[sameer sultan]

Hey Avi nice write up with pics. My first 1000km trip in the Cruze was to Goa and I have been intending to write a travelogue but haven't done so. Was really happy to read yours.

After a 12 hour drive you were looking fresh in one of the pics!! Guess its the Cruze effect.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by idea

Was in Goa during same time. We might have crossed especially at baga. Though pune is closer to goa compared to Hyd, had to opt for to and fro flight instead of car :-( due to time contraints and kiddo.

Also posted something about goa here..

Oh! That nice and unfortunate at the same time. We could have met up at Baga had we known

Originally Posted by sameerpb

Nice Travelogue, The route directions are really useful. This time I tried different route Hyderabad - Ponda & Margao by Bus and Margao - Belgaum by train and Belgaum - Hyderabad again by bus. Rather we met in Goa needless to say I was there in Goa at the same time. This time Margao - Belgaum by train was a memorable journey and that was very nature loving experience in its kind specially Dudhsagar Falls and Kulem. While coming back to Hyderabad came by same route in 8-9 hours

I didnt quite understand. Did you travel by car or by bus?

And, you returned from Goa to Hyderabad in 9 hours by car or bus?

Originally Posted by rahul_sinha

Great travelogue mobike, I had been to Goa in Oct last year on Cruze, for ONE full week. We had stayed at Varca beach resort - IMHO most pristine beach. Martin's corner, wood oven pizza @Baga (Moon Star restaurant), Mum's Kitchen, a shack at Palolem.

Memories rekindled, thanks for sharing.

I had been to Mum's Kitchen during this trip. Palolem is always a great place to spend a relaxed afternoon lying on the beach.

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Hey Avi nice write up with pics. My first 1000km trip in the Cruze was to Goa and I have been intending to write a travelogue but haven't done so. Was really happy to read yours.

After a 12 hour drive you were looking fresh in one of the pics!! Guess its the Cruze effect.

Thanks Sameer. Due to heavy workloads and a bit of travel i dont get to spend too much time myself these days. Cruze is a wonderful car for long distance trips. It munches miles like nobody's business and still leaves you fresh by the end of it. As you can see from my continous 7 hour drive behind the wheel. Didnt get up even for a moment.

Besides, reaching goa from hyderabad in 11 hours is kind of my personal best

Will continue the pictorial tomorrow and sunday.......

[mobike008]

Feb 25th

We got up had a maharastrian breakfast of pohe and missal in a small joint on the Baga road. The pohe was simply outstanding and it can be that perfect only in Maharastra.

Our agenda for the day was to ride to old goa which was roughly 40kms from Baga.

CAUTION : I was over-confident that cops will not be too serious about the helmet rule. So i rode the bike without one as i was mostly cruising at 40kmph. Just before crossing the bridge to Panjim, a whole bunch of cops tried pouncing on me and I didnt stop. People on the bridge were giving me crazy glances as if i had comitted a federal misdemeanour

On return, I was not that lucky. We were stopped opposite to IOC petrol bunk in Panjim and I was glad to pay Rs.100 as fine.

This day, we spent going to following places and you will see pictures of these places in this post

Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa which is one of the oldest churches in goa. I have visited this church many times in the past and even wifey saw it once. But, we still decided to go there again.

Something about this church draws you to it. Peaceful atmosphere and lot of history, perhaps !!

[Fordmanchau]

LOL!! The helmet episode must be fun! It's been ages I have done that . We used to do it in my hometown, though I used to have helmet on mostly.

Looking at the pics of the church, it does have something to pull back to itself again and again. The grandeur of the building says, it has seen different times and still stands today to reflect all that it has witnessed. It must be quite and peaceful on the inside.
Liked the candle pics.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

LOL!! The helmet episode must be fun! It's been ages I have done that . We used to do it in my hometown, though I used to have helmet on mostly.

Yeah, it was fun as long as I didnt get flagged down. But, honestly anyone riding a bike and intends to step out of North Goa towards Panjim city or beyond should wear a helmet mandatorily.

After paying the fine, we headed off towards Fort Aguada which is in opposite direction of Baga/Calangute area.

This was our last beach destination of this trip. It is always fun to watch the distant ships in the horizon at Fort Aguada and some of those ships were taken at full optical zoom (12X) from my P&S

After that we went to a nice place called " The Curry House" which is on the return from this beach for a sumptious lunch which consisted of exotic mocktails, chicken kebabs, tadka dal and white rice. The food was extremely good here and we enjoyed our time sitting in this place which is right on the roadside.

[mobike008]

Towards the evening, we made a quick trip to Panjim to see the famous church in Panjim and have a quick light meal at Sher-e-Punjab before heading back to Baga to check out the Mackie's Saturday Night baazar which was simply a fun-place to be.

Btw, stopped at the IOC petrol bunk at the main circle of Panjim city to tank up and I was impressed by its size, cleanliness and up-market construction.

This is like the popular wednesday flea market that happens in Anjuna Beach but, this was much better organized and was by a small lake and with many facilities inside including live food counters ( tried out a burger which was priced at Rs.150)

There were an amazing german couple who performed a dare-devil fire act which kept most of the on-lookers hooked for a long time ( a video of it coming up in next post) and there was also a live rock band which performed popular classic rock and bollywood songs and by 10pm that place was rocking like anything with a huge population of foreigners dancing away to glory with equal gusto on english as well as hindi songs.

[mobike008]

Here is a video of the germans performing the fire show. Quite a splendid act, I must say

Goa Fire Show.3GP - YouTube


This band consisting of young peformers kept the night rocking with some lively songs. Here is their rendition of "Kolaveri Di"


Goa Kolaveri - YouTube

[vivekiny2k]

thanks mobike008, nice pics!

Thanks for reminding all over again.

[ranjitp1]

Nice T-logue Avi,thanks for sharing,looks like you finally crossed the barrier of 12hrs to Goa.

PS Did you notice(I am sure that it was coincidental)but in your last post of having a light meal at Sher-E-Punjab,the post is immediately followed by a picture of you in front of a masala pappad!!Light meal after all

[vnabhi]

The fire show by the foreign couple was really nice.

By the way, Sher E Punjab looks a bit different in your pictures.

Please continue the travelogue.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Yeah, it was fun as long as I didnt get flagged down. But, honestly anyone riding a bike and intends to step out of North Goa towards Panjim city or beyond should wear a helmet mandatorily.

If I am not mistaken, the use of helmet is compulsorily those traveling along the highways and it is exempted within cities/villages. I believe that helmets SHOULD be encouraged while traveling on any road here in Goa, given the frequency of road mishaps in the State.

Please don't mind me saying so, but somehow I didn't see the funny side of you evading the traffic police while they were trying to intercept you for riding without a helmet. I regularly see many such tourists (and even locals) who try to escape from the clutches of the police. Many fail to acknowledge the risks of riding without a helmet here in Goa. With relatively light traffic (as compared to the metros) there is a tendency for vehicles to over speed here in Goa and two-wheelers rarely stand a chance in the unfortunate event of a collision.

Having said that, some of the snaps in your travelogue are excellent. Enjoyed reading your experiences of Goa too.

[octane78]

Awesome travellogue Avinash. It is rekindling the desire to travel soon to Goa again.

Excellent pictures and a lovely trevellogue.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

The fire show by the foreign couple was really nice.By the way, Sher E Punjab looks a bit different in your pictures.

Yeah, the show in person was quite exciting. What you mean by the restuarant looks different?

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

PS Did you notice(I am sure that it was coincidental)but in your last post of having a light meal at Sher-E-Punjab,the post is immediately followed by a picture of you in front of a masala pappad!!Light meal after all

Yeah, finally. Goa is now reachable in ~ 11+ hours !!!


Masala Papad is light food. Isnt it?

Originally Posted by misquitas

Please don't mind me saying so, but somehow I didn't see the funny side of you evading the traffic police while they were trying to intercept you for riding without a helmet. I regularly see many such tourists (and even locals) who try to escape from the clutches of the police. Many fail to acknowledge the risks of riding without a helmet here in Goa. With relatively light traffic (as compared to the metros) there is a tendency for vehicles to over speed here in Goa and two-wheelers rarely stand a chance in the unfortunate event of a collision.

Having said that, some of the snaps in your travelogue are excellent. Enjoyed reading your experiences of Goa too.

No offense. I was not trying to make fun of that incident but, just trying to add a tinge of humour to that anecdote. Actually when your coming from Baga to Panjim just before the bridge the road slopes down considerably and you tend to go faster than normal. By the time, I realized those cops were trying to flag me down, i had already passed them and i simply continued as stopping after 500 meters doesnt make sense.

Also, I agree helmets in goa especially on highways is a must due to fast moving traffic


Feb 26th

We got up at 6:30am and check out by 7:30am and were on our way back to Hyderabad. All these pictures during our return trip to hyderabad which was done in roughly 11.50 hours.

This is the stretch that is horrible just before goa check post



















The bridge that you see in this picture is NH-4. Instead of going straight on below NH-4, I had taken a detour while going to goa




P.S: Next post you will see a few lovely snaps of " White Annihilator"

[vnabhi]

@mobike008---what I meant was that the interiors of the restaurant look quite different to what we'd seen in Oct 2009. Perhaps it is another wing.

By the way, the picture of the lake (pic # 2 of above post)---is that at Sawantwadi?

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Feb 26th

We got up at 6:30am and check out by 7:30am and were on our way back to Hyderabad. All these pictures during our return trip to hyderabad which was done in roughly 11.50 hours.

P.S: Next post you will see a few lovely snaps of " White Annihilator"

Hey Avi, an excellent travelogue loaded with information. Thanks for the same. I am planning a drive to Goa in May with wife and son. Though May is a wrong time to visit Goa, but then better go at the wrong time than risk delaying the trip till God knows when.

Can you share some more info on the siteseeing spots in Old Goa.

Btw, looking forward to seeing the White Annihilator