Road Trip To Land Of Beaches...Goa!!!


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(This is my first writeup, please be patient on any errors you might encounter.. Your suggestions/corrections are of at most importance.. Let them flow..)

PS: Due to forum restrictions, TL broken down into two parts.

Part - 1

It all began a month ago over a cup of Chai, when me and a bunch of friends, all wanting to take up a road trip to release the stress accumulated in us over a period of time.
Everyone were quite excited, as always, and were discussing on the destinations to drive to. After a long discussion on places all zeroed in to Goa. Yes, GOA..!!! I had a long desire to do a road trip to this 'land of beaches' and finally some hope of fulfilling my desire.
All was decided and people were confident about their leaves on the said dates.
Since we were 4 of us, we decided to drive the Ford Figo of one of my friend who was keen in driving it all the way to Goa.
So, destination, car, dates and people were all decided and we dispersed that day with all hopes and dreams of driving to Goa, our dream destination!!!

For me, planning has never been successful and the fear of the same was taking a toll over me.
Just then, we had people wanting to opt out of the plan due to some unavoidable situations and some out of sheer pleasure of crashing the trip.

While all this roll over was taking place, I had decided not to cancel the trip come what may.

After extensive research and a lot of online readings, we decided to take two different routes to and from Goa.. which meant, we were driving to Goa from one route and coming back via another.

The route was finally decided as follows,

Onwards Route:

Bangalore-Tumkur-Tiptur-Arsikere-Kadur-Shivamoga-Sagara-Honavar-Kumta-Gokarna-Ankola-Karwar-Panaji

Onwards.jpg

Towards Route:

Panaji-Dharwad-Hubli-Haveri-Ranebennur-Davanagere-Chitradurga-Sira-Tumkur-Bangalore

Towards.jpg

We had 4 days to go and the team was left out to be only 2 people, me and Uss. and hence the car was also decided to be my Alto and not Ford Figo.

With the numbers reduced to half we had two minds of whether to do the trip or postpone it to dates when everybody in the group will be able to join.

2 days before the decided dates, me and Uss made up our minds, that we are going to take it up this time without any postponing.

So here we go, 2 determined people, waiting eagerly for the start up date, 3rd Jan 2013.

Preps:

Since we were about to take up a long road trip, I wanted to be sure if everything in my car was in place.

Ensured the coolants and water for the wipers were topped up.
Spare Tyre pressure checked and ready.
Tools checked and ready.
Enough music for the round trip.

Got the car water serviced a couple of hours prior to leaving. Stuffed in the luggage and was waiting for the clock to strike 11 pm to roll.
Finally the moment, most waited for about a month had arrived and bidding good byes to my beloveds I was out on the way to Uss's place to have him picked up.
Picked up Uss around 11:20 pm and headed to Frazer town for a cup of tea and later to Brigade Road petrol bunk to get a tank up.

Day 0 - 3rd Jan 2013

The idea of leaving at 11 pm was to reach Goa maximum by 10.30 am including all of the small breaks but as I have mentioned already planning is not my cup of tea..

Left Frazer town and headed towards Yeshwantpur to get on to the Tumkur Road for the rest of the journey.. Tumkur road is in very good condition throughout. Reached Tumkur in no time, and had to look for a deviation for Shimoga. Located the deviation and was soon on the NH202, mostly crossing towns and villages en-route, of-course the vehicle and human population was down to nil.

Located a CCD somewhere in Hassan-Arsikere and halted there for a stretch and a quick cuppa coffee..

Some pics..

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After crossing Shimoga, we were caught amidst dense fog reducing the visibility to 10 meters or lesser at certain points. We were initially very excited to have been driving amidst such thick fog which was unlikely to appear in Bangalore. But later as the time passed by it had become the most primary concern and I desperately wanted to get out of the fog and continue towards our destination on the scheduled time. Even though we were crawling when it comes to speed, we did halt for a small snap break.

Some snaps of the fog..

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I had to closely follow a truck which was ripping even with the low visibility. Of-course I maintained enough space for me to brake in case the truck jams the brakes. I had my hazard lights on in case there was a vehicle on the opposite direction.

Time was 5:30 am and there was no sign of light anywhere around us. As the fog was playing a spoil sport, to make matters worse we had villagers who were out on their morning walk in the middle of the road, literally in the middle of the road.. I had to let the truck pass by and slowed down to give way for the villagers walking around in that thick fog.

The fog conditions continued to haunt us and it majorly effected our speed due to which I had to let go the 10:30 am target. It was around 7:00 am and there was still no sign of light. I was mostly doing a 40-50 KMPH speed even though the road was in very good condition as it hardly had any bumps or sharp curves.

Day 1 - 4th Jan 2013

Around 7:20 am we had the sun out, miles away across the horizon smiling at us for the dreadful foggy night we had just bid good bye. Eventually the fog cleared and we picked up speed again, after a long time. At around 8:30 am we reached the world famous Jog Falls. As we were already running behind schedule we did not bother to go up the hill and had to satisfy ourselves with a small halt over the bridge.

Some snaps from the Jog Falls bridge..

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Jog.jpg

After a small halt, we pushed off. We were mislead back to the road which we took to Jog. All thanks to the GPS we used. After a quick stop and rechecking on the GPS we were back to business with good speed. The next city/town on the map was Honavar. We were picking up speed as the road condition was exceptional. Once we crossed Honavar, reached Gokarna and could have easily taken the deviation towards the beach but due to lack of time had to continue further keeping the Gokarna beach for next time. Once we left Gokarna behind we were greeted by amazing roads freshly tarred with a spectacular view around.

Some snaps of the roads..

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We continued towards our destination after this quick snap halt and were heading towards Karwar. Reached Karwar and had the first view of the Arabian Sea..

To be continued...
 
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I liked that, even you were only 2 people,you were still determined to do the trip. [clap]

Last year me and one of my friend did the trip in my figo car same as you 2 member packs and believe me it was a blast for 6 days.

That's true some feel like to crash the plan for not reason. Yeah it is the pleasure they get. But never mind them.

Bring on all the story.
 
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Thats great. I am sure you must have had a great time. [:D]

Rest of the story with pics coming up in a while.
 
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Wow ! Awesome write up dude

You are on a vacation Chennai now Goa !

Every detailed nicely penned up [clap]

what was the total distance you covered overall ?

PS - That Sun picture with birds flying ! That is one hell of a pic ! put your copyrights or some one will use it

+1 for that picture, its awesome !

However im surprised how there are no pics of the beach !
 
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Continued...

Part 2

Some snaps of the Karwar beach..

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Few more kilometers and we were at the Karnataka-Goa border. Crossed the border and there we were, In GOA!!! though we had a long way to go to reach Panaji. Pulled over just after the border for a well deserved break. Had sugarcane juice mixed with ginger and lemon (Goan style??). Started from there having the next halt as Canacona/Phalolem beach.

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The beach was decently crowded. First step into the sand and it relieved us with all the driving stress and the fog nightmare. We just wanted to get a dip into the ocean as soon as possible. Finally we landed in water and I fall short of words to describe the sheer pleasure we experienced at that moment. After floating with the waves for some time we headed back to the car to quickly reach Panaji, were we stayed and then go to Calangute beach to spend the evening. Reached Panaji at around 5:30 pm. Having seen a lot of tourists using a two wheeler excited us and we decided to hire one too. After all what mattered was, we were seeing places.

Checked into the hotel, got freshen up and went out hunting for a place to hire a bike/scooter. Found a place called Diana on the Panaji main road and hired an Activa for 250rs for 24 hours. Fueled the bike and we were on our way to Calangute beach. As it was already dark and we were dead tired due to long hours of drive, decided to just have dinner and head back to our hotel. So had a sumptuous meal of sea food and returned to the hotel and called it a day.

Day 2 - 5th Jan 2013

Woke up early and after settling the hotel dues was on the bike again searching for a good place for breakfast. Found a food court serving authentic Karnataka food. Had Poori Bhaji and Kesari bhat followed by a nice tea. Once the hunger demon was silenced, headed straight to Calangute as we were unable to control our desires to get into the water any more. Reached the beach and headed to the water without much delays. Had a great time playing in the cool water with the sun shining bright and the waves cutting through us to hit the shores. The life/coastal guards have set up flags to warn the crowds on deep waters. We were asked by a couple of guards to get out of the water as we were into the danger zone.[shock] They asked us to move to the other area which was tagged as a 'Safe Swim Zone.' We happily obliged and moved our stances to the other part of the beach. Needless to say that we had a hearty time in the waters for a couple of hours. As we had a lot of places to cover, we had to move out of the water and move on to our next destination, the Anjuna Beach..

Reached the Anjuna Beach and entered it through the 2 wheeler parking area. Here there are loads of coral reefs right on the beach and there were hardly people in the water. We just had a walk across the beach and found a bunch of coral reefs or a decaying mountain which was about 30-40 meters into the sea. So there was where we where heading to as it looked inviting with the waves hitting the mountain and raising high in the air and spluttering back on the mountain and way back into the sea. We made way to the end of the mountain towards the sea and just stood there enchanted with the beauty of the nature in front of us and the vast sea so calm yet so serene. Stood there till we were drenched again by the waves crashing into the mountains. It was truly adding to the ambiance and looked quite mystique with semi cool breeze making way through the sea and the waves bringing them to us deliberately. After some time of hanging on to the mountain we bid good bye to Anjuna and headed to Vagator beach.

Vagator beach is a do not miss place in Goa. It is proudly surrounded by a steep cliff on one end facing the sea and a fort on the other facing the beach. We were on the cliff initially where we had to park our bike to get down through a stair case made through the cliff to get down to the beach. We were greeted by heavy winds on the cliff and stood there admiring the beauty of the waves which initiated at a certain point and comes crashing to the shore. The sound of the waves hitting the foot of the cliff was amazing. I could have easily spent an entire day at this place if I was not running out of time. We descended to the beach through the cliff and not the stair case. Of-course there was a blur path created by pedestrians which made our quest easier.We were walking on the shore with the waves hitting us periodically. We wanted to find a way to get to the fort which was visible from the cliff. We discovered that we had to climb all the way to the top to reach the fort. We also saw a group of Europeans attempting the climb towards the fort. Again as time was short had to let that go as well. Kept walking across the shore and reached a dead-end, though a shore was still visible across the mountains there was no walkable path across. Stood there being hit by the heavy winds and the waves for quite some time and headed back to the cliff where our ride was parked. This time took the stairs and started from Vagator, naming it the most beautiful place of Goa.. [clap]

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Next beach on chart was Baga. Lot of home crowd and a place for water sports. We were quite amazed to see so much of crowd with people spread across the shore line. First thing we wanted to do was the famous Banana Ride. It was one hell of an experience being thrown into the water with a life jacket on. Wanted to try the Para sailing but was turned down when informed about the waiting period. Did not want to waste much time and went straight into the water. The water here was warmer unlike the other beaches and was lot comfortable to get accustomed. The safe swim zone here was marked by a bead rope running across the water and back into a semi circle. Beach was quite shallow and to get to the neck level water, had to walk for sometime. Found a good foot hold and we stood there quite far from the shore looking into the sun with just water around us. The distant screaming and shouting of people was soon overheard as we felt mesmerized with the calmness of the sea. It was magical.. Stayed in the water till the sun was returning to its adobe. It was a very beautiful scene of the Sun setting down in the water and thud!! out of sight. Lot of people had there cameras out and shooting this wonderful natural phenomena which we hardly find time to see or experience in our busy city lives.

It was soon dark and we had a long way to go to Panaji again. Reached the hotel, changed and headed towards the Dona Paulo and Miramar beach. Took the road opposite to the cruise liners. What a road that was. Neat and clean roads, free of traffic with cool breeze filling in the space. What a ride that was.. Reached the Singham spot but found it deserted. No shops open expect a sweet corn push cart. No much crowd with only certain people hanging out and a couple of them fishing. Went up the stairs till the 2nd floor and sat there for sometime looking at the silent ocean where only waves were invisible due to darkness. Took some time for our eyes to get adjusted to the darkness and we could spot some boats very close by. Spent some time there with the ocean and the breeze and headed back.

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Plan now was to ride back to the Calangute beach and spend some time on the beach, dine and get back to hotel to catch up with some rest before driving back to Bangalore. Left Dona Paulo and on the way to Panaji, spotted Delhi Darbar and decided to dine there instead of eating at the mostly dirty shacks on the beach. Had a sumptuous meal of prawn fried rice and Fish figures with Dal fry. Rode back to the beach and just lay on the beach with the sound of the waves crashing against some obstacle in the distance. The moon light was just as much as it was required to make the beautiful waves visible at a certain distance. Lazily walking across the beach got to the parking and around 02:00 am reached the hotel and crashed. Had covered close to half of Goa in a day while spending decent time over each location. Quite happy and satisfied with the progress made, sleep engulfed us and the second day in Goa ended..

Day 3 - 6th Jan 2013

Schedule for the today was to raise early, settle the hotel dues and hit the Vagator beach again for some snaps of sunrise. Took a wrong route and ended up 15 kms close to the Arambol beach. As had less time on hand turned around and reached the Vagator beach. Even though we missed the sunrise we did spend sometime there and headed back to Panaji to return the bike and pick up the Car for the return journey. Had breakfast, got the fuel tank up and started to Bangalore via Dharwad. Roads are in great condition and could make great progress until we missed a deviation and ended up in a small village with people looking at us as if they had seen a ghost.. lol.. It was quite difficult to communicate with them as they were talking some different Kannada altogether. The roads were to their worst condition and tested our patience to the last bit. Had a couple of stops to get the correct route and crossing about 4 such villages finally we were on the NH4.

The site of NH4 after being put through the pain of driving on the SH (That is what my GPS told they were on..) was overwhelming.. Picked up speed again and covered good ground until we spotted a Kamath Upachar close the Dharwad. Pulled over for a decent South Indian Special thali and started to roll around 04:30pm. After about 15 kms, we get the first toll booth of the day with many more to follow. The roads were similar to a run way with good number of vehicles cruising their way out. Had covered almost 300 kms before the darkness took over. After that was a monotonous sight of overtaking vehicles and maintaining speed. After Davangere, the NH4 turns into a night mare with numerous deviations and poor warning signs. With lot of mad people driving behind you, you need to be extra cautious on such roads. Last thing you want to do is, miss a deviation.. Scarrryyy!!!

Reached Frazer town at 11.30 pm and reached home at 12:00 am, 3 hours after the anticipated time due to the Village tragedy..

We finally made it and were back home, safe to much delight of our loved ones.

Certain figures, which might interest you..

Onward Journey

Distance covered - 645 Kms
Toll Booths - 02 (Nelmangala)
Fuel Utilized - 31 Liters

Toward Journey

Distance Covered - 640 Kms
Toll Booths - 09 (Dharwad to Nelmangala)
Fuel Utilized - 29 Liters

Overall FE for Alto was 24.89 KMPL.
Goa Petrol Price - 55.61 rs/l
Total Ground Covered - 1285 KMS
 
Thread Starter #10
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Certain figures, which might interest you..

Onward Journey

Distance covered - 645 Kms
Toll Booths - 02 (Nelmangala)
Fuel Utilized - 31 Liters

Toward Journey

Distance Covered - 640 Kms
Toll Booths - 09 (Dharwad to Nelmangala)
Fuel Utilized - 29 Liters

Overall FE for Alto was 24.89 KMPL.
Goa Petrol Price - 55.61 rs/l
Total Ground Covered - 1285 KMS
Sure bro.. Will post some more in a while..
Details of what you wanted to know.. [glasses]
 
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Fyzy09 very nice and quick log with so much of helpful information, pics are beautiful and complimented well with the fantastic write up.

Wish one day i too drive down till here.
 
Thread Starter #13
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Fyzy09 very nice and quick log with so much of helpful information, pics are beautiful and complimented well with the fantastic write up.

Wish one day i too drive down till here.
Thank you ToughGuy.. [:)]
I hope your wish comes true.. very soon.. [glasses]
 
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Hi Fyzy, that was a nice detailed travelogue.

Even i had been to Goa during Christmas, will post my thread soon.

Waiting for the pics of Anjuna and Vagator beach, which is a foreigners beach.

This time we had been to Vasco at Bagmaulo beach.

However missed Naval Museum at Vasco, as it is closed on Mondays.
 
Thread Starter #15
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Hi Fyzy, that was a nice detailed travelogue.

Even i had been to Goa during Christmas, will post my thread soon.

Waiting for the pics of Anjuna and Vagator beach, which is a foreigners beach.

This time we had been to Vasco at Bagmaulo beach.

However missed Naval Museum at Vasco, as it is closed on Mondays.
Thanks mukeshus [:D]
Could not take much snaps as we had locked all the gadgets in the hotel room [frustration]
We were only 2 people and water freaks[evil] I hope you understand what I mean?
 

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