Supertramp's First Day Out

The rapacious and feisty KTM Duke 390 was delivered to me on the evening of 26^th of November after a long 3 month wait. Finally it was time for me to hit the roads again and be at one with the tarmac. I didn’t have the opportunity the take the baby out for a spin right away and stretch her long legs. I had done some 200 KM odd in city riding when I had the opportunity to take her out for a weekend ride to Doley’s place in Mumbai. The old Pune Mumbai highway (NH-4) seemed inviting enough and the ghat sections in between and the escape from the monotony of the expressway added to the temptation.  Plus the ride would add to the running in miles that are much needed now.

Since the journey isn’t much of the subject, I will concentrate on the bike itself. I started from my place at around 0945Hrs primarily because I wanted to beat the horrible early morning Mumbai office traffic. I caught the Mumbai highway and kept a lookout for a Shell petrol station since fuel from the Shell petrol stations came highly recommended. After a tank full of regular unleaded I was ready to hit the road again and started towards NH4. Even at the pump station I (or rather the Duke) managed to draw looks from 3 other couples on bikes that had come to fill up. Immediately after catching the old highway that splits from the one that leads to the expressway, I gunned the Duke to 4500 rpm and shifted to 4^th, then 5^th, managing 75 odd kmph within 5000 rpm. The roads didn’t give me a chance to shift to 6^th cog then. The old highway, even though it was two way mostly, had enough traffic to slow one down at busy stretches. Plus at places it has this rumble strips kinda paint strips that literally jerk vehicles. After the traffic thinned out, I could finally shift to the 6^th and kept the rev steady at 4500 rpm. I was doing something like 90 kmph during that time. The Duke 390 really has long legs on the 6^th cog! Doing 100 kmph at an effortless 5000 rpm is really a boon for highway mile munching. During this run I did not encounter any windblast simply because I was not doing very high speeds. Some magazines have pointed out that above 120 kmph one can feel the blast on their face. There’s two ways to go about it – get a wind visor available at KTM outlets or keep speeds limited to 120 kmph. Given that most roads here do not offer the opportunity to do 120 kmph + at a stretch the wind blast issue shouldn’t be much of an issue in my opinion.

Coming to the bike itself, this Duke is not a mad character like the Duke 200. The 200 is completely crazy when it asks for gear shifts. In the bigger sibling the shifts are demanded in a more linear way. While the 200 can cruise at as low as at 2700 rpm, the 390 judders at 3000 rpm. 4^th, 5^th and 6^th are totally unusable at revs below 3000 rpm. I don’t know whether things will change after running in, but even if it does I don’t think the 5^th and 6^th cog would be sitting comfortably at under 3000 rpm. But I don’t mind. They were right when they said that while the 200 is a city traffic devouring ripper, the 390 is more like a highway hog. Not that the 390 doesn’t manage to rip in the city though. I was the fastest off the block at more than a few traffic lights. I will get a chance to test the hooligan in the 390 after a proper running in.

There is a default shift rpm set in for the first 1000 km and then for another 1000 km. The default shift rpm for the first 1k km is 7500 rpm and 9000 rpm for the next 1k km. Suits me just fine. So far I haven’t even crossed 5k rpm let alone 7.5 k rpm. After 3000 rpm the pull is like a turbo charger kicking in. The pull through all gears is effortless as long as the needle stays above that magic rpm. Flickability is just like the 200 with the Duke being able to change directions at whims of the rider. Credit goes to the same frame, the Metzelers and ABS. I don’t know how soft the Metzelers are, but I have no doubt that frequent running on concrete will eat away the rubber way faster than plain old tarmac. The ABS doesn’t kick in in low braking. But I had to brake hard in Mumbai traffic and I could feel the pulses of the Bosch ABS unit kicking in. Another thing about the brakes is that the rear doesn’t give me as much feel as it does on the 200. Maybe the pads aren’t biting yet or maybe the ABS is working, but I don’t feel that sharp bite in the rear disc. But the front one is delicious! Another thing about the rear brake:  under sharp braking if I happen to hit some undulation on the road there’s a clicking/clunking noise from the brake pedal. The same thing that I had come across on the 200. I have checked whether the pedal hits something, but its way clear of anything else. I think its got something to do with the master cylinder that sits right on top of the brake lever.

The highway sprint gave me an idea on how fast the Duke can effortlessly go. In my estimate 120 kmph on the 390 is a snappy affair without the bike having to break into a single drop of sweat. The engine also remains cools and isn’t a niggle at all. But when I entered the mad city traffic of Mumbai I could feel the heat of the engine as I crawled at 4-5 kmph. The engine temperature gauge also reached the upper echelons of the bars. Good thing the Duke has a radiator fan that runs if bike speed is below 7 kmph. But nonetheless the heat can be a bother during peak summers. Highways shouldn’t pose an issue though. Makes it imperative for one to keep a check on the coolant levels.

Another thing that I noticed during the run is the chain tension. It’s the same as the 200. The chain needing adjustments every 500 km, otherwise it tends to strike a bit too frequently against the guide and that gives a clanging sound every time one shifts or comes across bumps. I still have to get a Motul chain spray. The adjustment isn’t too hard. The manual gives a nice visual description and the tools required are there in the tool kit.

The digital console is the same as the Duke 200’s, with just an additional ABS kill switch. I am not too sure where I will find use of that switch except maybe when I need to negotiate slush. But even then I would like to have traction without wheel spin than with it given the soft nature of the Metzelers. The plethora of information given is something I still have to figure out. So far I have kept it on the factory default. But I would like to try out one thing though: the speed and tripmeter can be set to read in miles per hour and miles! Lets see how mph and miles on the speedo and odo look like!! And just like in the 200, I would have liked the tacho bars to be a bit more large. I would not mind a separate analog tachometer altogether. But no complaints against the console, it gives all info needed in a compact unit, in tandem with the styling and form of the bike.

There are a lot of safety locks on the Duke. Just to name one of them – the bike would stop if the side stand were down. It would start with the stand down, but the moment you slot into gear with the side stand still down, the engine management system would kill the engine. Pravin had faced this problem on his Duke 200. One of the screws activating the sensor had been loose on his bike. So even if the stand were up, the engine would die when he tried to slot into gear. I tried the same thing on my bike and found my bike also stopped under the same condition.

The bike is loud, much louder than the 200. In fact the manual carries a warning to respect the ambient silence of residential areas while revving the bike. The noise is the usual staccato of the Duke, with some people hating the exhaust note. I agree it’s not desirable as say, the Ninja 300’s, but at 5000 rpm, this noise becomes a throaty growl. The Duke makes no pretensions with a pleasing exhaust note. It’s a monster and that’s what the exhaust note says about it. It’s out and out a growling monster instead of a screaming banshee or a whining speed demon. There are after market Akrapovic exhausts available at KTM itself that costs a whopping 30k, given the exotic materials like titanium and platinum used in those exhausts. But I think I will stick to the stock exhausts. I like the trademark KTM under-slung exhausts too much to give up for even an Akrapovic. No disrespect to Akrapovic (they are fitted in most Dakar spec KTMs). One surprising fact is that idling is at 1500 rpm. I had thought that being a bigger engine than the Duke 200’s the idling would have been at a lower 1000 rpm range. 

When it comes to visual appeal, the Duke 390 is a head turner all right. No two ways about it. It doesn’t fail any time to turn heads at any intersection, at any petrol station, at any overtaking and at any parking. The orange wheels and orange frame add to it. But the rear wheel tends to look a bit dirty, unlike the black alloys of the 200. When parked it looks like a monster ready to spring at the next prey, and at traffic lights it looks like its ready to sling-shoot ahead of the pack. I hope the ‘Supertramp Wanderlust’ sticker at the rear attracts some more stares!!

Most people have asked me the fuel consumption figures, although I fail to see the logic in that when it comes to performance bikes. But I will agree in this case because that figure would give an idea of the range the Duke 390 is capable of given the tiny 11 litre tank. The low fuel level warning came up when I entered Pune on my return journey and at this point the tripmeter reading becomes 0 regardless of the previous reading. One can access the previous reading but after some time it becomes 0 again and starts the count afresh to give an idea on how far the bike would go till empty. There is also a secondary reading below the speed now – distance to empty – that varies according to riding styles. I got a reading of 50 km (DTE) when the fuel low-level warning came up. I filled up another Shell petrol station and by my calculations I managed a 33-34 kmpl on this trip. I am not too sure of this figure but confident that it isn’t below this because the attendant filled up a bit more fuel to make the bill amount even. This is a figure on regular unleaded. Shell premium supposedly gives more mileage, but I’m not going to vouch for that now. Going by conservative figures, if one sticks to sub 100 kmph and even 100 kmph figures on highway runs, a 280-300 km is not impossible. Since the bike is fuel injected, I don’t think aggressive riding would bring down the range by a sizeable margin. My best guess is a 260 km range under very aggressive riding. That makes the carrying of extra fuel in distant hill trips sort of a necessity. Time to get that cramster saddlebag out.

The LS2 helmet that I had got for the Duke is also another great piece of equipment. Fits very snugly and doesn’t give a feel of suffocation. The engine noise is gently perforated into the shell while shutting out much of the ambient noise. A good buy I must say.

Another 350 odd km and it will be time for the first service. Probably after that I will plan a short trip to Alibag or some other beach and will try opening up my baby to around 6500 rpm. When I arrived home, I was fatigued or anything, even after tackling the hilly terrains in the dark where one needs to concentrate more. I was fresh as a pansy at the end of my journey. The riding posture, the wide hydro formed handlebars and the easy handling deserves credit for a comfortable riding experience, even with the hard suspension setup. Be back after the second 1000 k km, for the real growling KTM fun to be unleashed!!

Now then, who’s up for the next west coast ride?

Go Goa Gone Epi 2 a.k.a. Rain Wet Sands

I am always a sucker for things like grand scheme of things, jigsaw pieces falling into place and destiny and fate et all. So when I happened to land in Pune after my stint at MDI, I took it in stride and the decided on the plan of actions likewise. Among those plans included a secondary set of plans – travel plans! First on my mind was Goa. Looked it up on the net and was happy to find that Goa was a very easily doable 459km from Pune. Nasik was another 4 hours’ drive from Pune. Add to it the various other “local” places that fringe Pune. As much as landing in Pune was a priority, the names of places also kept running like a V8 in my mind!

Not long after I settled my arse in Pune, I floated the idea of a road trip to Goa to some close pals. Kenny wasn’t sure, Gyan was a new-born father, Pravin was perennially ‘dicey’, Mrinal was (as usual) overworked by Godrej, and Ramesh would come only if Mrinal came.

Talk of Goa and like some default program, one tends to think of sun kissed beaches and wave wet sands, lazy hammocks and lounges at the beaches and dips in the sea. So when I mentioned the idea to some people, the immediate reaction was expectedly “But why now? This is not the season!!”. Well, blame it on trying to tread on the road less travelled, we were more interested in Goa in the monsoons and rain wet sands. Ankur was game and the preps commenced sometime in June itself. Out came Google sheets, maps, Photoshop, Corel Draw, list of things to get. Hell, I even splurged on some online shopping to get some “funky” shorts, one of them being polka dotted, and another, a bright South Park imprint! The D-Day was set at 14^th August, 15^th being a holiday and the rest of the days making a long weekend. Ankur begged me to bunk office on 14^th itself so that we reach North Goa on 14^th afternoon itself. I wasn’t sure. Turns out, it was a good thing we didn’t skip the midway halt at Kolhapur!!

Ankur arrived on the 13^th at a time I was in office. Fortunately he had access to my flatmate’s bike and he had a gala time roaming around in Pune amidst a slight drizzle. It was early evening when I joined him and then we went out to get the car ready for the trip the next day. Tyres checked, petrol filled and beverages taken for the night, I started the packing process. Good thing I had also made a list of “to-take” items on Google docs. Too bad Ankur forgot my Speedo swimming trunks from Delhi!

Day 1

The next day (14^th Aug) I headed for office and Ankur headed out to camp area to get some of Pune’s fabled shrewsbury biscuits from Kayani Bakery.  A special request from Abir had to be honoured. I had been unsuccessful the previous Sunday in getting hold of the cookies that Abir had requested. Turns out Kayani remans closed on Sundays and even on weekdays, the store has specific timings. Ankur saved the day when he got hold of some for all of us.

14^th Aug seemed to pass by slow at first. Then true to the tradition of things getting hectic when you want them breezy, my meeting which was supposed to be over by 1300 hrs started inching towards the 1400 hrs mark. I did not loiter around much, just excused myself and shot off!!

Things were a bit better at home : Ankur was raring to go, our stuffs were ready. I just needed to change from my office formals to the “funky” polka dotted shorts I had specifically got for Goa! We picked up our bags, bottles of water, cookies et all and headed downstairs where the car was parked. We loaded the bags and clicked some shots to mark the beginning of the journey. The tripmeter was set to 0 km and the stereo was put on. The song? “Baba ji ki booti” !! The trip name? “Go Goa Gone : Episode 2”

The start of the trip

Stereo set to play "Baba Ji Ki Booti"!

Since we hadn’t had out lunch yet, we decided to pick up some lunch on the way itself. I knew of a Subway outlet at Chandni Chowk and we both grabbed subs of the day and a quick bite later we were done with lunch. It started pouring right then, dipping the mercury, but inviting lots of humidity. We started off again and Ankur started with his click successions. It was a rainy drive for quite some time, the sun playing hide and seek with clouds every now and then. The drive was uneventful except for some really wonderful stretches that showed how green this part of Maharashtra really is. Green and green powered too. Some hills on the way are dotted with huge wind turbines that somehow make the visuals even more spellbinding. Those rotating blades do have some hypnotic effect I’ll say!

Some of the wind turbines that dot the landscape

The drive was unhurried, lazy, plenty of stops in between, various genres of numbers on the stereo, tea stop with some shrewsbury biscuits and then finally we neared Kolhapur, sometime at dusk. Our room had been booked and we had little difficulty locating the hotel – hotel Athiti. A decent place that offered only lodging. We got fresh and after fooling around in the room for a while we decided to try the Kolhapuri non-veg stuff. Hotel Padma and Hotel Opal came highly recommended. We headed towards Padma first, but since we needed energy for the day after we wanted some good ol’ premium beer to wash down our food with. In went Ankur to Hotel Padma while I waited in the car. I reckon the conversation must have been like this :

Ankur : “Khana mil jayega?”

Waiter: “Haan ji”

Ankur : “Yahan bar hai kya?”

Waiter : “No sir, nor bar. Only fooding”

Ankur : “Opal me hai kya?”

Waiter (probably dimwitted) : “Haan sir, wahan toh mast milta hai. Aaram se pee sakte hai”

Ankur came to me, and was like “Opal it is”

Opal wasn’t too far away. Kolhapur is a small town anyway. This place deserves a special mention for foodies. We  headed to the bar straightaway and upon entering the bar my eyes went to a sign that read “Heineken Rs 250”. I stood there for a while, called a waiter and asked whether the sign was referring to a pint of a full bodied 650ml bottle. He replied it was for the “big one”. Who can argue with such kinda pricing. Heineken was ordered and then after some suggestions from the waiter we zeroed in kaleja fry, mutton achari and mutton fry. Needless to say, the servings, though a bit small for my liking, were absolutely lip smacking! Our big metros should take a leaf out of such places and develop some. Absolute delight it was to be sitting at that place. Service was crisp, no hassles, staff polite and even though we didn’t talk in Marathi and they couldn’t speak Hindi, we got along just fine.

The place not to miss in Kolhapur

After savouring the food there at the bar, it was time for us to head downstairs to the dining hall section where they serve lunch/dinner. One incident I remember is that we were genuinely happy with the kind of service meted out to us at the bar, and we decided to tip the waiters generously. We did end up tipping them quite heavily, and I have never come across such profuse thanking from a waiter in my entire life. He was speaking in Marathi and we in Hindi and yet we understood what each other said , no translator required.

We just asked for the waiter for their recommended dish, and we were promptly suggested their trademark thali with a non veg serving. We might have been hungry, or the Heineken might have whipped up our appetites, but the thali was absolutely awesome. When the waiter asked us whether we would take some sweet dish after our food, we were again at a loss and asked him to give his suggestions. He brought us some Kolhapuri sweet dish that had us ordering us some more! Kolhapur gets a full 10/10 for that awesome evening and we were grateful that we didn’t give Kolhapur a miss from our itinerary.

The awesome food at Opal's

One thing that bothered me was the fact that for the 225km run from Pune to Kolhapur, we paid a total of INR 256 as toll fees. That’s kind of pretty stupid and idiotic to be paying for roads that arent that great either. At one point there was a diversion bang in front of the toll collection gates. I have never come across a stretch of national highway where the toll is more than a rupee a kilometer.

Stomachs full and hearts content, we hit the bed after some long distance calls and some numbers on our iPods, alarms set at a crisp 0600 hrs.

Day 2

I think I was the first to catch the morning light and woke Ankur up. He claims something must have gone wrong with the alarm. I think I know what went wrong – its called the “snooze button”.  We didn’t waste much time after that and by a decent 0715 hrs we were downstairs, our stuffs reloaded in the polo. We made quick time catching the highway and catching some really earthy breeze that beautiful morning of 15^th August. It was freedom all right – open roads, crisp 22 deg air, slight crosswinds,  good tarmac (and cheaper than Maharashtra roads!).

The roads approaching Nipani

After Nipani, we turned off the highway towards the right and took the state highway towards Goa, through Azara and Amboli ghats. We were shown the way by a villager whose home happened to be on the way and we obliged his request of giving a lift. The weather was simply awesome in modest words. It being independence day we came across rural schools that were having the flag hoisting ceremony with full honours. We even stopped to take some shots of some such schools.

The dude #2

Numerous stops at numerous places later we arrived at Azara where we stopped at one Minerva Hotel for our breakfast. The breakfast consisted of some grilled sandwich, black tea and coffee and although a bit bland, it did serve the purpose of satiating our empty stomachs. Not to waste too much time over breakfast, we moved on and not too much later we arrived at the much talked about Amboli Ghats. And boy, what a drive. The mountain sides were dotted with waterfalls and very crowded at one particular Amboli Waterfalls, and the cliff side was full misty, opaque white. One just couldn’t make anything out of what lay underneath that white sheet of water vapour.

Amboli ghats

At some stretches the hazard lights had to be turned on on those twisty ghat sections. Ankur was like a man possessed, his fingers snapping away photos at a voracious rate. No wonder his camera battery ran out even before the end of the day.  It was at these twisties that I missed my red baby, the fiery fiesta 1.6, so much. Just wanted to experience the crisp handling of that baby. Not that I was complaining much about the polo, which was doing just dandy. Its just that the fiesta begs to be revved like the Autocar magazine had aptly described the fiesta 1.6 engine telling its drivers “rev my titties off”!! The polo, on the other hand, is like “Don’t worry, I will get you there. Just enjoy the scenery.”

The roads after the ghats were narrow, but nevertheless good. And it was to be that way throughout the entire stay at Goa. Even after trundling along at a very leisurely pace, we managed to reach the Goa state border at around 1140 Hrs. The moment we entered Goa the roads suddenly became exceptional. I was doing 80 kmph and it was difficult to find jerks or undulations. Ankur was able to read the map as though the car was stationary. Amazing roads I must admit and toll free too!! Full points to the Goan administration and negative markings to Maharashtra State Road Development Corp on this. I have already mentioned about paying more than a rupee per kilometer of road in Maharashtra earlier.

Corniche on the way to Arambol

We took the way towards Arambol, guided by Google Navigation and came across a deserted dock kinda place. We took a stop and took out our cameras and tripod and went in for a closer look. It was like a final resting place for fishing boats, with some lying in decay and some moored just off the beach. Tranquil place it was and was followed by some “poser” shots all over the place. After a short drive we arrived at Arambol - the first beach for the day. The smell of the salty sea water felt distantly familiar- something like a well fitting old shoe or a sweater.

Beach #1 : Arambol

We also came across a dead snake on the beach and we couldn’t help taking shots of it and posting it online with Anjan Nag’s tags all over the pic!! After fooling around that place for a while, we decided to ht the road again and headed towards Morjim beach, sticking to our schedule of beach-hopping, food gorging and being tramps all around Goa!

Vagator

Morjim wasn’t too far away, the drive not taking more than 15 minutes from Arambol to Morjim. The roads , though narrow, were fine and dandy and speaks a lot of the good administration. And this was during the monsoons. Morjim was beach number 2 for Day2. Some time after Morjim, we hit the roads again towards Vagator, more specifically to try out Thalassa’s, the Greece theme restaurant overlooking a cliffside. To our disappointment, Thalassa’s remains closed during off-seasons. But we were not going to let this set-back dampen any of our beach hopping spirit and we went down towards a rocky stretch of the beach. The waves lashing at the rocks had a queer effect – it tends to lull you into sleep, even though it’s close to a deafening noise. Ankur was busy shooting his camera to death – lireally. I took it slow and enjoyed some of the waves and the ceaseless sound of the Arabian Sea waves. We even found a little nemo that was marooned in one of the little pools of water in the rocks. Did a good samaritan act by having it thrown back into the sea!

Spray on my face at Vagator

After lingering around for some more time, it was time for us to hit the road again and we looked at our GPS maps for directions towards Anjuna beach, the 3^rd beach for the day. There was an inpedendence day even being held a field nearby and we were just in time to catch the release of a few hundreds of tri-coloured balloons. Surprising fact is that no beach seems to far away. Probably because the drive is just as fun and amazing. Leaving Vagator gave us this amazing view of the sea from above and we just had to stop again for some shots, with Ankur trying to squeeze every ounce of juice left in his camera battery. Vagator will remain in our memories for quite some time.

The destination at Anjuna was decided as Curlie’s and after some time through narrow, but well maintained (yes I know I am repeating this a lot and deservedly so) Goan roads we arrived at what the approach road to Curlie’s. It is worth mentioned here before I forget that the Assam registration of the polo did turn heads everywhere, and I made it a point to keep a track of each and every person that took a hard look at the number plates and wonder where the hell did this car come from!! I found it pretty amusing when people were left wondering which state the car came from! The parking lot , or the lack of a parking lot, for Curlie’s was the end of the road and we disembarked towards the beach through a narrow road. Bikes did manage to go through the road though. Right where the road ended, we could here lounge music from Curlie’s and we didn’t waste any time grabbing a table and ordering some of the local delicacies along with King’s dark beer, the local beer product of Goa. Then came tuna salad, pork ribs, pomfret and french fries. Ankur settled for a whisky, while I went double with a bloody mary. Curlie’s is a lively place and we guessed that the place never actually closed down. It’s a 24/7 , 365 days open kinda place. It attracted a wide assortment of people, from old foreigners to new, from teenies to elderlies, from hippies to sobered up wanderers like us. In fact one particular group of ‘just-became-teenagers’ caught our attention with one of their lines “sharing is caring”. That line became kind of the punchline for our entire trip! Infact I am smiling like a fool in the flight as I type this line. 

Sunset at Anjuna

While I was happily lazing around at the table, Ankur went in for his trademark shooting spree, his camera battery charged for a while at the bar. A massage at Curlie’s had come highly recommended from friends and family alike, so I called in a masseuse available there and opted for a head and back rub. Ankur came in with some splendid shots of the setting sun at Anjuna. Infact we had been quite lucky to have arrived on a rainy day and then catch the setting sun too. It became dark quite suddenly and then we decided to head towards Baga beach to shack up for the night. Too bad Ankur missed out on the massage. A note to Ankur, lets keep the Curlie’s massage on the next time we head towards Goa on two wheels. The parking lot guy did ask where the car came from, the registration number probably zonking him out of his wits. When told it was from Assam, he nodded like a sage and told that he knew it was from Assam and that he had seen Assam numbers often. Mr. parking guy, please keep your white lies to yourself, you are not fooling anyone.

Baga beach came in as the 5^th beach for the day. Without much ado we looked for Rani’s and Nani’s colonial style stay home. But to our dismay the place was closed for renovations. Another ‘to-visit’ place closed down. So we searched for a decent place to put up away from the very very very loud and noisy Baga beach stretch that housed places like Britto’s. We came across one Melissa’s Home and a peek at the rooms was enough to persuade us into renting it for the night. After we freshedn up, we went for a stroll at the roads for some bandana, t-shirts , food and some liquid diet for the night. We decided to have our dinner packed and have it somewhere at a quiet place on the beach, which seemed impossible to find at that point of time. Strobes, lasers and loud music ranging from bhangra to trance seemed to be emanating from every shack.

A street shop at Baga

Armed with our food and a couple of heineken pints, we headed towards a lonely stretch of road away from the guest house and towards a stone and concrete embankment sorts. Some philosophical talks accompanied that dinner cum beer sips amidst the constant din from the beach overlooking us. Finally near about midnight we headed back to our rooms and got ready to call it a day. We plugged in our phones and cameras for charging, while I headed out again towards the creche for a midnight stroll. The loud music at the beach nearby finally stopped and I loitered around for a bit more till around 2 AM after which I finally went back to the room and hit the sack.

Day3

The day started with Ankur getting up earlier and heading out again for some shoots, while I slept till 7AM and then got fresh. Ankur came back after a while and told that our car had drawn some more queries from the proprietor of the place probably more so cause neither the car nor our driving licenses betrayed anything about our residing in Pune and Delhi. When asked Ankur went on an overdrive to lay it on the person that we were driving all the way from Assam to Delhi, then to Mumbai, then to Pune, then to Goa, and probably we would be heading towards Allepey and then to Hyderabad and then back to Assam. The dirty car, the tripods at the back seat, our backpacks and maps et all only helped to dispel any iota of doubt from the gentleman’s mind. Oh, and we deduced that Melissa must be the name of the lady’s daughter that showed us the rooms the previous night. A little bit of alcohol does work wonders in sharpening the senses and the brain!!

Brittos early morning

Breakfast at Brittos was highly recommended and we wasted no time in pointing our car in that direction. It looked like Brittos had just opened and the assortment of pies and bread and other options for breakfast baffled us. We finally zeroed in on lemon tart, irish mousse cake, tiramisu, cheese omelette, black lemon tea  for me and coffee for Ankur. Just one word for that breakfast – awesome!! We did want to stick to the place for a while longer, but then decided not to stray from the original plan of just discovering the stretch from north Goa to south Goa and trying to go to places in Goa where people don’t usually give a second look. After all, this trip was all about having a taste of Goa in the rains. And by and large, the weather didn’t disappoint us at all. Goa in the rains is something to be experienced. Sometimes, rain wet sands give you a fantastic treat.

Some of the food for breakfast

Accompanied by lemon tea!

After Brittos, we headed towards Moira Chapel, a church that was a good backdrop for some photo shoots. Ankur named it aptly as the November Rain church! And indeed it did provide a good venue for some photo shoots. We also came across a couple of localites who provided some info on the way to Palolem and places to visit. And then they did rant about the Assam registration too, where I laid some more and ranted about the drive from Guwahati to Goa!!

The Sataporia Bambordem Chapel at Moira

After some discussion at Moira we decided to head to Viva Panjim, a small, family run restaurant that had one full page dedicated to pork dishes! Did we need any more invitation? But first we headed towards the Church that’s the talking point of Panjim, Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. Even though we could not access the chapel, we did have a outward tour of the courtyard and managed to rake in some amazing views of Goa.

Our Lady of Immaculate Conception

The tour of the church whipped up an appetite and without much ado, we headed towards Viva Panjim. We did have George’s as another option for good sea food, but then Viva Panjim seemed too good to pass. On the way to the restaurant, we came across an artefact store, Marcou Artefacts, a relatively small, but an exceptional store. I found it more vibrant and lively than an outlet of United Colors of Benneton, and without the garish and attention seeking colors of UCB. I think they have an online store too and the prices are quite reasonable. A must visit for anyone in and around Panjim.

Marcou Artefacts

Viva Panjim happened to be very close, literally round the corner, to Marcou Artefacts. The place had like 4 tables inside and 5 more tables lined outside on the street, much like cafes in Paris or Venice (I haven’t been to either of these two places, but have seen cafes on streets in movies and photos!!) We had to wait some 20 minutes to get a table but we didn’t complain. We can be very patient when it concerns Mr. Porky. Dishes were ordered on the fly after we managed to get hold of  a table. Ankur went in for a kingfisher pint while I settled for a glass of port wine. His place is very very highly recommended for the pork assortments and we liked one in particular – pork steak with honey. Lip smacking dish it was! Another awesome thing on the menu was the garlic bread. The fine, “posh” people next to our table knowledgingly acknowledged and discussed and deduced that we were having vada pao. 

The name says it all

The one page dedication to pork dishes

We took the cue seriously : life can wait

Yes we were; We had come all the way from Pune to Goa to have vada pao at a place known for its goan dishes and one page pork menu and no mention of vada pao on its menu. But dear learned, posh people next to our table, that thing was garlic bread. And one of the finest we have ever tasted. It actually had raw garlic in it! But it was just so subtle and well made that we had second helpings of it!

The sumptuous spread at Viva Panjim

A bit full and lazy after the heavy lunch at Viva Panjim, we decided it was time for us to hit the road again and head towards south Goa, Palolem to be precise. Armed with shopping bags from Marcou Artefacts we started our drive towards Palolem. We came across Madgaon in between and some crawling traffic, the only time we were stuck in this entire trip. I don’t think it is a routine affair since the traffic hold up was due to a nasty crash between an i20 and a motorcycle at a junction. Past the scene of accident we resumed our pace and once again we were savouring the good roads of Goa. 

At one crossroads we decided to give Google Navigation a miss and took a road that wasn’t suggested by Google. And what a road it was! Right through a forest reserve! At some points all we could see on Google Maps was green all around us. And the road wasn’t at all broken or pot-holed, and we could hardly believe it was a road through a forest reserve. Some misty stretches also came up and the songs on the stereo was “Brothers In Arms” and we were treated to some amazing sights in between too. So many times we came to screeching halts when our eyes were treated to some simple amazing sights enroute that off-the-beaten track, one being a breathtaking view of the Arabian Sea from a cliff sort of place. It was through this road that we came across a sign board that pointed to fort Cabo De Rama and we made a mental note to visit the fort on our way back.

When we ignored Google Navigation

We finally arrived at Palolem beach after an exceptionally scenic drive through mist and rains, through twisty ghat sections, through fishing villages and narrow village roads early evening and we went straight to the beach. There was a storm coming and it was evident on the beach, with dark clouds and a drizzle making their presence felt as soon as we got our feet wet at the beach.

One of the stunning views that the road offered us

Palolem beach is in stark contrast with Baga and Calangute. While the latter are loud and more “disco” oriented, the former provides for a more relaxed and laid back experience. Palolem is cleaner, quieter and provides for more retrospective moments. Not that you find lack of shacks or anything, there are shacks and joints available, albeit in lesser numbers and less grand (hence cheaper!), but nonetheless providing similar food and beverage experiences. We moved in to a shack “Cocktails and Dreams” and ordered some rum with coke, accompanied by some squid and chicken. 

The bar had psychedelic colors that changed hues every now and then!

Since we didn’t have any bookings for the entire trip we decided to look for a place to shack up for the night. We came across a place that was displaying some “catch of the day” that included red snappers, crab, lobsters, mackerels and a baby hammerhead shark!! The café offered to cook any fish we chose from the assortment in any way we liked and the same café showed us the way to a hotel behind it, where we took a room for the night. For dinner Ankur couldn’t resist the hammerhead and promptly ordered half of the baby shark as roast and half as a butter garlic concoction. Red snapper, which came highly recommended, was also ordered on the fly along with the baby shark and then we went out for a stroll on the beach. It had become dark by this time and after some time at the beach we decided to head back to the café and gorge on the hammerhead and red snapper even though we had feasted on some awesome squid at Cocktails and Dreams. I must admit that the hammerhead tasted bland even in the garlic butter avatar. The red snapper fared better though, with the rum and coke of course.

The assortment

Our stomachs satiated with the heavy meal, we decided to take a stroll on the beach. It was midnight by this time and we fished out the bottle of red wine from Baga beach for a midnight toast at Palolem beach.  We were armed with out iPods and Walkmans and started our walk. The waters were cool, almost cold, and a lone pole light lit up the beach. We kept walking away from frolicking crowds (yes, there were some people at the beach – some walking, some playing volleyball, some just sitting) towards one end of the beach where rocks jut out and chop off the beach literally. Sips of the Nine Hills and the splash of the waves at our feet went hand in hand and after an hour or so we had emptied the bottle. Not content on an hour at the beach, we went to Cocktails and Dreams again and picked up two Heineken pints and started our walk back to the room. I don’t have much idea when I blacked out but it wasn’t too long after I returned to the room and plopped onto the inviting bed. The next day was going to start early with an early morning stroll at the beach, followed by a visit to fort Cabo De Rama and then dropping off Ankur at the airport before deciding what to do myself.

Midnight stroll at Palolem

Day 4

I woke up at a leisurely 0730 hours only to find myself alone in the room. I figured Ankur must have gone for some early morning shots and a call confirmed my hunch. After freshening up I went to join him at a mildly rainy beach and a rough sea. Fishing boats had come in with their catch and were getting ready to go out again. We sipped on a leftover Heineken from the night before and took some more shots before heading back for breakfast at the same café we had dinner. We settled for a couple of English breakfast spreads, which were so heavy and full, we had to return stuffs like cornflakes and the fruit salads! We didn’t linger much since Ankur had a flight to catch early evening and we still had to leave for Cabo De Rama and the fabled Martin’s Corner at Betalbatim near Colva.

Rainy morning at Palolem

It started to rain quite heavily as we started off and the intermittent play of rains and mist gave us some awesome scenes. The music on the stereo? “Brothers in Arms”…. “the mist covered mountains, are all home to me…”. We took the detour/cut towards the fort and were greeted with some absolutely stunning views all around. It was hard to believe that someplace like Cabo De Rama’s vicinity existed in a place like Goa which was primarily known for its beaches and parties. We thanked ourselves for not giving it a miss and went for a rainy tour inside the fort. A climb to one of its steep sides gave us an amazing, rainy view of the wild sea. It was really a sight to see and had it not been for the flight, we would have definitely stayed back for quite longer for sure. Im sure Ankur would not disagree with me on this.

One of the views from Cabo De Rama

We headed towards Colva for lunch and without much incident barring one,we arrived at Martin’s Corner at a really secluded part of Colva. It remains a wonder how this place became so popular and so well loved in a relatively short period of time, but I guess south Goa does have some places like Martin’s in plenty. On the way through a narrow stretch of road we did encounter an accident right in front of our car. To cross a truck, both I and the truck driver slowed, but some kid on an Activa behind the truck refused to slow down and only a couple of metres from the truck’s impending behind did he brake. The result was inevitable. You mix sudden, hard braking, wet tarmac, small wheels and no helmet and you are bound to end up with some red patches on your body. This was exactly what happened. 

The kid skidded and bruised himself quite bad and the scooter skidded right in front of our car. Luckily it wasn’t our fault and we all helped him up, the truck driver giving him a piece of his mind. After making sure the guy was ok, we carried on, finally easing the traffic that had swelled up behind our car.

Food at Martin’s was ordered immediately since it was already 1400 hrs and Ankur’s flight was at 1700 hrs. The waiter happened to comply with our request and our dishes of pork, prawn curry, prawns pulao, a kingfisher ultra and breezer cranberrry arrived at our table promptly. Not content with that, we went in for another pork dish – spare ribs, which was no less grand and sumptuous.

The lively Martin's Corner

Tummies full and gluttony slaked we headed towards the airport in another spell of rains. It was raining quite hard when we arrived at the airport, the new terminal of which was under construction. I bade my co-traveller for 3 days good bye and pondered on what to do for the remaining day. I decided that Goa alone wasn’t fun and set the navigation for Kolhapur. I made brisk time through the now somewhat familiar Goan roads and touched North Karnataka yet again when it was just getting dark.

Random views on the way to Colva

I was stopped at the border when the guard spotted the plates of the car and some quizzing later allowed me to carry on. They infact very kindly showed me which road to take to reach Nipani after crossing Amboli ghats. I was getting wary of Amboli ghats in the evening and stepped on it. Amboli ghats in the evening, during rains and all alone can be quite an experience!! It can get too scary to even stop for a pic! Headlights came on and I caught up with a fleet of cars, a polo, an i20 and a duster, most probably part of the same group. But they were driving too slowly for my comfort and I deduced they didn’t have far to travel. I was given a pass at the slightest hint from my headlights and I went ahead of the comfort of company again. Amobli ghats came up, dark and brooding, rains and wind lashing at my windscreen and barring the occasional truck I was all alone in that road through ghats, forests and more forests. I was just praying I didn’t come across any reason to stop and to lighten up the mood and to keep myself alert I put on some trusty ol’ Megadeth on the stereo.

After a long drive that seemed to be much longer than on our onwards journey, I arrived at a familiar turn where we had stopped for some pics and shrewsbury biscuits. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt re-assured that Kolhapur wasn’t too far and felt invigorated. Another hour later I hit the main highway and the familiar yellow light of the halogen pole lamps and into the surprisingly now comforting company and noise of highway 4/6/8/10/12/18 wheel mile munchers. Kolhapur wasn’t too far away and I checked into the same hotel where we had stayed on our way to Goa. It was only then that I found out that the room rents for single and double accommodation differed by just rupees 150!! It was around 830 PM and I didn’t waste much time in getting fresh and after a light meal, I was ready to call it a day.

Day 5

This day had to be the most uneventful one in this entire trip, with nothing to do but drive to Pune on the battered highway where I yet again paid more that I would like to pay as toll taxes. I started from Kolhapur around 8 AM and an dreary drive back to Pune, I reached Chandni Chowk at around 230 PM. Not to let go of Goan memories so soon, I had mackerels, prawns biryani and a Miller’s for lunch! The trip ended with me coasting the Polo back to its parking slot and the tripmeter reading 1160 km.

Some afterthoughts: Goa does hold some amazing surprises during monsoon. The rain wet sands are something to be experienced and wont let people down. Ankur's directions read "left means right" and Scorpions becomes Pink Floyd with a touch of alcohol. I still cant put my finger on the third attribute of the stupendous Ankur. The Pune-Goa stretch is extremely doable on 2 wheels and I am just waiting for the 390 to stretch its legs on a run to Goa. This trip definitely calls for a sequel on 2 wheels! Amen!

See you soon!

More photos at:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116053730915476424060/albums/5913742171976316385