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Mother-In-Law’s First Trip to India: Park Hyatt Goa Activities

March 3, 2013 by Million Mile Secrets Team Million Mile Secrets Team

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Emily: Daraius stayed in the room to work, but Aunt Judi, my mom, and I were hungry, so we went to the poolside bar to get a snack.

Park Hyatt Goa Activities — Having a Snack

We ordered a ham and cheese Panini with coleslaw and French fries. My mom got a kathi roll, which is a chicken roll with spices. The lunch was good, but I was only served a small handful of fries and the coleslaw came in a miniature ramekin, which was one large bite.

To drink, we ordered strawberry iced teas and a beer. The teas were okay—I much preferred them at the Tea Center in Bombay.

After lunch, we took a stroll around the resort. We passed the meandering pool resort, and then walked on the wooden walkways towards the beach.

We walked past the archery field and then went to the beach.

The sand was very clean and the waters were warm and clean.

We also saw some shacks by the hotel, one of which had two tandoor ovens.

Another day, after breakfast, we went to town to stock up on some supplies: Goan cashew nuts, sunscreen, and new sunglasses for my mom. During our trip outside the resort, my mom saw a shop with her name on it.

It was very crowded because people were out Christmas shopping. On our way back to the hotel, the driver took us to a handicrafts shop that was outrageously priced. He got some kind of commission if we bought something, but the prices were more than 5 times what I saw in Bombay, and everything was marked in American dollars.

After 5 minutes in the shop, we were out. I was happy to get back to the resort when we did. I bet he wouldn’t have tried to take us to the shop if Daraius was with us!

We got back to the hotel, changed, and went to the pool area. It was so nice being in the sun and getting into the pool. It was very refreshing and it was fun swimming around the huge pool.

My mom was particularly adventurous and went down both slides. I went down only one of them.

We ordered drinks and lunch by the pool, and took some “glamour shots” of us girls in our swimsuits. We laughed over the pictures and had a great time!

After lunch, we went to the actual beach and went wading in the water. There is a small sliver of beach reserved for the Park Hyatt, but there was much more to do on the non-reserved portion of the beach. You can walk for miles in either direction and there was always lots of activity on the beach.

The current was pretty strong and actually took my mom under! It caught her by surprise. My aunt Judi loves the strong waves and was enjoying them. We all took more pictures together and had lots of fun.

The morning before we left, we went for breakfast and then we went for archery.

It was very picturesque, and I was excited for all of us to try archery. The guide came out with the bow and arrows which costs 190 rupees per round (I think you got 12 shots per round). This is equal to about $4 US dollars. I went first and managed to get the arrows on the target but not the bull’s-eye.

Judi went next.

But got more arrows outside the target than on the target. It is harder than it looks!

My mom went next…

but didn’t get any on the target!

Daraius and I had a lot of fun with the bow and arrow the last time we were here as well as this time, and Daraius actually hit a bull’s-eye!

If we had more time in Goa, I would have taken everyone to see the old Goan churches. It is a historic part of town that was built when the Portuguese ruled Goa.

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