09.03.2020 Views

World Traveller March 2020

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Waves lap the shore of Vagator Beach<br />

Vagator Beach is one of the most<br />

scenic beaches in Goa<br />

Goan seafood curry is traditionally served<br />

with kokum juice and small prawns<br />

beach-shack bar for a sweet-salt lime<br />

soda; perusing the Eurasian-fusion<br />

bags and espadrilles sold by Yashu,<br />

the nut-brown-tanned Sardinian, who<br />

was part of a low-key community here<br />

for six months of the year. ‘Morjim,<br />

Arambol, Ashwem… This northern part<br />

is hippie-chic Goa now,’ she told me.<br />

I said it was all terribly chi-chi,<br />

which may have sounded like a<br />

bad thing — she searched for a<br />

response. ‘You will like the south<br />

of Goa. Amazing. Cola Beach.’<br />

Barefoot hippie beauty? I took note.<br />

Anand, who picked me up the next<br />

morning for a few days of discovery,<br />

was the calmest guide a grown-up-<br />

Goaseeker could wish for, and the<br />

most informative: ‘Back in the ’60s<br />

the hippies first found their ‘natural’<br />

uniform, here,’ he explained, as we<br />

motored off past waterlogged meadows<br />

of listless buffaloes. ‘Even in the ’90s it<br />

was a trend for Indian people to come<br />

to the beaches and “sightsee”, as it were.<br />

They’d never seen white people like<br />

that before.’ In 2001, the phenomenon<br />

propelled Goa to Bollywood fame in<br />

the coming-of-age drama Dil Chahta<br />

Hai (What the Heart Wants).<br />

‘And the much-loved Chapora Fort<br />

was a key location,’ he said. ‘Which<br />

really added to the film’s popularity.’<br />

I told Anand I’d climbed up to it from<br />

W Goa in the silver dawn light that<br />

morning. I’d loved its worn rust-red<br />

walls; I’d looked north to Ashwem,<br />

south to infinity — there was no<br />

worldtravellermagazine.com 45

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!