Kovalam, the moon beach

The main purpose of our Trivandrum visit was to spend half a day (read sunset ) at Kovalam. We were done with most of our Trivandrum city sight seeing by 2 PM after which we grabbed some quick lunch and headed for Kovalam. From Trivandrum City (M G Road),Kovalam is around 15 kilometres.It is a straight road and the road condition is also very good.

  Since it was noon and traffic was also less we reached Kovalam in less time.
There is car parking where you can park your car. We parked our car and walked inside. Parking cost is Rs 20 for four wheelers.

  Kovalam is a beautiful compact crescent shaped beach.Three parts of the beach are Lighthouse beach, Eve's beach and Samudra beach. These three beaches form the entire crescent Kovalam beach.

The crescent shaped Kovalam Beach

  There are plenty of hotels and resorts on the beach each offering magnificient view. There are lots of eateries offering freshly caught fishes, lobsters, crabs. You just have to choose the fish and they will cook it for you.

Eateries displaying their stock of fresh sea food.

  The beach is mostly popular within foreigners. It is crowded mostly by foreigners in the morning and the noon when they enjoy sun bathing. By sunset the beach is predominated by Indians who come to see the beautiful sunset.

After sunset, Kovalam.

  One can never be bored in Kovalam. You can walk along the seashore admiring the beautiful beach with its blue waters and the far lighthouse in its back drop. The scene is beautiful....... you may also dig in the tasty fresh seafood in the seashore restaurants, climb the lighthouse........ sunbath or simply enjoy the waters... So many water sports are also available. Even there are boats that will take you to the sea.

  We went there almost two hours before sundown. We positioned ourselves with our tripod and camera on the rocks on Eve's beach. From there we could have a wonderful view of the lighthouse beach. We also took most of our sunset shots from there.

Sunset at Kovalam.

Sunset at Kovalam.

  We spotted some strange life formations on some of the rocks.We have no clue what those really were.There were also some big black crabs on the far rocks.

Strange life form on the rocks.

  After we were satisfied with our sunset shots we went strolling on the beach towards the eateries. The full coastline was already lighted up with beautiful street lamps and that was such a fantastic sight to behold.

The beach after sunset, Kovalam.

Walkway at Kovalam Beach.

  Half a day was good for us but if you swear by the beaches, spend a few days in Kovalam.

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.

Old Goa, majestic beyond words

After we set off from North Goa we headed for Panaji which is considered a part of Old Goa. The distance from North Goa to Old Goa is roughly 15 kilometres and though the road is good but we got struck in a jam for sometime.

  We planned to stay for one full day in Old Goa. Panaji is a small but beautiful city. It has many buildings made in Portuguese style. The itinerary for the day included visiting some of the churches of Goa and a sunset cruise on the Mondovi river, the ticket for which we had already bought from our hotel in Calangute.

  So from North Goa we drove straight to Old Goa via Panaji where all the beautiful churches are located. The road from Panaji to old Goa is very beautiful as you drive along the Mondovi river to your left. We saw the Basillica of Bom Jesus, a spectacular church built by the Portugues in the 16th century. The basilica holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. We also visited Se cathedral, Church of St Catherine, museum and Church of St Francis of Assisi. It took us almost 4.5 hours to see the churches in detail. There were some more churches which we decided to see the next day. 

The churches are open from 9:30 AM to 5 PM everyday for public viewing. The entry is free but for the museum you need to buy entry tickets worth Rs 10 per person. Photography is also allowed inside the churches but not inside the museums. We wrote a detailed blog post on the Churches of Goa. You can get more info/pics in thas post.

Bom Jesus Basillica

  We headed back to Panaji where our boat cruise was supposed to start. We already had the tickets for the sunset cruise which starts from 6 pm and is a one hour boat ride on the Mondovi river. There are many other cruise slots
available like sundown(7:15-8:15 pm), dinner cruise(8:45-10:45 pm). We booked tickets for the launch Santa Monica.

  Since the cruise was scheduled to start at 6 pm so we were told to report to the ticket counter of Santa Monica at the jetty at 5:45 pm. The jetty office is just below the main Panaji flyover. Apart from santa Monica there were ticket counters of many other boat services like Paradise and all. We reported to the counter at 5:45PM. There is a paid parking near the jetty where cars/bikes can be parked.

  The seating arrangement on Santa Monica is on first-come-first-serve basis. If you come early you can choose your seats but if you are late then you have to be happy with whatever seat is left. Consider yourself lucky if you can grab
a seat by the sides of the boat from where you can see the sunset. There were some boats with open roofs but unfortunately ours was not.

View of sunset from inside the deck of Santa Monica

  Once the boat starts the crowd will be greeted by a DJ. There will be performers who will dance traditional Goan dances. You are also solicited to join them. The experience of catching the sunset from the river is amazing. The boat will go along the scenic river banks and every moment of the boat ride is very enjoyable.

Performance on Santa Monica

Traditional performance on Santa Monica

  As the sun sets, the boats will get lit up and you will get to see similar other boats on the river all lit up brightly by colour bulbs and the light getting reflected in the waters. The several advertisement boards also
get lighted up giving the Mondovi waters a different feel. Food and other beverage are also available on the cruises but have to be brought.

Sunset on Mandovi River, as seen from Santa Monica

One of several boats on Mandovi river; just after sunset

  As we were getting down from the boat there was another very long queue of people excitedly waiting to get in. We checked in our hotel Panaji residency(owned by GTDC), strategically located overseeing the Mondovi river. The hotel has an open air restaurant and from there we could see the boats cruising on the Mondovi river. There are also many casinos that we could see from our hotel.

  There are many tour packages available from GTDC like the Dudhsagar Falls tour, North Goa tour, South Goa tour. These can be booked from any GTDC hotels or office in person. The tour buses/jeeps will pick and drop you at the
GTDC hotels. You can also avail considerable discounts on this package tours if you stay in GTDC hotels.

  The next day we planned to see the remaining Churches Of Goa that included St. Augustine Church, Church and Convent of Santa Monica, Church of our Lady of Rosary, Church of St. Cajetan, Arch of Viceroy, Panaji Church along with Miramar beach and Dona Paola.

Miramar beach, Panaji. After sunrise.

A view from the top of Dona Paola. After sunrise.

  Miramar beach is located in Panaji. Since we went there early in the morning we saw many locals doing their rounds of morning walks on the beach. Dona Paola is also a nice view point a little far from Miramar. On the way we saw the statue of Abbe de Faria who is considered the father of modern hypnotism. The statue shows him hypnotizing a lady patient.

Abbe de Faria

  Further from Miramar beach is Dona Paola from where one can have a fine view of Marmugao Harbour. It is a place where two rivers meet the Arabian Sea. Some bollywood movies have also been shot here and it is a favourite place for tourists.

  So with the visit to all the beautiful churches, enjoying sunset on a boat cruise and stroll on beaches our Old Goa tour came to a happy end and we headed for South Goa.

Things that you must see in Old Goa:
Churches in Old Goa:
Se Cathedral 
Basilica of Bom Jesus
Chapel of St Catherine
Church and convent of St Francis of Assisi
St. Augustine Church
Church and Convent of Santa Monica
Church of our Lady of Rosary
Church of St. Cajetan
Arch of Viceroy and Panaji Church

Things that you must do in Old Goa:
Mondovi river cruise
Enjoy the Goan cuisine

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.

Karwar, a beach city on the Arabian shores

After driving through the mersmerising western ghats we reached the small quiet beach city of Karwar. We took NH4 from Bangalore to Hubli and then from there took a left to get on Karwar road which is on NH17.

  By the time we reached there it was almost late afternoon and some more minutes to go before the sun sets on the Arabian sea. So we decided to catch the sunset first before checking in to any hotel......and what a great decision that was!!

The sea at Karwar, at late afternoon.

  We stood there watching the sun getting down and the colour of the sea and sky changing every second. The sea water and the foam that was bluish white changed into hues of orange and red.

Sunset at Karwar beach

Yet another sunset shot at Karwar beach.

Tourist crowd in Karwar is pretty less and so one can have more of the sea. We clicked as many photos as we could to freeze what we saw.

We checked in at Hotel Premier in Karwar. The hotel is very near to the beach and has a nice restaurant with it. The room rates were also pretty less. Non AC rooms costs Rs.500 plus taxes while AC rooms comes for Rs.850 plus taxes, although the rates are for the off season.

The next day morning we again set off for the beach. The sea was calm in the morning and we could spot a few islands on the sea. One of the islands even had a light house. Local fishermen were getting into the sea for their day's catch. Karwar is rich in flora and fauna. We also spotted some colourful birds as we were heading back to our hotel for breakfast.

Bee eater. We found it on the beach.

A pair of eagles at their nest near the beach

A butterfly on the bushes by the beach

We ordered for upama and tea in the restaurant of Hotel Premier. They made the upama so good that we asked for one extra pack that we would eat on our way to Goa that very day. If you go to Karwar, do taste the upama there.

The city of Karwar mostly has government buildings and offices. Unlike other Indian cities,  Karwar has very less people and the roads are mostly empty. The pace of life also seems slow and worth savouring.

There is a naval base in Karwar. There is also a warship museum and an aquarium in Karwar though we did not see any of those. Rabindranath Tagore beach is just adjacent to Karwar beach and has a small park with it.

Entrance to the Ravindranath Tagore Beach

Warship museum at Karwar

The river Kali flows through Karwar and the Kali river bridge is simply awesome. A few miles afer crossing the Kali river bridge you actually enter Goa.

We bid adieu to beautiful Karwar as we approached the police checkpost after crossing the bridge, though in our mind we pledged to come back again.