This year, the second in a row, our family decided to go to Goa for a holiday. We pretty much go somewhere every year. It had become a little less regular after I was diagnosed with kidney disease but when I switched to PD and now when I am on home hemo, we have sort-of managed to go out of town for a few days atleast.
After a lot of debating between different places like Vishakhapatnam, we zeroed in on Goa. Though we had been there less than a year back, the allure of this laid back west-Indian state was too much to be ignored. It is an ideal vacation destination. A place where you can completely relax. Far from the perils of a life where every moment brings additional stress, where every action is hurried to meet some deadline, some commitment.
The best part about holidaying in Goa is that you don't have to go sight-seeing. You've been to one beach, you've been to them all. So, there is no urgency to cover all the places. So, you do what you're supposed to do on a holiday - nothing!
The rest of my family had left Hyderabad on the 21st while I joined them on the 23rd.
I managed to make quite a fool of myself on arriving at the hotel. There was this economic summit where some business leaders where supposed to be confabulating on .... whatever. So, when I reached, I was surprised to see a line of ladies dressed in sarees with garlands made of shells. As I got out of the taxi and walked out, one of them came and garlanded me! "I have not come for the economic summit", I protested. They did not relent. I walked away to my room. I got to know later that they garland all their guests on arrival, not just the ones for the summit!
As soon as I reached, I quickly got into my trunks and hit the pool. The pool was heavenly and had a bar in the middle that you could swim up to and have a drink. It was a very soothing deep blue and had me totally mesmerized. We also went to the beach after a while, played in the water, got back into the pool and swam till we had enough.
The next couple of days were not very much different. Basically swimming in the pool, playing on the beach, eating the sumptuous spread the hotel had and sleeping.
One day, however, we went down to the Leela Hotel's beach where they had all the water sports - Jet skiing (water scooters), parasailing (you go on a parachute-like contraption tied to a water scooter high up in the sky - really thrilling), Ring-O (they take you really fast in a tube like structure in the water - my neck almost ruptured in the process!) and the Banana ride (up to 5 people sit on a banana shaped tube and are taken in the water, dragged fast by a motor boat and suddenly they overturn the banana and you go right into the water!). We had great fun there.
The last evening, however, I went for the horrific massage and the next morning we headed back home.
Goa is the ideal place to holiday in. It gives your mind the much needed break from the grind that our lives have become. Three days of complete fun in an idyll surrounding. An extremely effective way to recharge those batteries.
After a lot of debating between different places like Vishakhapatnam, we zeroed in on Goa. Though we had been there less than a year back, the allure of this laid back west-Indian state was too much to be ignored. It is an ideal vacation destination. A place where you can completely relax. Far from the perils of a life where every moment brings additional stress, where every action is hurried to meet some deadline, some commitment.
The best part about holidaying in Goa is that you don't have to go sight-seeing. You've been to one beach, you've been to them all. So, there is no urgency to cover all the places. So, you do what you're supposed to do on a holiday - nothing!
The rest of my family had left Hyderabad on the 21st while I joined them on the 23rd.
I managed to make quite a fool of myself on arriving at the hotel. There was this economic summit where some business leaders where supposed to be confabulating on .... whatever. So, when I reached, I was surprised to see a line of ladies dressed in sarees with garlands made of shells. As I got out of the taxi and walked out, one of them came and garlanded me! "I have not come for the economic summit", I protested. They did not relent. I walked away to my room. I got to know later that they garland all their guests on arrival, not just the ones for the summit!
As soon as I reached, I quickly got into my trunks and hit the pool. The pool was heavenly and had a bar in the middle that you could swim up to and have a drink. It was a very soothing deep blue and had me totally mesmerized. We also went to the beach after a while, played in the water, got back into the pool and swam till we had enough.
The next couple of days were not very much different. Basically swimming in the pool, playing on the beach, eating the sumptuous spread the hotel had and sleeping.
One day, however, we went down to the Leela Hotel's beach where they had all the water sports - Jet skiing (water scooters), parasailing (you go on a parachute-like contraption tied to a water scooter high up in the sky - really thrilling), Ring-O (they take you really fast in a tube like structure in the water - my neck almost ruptured in the process!) and the Banana ride (up to 5 people sit on a banana shaped tube and are taken in the water, dragged fast by a motor boat and suddenly they overturn the banana and you go right into the water!). We had great fun there.
The last evening, however, I went for the horrific massage and the next morning we headed back home.
Goa is the ideal place to holiday in. It gives your mind the much needed break from the grind that our lives have become. Three days of complete fun in an idyll surrounding. An extremely effective way to recharge those batteries.
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