The umpteenth Goa road trip.. coz... Goaaaaa baby B)
(Total distance travelled : approximately 1000km over a period of 5 days)
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| Beautiful Goa! |
If we don’t take a vacation every 2-3 months, we get severe
withdrawal symptoms, the hubster and I. So after the Sirsi-Karwar road trip in
January 2017, it was time for our yearly Goa pilgrimage in April. Goa is never
disappointing and you can always find something or the other to do there, no
matter how many times you visit.
I had permission to leave early from work that day and the
hubster came to pick me up. We had planned on leaving directly from my
workplace, so he was all packed and loaded up and since we left at around 12
noon, we were on the highway in no time. NH4 is a road we have taken many many
times. Though the road till Kolhapur is still being built, it was heartening
indeed to see much of the work was done. Since there was not much traffic
either, we really enjoyed the drive. There are signposts throughout and it is
an easy drive to Goa. However, once we reached Goa, we had a minor incident
where we went off to some other village. One helpful gentleman pointed us in
the right direction and we reached our lodge. This little misadventure added an
extra half hour to the drive and we were really tired. Dinner and sleep was the
only plan for the day. We were staying
at Cap’s Corner, which is a lovely little lodge with the feel of home-stay.
Have been going there for 6 years now. This time however, Cap’s messed up, and
despite booking a room two months in advance, we weren’t given the room of our
choice. This dampened out spirits slightly, but spirits don’t stay damp in Goa
for very long ;)
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| Broadway bookstore |
Day 1 in Goa always involves vegging out and not doing
anything. We relaxed over breakfast and really talked for a couple of
hours, sipping coffee and enjoying the lovely cool breeze on the covered
terrace (This was to be our routine for the duration of our stay there. It
always is). The cool breeze was a
pleasant surprise. In Pune, the temperature was around 43-44 deg C. In contrast,
Goa felt really pleasant, with the highest temperature of around 34 deg C.
Today’s agenda was visit to a bookstore where they sell used and new books at
heavily discounted prices. For a bibliophile like me, this comes very close to
the definition of heaven. Even though
this time I did not end up buying many books, it was a lot of fun to browse
through seemingly endless shelves of books.
Other than the beaches, food in Goa is spectacular. There
are a lot of eateries opened by people from other countries. These are
people after my own heart, who found Goa so irresistible, that they chose to
settle down there. One such place in North Goa is a European eatery called “Baba
Au Rhum” (named after a yeast cake). It is run by a French gentleman and is
located overlooking the backwaters of Chapora river. The food is excellent,
especially the wood-fired pizzas and extremely delicious desserts. Ambience is
great, with rustic wooden tables, an eclectic collection of squishy,
comfortable cushions; great bluesy instrumental music; the cool breeze and the
sound of the river. I usually take a book there and the hubster reads tech and
auto magazines on his phone. It’s a perfect place to stay put and just be.
Unfortunately, like many other places in Goa, there is no restriction on
smoking in public in the cafe and this is what prompts us to leave (many a
times, one can even smell the slightly sickening sweet smell of weed!!!). So after a leisurely late lunch at Baba Au
Rhum, we headed back to the lodge to relax.
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| Fort Entrance |
The beach shacks are another uniquely-Goa things. Though the
Baga- Calangute stretch is too crowded and noisy for my liking, it still feels
good to sit on the tables facing the sea, listening to the sound of the waves,
enjoying the cool breeze and the lovely candlelight. As the sun sets, painting
the horizon with the loveliest colours, the stars start appearing overhead one
by one. After a long, walk along the beach, nothing beats the feeling
of taking off the flip-flops and putting one’s feet down on the cool, soft
sand. One can absolutely sit on the comfy chairs for as long as they please and
totally chill-out (THIS is my happy place).
Even though doing absolutely nothing is totally fine, in
fact, highly encouraged in Goa, when one visits it for the umpteenth time, one
generally gets the urge to explore. This time, we decided to explore the Reis
Magos fort (Chapora and Aguada were explored during previous visits). Other
things on our agenda were exploring the Arpora night market and visiting Dr.
Salim Ali bird sanctuary. We decided to visit the Reis Magos fort early in the
morning (yeah, right :D) to beat the heat later on in the day. But as expected,
we weren’t able to get to the fort till much later in the day, around noon to be precise,
when the Sun was right overhead. This fort is located on one of the banks of
Mandovi River. The entrance of the fort is accessible after an extremely short,
uphill hike of about 100-200 meters. Alternatively, there is a provision of a
vehicle, which is provided free of cost (yes, really!). Though really tiny, it
is an extremely well restored fort and a true pleasure to discover. There are some
truly amazing views from up there. Some of the rooms have also been converted
to galleries. One of the galleries depicts the Goan freedom struggle in the
form of infographics and photos; the other room contains several of Mario de
Miranda’s sketches and artwork. It was absolutely delightful to see his artwork
thus displayed. The subtle humour and the funny caricatures kept us entertained
for well over an hour.
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| Pathway through the bird sanctuary |
Repeating our performance of the previous day, we turned up
at Dr. Salim Ali bird sanctuary by mid-day again :D. As anybody with even the
most preliminary knowledge of Ornithology knows, this is the time when the
birds roost. We were nevertheless hopefully optimistic (we never seem to learn
;)). This bird sanctuary is located on an island called Chorao. To get to the
island, you get to the Ribandar ferry point first. From here, you can hop on to
a ferry free of cost (yes, really!).
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| Canine friend hitchin' a ride :) |
Arpora night market was highly recommended and we therefore
decided to visit. However, it was a huge disappointment. The market has plenty
of thrift stores and live food counters set up by people belonging to various
nationalities. There were a few Russians selling doughnuts, an Italian
gentleman selling gelato, an Italian couple selling pizzas, a couple of Americans selling
burgers and fries. Along with this, there were South Indian food stalls selling
idli and dosa, and several Indo-Chinese stalls as well. There were several
tables placed in the central area, where one can enjoy live music and eat
delicious food. At least that’s the idea. But for us, the food did not look too
appetizing and the live music had just ended. There were no signs of another
gig starting anytime soon. We waited for a few minutes, but the noise from the
loudspeaker got really unbearable and we decided to feed ourselves someplace
else. As it turned out, this was an excellent decision.
I desperately needed some peace and quiet and so we decided
to avoid the extremely crowded Baga-Calangute stretch and looked up places in
Candolim instead. "10, Downing Street" seemed like a good option, but once we
went there, the noises emanating from the microphone held by one lady were such
that they would put even Cacofonix to shame. As if that was not enough, they
were encouraging the audience to sing and a lot of people with severe
misconceptions about their musical capabilities were hell-bent on torturing
poor, unsuspecting customers. In sharp contrast, there was a restaurant right
opposite called Cafe Jazz, where there was live music too, but this was truly
divine. We quietly moved base there and it was a decision we did not regret.
The guy who was singing had a truly amazing voice and was strumming the guitar perfectly (it
did not hurt one bit that he was really cute too ;) eye candy as well as ear (!!?) candy :D). We stayed on right till
he played the last song. By far the best live music I’ve ever heard in a
restaurant. I would definitely recommend a visit to this restaurant, especially
on a Saturday night, when that guy is playing.
Leaving Goa is always painful. Added to that, the drive back
was not as pleasant as the drive to Goa, since the long weekend was ending. The
really sad part was being stuck in a traffic jam for one and a half hours just
outside Pune. It was like a sharp dose of reality and a preview of things to
come.
All in all, it was yet another memorable Goa road trip.
Wonder where out itchy feet will take us next? I am thinking Amritsar.... :)
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