the Goan hillsides. The flowering in January leads to luscious, brilliantly colored fruit in March, April, and early May. It is then plucked, while the apple is used in the process of producing “Feni” (a Goan specialty), and the nuts are roasted for consumption. Here locally produced wines and beer are cheaper than anywhere in the country. A big percentage of tourists to Goa are men from other parts of India who come to Goa as an escape from the moral confines of life at home.
Disadvantages of this kind of package trips are they don’t give enough time where they should actually give, and secondly, you cannot have the taste of Goa, or in other words, you don’t have much choice for restaurants as they take tourists to such a remote part where only one restaurant will be there with awful food, and you end up eating those as you don’t have an alternative. In short, we are the people who want to explore more of the place, know about the culture, food, enjoy the serenity, nature’s landscape, and all. So, these kinds of packages are not meant for us. And we decided not to opt for the North Goa trip.