10 Lovely Places To Visit In North Goa

Goa has been one of the favorite destinations for Indians. In recent years, Goa has seen a surge of tourist from various foreign countries, particularly from Russia. Goa offers a blend of Indian and Western culture which appeals to many tourists. There are numerous places to visit in Goa.



The Goan trip is mainly divided into North Goa trip and South Goa trip. Both North and South Goa offers a unique experience. While some may find South Goa more interesting, my personal favorite is North Goa.  Some of the lovely places to visit in Goa (North) are.

 Vagator Beach

Once the location of the SunBurn Festival, Vagator Beach is one of the nicest beaches in Goa.  The shoreline of this beach is short and filled with black rocks. Mostly filled with foreign travelers, this beach is an awesome location to spend an hour of peace and tranquillity. 

Bardez, India, Open daily, 24 hours

Arambol Beach

This beach is located around 30 kilometers from Panaji. Quite a lot of hippie’s flock around Arambol Beach. This beach is a little away from the mainland. Therefore, it is always advisable to visit this beach with some good company. 

Arambol, India, Open daily, 24 hours

Baga Beach

This beach is quieter and less crowded than the Calangute Beach and is famous for various water sports available at this place. The Baga Beach is also famous for it’s rocking nightlife marked by places like Tito’s and Mambo’s Cafe.

Baga, India, Open daily, 24 hours

Calangute Beach

Also known as the Queen of Beaches this beach is known for its water sports like surfing, water skiing, and parasailing. The beach restaurants like Tibetan kitchen are some of the nice places to eat. 

Calungate, India, Open daily, 24 hours

 Fort Aguada

Built in 1612, For Aquada is a Portuguese fort located in the Sinquerim Beach in Goa. It was a reference point for European ships coming to Goa at that time. 

Fort Aguada Road, Aguada Fort Area, Candolim, Goa 403515

Open daily, 7am-6pm

Casino Palms

Casino Palm is one of the popular casinos in Goa. This casino is situated near Baga Beach, an area known for its party culture. The casino is housed inside the La Calypso hotel. Some games you can try are roulette, blackjack, etc. If you want to try out the casino experience in India, this is a great place. 

Address: No.7/129-B, Saunta Vadoo, Calangute-Baga Road, Bardez, Baga, Goa 403516

Open 24 hours

Casino Pride

Casino Pride is a casino operated by the Casino Pride Group. With luck on your side and money on your mind, try out some of the International and Indian Games at this prestigious casino in India.

River Mandovi, Captain Of Ports Jetty, Panjim, Goa 403001, Open daily, 24 hours

MV Caravela

One of the first casinos located in water, MV Caravela visit is something you shouldn’t miss. What makes this casino worth a visit is the combination of water and casino. Docked at Panaji, the state’s capital the casino offers a tremendous night out. 

Backwaters of Chapora River

This is a place where you can spot the river dolphins. One of the nicest ways to explore the backwater of the Chapora River is to hire a boat. 

Chapora River, Goa, India

 Panaji

Also known as Panjim, the state capital is something you must visit during your Goan trip. Located in the banks of the Mandovi river, the city has streets lined with colorful buildings from the Portuguese colonial era.

Panaji, Goa, India

Dona Paula Beach

This beach is around 7 km’s from Panaji. This beach is popular because of myth attached to this place. As per the legend, this beach is named after the daughter of Viceroy named Dona Paula de Menezes who jumped off the cliff after objections were raised about her relationship with a fisherman. 

Dona Paula 403004, India

Whenever you want to visit North Goa, our recommendation is to take a guided tour. The guided tours are well organized, and you can complete the whole trip in a day.



Markets of North Goa

Anjuna Flea Market

Visit this market is very much a part of the Goan experience. This is one of the best places to buy souvenirs as you wind up your Goa trip

This little market at the Anjuna beach is a carnival in itself. Held every week this little flea market gives a true sight of the Goan culture.

Established by the hippies to help fund the rest of their stay by selling jeans and other clothing, today this market is very much a part of the Goan experience. You can buy souvenirs, fancy clothes, artifacts, local cuisine and many more.

Address: 10, St. Michael’s Vaddo South, Anjuna, Goa 403509

Best Time to visit: Wednesday 8 am – 4 pm. The market starts from November till April end.

Arpora Saturday Night Market

Like the Anjuna flea market, the Arpora market is held over the weekend. From spice stalls to some of the best cuisines, this market is one of the best tourist spots of North Goa. Every Saturday the market starts at around 6 and run into late nights.

Mapusa Market 

Another weekly market of Goa is the Mapusa market which goes live every Friday. In this market, you will get everything from fish to sausages, from handmade bags to shawls. Other than the shopping, the market is famous for its excellent restaurants serving delicious Goan food.  This market opens at around 9 am and shuts down at sunset. 

The guided tour to North Goa charges between 1000-1500 INR a day. While another option is to hire a private taxi. The cab operators like Uber, Ola Cabs are not available as of now. Therefore, travelers often hire taxis available near to the hotels (  Read 10 Lovely Places To Visit In South Goa )



10 Best Places To Visit In South Goa

A good place to visit during Goa trip is South Goa. There are several wonderful and sparsely crowded beaches in South Goa.  Out of the various locations in South Goa, few beaches and attractions stand out. These are some of the great places to visit in Goa (South).

1. Colva Beach

Colva Beach
Colva Beach

Located around 8 kilometers from Margao, Colva Beach is one of the finest beaches in South Goa. The beach has a white sandy coastline that runs around 20 kilometers. The coconut trees adjacent to the beach gives the beach an exotic appeal. Water lovers can engage in jet ski, swimming and para gliding.

The beach side restaurants and bars provide a great environment for a fun filled holiday. If you want to rent an apartment or stay in a hotel near this beach it may be a bit expensive. However, if you want to call this beach home for the next few days of your holiday it is always better to rent a hotel near to the beach. 

South Goa DistrictColva 403708, India. Open daily, 24 hours 

2. Vasco Da Gama / Vasco

Vasco Da Gama or Vasco is one of the largest cities in Goa. The Portuguese controlled this city till 1961. Like other parts of Goa, football is one of the popular sports in Vasco.

Vasco 403802, Goa, India. Open daily, 24 hours 

3. Agonda Beach

This beach is little different from the Colva Beach in the sense that Colva Beach may become crowded at times. Secluded bliss is something people can enjoy in this beach. This beach also provides plenty of opportunities for indulging in water sports and fine dining.

Agonda, India.Open daily, 24 hours 

4. Varca Beach

Magnificent shoreline made up of finely grained white sand adorn this beach. Surrounded by green palm trees, this beach is neat and clean. Near the beach the tourists can enjoy a variety of sea food delicacies.

South Goa District , Varca, India. Open daily, 24 hours 

5. Se Cathedral

Se Cathedral is a church dedicated to the Catherine of Alexandria. Designed and built using Portuguese architecture Se Cathedral is one of the important landmarks of Goa.

Old Goa, Panjim, India. Open daily, 9 am -5 pm

6. Butterfly Beach

Situated near the northern end of Palolem Beach, Butterfly Beach is one of the coolest beach in Goa. Playing sea dolphins adorn this beach. 

South Goa District, Canacona 403702, India, Open daily, 24 hours

7. Betalbatim Beach

Betalbatim Beach is one of the least visited beaches in South Goa where one can have a fun filled holiday in company of sun and sand. Magnificent sunset is one of the best features of this beach.

Benaulim 403601, India, Open daily, 24 hours

8. Dudhsagar Falls

In literature Dudhsagar means ocean of milk. This waterfall is one of the famous waterfall located near the Goa-Karnataka border. It is in fact one of India’s tallest waterfalls with water flowing from a height of over 300 meters. This magnificent waterfall is in the Mandovi River.

Sonaulim 403410, India, Open daily, 24 hours

Goa Chitra Museum
Goa Chitra Museum

9. Goa Chitra Museum

Based in the coastal Goan village of Benaulim, the Goan Chitra Museum contains a collection of local pottery, historical carts, musical instruments and other tools that were used in Goa during the ancient times.

This museum is one of the comprehensive museums in Goa with around 4000+ objects on display.  Moreover, the tour guide inside was able to explain the details in a simplified manner much to the delight of the travelers.

H.No. 498, Near Auxilium High School, Benaulim, Goa 403716, Open daily 9am- 6pm

10. Sahakari Spice Farm

Sahakari Spice Farm is one place that visitors like to have a good time with their family and friends. Inside the Sahakari Spice Farm you will get to see various spice plantations and spice products made from these plantations.

Huge number of tourist throng this farm during the peak season. When we went there, Sahakari Spice Farm tour included a  visit to the spice plantations  along with a delicious Goan buffet lunch.

Ponda belgaum Highway, Curti, Ponda, Goa 403001, Open daily 9.30 am – 4.30 pm

The South Goa trip also cost between 1500-2000 INR in a guided tour. One of the things that I found is that initially, the tour guide will not tell you the exact price. But when you go board the bus the guide will announce a price of around 1000 INR which seems to be affordable for the domestic as well as the international tourists.



Feminine WordPress Themes

 

 

 

 

Feminine WordPress Themes

They form a significant percentage of online entrepreneurs. They have taken to the Internet and made a major impact by their web presence especially as bloggers. This is a global phenomenon, which has spread from the developed world into third world and the Arab world too. A good portion of the most successful web presence has women to thank women for their achievement. It is evident that women on the Internet invest their passion, hard work, and skills. This explains why many blogs and websites have feminine themes. The result is a rise in the need to align products to femininity.

 

Web Hosting

To help boost your business by finding feminine appeal, you may need to begin by searching for the most popular free WordPress themes available. You will be surprised by the vast amount of useful information you will find. They will give you the ideas of power and functionality of feminine themes. You will be able to provide your WordPress audience with the feminine touch to your business. We have compiled a list of feminine WordPress themes to help you get started.

 

WordPress may not have been the pioneer website in blogging but its consistency has made the most renowned and reliable. It penetrated the market and became the most successful. WordPress became so famous that it was as a synonym for blogging. As the leading choice for serious bloggers, it offered many features that helped them grow famous and relevant on the global scene. Perhaps what made it very famous was its ability to syndicate its blogging script for other websites as well as rival firms to utilize their resources. It quickly became the most used blogging platforms worldwide. It was most downloaded and most frequently used.

 

Today, there are at least 100,000 new WordPress blogs launched daily. The company is responsible for handling at least 70% of content management systems globally. The rivals share the rest of the content management with Drupal managing approximately 20% and 6% for Joomia. WordPress powers approximately 18 million websites.

 

WordPress’s popularity emerges from its ability to offer a user-friendly environment. It is easy to use and to customize. The features can be utilized even by an amateur in programming. The configurations are simple and the themes and plugins easily accessible online. Since themes are the basis of an attractive blog, they have high demand. For example, by the end of 2015, there were approximately 120 million themes downloaded. They make blogs unique and special because they create the surrounding according to the bloggers preference. WordPress offers most of the themes free of charge. For premium themes, however, you will get excess features at a cost.

 

Considerations

 

To choose the best feminine WordPress themes, you need to consider some specific factors. Note that WordPress is a fully free CMS platform that gives its users the opportunity to create and manage their blogs. It combines CMS and open source blogging applications via web hosting server.

 

Consider the following facts: A quarter of all websites around the globe are powered by WordPress. This translates to 80 million websites. It is therefore, the world’s most popular blogging platform. At least 20 % of the world’s top 1 million internet sites rely on WordPress.

 

Most people assume that a website theme only plays the role of attractiveness to make it flashy. However, the role of a theme exceeds making your website grand image. A theme not only highlights the look and feel of your website but also create a huge impact on visitors. With a lasting impression, you blog will gain more fame and attract the loyalty of visitors. For example, if your website focuses on women’s fashion, you will focus on creating a first impression of fashion from the first screaming look. In such a case, make sure you have a feminine word press them. It needs to clearly represent the nature of what you intend to communicate to the world.

 

The theme should not only create a first impression on the home page but also be consistent throughout the website. Your pages should not clash but be unified to portray the same message to visitors. Consistency is vital in attempting to create an impact on your visitors.

 

The Themes

 

Here are some of the ultimate feminine word-press themes you need.

 

The Beautiful

 

The beautiful is the most attractive feminine word press theme available. The Theme allows extra customization’s to make it unique but you would prefer it’s pretty color schemes. It is an impressive beautiful theme with attractive clean white flowery background. There are crisp red fonts and cute feminine images. It easily integrates with social media accounts to help you share and spread your website.

 

Dorothy WP Theme

 

For female-centric blogs, Dorothy WP theme always seems to work. It is best used if you are focusing on crafting photos to give them an outstanding background. It is very responsive and can allow changes to make it unique according to your preferences. It also allows addition of a logo or background image for customization.

 

MH Magazine Feminine Theme

 

This theme is designed for magazines. It comes in various shades and tones that fit a wide variety of preferences. It can help you portray beauty and femininity. It is a perfect one for you if you are planning on a fashion blog. It may also serve in cosmetic, lifestyle, and beauty blogs. You may use it for any female topic with impressive results.

Read How To Become A Fashion Blogger

 

10 Popular Mobile Wallets In India

10 Popular Mobile Wallets In India

Mobile wallet is a new concept in India and has surpassed credit card usage and is slowly becoming a traditional form of payment.  Mobile Wallet in simple terms is a wallet where one can store cash for digital transactions. Wallets are increasingly becoming popular because of the speed of transactions.

If you directly use net banking for your transaction you may be asked to enter information related to your pin code.  This is not the case in  mobile wallets. 1-click and you are done. And that 1-2 second lead makes way for  mobile wallets in India.

Here is a list of some of the popular mobile wallets in India.

  1. PayTM

PayTM is  the larget e-Wallet in  India offering it’s customers to make quick digital payments.  Launched in 2010, PayTM is owned by One 97 Communications Pvt. Ltd  and is  backed by companies like Alibaba Group, Softbank etc. PayTM allows you to load money and make payments to merchants who have tie-ups with the company. Apart from e-commerce PayTM wallet can also be used to make prepaid mobile recharges, shop grocery, pay mobile bills, buy clothes, laptop and more.

Also, Paytm has numerous features related to travel, entertainment and food. For example, you can book a bus tickets, movie tickets, flight tickets, train tickets or even hire cars & bikes. The app allows to book event tickets, hotels, amusement park tickets, movie tickets and  food delivery options. 

Another great feature of Paytm  is the Paytm mall shopping. Starting at Rs 1 you can shop your way out inside the Paytm application. Various products like shirts & trousers, grocery, home appliances, electronics, beauty & grooming etc. can be purchased inside the application.

Further, another useful feature in the Paytm app is the Deals section. If you want spa or salon deals open the application, click on more and then go to deals you will find numerous deals. These deals give significant price cut to the customer. 

 

Download paytm Android App

2. MobiKwik

MobiKwik slowly went on to become the 2nd largest E-Wallet in India behind PayTM. MobiKwik has around 1.5 million merchants and 55 million customers. The good thing about MobiKwik is its cool user interface. Also, the company gives free cash in the form of Super Cash for some purchases.  I personally prefer MobKwik and mostly do my transactions through MobiKwik E-Wallet.

Download MobiKwik Android App

3. FreeCharge

FreeCharge is another mobile wallet company in India. This company is growing but has fewer merchants. One good thing about FreeCharge it gives free cash discount for certain transactions like Mobile Recharge. Overall the App is good and user friendly.

Download FreeCharge Android App

 4. Phone Pe

Phone Pe is a payment wallet which was later acquired by Flipkart. The app gives good cash discounts on online Bill Payments. If you are frequent Flipkart customer do use this App.

One of the important features of the Phone Pe app is the money transfers. You can transfer money to a contact, to self, and to another bank. 

Also, Phone Pe can be used to recharge and pay bills. You can recharge your mobile phone, pay electricity, post paid, landline, broadband , gas, water, data card, insurance, municipal tax bills using the Phone Pe application

Download PhonePe Android App

5. BHIM E-Wallet

BHIM EWallet is an Ewallet developed by the National Payments Corporation of India. BHIM app can be used to transfer money between various bank accounts. BHIM App supports 13 languages currently.

Download BHIM E-Wallet Android App

6. State Bank Buddy

This is wallet system by the largest bank in India, the State Bank of India. This wallet is good for SBI customers. However, non SBI customers can also use this App.

7. Ola Money

Ola Money is a wallet offered by the Ola Cab Booking App.  This wallet makes it easy to pay for Ola Cab Rides. However, this app can also be used to pay for phone bills, electricity bills, prepaid recharge and so on.

Download Ola Money Android App

8. Airtel Money

Airtel Money is an e-Wallet by telecommunications company Airtel. This app can be used to pay for phone bills or prepaid recharges if you are an Airtel customer.

Download Airtel Money Android App

9. Jio Money

Jio Money is an wallet by Reliance Jio. This app can be used to store some cash for online payments like recahrging a Jio mobile or paying a postpaid bill.

Download Jio Money Android App

10. Amazon Pay

Amazon Pay is an wallet of the e-Commerce giant Amazon. Like Phone Pe this App can be used to get discounts if you are a Amazon customer.

Amazon Pay is slowly becoming one of the most preferred application. Thanks to it’s marketing team. With a great marketing and reach out Amazon Pay has started giving numerous discounts. Amazon Pay has tied up with many vendors that give discount if the bill is payed through Amazon Pay wallet. 

Download Amazon Pay Android App




10 Tips For Mastering Long Flights

 Here are some tips you can use to master the art of long flights.

  1. Wear comfy clothes

Since you will be seated for a long time wear comfy clothes like pajamas t-shirts or any loose clothing. This will help you relax and enjoy the flight experience as a whole.

  1. Have some drinks

Consuming a bit of soft drink or any other drinks provided during the flight can make the journey more pleasant. However, it is advised not to consume in excess as it might make you dehydrated.

  1. Doing some exercise

Doing some exercise before the flight can be of immense help. Little exercise like the basic movement of the body can prevent cramps. Even going to the toilet once or twice can help.

  1. Take Shoes Off

Taking shoes off can be relaxing. It can be pretty comfortable for long flight passengers.

  1. Get A Window Seat

Window seats can make all the difference. Window means you have a wall to lean against.

  1. Eat Less

Stomach problem during the flight can be quite stressful. Why not prevent it by eating less? Eating less can prevent much of the stomach issues. If you really want to have food then do eat well-cooked food before the flight. Inside the flight try to take snacks as much as possible.

  1. Use A Eye Mask

An eye mask can create an ideal sleeping environment by blocking the light. Some airlines do provide eye masks while some don’t. Therefore, it is a great idea to bring one.

  1. Bring Earplugs

Bringing earplugs can help you get a good night sleep. Chances are that your flight attendant may have an extra pair

  1. Use Noise Cancellation Head Phones

Using noise cancellation headphones can help you listen to your favorite music.

  1. Bring A Pillow And A Blanket

Bringing your own pillow and blanket help you feel warm for the entire duration of the flight.



   11. Bring Snacks

   12. Stay Hydrated

In addition to the above, you can also bring your own tablet or iPad during the flight. If you love reading you can also bring some books. And if you like writing you can bring a paper and pen/pencil.

If you want an even better experience you can check whether the airlines have an in-flight entertainment system. For example, the in-flight entertainment system of the Kingfisher flight (London to Delhi) was so nice and that made the whole journey enriching.

Read Guide To Finding Affordable Flight Deals

Long Flights