BENZ CELEBRITY WAX MUSEUM GOA

Though Goa is famous for its beaches, nature, night life and casinos, but there is also a 'Wax Celebrity Museum' for the entertainment and fun, for the whole family, friends, and with kids specially. It is well placed near famous Baga, Anjuna and Calangute beach, and someone can easily reach by Activa/bike/car. 

Address: Benz Celebrity Wax Museum, Near Arpora Junction, Calangute Anjuna Main Road, Arpora, Goa 403516

We visited this recently in November afternoon. Once entered, it was a nice experience, specially for Pathik. When we visited the place, the queue was moderate. There is combo of Wax museum, 9D action cinema, Bumper car activities. We opted all three in a package. Dashing/Bumping Cars Game available for everyone. We did this at the very end. 

9D Cinema is the second attraction at Benz Celebrity Wax Museum, which we did first and loved the most. It has great effects as - Motion seats, Smoke/Fog effect, Laser strobe effect, Rain effects, Water jet effect, Wind effect, Lightning effect, Leg ticker effect, Vibrator effect, Neck blast effect, Magical led water springs.

Celebrity wax statutes are displayed at 'Benz Celebrity Wax Museum'. Some wax statues are really well and some are average. There are various famous celebrities from 'Gandhi to Modi to Sachin to Messi to Amitabh to Einstein'. Few I remember of: 

Mahatma Gandhi

Narendra Modi

Sachin Tendulkar

Amitabh Bachchan

Aamir Khan

Albert Einstein

Steve Jobs

Barack Obama

Leoni Messi

Tom Cruise

Mr. America - Steve Rogers 

Iron Man - Robert Downey 

Angelina Jolie

Vladimir Putin

Leonardo DiCaprio

Bruce Willis

Madonna

Jackie Chan

James Bond 007 - Daniel Craig 

Mr. Beans

If someone has never been to wax museum, it would be great experience. It is a nice and cool place to beat the outside heat. Else you can skip this place. We captured lots of selfies and pics with these celebrities. Overall it is a nice place to enjoy with family and kids.

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Snow Park in Baga Goa

Snow in Goa!!!

Yes, though Goa is famous for its beaches, nature, night life and casinos, but there is also a Snow Park for the entertainment and fun, for the whole family, friends, and with kids specially. It is well placed between famous Baga beach and Calangute beach, and someone can easily reach by Activa/bike or even by walk, if you are nearby. 

Address: Titos Lane, 2, Calangute - Baga Rd, Baga, Goa 403516

We visited this recently in November afternoon. It is a nice and cool place to beat the outside heat. When we visited the place, the queue was moderate and within no time we were inside the snow theme park. Once entered, it was a nice chilling experience. There are various activities like play with real snow in -5 degree C temperature, Ice Igloos, Snow Men, Slide on ice, Sledging car, Snow dancing with DJ and Laser lighting and thunder effect. 

We liked snow slide, artificial snowfall at regular intervals, and colorful Igloo mainly. The place was chilling and may be difficult to withstand the cold for long period. Make sure to tighten the shoes properly, specially for kids. Goa's only ice bar where you can get drinks in real ice glasses. Overall it is a nice place to enjoy with family and kids. If someone has never been to Snow park, it would be great experience. 

We captured lots of selfies and pics here. 

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Aguada Old Lighthouse and Sunset Point Goa

We have already visited Aguada Fort in our earlier Goa visits, we wanted to visit Aguada Old Lighthouse which is nearby, but couldn't because of short of time. This time we don't want to miss that. After Aguada beach visit, we decided to enjoy  Aguda old lighthouse (please note old) and sunset point. If you are near Calangute or Candolim beach, this place is not too far. The drive to this place is really awesome with winding roads and green tree branches, even if you are driving on 2-wheeler.

Its worth to visit Aguada old lighthouse specially during sunset. This place can also be visited during sunrise. It is advisable to visit the place during evenings as it can be very hot during the day time. Carry enough water with you along with essentials like sun screen, hand-kerchiefs, caps during afternoon and umbrella for the monsoon chasers. This place gives amazing views of the Arabian sea and harbor. During sunset amazing photography can be explored.

Sunset point can be accessed two-ways: One way by the Taj hotels route and the other way by the actual road leading to the fort. Both the routes have something great to offer. From parking, If you take the left route towards the jail you can find footsteps trending down towards a beautiful rocky patch and the view is really scintillating from there. This is the place I came for during sunset. 

Clean, neat, nice photographic, gives you few great angles to click great pictures. You will love to capture these moments, and enjoying watching sea-side activities from top. I stayed here for 2 hours and also clicked few photographs. I wish to stay longer if sunset time just paused. There are narrow pathways which will lead you to down the sea-side to explore further. There were many couples which came here to enjoy their special moments. Don't forget to visit this place. Just be extra aware that few points are really dangerous and heart-pumping.

“When in Goa, do as the Goans do”. 

Other places to visit in Goa:
Nightlife and watersports at Calangute

Goa in a day: The Bom Jesus Church, Tropical Spice Plantation, Shree Mangesh Prashanna, Dona Paula-Panaji, Princesa Cruise

One day visit to North Goa: Calangute Beach, Dolphin Trip, An eve at Bagha Beach

Aguada Fort, North Goa

Goa Carnival: Viva Carnival

Things to do in Goa

Best Beach curves of Goa

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The Vibrant Goa Carnival - VIVA Festival

Quote of the Post- "Goa Carnival is like a cherry on top for Goa lovers" - Quote about trip to Goa Carnival 'Viva' - by Sachin Kumar Gupta

Carnivals and festivals have always been celebrated around the world and India has always been one of the lead, given the diverse culture and people we have. A lot of these have been gifted by the invaders too and Viva Festival, in Goa is one of the best ones we adopted. This is one of the Portuguese festivals which was brought in to India by King Momo, in the year 1961. Being one among the listed items in our 'Must Visit' chart, we finally made for it in Feb. It was a day just before the Carnival, when we visited Deltin Royale and guess what, we met modern King Momo who announced the event open. 

Goa Viva Carnival Dates: 

2015: Feb 14 to Feb 17

2016: Feb 6 to Feb 9

Here are the details of Goa Carnival put together as is, what we knew and what we experienced! It is celebrated, every year, for four days (Saturday to Tuesday). The celebration starts on the "Fat Saturday" before "Ash Wednesday". This festival combines fiestas of diverse cultures, religions and beliefs. The Carnival comprises of a number of parades with different themes, bands, floats and dances in the evening. There are parades in Panaji (Panjim), Margao, Ponda, Vasco, Shiroda and Mapusa where streets blaze with music and color. Main highlight of the Viva Carnival happens on "Fat Saturday" in the capital city, Panaji. The excited and fun-filled non-stop extravaganza of fun, frolic, music, and dance are uniquely celebrated like other Carnival countries. This festival attracts thousands of tourists.

We reached Panaji for Carnival Parade just in time. However, suggest you plan to reach early as there is heavy traffic and finding a parking space is a herculean task. It was amazing to see most of the people were uniquely dressed. There are specific themes on which each of the group performs with colorful floats. Floats are the major highlight of the festival, especially the ones parading with King Momo, the initiator of the festival. Most of the floats also carry music system with them. The best floats are prized well. King Momo distributes the prizes to the winners. Now a days, a few floats are commercially sponsored. However, the whole event could have been better to match international standards. Screening committee should eliminate floats that do not conform to the guidelines chalked out for participating tableaus and raise the Goa Carnival standards. 

The event is so colorful and vibrant that you may feel out of the place, if not dressed funkily or don't have a prop. But not to worry, the local vendors help in this completely and there are a loads of them. Important is how good are you in negotiating with them. There are vendors, selling head gears, props, masquerades, and ya, a few who can paint your face so as to fit you right in. We opted for multi-colored masquerades. River front is the area, which is set up for VIPs. People stood on the road sides, above the bridges, buildings and wherever they could find place to cheer the parade. Ideally you should try and find a less crowded location or a road side building, for best view of the parade. We did try to capture the beauty and fun of the eve in our camera, but it is to be experienced in person.

If you are in Goa during Carnival time, don't miss this festive event. You can enjoy with friends, spouse or family as festival fits for all ages and groups. If you are heading for the carnival, book your hotels in advance. There is no fee to attend, everybody is invited to join in. This makes it a unique event that brings together different cultures and combines them into one large festival. Check out other things to do and places to visit in Goa.

“When in Goa, do as the Goans do”.

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