Anjuna, India Summary

With its fluorescent-painted palm trees and infamous full-moon parties, ANJUNA, 8km west of Mapusa, is Goa at its most “alternative”. Fractal patterns and Day-Glo Lycra may have superseded cotton kaftans, but most people’s reasons for coming are the same as they were in the 1970s: drugs, dancing and lying on the beach slurping tropical fruit. Depending on your point of view, you’ll find the headlong hedonism a total turn-off or heaven-on-sea. Either way, the scene looks here to stay, despite government attempts to stamp it out, so you might as well get a taste of it while you’re in the area, if only from the wings, with a day-trip to the famous flea market.