Getting Around Goa

Many people use the moped to travel around in Goa, even the tourists. It is a very easy and good way to get around in Goa and also get in touch with the locals. Here in India and Goa they drive on the left side, which can be some extra difficulties when you are a foreigner and if you live in a part of the world where they drive on the right side. When you drive your moped, you shall know that they can pass you on both sides, there arent any rules for how to drive. Well, maybe there are some rules, but you dont see them at least. And if you want to drive moped around, you have plenty of people which rent them to you. Be careful and check up what the insurance says.

Some weeks before leaving Sweden I bought a plane ticket from Aurangabad to Goa (via Mumbai where I changed planes). I bought the ticket through Jet Airways website and it was Rs 5359 for the 22nd of June 2010.

I had asked at the hotel how much an auto rickshaw to the airport was and the man told me Rs 250. I thought it was too much so I walked down to the street opposite the Railway Station to take a metered auto rickshaw. The first rickshaw driver I asked didn’t want to go by meter but said the price was Rs 100 and I accepted that at once. It took about 20 minutes to the airport.

I arrived 1.5 hours before departure and so early there were very few people at the airport, even if my flight was not the first to leave Aurangabad that morning. Well, it seemed that many people were quite late. As you enter the airport building the luggage you will check in is screened before you leave it at the check in desk. In the departure hall there were two places where to buy snacks and coffee, but unfortunately they only had coffee with milk so I decided to wait.

We were 40 minutes late leaving Aurangabad and 1h 20 minutes late to Mumbai (we were not allowed to land first). The flight was supposed to take only 45 minutes, but even if it was delayed I had some time before the connection flight to Goa. I asked for the way to my connecting flight and was directed to Terminal B. I went through security and sat down at a cafe to have coffee and sandwich for breakfast. Food had only been sold on the plan from Aurangabad. When it started to be short of time I went to look for the right gate. It turned out I was in the wrong terminal and had to hurry to Terminal A. I stood in a second queue to go through security and started to feel worried I would miss my plane. Arriving at the gate nothing was written on the sign and no one seemed to know anything. Well, I soon found out I was at the right gate but we were delayed. Half an hour late we left Mumbai for Goa. On this flight, that took an hour, food was served.

In Goa the checked in luggage arrived quickly and I went outside the terminal to a booth for prepaid taxis and took a taxi to Arambol for Rs 980 (June 2010).

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Goa airport (GOI) is a small, but crowded airport with both domestic and international flights. The airport is located in Dabolim, less than 30 kms from the city Panaji. The distance to the nearest beach in the north is 45 kms.

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Goa airport is located in Dabolim, not far from the city Panaji. The distance to the beach is however longer. If you don't know how to travel on the buses, you need to take a car. Taxis from the airport are fixed priced according to where you are traveling. Airport-Calangute costs 900 rupies (20 USD) in a small car with max 4 passengers. Big cars are hard to find. There are two hotel information counters in the arrival hall. They can arrange transportation.
Goa airport is a crowded, but small airport. A lot of people are standing outside the terminal when you arrive. If you are fit for bargaining, you can of course try to ask somebody standing outside the terminal for transportation.

It's cheaper to travel from the beaches to the airport. Calangute-airport costs 700 rupies. A big car for 8 people costs 900 rupies.

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Hiring a cab or rather what they call as a Tourist Cab is your better choice of transport around Goa. As the beaches are far apart and you do need some form of transport to get around. Specially if you planning to see all of them in a short period of time.

There other forms of public transport that include local ricks, bikes ad public buses, these can be a hazzel depending on where your are staying. If you a backpacker then you can fit right in @ goa as your options are many.

Personally I prefered the Tax cab that I was able to rent for the whole day.

Tarkarli is 2hrs drive from Goa. 6kms from Malvan. Its in Maharashtra State, District Sindhudurg. Nearest town is Malvan. Nearest railway station is Kudal and Nearest airport is Panjim Airport, Goa.. From Mumbai its almost 460Km. It’s a place for nature lovers and for people who want to escape from busy city life.

The airport in Goa is located near Vasco de Gama, which itself is located south of the capital, Panaji. I flew into Goa from Mumbai and was going to take a taxi by myself but a Scottish guy, who was waiting by the taxi rank, suggested about sharing one. This I did and we made our way to northern Goa which cost a total of Rs650 (which, of course, we halved between us). It takes quite some time to get to the Calangute area from the airport so bear this in mind.

As Newcastle fans we had to stop for photos when we saw this taxi driver wearing the black and white stripes. I don't think he had a clue why we were so interested but he and his mates were very happy to pose for photos with me, as you can see.

We used taxis a couple of times, to go to Anjuna Market and to Old Goa. On both occasions we chose from the drivers parked immediately outside our hotel as we knew the hotel owner discouraged any unscrupulous ones from waiting there. We also negotiated a “there and back” fare before starting out on the journey. I don’t remember the prices but we thought them reasonable at the time. Returning from Anjuna our driver asked if he could accept a fare from two other passengers and we were happy to agree. It saved us a bit of money and meant a detour on some scenic back roads.