Traveling in Covid - Yay? or Nay?
South Goa travel experience in the new normal.
Well guys, this is for all of you who are sceptical about traveling now during Covid but your heart really wants to.
Here I ll be sharing my recent South Goa travel experience. I will also be sharing the changes, challenges and pros of traveling so that it helps all of you to plan your trip better.
We(My wife and I) went on a 4 days trip to Goa. Flying out was little uncomfortable as you will have to wear masks and head gear all the time, also the PPE kits if you get the middle seat. From Bangalore it’s an hour flight to Goa so that’s a locational advantage I can say. Since we had an early morning flight we reached airport at the previous night and spent time at the Kempegowda airport lounge to avoid crowd. Formalities were done in a contactless way right from the time you enter the BLR airport until you reach Goa airport. Please make sure you carry a bottle of sanitiser, face masks on and you have the Arogya setu app.
Once we reached Goa airport we were picked up( Pick up and drop from airport) was included in the package we opted(link shared below). We had Holiday inn resort booked.Holiday Inn Resort is located in Cavelossim, along Mobor Beach. Surrounded by gardens, it offers a spa, an outdoor pool and a fitness center. Free parking is provided.
Air-conditioned rooms offer either garden or pool views, with select rooms featuring sea views. A flat-screen TV, mini-bar and tea/coffee-making facilities are provided.
Once we reached our resort, the check-in was again contactless and took just 5 minutes. So it’s a 5 on 5. I was literally amazed. Our luggages were sanitised before it could even be taken inside the hotel. Also we were greeted with a glass of welcome drink( Kokum Sharbat - Goa special) to keep ourselves relaxed while the check-in formalities were going on. Our check-in time was 2 PM but again we got our room at 10:45 AM itself, fully clean and sanitised. I would give it a 5 on 5 again in terms of the experience.
We spent two days in the resort exploring it as it’s spears on 52 acres. The breakfast and dinner buffets were simply amazing. It offers both ala carte and buffet so depends on you. Our breakfast buffet was included in the package we opted and on 2 nights we opted for dinner buffet as we were just too much in the rest mode.
Quality food and drink are served in Holiday Inn Resort Goa and nowhere is this more evident than at the Zest Cafe and Kitchen, our go to place all these days.
They have 24 hr indoor and outdoor coffee shop offering an a la carte menu of the traditional Goan, Indian and Continental cuisine. Again a 5 on 5 on taste and variety.
The night view of the resort is simply dreamy(Check pictures).
Now comes beach visit. We visited few beaches, Palolem, Colva, Benaulim but found Mobor the best on which our resort was located. White sand and crystal clear water. Simply serene.
Now let’s talk about the not so good part of the trip. If you are a person who is into water sports and activities then those are stopped due to covid, might resume anytime. In Goa, we haven’t seen people(visitors) wearing masks much on the public places i.e. in the beach shacks, restaurants. Beaches were not at all crowded but restaurants were so in case you need to travel to Goa please make sure that you are taking full precautions if stepping out of your resort majorly. Though it’s October yet we experienced heavy rainfall in the second half but if you guys are just like me who loves riding in the roads of goa in rains then not a constraint at all.
Few food places that we discovered that serves amazing food are Mike’s place, fisherman’s wharf, Pedro’s at Colva etc. Food they specialise at are french fries, Fish chilly, kingfish in Goan style, Praw chilly, Pancakes, Sausages n hot chocolate. There are vegetarian options as well everywhere starting from soups to starters to nuggets and also north indian dishes.
We are fish lovers so we keep trying different fish recipes in Goa but this time we mostly had our food in the resort itself.
Me and my wife just wanted to chill and we are not much into water sports and night outs so for us this trip was really therapeutic. We reached back to BLR safely and again it was about an hour flight.
I would highly recommend all of you to make a visit to Goa esp South Goa if you are planning to and you will be eternally grateful?