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 😀 😀