Goa is a cliché for a reason. Tourists flock here because they are guaranteed a good time. Excellent food, free flowing drink, and you could spend days barefoot on a beach, soaking up the easy life that is best described by the Portuguese word susegade.
Alysha Aggarwal, a media professional, is assailed by saudades (nostalgia) like all Goans when they remember childhood haunts. The village of Raia, close to Margao, where she spent many holidays with her aunt holds special memories. “It is just a typical Goan village, set among rice fields, with quaint little gaddos or corner shops that sell everything, and the church of Our Lady of the Snows,” she remembers. “But then to every Goan, his own village is best.” Raia is still unspoilt and strangely beautiful, set as it is between scenic Loutolim and serene Rachol with its famous seminary, on the banks of the Zuari.
Experienced Goa hands like Alysha know that there is plenty of Goa to discover off the beaten track. When in Goa, lose yourself. Take the day off to wander through fields and leafy bylanes in Utorda, sit in the village tavernas of Assagao and chat with the locals, sip feni at dusk and wander through the heritage quarters of Margao and Fontainhas where you can almost hear serenades in jasmine scented gardens. Play football with the lads in the school grounds in Aldona. Walk into churches and Saturday markets that you pass around Saligao. Eat poi and sanas flavoured with toddy for breakfast. And you will stumble onto a unique slice of Goa.
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