Goa 2011

For our first anniversary we decided to go on a planned but unplanned tour of Goa. Planned because we applied for leaves unplanned because nothing else was fix, even the bus tickets were booked a day earlier!

Day 1 - Palolem Beach:

We reached Goa and decided to get down at Madgaon (margoa) instead of regular Mapsa or Panji. Madgaon is generally the last stop for Pune - Goa busses and its closest if one wants to experience the less crowded yet more beautiful southern Goa beaches .


We took the bus to Canacona and got down near Palolem Naka that took around an hour and cost us Rs. 50 instead of hiring a Rs. 1000 cab!



Took an auto-rickshaw and reached near beach and decided to check-in in one of the beach side shacks flavia, after some bargaining got a good shack for rs 600 per day.

Had breakfast, and brought some necessary things from nearby shops. Rest of the day was spent relaxing. 

Of all the beaches I have seen, Palolem has thickest cover of palm trees, it's an amazing place!

As sun became a little kind we had a good walk on the beach.

 
 Took a Kayak on rent for Rs.100 and drove it deep in the sea. It feels great when looking back you can't see where you you left the shore!

 As always the sunset  was euphoric...

 
After enjoying the sunset it was time for dinner and that better that a candlelight dinner right on the beach!

Day 2 - One for the road :

Work up early and had a nice walk on beach mornings are as pleasant as evenings in goa.

Got Yahama FZ on rent, they generally ask for rs 450 per day, but if you bargain good you will get it in 300.

With this tone for the day was set. Day 2 was decidated to curvy Goan roads!

We bought a map and circled three things old goa church, Mangeshi temple and Dona Paula.

Road to church was confusing but with GPS on my windows phone we cracked it soon

On the way to old city church we saw this another church. Quite and nice.

 There was some function arranged in the old goa church and the tent there insured I could take no good pictures of it.
 Church is very grand and beautiful. However, very unusual for a church, the only thing missing was  the peace, it has became more of a tourist place, but can't complain I was part of the problem :-)

In church we visited the art gallery on top floor, photography was not allowed there and I wonder why! Even if it was allowed I wouldn't have spent my camera battery there.

After church we left for the Mangashi temple that is around 22 Km far. Lost the way in-between but were back on the track soon.

Reached Mangashi temple in the afternoon, had some food and started walking in the direction of temple, much like other temples road was crowded with small stalls and hawkers selling food, toys, flowers, cloths and almost anything one can imagine, even tattoos, Rs 1000 an inch! I preferred keeping my body flawless ;-)

And finally reached to the temple. The oil and fats we burnt to reach hear was worth it.

Built in white, the gracious architecture of Mabgashi temple is pleasure to eyes.

It was very quite inside that inspired me to take a quick sitting nap, few also call it meditation ;-)

After Mangashi temple we left for the Dona Paula. We were late for sunset and the traffic on the road didn't help either.
 When we reached Dona Paula, the sun had finished it's day's work like an honest government employee.

 So that left me relying on private light sources for the photographs.

I opened the camera lens widest it can and made the shutter wait a long before it can blink to let sensor grab enough light to build a photograph.  Dona Paula by night... Looks good isn't it!

Oh dear! It was dark and road back to Palolem was long.
Trees both side and no one to ask directions, road was scarily quiet, when we reached near our shack the meter was reading 205 KM. This wasn't much compared to 400+ KM I covered in a day during Karnataka bike trip, but that was during day on NH4, this one was real scary!

Bike Trip: Pune to Kashid via Tamhani - Phansad

On a boring Sunday morning when the time was crawling its way towards 10 am, Avani and I decided to do something about it. I had already applied a leave for Monday (with no particular plan in mind).

We thought Harihareshwar can be a good option, I called Hrishi to check if he (along with his better-half) is available, he was not, but he gave me the idea to take this route to Kashid beach.

If you are one of those who believe ‘journey is half the fun’ then this one is for you!

There are still few things google is unaware of, this is one of those! Google maps suggests route Pune – Khopoli – Pen – Alibag – Kashid. But the route we hit the road for, goes via awesome tamhani ghat and phansad wildlife sanctuary.

We crossed chandni chowk and paud gaon in quick time to reach mulshi area. It's always a pleasure to drive alongside the mulshi backwater.

Tamhani ghat is awesome during the monsoon but it isn’t bad either during February, It was all green and yellow.

Crossed Kolad and reached Roha, had food in Roha and left for Phansad. The road to Phansad via Roha is a bit confusing. I always rely on local intelligence but this time they misguided me by saying one can’t go to Kashid from Roha via Phansad. Ignoring it, we continued our journey to Phansad but this made me overcautious.

Problem with reaching Kashid beach is, it is less known (really!) so none of the direction boards on this route will you guide for Kashid until you are close to Kashid.

However, reaching Phansad, a left turn from the highway and we were in jungle!

So we crossed Phansad and Supegoan and entered Nandgoan, This was the first sight of sea for us. Some say Nandgoan beach is also a good time to spend, as there is no crowd there; it is as good as a private beach.

We reached Kashid around 4:45 pm and directly went to beach, atmosphere was nice. This was what I was driving for around last 5 hours!

We spent some time around the beach while Avani had her best tea till the date from one of the thelas near the beach. Then we started our search for accommodation, we checked-in in Nisarga Resort. Owner said the rate was Rs 4000 per day but agreed on Rs 1800 finally. Still, Avani felt I paid more for the place and I agree with her; I am not even a decent bargainer. Good thing about the resort was it was clean and that was enough.

We were back on the beach again!

Sea really makes you feel small…

It was getting better and better as the sun was going down.

With the sun getting weaker, the crowd also got thinner as it was a Sunday evening and most of the people have to go back to work next day.

We managed few good clicks together...

I woke up early in the morning to meet the sea again. I was almost alone one the beach. It feels as better in the morning as it feels in the evening on a beach.

I could not get any good clicks in the morning but I did get an unusual and unexpected friend there. I played around with my friend until I got exhausted!

Some facts about Kashid:
1. They don’t sell sprit there.
2. You can’t do a business there, it is only for locals.
3. Stall near the beaches can’t keep servants at work so whole families are at work there. This also means one can only own one stall there.

We left for Pune around 11 am and choose to take the same route. On the way back, came across this tree with beautiful flowers on it. We could not get time to get in to the Phansad wildlife sanctuary, we left it for our next trip.

For the ones who are interested in taking up this route to Kashid, following is the route to follow.

Warje – chandni chowk – Paud – Mulshi – Tamhani – Kolad – Roha – Chanera - Phansad – Supegaon – Nandgaon – Kashid.

Caution: Not for the people who believe straight and good roads always makes a better trip :)

Decos Trip 2010 - Candolim Goa

On occasion of Decos India completing 10 years, company arranged a trip, and what could be a better place than Goa!

On Mar 12 we all left Pune around 11 pm in two Bercedes Benz and one Volvo. In Goa we had a two night stay at Candolim beach Hotel Fortune. Hotel is good, food is okay, I recommend heavy breakfast for veggies rather than expecting too much from buffet lunch , Hotel has its own spa, pool and gym.

 It was my first encounter with Mercedes Benz bus so I was happy, good start  :)

Had very a motivating session on Decos culture day and Flight of Imagination

I hit the beach early in the morning to get good snaps, However, too much fog was bit of a spoiler.

Sight of sunrise is always very inspiring to me

I have been to many beaches in Goa, but it was by first time on Candolim beach. Beach is clean and nice. It is kind of private beach as people staying in nearby hotels are the only visitors here. However, I would still rate Palolem beach of Goa much higher!

They say this ship is ported here since last 10 years, it came to this beach in year 2000, What a Waste! I had a good swim here though this beach is said to be not so safe to swim due to presence of this ship.

Another View. Even though it is visually pleasant to see such a huge vessel so close to a tourist beach, a large section of the beach has already been washed away because of the presence of the MV River Princess. Presently the ship is under legal battle.

These air bags would probably be used while moving this ship away fron the beach.

 Follow Me! Perfect Manager :) 

My worst fears came in reality when Admin and HR decided to take us to Calangute beach. I knew a good sunset photo on Goan sea will remain for my next trip here.The beach was as crowded as it can be! 

Well, while I left 'sunset over sea' snap for my next trip here, I did manage to capture the sun over trees.

I could capture these even when a lot of crowd around the scene. Thanks to my super zoom wide angle SP 590 UZ!

The King Bird Eagle. I always wanted to capture this bird, and I got it where I least expected. That's life anyway :-)

After sunset went wrong, I thought nothing can go wrong now, but one should never underestimate planning committee. Next big thing was a cruise ship ride. I was actually excited about it earlier, however what I didn't know was, it was the same thing I used to see in Mandovi river of Panji and think I am never going to ride this. Look at the crowd there, I opted for feet safety over wearing my dancing shoes for that floor.

 Next morning, I enjoined para-sailing and water bike ride for a sum for rupees 500. But if you are any fairer or darker than normal Indian skin, be ready to pay 10 times more for these things ;-)

My Team!

Decos Family. Do not try to find me there, I am in style = "display: none;"

 Some fun on the road back to Pune :). My (terrible) dancing skills were on display.