Our Goa Trip

Too much of anything is bound to get one bored. Ever since we came to Bangalore, we were seeing too much of Mountains or Hills. It started with Nandi Hills and followed till Coorg. We needed a change. 

  So, we decided to change the theme of our next trip; change it straight to beach. India has several beaches all around its coastal line, However, only one place in particular has practically become the epicenter of our thought process when we think of beaches in India. Yes, its Goa.

  Obviously, we hit the road with our Good old sparky. Going out on a trip with our sparky gives us the indulgence to stop anywhere anytime, relax and enjoy the journey just as much as the destination.

  Though the Goa trip was actually a medium sized trip, given that it was only from Thursday of one week to Tuesday of the next, it was a heavy duty one. There were so much to enjoy; and we did enjoy. So we decided to break down our Goa blog into five individual blog posts.

  Here are the links to the individual blog posts. Enjoy.

  Karwar Blog Post

  North Goa Blog Post

  Old Goa Blog Post

  Blog Post on the Churches of Goa

  South Goa Blog Post

Sunset as seen from Mandovi River cruise.

Sunset at Colva beach

  The Route:

  After consulting several blogs and articles, we decided to travel on NH4. And it was a good decision. The road is very good. The only problem with the road is that from Hubli to Devanagere, there is practically no restaurant/dhaba or petrol pump. So keep this in mind so that you can take break and food before and after this zone. From Hubli we came down to Karwar through NH67. And from Karwar to Goa it was NH17. The road from Hubli to Karwar passes through Anshi National Park and its really beautiful. Just don't stop and don't be too curious to click a monkey, because they get curious too.

  The unplanned halt:

  We never planned to halt at Karwar. But when we reached there by the late afternoon, we were awestruck by the beauty and peace at Karwar. It was like a Bonus prize for our trip. So we spent one night at Karwar before moving on to Goa.

  From Karwar we moved straight for North Goa. North Goa is very crowded. But that doesn't mean that its not enjoyable. Its fantastic. We stayed at Calangute and visited the nearby beaches like Anjuna, Vagator. We also made a quick round of Aguada fort. 

  From north Goa we moved to Old Goa. The churches of Goa are magnificent. Spent a lot of time seeing each of these churches. By the evening, we were on the Mandovi river cruise on Santa Monica. The sunset from the cruise is so relaxing that you have to be there to know it. We stayed at Panaji, the capital city of Goa. 

  Our last destination on Goa trip was to see the beaches of South Goa. We decided to drop the anchor at Colva beach, the famous long stretched white sand beach of Goa. Its far more beautiful than the descriptions in travel magazines. When in Colva, its a good idea to wake up early and hit the beach. You can see fishermen doing there daily chores which is a great thing to experience. On our last day in Goa trip we quickly detoured to Palolem beach for a brief hour long break in our journey. Palolem is very beautiful and a little different from the other beaches. Its concave shape gives it a distinctive look. 

  We reached home(Bangalore) at around 1 O' clock at night. 

  The Drive:

  Goa is around 700Km from Bangalore. It took us 11 hours to reach Karwar from Whitefield, Bangalore. However, on the day of our journey back home, it was around 10 hours from Goa. As the road is very good, you can easily keep constant speed and the fuel efficiency would make you happy. Just be cautions as the same road back to Bangalore has some pot holes; so better to keep your high-beam on.

  The Stay:

   Throughout our Goa trip, we stayed in GTDC hotels. The hotels are safe and clean and strategically placed very closed to the sea beaches. In Karwar, we stayed at Hotel Premier and the experience was really good. 
   Here are the details of the hotels:
   Calangute - Calangute Residency(Annex) - 227-6009
   Panaji - Panaji Residency - 222-3396/7103, 242-2974
   Colva - Colva Residency - 278-8047/48, 278-1139
     Karwar - Hotel Premier -  (08382)-229 925, 094481 39962

   STD code of Panaji is 832, Marmagao is 8342, Karwar is 8382. 

  The Experience:

  Goa is very much crowded and commercialized. However, even in the crowd and chaos we did find relaxation. Maybe that is the nature of the sea. It does make feel you relaxed. Our over all experience of Goa was fantastic. From the Gothic churches to the casual beaches, from the mouth watering sea food to the charming river cruise, it was fun and relaxing all the way. The overall nature of Goa and Goan people is very relaxed and happy. So when in Goa you naturally become a goanese. And that's the biggest gift you get from your trip.

North Goa, full of sun, sea and good food

Our Goa tour started from North Goa.

  On reaching Panaji we crossed the Mondovi river and drove staright to Calangute. The distance from Panaji to Calangute is almost 15 kms and the road condition is also good. Also driving to any beach in North Goa is relatively easy as you have direction markers everywhere on the road and also
people are very friendly and helpful.

  We reached Calangute around 3:30 PM. The road near the beach is bubbling with tourists and various shops that sell everything from fancy beach wear, beach accessories like sunglasses, hats and all.... to goan handicrafts, readymade seafood(yummy), tattoo shops and lots more. The road is also crowded with tourist buses and cars.There are plenty of budget hotels and homestays in Calangute.

  Since we did not book any hotel in advance so we first went for hotel searching. The best hotel in Calangute is undoubtedly Calangute Residency owned by GTDC. It is located nearest to the beach and from the cottages you can have a slice of the sea anytime. Though it was not the season but still there were no rooms available in that hotel. The hotel manager directed us to another hotel, very near to Calangute Residency, also owned by GTDC. It was Calangute Residency(annex). This time we were lucky. There was only one room available and that too only for that day. Since we had planned to stay in Calangute for one night, this was okay for us.The room charge was Rs 1040 per night in off season (I hope I remember correctly)

  It is good to know that the checkout time in hotels across Calangute is 10 AM. Only for hotels owned by GTDC the checkout time is 12 noon. 

  After getting some rest in the hotel we went to the beach. The beach is very popular among tourists and so is a little crowded even during off season. The beach has life guards like most beaches in Goa and if you walk along the beach for some 1 kilometres you will reach Baga beach which is a much less crowded beach.

Calangute beach. Sunset.

  We saw people roaming around in Goa in rented bikes and cars. Bikes can be rented for as little as Rs 200 a day (depend on your bargin) but the person taking the rent must have a valid driving licence. In Calangute sea food is damn cheap and tasty. The food prepared in the small roadside shops are tasty and very easy on the pockets. We enjoyed a medium sized pomfret fry for as little as Rs 80 and the food quality was really good. The roadside shops sells various seafish, crab, prawn, chicken fries.

  In Calangute, there is a 200% chance that you encounter people trying to lure you with attractive offers like free resort stays, complimentary dinner etc. By luring with the offers they will later try to sell time shares and we would definitely recommend not to fall into their trap. Its always better to ignore them from the very beginning.

  The first half of the next day was reserved for seeing the other major beaches in North Goa namely Anjuna and Vagator. We started pretty early; at around 7 am.

  Anjuna beach is some roughly 9 kilometres from Calangute and to reach there you have to go through Anjuna village. There are plenty of homestays near Anjuna beach. Anjuna is a beautiful red rocky beach. The beach is made of big red colour stones and coconut trees line the entire beachline. Though very beautiful, it is not a beach for sea bathing or strolling.

Anjuna Beach

Anjuna Beach

Texure of the rocks in Anjuna Beach.

Anjuna Beach

  From Anjuna we went to Vagator beach which is very nearby, approximately 4 to 5 kilometres. This beach has yellow sand and black rocks. There are also many water sport facilities available.

Vagator Beach

Vagator Beach

Vagator Beach

Vagator Beach

  From Vagator we went to see the Aguada Fort. For that we had to come back to Calangute and from there take the road that leads to Aguada Fort. Anjuna/Vagator beach and Aguada Fort are on either sides of Calangute. Fort Aguada was a Portuguese fort and is now protected by the Archaeological Society of India. A nice view of the Arabian sea can be obtained from here.
Next to Aguada fort is a lighthouse which can also be visited. The Sinquerim Beach is also located near to Aguada Fort. It is an upcoming beach.

Aguada fort. Entrance.

Aguada fort. Stairway.

Description written on the top of the fort.

Aguada fort. Top.

Agauda fort. Top.

Entrance to light house at Aguada fort.

View of the sea from the top of Aguada fort.

  It was almost 10 am when we reached our hotel. The check out time was 12 noon so we hurriedly packed our bags and went for a heavy breakfast.
We booked two advance tickets for the sunset cruise on river Mondovi from the hotel reception. The price for each ticket is Rs 150 but for guests staying at any GTDC hotel the price is Rs 100.

  We bid adieu to Calangute and proceeeded towards Old Goa. Our next mission will be to see the churches in Old Goa.