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 14th August, 15th being a holiday and the rest
of the days making a long weekend. Ankur begged me to bunk office on 14th
itself so that we reach North Goa on 14th 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 13th 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 (14th
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.
14th
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 15th
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 3rd
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 5th 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
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116053730915476424060/albums/5913742171976316385
1 comment:
also true is the fact that whenever someone makes a trip to Goa, it turns his friends very very green with envy.
somehow, it seems that travelling off-season is the best time.
Polka-dot. HAAAAAAAARRR HAAAAAAAAAAARRR.
i find it hard to believe that u were the first one awake on day 2.
about the little nemo, u might just have fed the bigger fish in the sea.
must remember this line. "sharing is caring". can be used so often.
i suspect theres some secret left untold at Melissa's Home.
why did u need to visit the Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception?
Cabo De Rama sound very interesting.
While driving through Amboli ghats in the dark and rain, one would imagine you would put on some very mellow music to lighten the mood. But you chose Megadeth. what else to say?
The mystery deepens as to what was Ankur's third attribute.
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