There plenty of legends about Goa. Back to the 90’s it was one of the top destinations and unfortunately at that time I was quite underage to persuade my parents let me go there for a week, or month an stay until I cash out my last penny. A friend who recently returned from India provoked my interest to Goa and that’s how I came to the “Official Website of Department of Toutrism, Goa, India” right on www.goatourism.org.

My first impression of the website was wow, we’re stuck to the 90’s! The homepage design is a little scary and really not contemporary. With India being the major outsourcing destination of so many IT projects it is really funny to see a welcome page like this. Hey guys, probably your government is not paying you as much as the SAP guys do. Or you’re all partying way too much and do not care about web-face?

Inside the website tries to be informative but at the end leave you confused. I especially liked the Taveller’s Kit section where you learn that it is forbidden to purchase or sell Indian currency (called rupee) abroad and you are kindly offered a calculator which indeed is dating back to the 90’s when the Euro was just a ghost. Instead you can check the German mark, French frank or Italian lires.

If you skip this and a few broken links, www.goatourism.org is really informative and rich in ideas.

The birdwatching aficionados (like my friend who recently came back here) are advised to check two unique places:
- Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary on Chorao Island and
- The wetlands at Carambolim (12km east of Panaj and at Shiroda / 40km south-east of Panaji, in Ponda taluka).

Look forward a few pictures and India reality stories…