[denver85]

Here is the second leg on Beach activities and Goa sightseeing.

Oct 24 (Thursday):
This day was reserved for the Beach and pool activities in the resort itself. As usual the vacation time ensured we got up late after having a sound and deep sleep which helped us to recover fully from one day long journey. Since we all came to have a break from our hectic daily schedules no one was ready to leave the bed early. Ship builder and myself managed to escape from our routine office works and Rocket scientist came after completion and submission of his thesis. Moreover it was raining slightly in the late night and at day break. Somehow by 9.00 AM I managed the rest of the two members to wake up and we got ready to have breakfast from outside. Ship builder suggested an Udupi restaurant near the Colva beach near to which he stayed during his previous trip. Went there and had a sumptuous breakfast. We had to wait at the table but the food was tasty and since we are in no way hurry, waited till the food being served. It was around 11.30 AM that we reached back at the resort. Packed up swimming accessories and camera and moved towards private beach which is only a walk long from the resort. Since it was a working day there was on one in the beach except life guards who were taking rest in their cabin and a few people who were busy with some kind of construction work on the beach side.

The way to the Beach

You approach the beach after crossing a bridge

Some beach activities going on

Ready to go for a round


The day was clear as yesterday after the morning drizzle. We actually mean it if we say it was blue meeting the blue with the white sand stretching into. Myself and rocket scientist were more interested to have dip into blue and we made it too. After a couple of snapshots which shipbuilder was very assertive, he also joined us. With all the fun we had, never come to know that time was moving on and we had the mess with no one to interfere.

Chilling in the scorching sun

Waiting for tourists

Yamadev ??


Later on we moved to swimming pool and relaxed over there too. Few people / inmates also joined as for water games and all. As the pool became crowded later in the afternoon we came out and moved to our room. All of us were hungry as we literally forgot about lunch while spending time there in beach and pool.

Some games in swimming pool


Had a quick fresh up and took our cab to move out for lunch. The restaurants on the way to Colva have been closed since it was almost 3.00 PM. Finally went back to the sea food restaurant Kentucky (where we had lunch on the previous day) in the Colva beach and had a nice lunch.

After lunch we were at resort by 4.30 PM. Went back to the beach once again to watch the sunset and check out what all options are available in the Water sports area. Jet Ski and Parasailing were available. The Jet Ski was ruled out as it cannot be used individually instead a person will accompany who will do all the controls. Ship builder tried the Parasailing and said it was a nice experience. Watched a very nice sunset and small dip in the sea we returned to the cottage. Had dinner and went to bad late after some gossiping.

To the beach for the sunset

Parasailing was the main attraction

Enjoying the sunset from the sky

Sun ready for the show

Some reflection

No idea why they parked (anchored) it there

Parasailing boat

A fishing boat

Another shot of Parasailing boat

Ready to touch the water

Shipbuilder decided to try the parasailing

Some sunset shots

[denver85]

Oct 25 (Friday):
Driving around and site seeing was planned on this day. As usual got up very late and got ready for the drive by 10.30 AM. We were planning to have breakfast on the way. Took the route Colva-Majorda-Verna route to reach Panaji. We did not spot (or missed) any good restaurant on the way. We were feeling really hungry and decided to have a late breakfast+ early lunch. Spotted a Dominos on the left side and without much questions we have parked the car in front of the gate. Had some very nice snacks and Pizza there. Everything tasted better than what we get here in Bangalore. While having lunch there we have decided to visit the Chapora Fort as we missed in our 2010 tour. Started from Dominos by 12.45 PM.

Beautiful Goan roads

Paddy fields

Coconut tree separating paddy fields from road


Took the beautiful and traffic free interior routes through Guirim-Vagator to reach Chapora fort by 1.25 PM. It was scorching hot there, but the views around made us to do the uphill to reach the fort. The view was amazing from the top. Ship builder got busy in the enchanting beauty of the fort. So me and rocket scientist moved on leaving behind him. We walked around the fort in the sun were drenched and took rest in-between too. Ship builder took some other way to walk around and made us to wait for some more time since he went in search of every nooks and corners of the Fort. The amazing views of sea and backwaters from the fort made us speechless. Clicked lot of photos there. Once you reach on top of the fort, the nice and cool breeze from the sea side gave some relief to the harsh sunlight. Just a note: there is no shade anywhere in the fort (Other than the entrance which will get filled if 5-6 people are standing) so better to take umbrella, water etc. if you are doing it in a sunny day. Reached back the parking lot at 2.10 PM and bought some cold beverages from the nearby shop to re-hydrate our body. Started back from there by 2.35 PM after ship builder too joined us.

Awesome greenery as seen from Chapora fort

Beach as seen from the Fort

Entry to the fort

A long shot

The backwaters and the sea

Greenery meets the sea

Way to the edge of the fort

The view from there

Backwaters – Another shot

The grass gives an entirely different look the fort

Some more photos of Chapora fort















Next destination was Old Goa. Decided to take the route through the bustling areas like Calagunte-Candolim-Augda. We did not go any of these beaches and Aguda fort since they have been covered in our 2010 trip and moreover we were little bit exhausted after spending that much time in sun. Instead drove to a location near the Aguda jail where we had a very good look at the backwaters and sea. Took some photos there and drove directly to old Goa. In between we stopped at Reis Magos fort which was there right on the road side. Had a few clicks from there also took a halt for some time. The sun has started moving down and cool wind from the backwaters swept over us. Ship builder was trying his experiments on camera using me and rocket scientist and with a smile we followed his instructions.

View from Reis Magos fort


Reached Old Goa by 4.20 PM. Our plan was just to visit the Basilica of Bom Jesus. Even though we have already been there, its architectural beauty which is widely known made us to go there once again. Some renovation works were going on we decided to remain outside also there was crowd since it was a Friday evening. Took some snapshots for outside and we started back from there by 4.45 PM after having ice creams and snacks. It was a direct drive from there towards the resort to reach there by 6.15 PM. Roads were a little bit busy with cabs and bikes moving to have weekend ahead.

Basilica of Bom Jesus



The beach have already been closed when we reached resort so we went to swimming pool and remained there for pretty good time to cool our body and mind. Later on by 8.00 PM we moved back to our cottage. Had dinner together and heavy discussions went on over our golden days in college and how we remained together for those trips which we made in last few years. Later on moved to bed by mid night.

The GPS log for the Goa site seeing is available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B25...it?usp=sharing

The next leg contains the details about our return trip

[NPV]

Deepak - nice travelogue with excellent pictures, thanks for sharing

Looking forward for the remaining portion of the journey.

[denver85]

Here comes the last leg of our trip. It’s the return trip to Bangalore from Goa.

Oct 26 (Saturday):
The final day has arrived. We packed our luggage and made check out by 1000hrs itself. Our initial plan was to take drive to Honnavar, stay at Hotel Kamat Inn and visit Jog falls on Sunday. But some kind of urgency came for our Rocket Scientist and he was asked to be at lab by Sunday morning. So we decided to skip the stay at Honnavar and drive back directly to Bangalore with a halt at Jog. We started from the Club Mahindra by 1000 hrs. We had breakfast from resort itself. Traffic was a little high initially and was reduced as we crossed Canacona. The roads are excellent in this complete stretch. And on such a lazy Saturday morning with dark clouds overspreading the skies, we bid good bye to ever time favourite – GOA and we entered Karnataka state limit after routine checking at Karnataka check post by 1045hrs. Concrete carving - “Karnataka Rajyameim Swagath” on road side made us more or less happy except for the NH17 stretching ahead.

Beautiful roads between Canacona and Karwar

The roads are really good straight once you enter Karnataka

Karnataka welcomes you

The roads formed after cutting the rocks, just before Kali river Bridge

We stopped at the Kali river bridge at 1100hrs for a break and for some snap shots and hit the road soon. Crossed Karwar section by 1150hrs. Traffic was less and roads are excellent in this section with no bad patches at all. We continued our drive through the seducing curves of NH17 and stopped only once, again
for couple of photos. The curvy roads through the cliffs and seaside made us excited.

The Kali river bridge

The coast guard ship was exactly looking at our direction

Hills with full greenery on the other side of the bridge

As usual shipbuilder spotted a railway bridge

Another look of the river joining Arabian sea

Somewhere between Karwar and Ankola

Konkan railways is a constant companion to NH17

All green

Excellent curvy roads

This is just before the Gokarana turn-off

You can see the sea from there

A long shot

Team-BHP – Love cars live cars

Another shot of the Arabian Sea with the backwaters

Excellent roads

Lush greenery around


Reached Kamat Inn at Honavar by 1325hrs and had lunch from there. We chose this particular hotel considering the ship builder’s suggestion; he stayed there some two years back and also during our college days we had a refreshment right from the same hotel when we were on our way to Goa from Bangalore. But the food served was not that much tasty and later we started towards Jog by 1350hrs.

The directions at the Honavar junction


This section has excellent roads through almost dry and vast lands initially and heading into forest afterwards. Traffic was very less as it was a Satruday afternoon. There were some really narrow sections inside the forest section where you will find difficult to give way for oncoming vehicles. Some works were going on at couple of places to increase road width. We reached Jog falls by 1500hrs. The majestic view of Jog was missing since the water level was less when compared to rainy season. But still the beauty made us to spend some 45 minutes in and around and started from Jog falls by 1545hrs.

Beautiful sight as seen from the view point before Jog falls

Another shot

Less water in Jog falls


This is where the water flows to

A dam is also there

The bridge across the river to reach Jog falls

Two more different view of Jog



Rest of the log continues in the next post as the number of photos has reached the maximum 30.

[denver85]

Just starting from there we thought of an alternative plan ie. overnight stay at Shimoga and then to Bangalore by Sunday early morning. Shimoga is the place where we went for the first time since all three of us and this time missed out one person rejoined after our college days. So no one objected my plan and rang up for some hotels, where we stayed last time and also some new hotels but our effort went in vain and everywhere rooms were not available since it was a weekend night. So decided to stick on to our previous plan; drive directly to Bangalore and reaching the city limits in odd ours. In between we stopped for photos at paddy fields near to Thalaguppa railway station.

Thalaguppa- Stopped just to click the beautiful paddy fields

Great Paddy fields

The railway line

On the other side we were able to see Thalaguppa station

Our ride parked beside the beautiful NH209

Another shot of the paddy fields


Later we had tea / snacks from some hotel (hope it’s Sri Pavitra) near Sagara private bus stand by 1635hrs. Started back from there by 1700hrs. Even though I was driving for the whole day, I reluctantly handed over steering to Rocket Scientist hereafter upon his request. Ship builder sitting in front seat was very busy with his camera and so I became the navigator from rear. The roads were really good after Sagara and the traffic was really less. Maintained good speeds in this section and reached Shimoga by 1810hrs.

Excellent roads between Sagara and Shimoga

This was interesting – a Test-drive car from Mysore. Who is that lucky to get such a long test-drive


The traffic was really heavy in the first 4-5 kms along Shimoga-Bhdravati road. It got reduced as we reached the 4-line section. Stopped for a refuel on the Bhadravathi bypass at 1845hrs and by this time Ship builder switched off his camera due to bad lighting and joined me. A small but really bad section of 3-4 kms were there after the Tarikere town. None of the oncoming vehicle drivers don’t know about the dipping option for head lights which added more to chaos. After this stretch roads were very good. And we all dipped into sobriety, rewinding the memories of last few days in mind, smooth drive added more to it.
Waking up, we stopped at the CCD before Arsikere for dinner by 2015hrs. After having sumptuous sandwiches and frappes we started back by 2045hrs and I was back on my favorite seat. There was some festival happening near to the Arsikere town and roads were completely filled with people watching the fireworks on their rides. Took 10 minutes to cross the crowd (Thanks to the driving experience in Bangalore city where chaos is a daily affair).

The CCD near Arsikere

Looks good in the dark


It was a nice drive from there onwards to Tumkur. We reached Tumkur toll booth by taking the bypass by 2235hrs. Other than some bad patches in Tumkur bypass, the roads are really good all the way. As expected the idea of reaching Bangalore in odd hours made the finish of the trip calm and smooth. Traffic was very less and Nelamangala toll booth was empty. We were at Yeswanthpur IISc campus by 2330hrs. Dropped Rocket scientist there and took the Sankey tank-Hebbal-ORR route towards Marthahally. Me and Ship builder reached my home in AECS layout by Oct 27th 0020hrs.
We all split up by Sunday afternoon after having some refreshment and ice creams together.

The gps log is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B25...it?usp=sharing

With that I conclude my so called travelogue…..
Thank you all……