Location: 10-km From Mapusa, North Goa
Main Attraction: Chapora Fort
Nearby Attraction: Vagator Beach, Anjuna
Beach, Siolim
Best Time To Visit: November To MarchA
Leisure Paradise
Crouched
in the shadow of a Portuguese fort on the
opposite, northern side of the headland from
Vagator, Chapora, 10-km from Mapusa, is a lat
busier than most north coast villages. Dependent
on fishing and boat building, it has, to a great
extent, retained a life of its own independent of
tourism. The workaday indifference to the annual
invasion of Westerners is most evident on the main
street, lined with as many regular stores as
travellers cafes and restaurants.
It's unlikely that
Chapora will ever develop into a major resort,
either. Tucked away under a dense canopy of trees
on the muddy southern shore of a river estuary, it
lacks both the space and the white sand that have
pulled crowds to Calangute and Colva.
The Pit Stop
If one has one's
own transport however, Chapora is a good base from
which to explore the region: Vagator is on the
doorstep, Anjuna is a short ride to the south, and
the ferry crossing at Siolim --gateway to the
remote north of the state - is barely fifteen
minutes away by road. The village is also well
connected by bus to Mapusa, and there are plenty
of sociable bars and cafes to hang out in. Apart
from the guesthouses along the main road, most of
the places to stay are long stay houses in the
woods.
Chapora Old fort
Chapora's chief
landmark is its venerable Old Fort, most easily
reached from the Vagator side of the hill. At low
tide, one can also walk around the bottom of the
headland, via the anchorage, and the secluded
coves beyond it, to big Vagator, then head up the
hill from there. LEISURE
EATING OUT
Finding somewhere
to eat in Chapora is easy: just take a pick from
the crop of affordable little cafes and
restaurants on the main street. The popular
Welcome, halfway down, offers a reasonable
selection of inexpensive and filling seafood,
Western and Vegetarian dishes, plus relentless
reggae and techno music, and backgammon sets. The
Preyanka, nearby, is in much the same mould, but
has a few more Indian and Chinese options. If one
is suffering from chilli burn afterwards, Scarlet
Cold Drinks and the Sai Ganesh Café, both a short
way east of the main street, knock up deliciously
cool fresh fruit milkshakes.
HOW TO GET THERE
Road: Direct buses
arrive at Chapora three times daily from Panjim,
and every fifteen minutes from Mapusa, with
departures until 7.00 pm. Motorcycle taxis hang
around the old banyan tree at the far end of the
main street, near where the buses pull in