Where's The Party -- Your best bet for finding a good party is to hang out around whatever appears to be the most popular beach shack of the season, and chat up the locals (but be wary of getting lifts to unknown venues with strangers). Other excellent spots for picking up the scent of out-of-the-way parties are Ingo's Saturday Night Bazaar, Anjuna's Wednesday Market, or ever-popular Tito's (tel. 0832/275028) -- still the most happening nightclub in Goa (closed off season). This local institution has been going for years and attracts anyone and everyone who's up for a party. For a less rocking atmosphere accompanied by fairly good food, check out Kamaki (tel. 98232-76520), a lounge bar up the road from Tito's that's open 24 hours; or hang out at Mambo's, an open-air pub where DJs Ajit and Yuri spin 1980s rock music (but no trance). For a cooler, more fashionable night out, try Congo Lounge (Souza Vaddo; tel. 0832/564-4226) -- its pink and jungle-green decor forms a great backdrop for the designer-wear-clad patrons.
Psychedelic Journeys -- Rave parties are now almost as synonymous with Goa as hippie culture. If you want to attend one of the winter rave parties, held around full moon, you have to ask around at shacks (at little Vagator, Anjuna, or Arambol). Location is often kept secret until late in the evening to avoid harassment from cops, and is disclosed only few hours before the party starts. These underground dance and music parties usually start at 11pm and go on till at least 8am; sometimes they carry on for 3 to 4 days, as the party moves from one location to another. Various intoxicants are freely available and consumed, and local women set up stalls outside selling chai and snacks. DJs play techno/psychedelic/trance music (or psy-trance); ravers often dress up in old-fashioned costumes and wear rave belts and colorful clothes, all part of setting the mood for their psychedelic journey. Regulars insist that these are not just massive techno freak-outs where everybody is "tripping," but a mystical, devotional experience akin to a spiritual encounter.
