Against all apparent sense, I spend every New Year’s Eve in Goa
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 What?’’ you ask incredulously, “can the editor of Lonely Planet Magazine India not find a more imaginative way of bringing in the new year than being stuck in horrible traffic, waiting to get to awful parties and meet the same people he sees in Mumbai?’’ But then, Goa’s home, and I don’t go to the same Goa as the tourists. Goa has secrets, some that I won’t ever reveal to anyone, others not so much secret as just unknown. Real places with real character, real food and real people, not done to tourist tastes. And in this issue, we’ve brought you some of them, a side to Goa you’ve never seen before.
There’s also the fact that Goa happens to be one of the most perfect places to be in winter, if you aren’t looking for real cold. Sigh, real cold. Remember the winter of ’07-’08? Now that was a proper winter – last year, frankly, I wanted my money back. Out of the kindness of our hearts – we don’t want you spending a dull winter in the city when you could be out having fun – we’ve put together a bunch of great spots to get the best out of the end of the year. And this list really goes round the world – we have destinations on every continent (including Antarctica!).
There’s incredible variety too – we have you covered, whether you want to be warm or frozen, languid or drunk on adrenaline. We’ve brought you the always-beguiling treasures of Egypt, frozen waterfalls in Croatia, little villages in Rajasthan, elephant-seal colonies in Argentina, sand-skiing in the Arabian desert, and fantastic beer in New Zealand. If you want something guaranteed to put a sloppy old smile on your mug on New Year’s Eve, you’ll find it here.
Oh, and by the way, we’re officially India’s most preferred travel mag : a recent survey says travel magazine readers would rather get Lonely Planet Magazine India than any other travel mag. But with coverage like this, who’s surprised?
Vardhan Kondvikar, Editor |
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