Goa Chronicle Part 2

Continued from first part here…

# 6th Nov Day 3 :- Next day, we hired a car. Cars are easily available for hire. One can also rent a car and drive oneself.  It costs 1400 rs for South Goa trip. South Goa trip is for one day and North Goa trip takes another day. We didn’t have time to visit North Goa this time.

First of all we went to  Shantadurga temple at Ponda.

From there one can go to Mangueshi temple but we skipped it as the weather was too hot and in mood to walk. Then we went to Old Goa area which is well-known for its churches. We visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and holds the remains of St.Francis Xavier. Just in front of this church is the Se Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Asia.

By the time we left for Panaji, weather had changed drastically and it was awesome. In Panaji, we had lunch at Casa Moderna on our driver’s suggestion. Rates were quite reasonable and the food was excellent. Service was prompt too even though it was crawling with people. I had ordered a Goan thali…the fried fish covered with rava was simply awesome.

After lunch we headed to Miramar Beach in Panaji. It is actually the shore of Mandovi river.

From there we headed back to Colva. As it was raining we didn’t stop at the Marine Aquarium on the highway. In the evening I did a bit of shopping in the market. Souvenirs and other stuff are over priced in Goa…I guess due to all the foreign tourists. One needs to bargain well 🙂 A typical Goan shop…

#7th Nov Day4: After enjoying the morning in beach, we boarded the train to Pune in afternoon. The train route from Madgaon to Pune is really beautiful. One can also get a gorgeous view of the Dudhsagar Falls as the train passes just in front of it.

Thus my first trip to Goa ended. Looking forward to the next trip to Goa 😀 😀

Goa Chronicle Part 1

So I spent my Diwali vacation in Goa in 2010. 🙂 It was my first trip to Goa and the people to go on the trip were my parents, hubby and I. This time, in my travel post, I have watermarked my photos due to increasing number of photo thefts without proper credit on Internet. Will be doing so in future too. The watermark is the url of my original blog.

# 4th Nov 2010 day 1 :- Arrived at Madgaon early morning from Pune. The feeling of being in Goa starts from Madgaon station itself because of all the cartoon drawings of Mario Miranda on the walls of Madgoan station 🙂 Colva beach is only 10 kms from Madgaon so it is no use staying at Madgaon. So we hired a pre paid taxi to Colva beach. Checked in to Star Beach Resort – a good medium priced family resort just 100 m away from beach. Nice place but bad service and rude staff. 😦

The afternoon and evening of that day was spent at beach only. Colva beach is the best beach of Goa! The sand was so soft and the beach is well maintained, not too crowded like Calanguate or Baga beach and the water is not that deep so less number of lifeguards. People are people ..throwing packets and bottles on beach.. 🙄 It used to get cloudy after 3 pm in Goa and that weather was awesome. It was lovely taking a long stroll on the beach and discovering starfishes, crabs and molluscs on the beach trying to crawl back to sea.

There are good places to eat at Colva beach. There is a Subway outlet and a Cafe Coffee Day place at Colva market area. So I was happy 🙂 There is a Bengali outlet even which serves typical Bong food. So Dad and Mom were quite happy!! 🙂

# 5th Nov 2010 Day 2 :- The system of renting two wheelers in Goa is good. One just needs to have a license and another ID proof. The rates are quite cheap (petrol cost not included) The only strange thing in Goa is the lack of petrol pumps..Colva doesn’t have a single one!! People sell petrol in shops!

Anyway,so D and I hired a Honda Activa for 200 Rs for 8 hrs and went to Panaji which is around 40 kms from Colva. Google Maps app on D’s phone was most helpful..I was backseat driving legally!! It was quite thrilling going on unknown roads. The roadways of Goa are well maintained thankfully. After seeing the number of churches one comes across in Goa, I have named Goa as the land of Churches! One of the Churches on way to Panaji at Utorda –

One of the bridges on Mandovi river on the way to Panaji

It takes 1 hr 15 mins to reach Panaji from Colva on Activa. While we were stretching our legs at a road side bus stop bench, a woman sitting beside us said hello on her own accord. I started thinking how friendly Goan people are! But after sometime when she started to leave, she gave us a brochure of some church/society. I found that bit strange. 😐 After having lunch at an outlet called Edu’s Restaurant, we went to Donapaula, a bay where Mandovi river meets the Arabian Sea.

The clothes market at Donapaula

The famous statues at Donapaula

The view of the bay from Donapaula view-point

Then on our way back, we entered Panaji’s narrow lanes and by-lanes..the city has such a wonderful quaint Spanish sort of look just like in movies. But we didn’t have much time to explore as dark clouds had started gathering. We just visited the famous church at Panaji town square – Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception built-in 1540.

By the time we reached our hotel, it was already dark. Driving in dark in South Goa is risky as it gets quite deserted and there are no streetlights even on highway!!

Ended the day with a wonderful dinner of prawns at one of the outlets at beach (did not have the guts to try squid or shark fin :D) and a stroll on the beach at night.

To be continued….