A trip to grandma's for the the summer hols ... Literati Bookshop and Cafe, North Goa

Some of our friends had told us about a place called Literati near Baga at North Goa. We were told that it was a cafe and a bookshop.

K and I went to the beach on our second day at Goa. I was carrying a stomach bug. Couldn't take the sun. So we decided to check out Literati the next day and have breakfast there.

I must confess that I was a bit underwhelmed when we reached there. We had the image of a Lila Cafe sort of place in our heads. What we saw was a pretty house in a lovely garden. Three rooms of books and a veranda which looked on to the garden. The 'cafe' part seemed limited. Creatures of urban comfort that we are, we missed our cappuccinos or having straws to sip the nice cold coffee on offer. The 'cheese sandwich' was just as your granny would make it. Cheese in two slices of bread, toasted in a griller. The food tasted tasted and smelt of the summer vacation trips to one's grandparents place.

As you have probably realised by now, Literati was a fairly rustic and simple operation. There were Irani cafe- like rules. 'No taking food inside.' 'No taking books outside'. 'No taking first hand books into the second hand section.'

So you had to sit quietly in the veranda and look into the green Eden like garden as you munched on the sandwich that granny made. 'Eden-like garden'? Was the place growing on us? Read on to find out more.

Fuelled by coffee and cheese we set off to check out the books. My first discovery was the 'Lost Diary Of Adrian Mole'. This set the tone for the rest of the morning. For Literati was not an assembly line of CD cum books cum mags cum fridge magnet cum Barbie shop. Literati represents the last of a rare, fast breed called 'bookshops'. They had the usual Pamuks, Harukamis and Balduccis. But if you looked around you would find books popping out and calling out to you. Books which would met your interests. Or of those whom you were fond of. There is nothing like the joy of discovering the perfect book when you least expect it.

The first room had the new/ first hand books. Then there are two more rooms which have second hand books. There are comfy sofas to sink in. Well worn. Ceiling fans to cool you. The mood is balmy and lazy thanks to the trees outside. The staff are very sweet and helpful. Don't expect any supermarket speed and efficiencies though.

To take the grandma metaphor further, the place did remind me of my visits to my grandparent's house when I was a kid. And the joys of discovering great books in my grandpa's collection. Literati is not a steel and chrome air conditioned functional shop. You should go there if you want to unwind, laze, step off from the treadmill and discover some great books. The place invites you to walk around, feel at home and takeaway memories. Don't go there if you want to pick a book on the go.

I suddenly heard Bengali being spoken while I was roaming around the shop. To be expected in a book shop I guess. They turned out to be a Bengali father and daughter couple. A Bengali lady called Mita, who had married a Dutch gentleman and had settled in Goa, and her father Mr Das who had come from Delhi. So we ended up having a Bengali association meet in the heart of Goa! Like my grandpa, Mr Das too felt that I should have joined the IAS!

Literati left us underwhelmed. And then overwhelmed. It grew on us. As K put it, it was the discovery of the trip. I can't tell you how good it felt be in a 'real' bookshop after ages. And in such an awesome setting. Looked after by such good natured people. Literati has shot up our 'must visit' list at Goa.

We picked loads of books for ourselves and our friends. Just about manged to dodge the excess budget limits.

For me the high point was meeting my old friend Aidy Mole again. And what better time for that than on my birthday trip? Hang on Aidy, the world will hear of your Newt Tales someday.

Notes:

• Literati is at a place called Ice Factory near Calangute at North Goa. Here's their web site for more details
• They are shut on Sunday
• The shop closes at 6 PM
• The kitchen shuts at 2.30 PM. Because "she (the cook I assume) leaves"
• They don't serve aerated soft drinks. But they serve wine and beer. That's Goa
• If you see a lab who looks like Marley then you are likely to have met Frieda. Do say hi to her from me. Poor thing had to be dragged away as K squealed in fright when Frieda scampered in

Singing in the rain... South Goa in the Monsoons

To me a trip to Goa is a bit like Seinfield. It is about doing nothing.

We normally head to Baga in North Goa in February. A typical day goes like this - wake up, go to Lila's Cafe and have breakfast, go to the shacks on the beach and stretch out with a beer and a book, head to Brittos, eat, go back to the hotel, sleep, walk down the Baga Calangute road and reluctantly trail Kainaz as she shops, go to Infantaria, eat, go to the hotel, sleep.

Too much activity?

Then South Goa in the monsoons is just what you need.

The monsoons (rains) are fairly heavy in Goa. The tourist season closes. Beach shacks disappear. The sea becomes wild as an untamed stallion. Most street shops vanish. Restaurants operate with a few minimum tables. Budget hotels, where we stay in winter, become damp and dank. And five stars are available at reduced prices.

North Goa is the 'happening' part of Goa. In season, its beaches such as Baga and Calangute rock. It is quite addictive with its high adrenalin discs, lively shacks, water sports, glorious food, flee markets

South Goa in contrast is staid and genteel. It has a number of luxurious hotel properties. They match the best in the world. Taj Exotica and Leela are some of the legendary hotels which dot its beaches.

In my book South Goa hotels just don't add up to Goa. You could be anywhere in the world and experience this luxury. Which is a good argument to use if you can't afford them in the first place!

Last weekend I dipped into my pension fund and booked us into the Park Hyatt to fulfil a long standing dream of Kainaz. Given the way the markets behave these days this was quite a good use of one's pension fund.

And this is what I found. A hotel which was right up there with the very best. With a bathroom which was divided into three sections and had a sunken bath. With a staff who had thoughtfully given us a room in a secluded area where I could sit in the balcony and gaze for hours at the sea as I heard it roar. And it was good to have a room in the corner as the hotel was jam packed with guests. Economic slowdown by damned.

The weather was lovely... bursts of rain followed by cool breeze which smoothed our creased city brows. An empty beach where we strolled for miles after we left the odd hotel guests behind. Well, it seemed like miles though K wanted to walk a lot more.



The sea was as rebellious as a flower child from the seventies. Waves came crashing in through the day. And it kicked up quite a ruckus. The sea looked really majestic and proud. We walked on the wet sand but I did see the odd person flapping around in the water under the eyes of the hotel life guards. One sight that stayed in my mind is that of fisher boy plying his trade against the might of nature. Humbling and yet inspiring.



Goa in the rains is as green as the garden of Eden. The roads, the hills, the coast was covered with a rich, fresh green which was the most relaxing sight that I have ever seen. Paradise is a word often used to describe Goa. So why go against the grain?



There is nothing like a good hotel South Goa during the monsoons if you want to pamper yourself and lose yourself for a while.


But I'd take North Goa in February, four times out of five.

I give you good price: Baga, Goa 2009

Don't be surprised if you are walking down the streets of Baga and hear a voice cry out for you in an accent which is a mix of Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslett and Meryl Streep. Chances are that you will turn around and see a waif like urchin, straight out of Slumdog Millionaire.

Baga, at Goa is lined with little shops which sell clothes, shoes, spices, fake watches, overpriced artifacts and curios and what have you. The clothes are quite kitsch and trendy and don't be surprised to find a Bob Marley tee shirt beside a Mahatma Gandhi one. The quality? Well if you are bothered about that then you shouldn't shop from the streets in the first place.

These shops normally spring up during season (November to March) and are often manned by girls and women who speak in very exaggerated English accents which they have picked up from foreign tourists.

Bargaining is the norm here. But this year is exceptional. You can get some amazing deals thanks to the recession, terrorist threat and subsequent trickle of tourists. Usually one gives a counter offer of half the quoted price and settles somewhere in between. This year you will often be surprised to see that your first offer itself is taken up as the sellers are quite desperate.

Some of the prices that we saw after bargaining were:

• tee shirts - Rs 75 - 150
• skirts/ sarongs - Rs 100 - 200
• shorts- Rs 100 - Rs 150
• fake watches - Rs 200
• 'pashmina' shawls - Rs 100 (plain). Rs 175 (with designs)
• Water sports!: para sailing at Rs 300 after initial quotes of Rs 600
• Sling bags/ 'jhollas' - Rs 100
  Rs 100 = 2 USD

Frankly I hate wasting time shopping during holidays. But there was no stopping Kainaz or my brother this year. In fact junior turned out to be quite a shopper as he darted from shop to shop. As for Kainaz, she headed for the shops like a homing pigeon. The way I would head to the nearerst prawn chilly joint I guess.

Though I must say that I was quite excited by some of the quaint Rajasthani tiles, lamps and hooks that we picked up for the house

Traveler's notes:

• Hotel prices of the small guest houses had gone down too. Though the mid level places held their prices
• Food prices at restaurants remain constant though. I guess there are those who shop and those who don't. But everyone eats!

James Bong: Water Sports in Goa, Goa 2009

I love Goa. I love the somnolent mood... the relaxed, friendly, faces... the sleep inducing meals...the cheap beer and the port wine...the balmy ocean breeze. It is just the place to unwind.

My routine at Goa reads - wake up, have a lazy breakfast, curl up on a deck chair on the beach with a book, sleep, eat, go to the hotel room and sleep, wake up, coffee, amble down the streets, eat, sleep. Repeat. To me Goa is the ideal mix of a sleep holiday with great food.

My idea of water sports is lying on a beach bed looking dreamily at the distant horizons. That's how we spent our holidays for the last four to five years at Baga, Goa.

Cut to 2009 when my brother and mom joined us.

I started telling them about the food at Goa, good places to eat, the Churches tour, the hotels ... when my little brother (he wants to be called that) cut me short and said "what about water sports", and went on to announce his plans to para sail and jet around.

And then we begun on a very different holiday. He went para sailing. So did Kainaz (see picture below). We had operators who went up with us.

I did too. Yes you heard me right! I went against my better judgment. I won't deny that it was quite an experience sailing through the skies as the boat tugged you along. I did look at the green sea and the coconut forests...it was amazing... only problem was that I opened my eye for just about two seconds!

But that didn't deter junior who went into the water jetting in a water scooter (he enjoyed this the most), he went parasailing again without an operator, waded deep into the sea and flopped into the waves.

My Mom would keep fretting about my brother but he would jet back into the sea leaving us oldies together (don't know if Kainaz would agree to being called that). I think my mom even gave my brother a dressing down on the beach, on his twenty seventh birthday!

We went in a 'slow motor' boat where we had a short ride into the sea which was really nice. The sea water was just below us. The coast looked really pretty. The ride lasted for about ten minutes. Mom joined us for the boat ride. Turned out that she was quite keen on this.

Next year? I will be back to my favourite water sport for sure.

Travel notes:

• We were at Baga beach and water sports are available in season (November - March)
• Average prices of the rides ranged from Rs 600 - 300 (12 - 6 USD), the boat ride was Rs 100 (2 USD)
• Prices vary by operator. Guys in the middle of the stretch, which was less crowded, would charge Rs 600. The guys at the crowded end would charge Rs 300 for the same ride
• Prices were depressed with the recession this year but bargaining seems to be the norm
• You don't need to know how to swim for most of these
• The dog in the picture is called 'Brownie' and belongs to Love Shack

A bathroom for Mrs K: Baga hotels

There are a few memories which rush in the moment one thinks of holidays. For me trips to Kolkata means eating great food at home and out, Bangkok brings back memories of some of the liveliest streets in the world, think KL and one thinks of glass and chrome malls and then there are the lazy river rides of the Sunderbans and the peaceful, lonely trails of Matheran.

One big part of our holidays at Baga, Goa, is finding the right place to stay. North Goa, where Baga is situated, doesn't have the branded hotels such as Holiday Inn, Taj, Leelas, of South Goa. You have a variety of hotels which are all quite different from each other. What we look for is location (close to the beach and and close to our favourite restaurants), clean rooms AND clean bathrooms. The last means the world to Kainaz.

So our trips have seen Kainaz look at a number of rooms before settling on one. Didn't matter that we could be tired and bedraggled from the journey from Mumbai. We have spent hours walking the Baga Calangute stretch checking hotel after hotel after feeling dissatisfied with where we were staying. Kainaz is very picky. This has happened so many times now that it is as much a part of our Baga ritual as is having Baskin Robbins ice creams after fish baffat at Brittos or having a pork chilly fry on the shack the day we leave or going there in the first place on my birthday. The latter three are my obsessions just as clean toilets and hotel rooms are Kainaz's.

I will never forget Don Juom's which is the clean, two storied family run place opposite the Church at Baga. I had stayed there during my first trip to Baga with two of my friends. Somehow the three of us managed to share the tiny, very basic but clean and neat room for a princely sum of 100 Rs per head. This was ten years back. Frankly I don't remember the bathroom but I went there recently to show the place to Kainaz and IT seemed fine. Especially for those bachelor days where the idea was to just have fun away from draconian bosses and restrictive paying guest digs in Bombay where one shared a room and a toilet with many others.

Kainaz and I stayed at The Paradise Village the first time we went to Baga together on her birthday. This was a cluster of cottages which were not bad but not good either. The walls were damp, the bathroom mouldy and gloomy and the location was a bit off as it was at the end of Calangute and therefore quite far from Baga.

Our later trips were always in February during my birthday. This is peak season at Goa when rooms are at a premium.

The next time was carnival time and a friend help us find a place at The Saffron Resort as most places were booked. It was the same deal as Paradise Village, cottages with dank rooms and this was even further off from Calangute.

So we begun the first of our famous walks looking for a new hotel down the streets of Baga. We despaired as we saw that most of the good ones - Ronil, Cavalla Inn, Villa Goesa - were full and that the ones available were hell holes.

That's when we chanced upon the Goa Holiday Resort. This place was opposite Infanteria and was owned by Punjabis settled in the UK. The room available was neat and clean and the bathroom was small but shiny and polished. The AC rates was the then Baga average of Rs 1500 or about 30-40 USD. We liked the place and booked ourselves without a thought the next year. We were shocked out of our wits when we reached. The room was dirty, walls were grimy, shower curtains were stained, basin was chipped and the restaurant which served steaks was replaced by a vegetarian restaurant. Then we discovered that the ownership had changed.

Kainaz and I begun our desperate alternative hotel hunt the first night itself. By a stroke of luck we got a room at Villa Goesa. This was a place where my boss from those days had stayed. We never got a room earlier as they are always full. This is a lovely place. The entire property is well landscaped and neat. The staff is very friendly. The rooms are airy, bright, clean and they have an elegant white paint and dark wood theme going. The bathrooms were neat and clean and the plumbing sparkled. The location was lovely as it was by the road in between Baga and Calangute. You came out of the property and walked through their private coconut grove and hit a slightly peaceful part of the beach. The rates were reasonable too and were around Rs 1700 - 2000 or 50 USD.

We loved the place and stayed there during our next trips. Paradise found? End of hotel searches? Not Really!

Our luck ran out when we went for our fourth trip this February. The internet booking agent had messed up the booking and the hotel claimed they didn't know we were were coming. This after we had paid in full from Bombay. So we got a gloomy room, with a groaning aircon, creaking bed and a hand shower in the bathroom which was quite geriatric. We raised a stink and then got a room which was better but where the bathroom flooded. We were mighty peeved! This too on our fourth stay there and after recommending the hotel to all.

So the Karmakars set off on their hunt again. That's when we chanced upon a boutique hotel called Waters in the lane behind the Subway sandwich shop. This tiny two storied hotel had about eight rooms. It was very tastefully done and the rooms were named after various colours. We got the red room. This had a chirpy red wall, a red candle, four coaster beds, a very nice and large bathroom with red tiles. We just loved the place and ran out of Villa Goesa which had betrayed us and moved in there.

The little stuffed toy which we picked up from the Mumbai airport with its red shirt was quite at home there. The pace was a steal as the room was a couple of hundred Rs cheaper than Villa Goesa and the room was much much better. The staff was very helpful too. It turned out that it was run by a couple of young people, one of whom was from Calcutta! The place was so lovely that it really a bit of magic to the holiday. In fact we cancelled our air ticket, lost money, paid more for a new ticket and stayed an extra day once we moved in here. That's how much we loved Waters. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can go there next year and that it doesn't let us down.

After all this bathroom did meet Mrs K's approval!

There is another lovely place which is slightly more expensive. It is called Casa Alexia. It is a villa with lovely rooms with elegant, antique furnishings. This is beside the old people's home on the Baga Road. The only problem is that we have never seen any guests there and it does look a bit spooky. Perhaps the Sunset Boulevard of Baga?

PS. Despite our recent bad experience I would not write off Villa Goesa completely. It is closer to the beach and it is a larger property with lawns and a swimming pool. This would be a better place to go to if you are with kids. Just book in advance and try to book directly or through a site called www.nivalink.com who are quite efficient

The call of Baga

I discovered Baga in my second trip to Goa which was actually my first trip. No, I am not speaking in riddles. My first trip was on an office junket to Taj at Goa. South Goa has a number of such lovely five star properties. The problem is that these could be anywhere in the world. They are not really distinctive.

My second trip to Goa was with some friends, one of whom was a Goa buff. She was the one who told us that Baga is THE place to be in Goa. And she was right. To me it is the ulitmate Goa experience.

Baga is a beach at North Goa and is next to the more populated, Calangute.

If the phrase 'chilled out' was invented for a place, it would be for Baga. The place is full of foreigners head for during season. You will almost feel as if you are not in India. The Indian crowd consists more of young couples or groups of friends. You will find very little of the conservative, family crowd there - so no wailing babies or hyper parents. Very different from Calangute next door.

Baga connected with me in the first trip itself as that was probably the first time I had set off with friends to just have fun. We lazed in the beach shacks in the mornings over beer and chilly chicken, slept, had wine, smoked innumerable cigarettes, ate, drove around on a scooter, discovered new restaurants, threw up, slept. Getting into the sea didn't feature anywhere. We met a few more '6 degrees of separation' friends and really had a ball. In fact the three of us stayed in this fairly tiny room in a 6 room hotel called called Don Juom at 300 Rs (8 USD) a day. I guess it was the final snip to the umbilical chord. Which is why Baga has became synonymous with freedom to me.

My first trip to Goa with Kainaz was on our honeymoon to Holiday Inn. One enjoyed the faceless luxuries of a five star and sat through innumerable buffet dinners. Again, this could be anywhere.

The next time we went to Goa I took her to Baga. She fell in love with it as I once had. That too during off season when half the places were shut. Such is the magic of Baga. Since then we have gone back there at least four times in three years.

So what is the spell of Baga? The beach of course and the stream of shacks (beach side restaurants). Two things though. The shacks are there only during season (November to March). Also they are very crowded towards the tip of Baga and you are better off going to a shack in between Baga and Calangute as that is likely to be less crowded.

There is a sense of freedom which surrounds Baga. It comes from the distant horizons, from staring into the endless sea sitting on the beach, from the relaxed mood of the tourists far away from their daily routines, from seeing the surfers in the distant sea and in the air, from seeing people walk lazily up the lanes, from seeing the happy smiles around one.

The food of course is a dream come true. You get a selection of the best of Goan food. We have our favourites. Infanteria for its pork chilly fry, mussel chilly fry, beef burgers, prawn balchao and lazy breakfasts. Brittos for its view of the sea, its lipsmacking prawn baffat and prawn chilly fry. Love Shack for its sausage fries, pork chilly fries, its chilled King's Beer. Our recent discoveries - Casa Portuguesa for its expereince of colonial, aristocratic, Goa and Lila's Cafe for a European, tropical (!) breakfast. You can read more about the various Baga eats in my food blog.

Finding a place to stay is an adventure in itself in Baga. You live and learn. None of the established names are there. Over the years we have stayed at places... got dissatisfied... checked hotels down the stretch...unearthed some gems...which sometimes turned out to be duds on our next visit...checked more hotels...unearthed more gems...you get the gist. That's the thing about 'places to stay' - there are so unpredictable and they come in all shapes and sizes. We had some lovely discoveries such as Goa Holiday Resort (in the dumps in our next stay), a few lovely times at Villa Goesa (very disappointed this year), discovered a treasure called Waters this time. Hope it remains the same year and that we get a place since there are only six or seven rooms. We also keep checking out a place called Casa Alexio which looks very luxurious though haunted. The average price of rooms in these hotels are about Rs 2500 (60 USD) now.

Things to do? I have seen people swim, indulge in water sports at Baga. Baga is famous for its discs - Titos and Mambos. Kainaz loves to shop for sarongs, slippers and tee shirts. For me its a bit like Seinfeld. Its a place to do nothing at all. At the most eat and lie on the beach and read.

It's a strange vacation. By now there is hardly anything new to 'see'. In fact I feel at home the moment I walk down the streets. There is a certain comfort which I drawn in the sheer familiarity of the place. I would love to retire over there. Kainaz thinks I'll get bored. I doubt it.

I really hope that my luck holds and that I can make it to Baga next February too.

My ode to Goa

Kainaz had predicted that the first place that I will write about in my travel site will be Goa.

I have fallen in love with the place. I must have averaged a trip a year to Goa in the last five years or so. I have celebrated most of my birthdays there recently. I would love to retire there someday.

There are many things that I love about Goa. The languorous, balmy pace of life. Nothing is rushed. Things happen in due course. This is of course a tourist's perspective.

The food is lovely. In fact it is a non vegetarian's paradise. Local Goan food is very tasty. At the same time you get a lot of international cuisines, especially European (even less easily available ones such as German, Russian), thanks to the high proportion of tourists. The traditional North and South Indian fares are available in abundance.

There are a variety of places to stay in from five stars to boutiques to small villas and even places which fit a backpacker's budget. Accommodation at Goa is getting pricier by the day though and it is quite difficult to get a good place during high season - November to end February.

What I like best about Goa is that there is a huge range of things to do there. Just look at the range of holidays I have had there:

• an office conference/ junket at the Taj, a five star in South Goa
• a wild trip in my bachelor days to Baga Beach. A first for my fairly straight jacketed life till then. We stayed at a tiny place at Baga.
• our honeymoon in Holiday Inn
• Kainaz and my recent mini getaways to Baga where we eat, read, eat, sleep, eat, shop, drink, eat

As you can see there is a lot to do here. And I have not even included things like swimming or rave parties which are quite popular here.

The important thing about 'Goa' is that it is not a single town. It is a state/ province with a number of beaches, rivers, hills and a few small towns and villages. A convenient rule of thumb is that North Goa is the more active/ 'happening' place while South Goa is quieter and has the more luxurious hotel properties.

I plan to write about things to do, places to stay, eats, etc in Goa over the nest few days.