27th November 2013, 00:43
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| Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 TRIP: BANGALORE - GOA - JOG FALLS - MURDESHWAR - MANGALORE -BANGALORE TOTAL DISTANCE COVERED: approx 1600 kms VEHICLE: i10 My first visit to Goa was in the monsoon of 2010. It was a very short trip; unplanned and impulsive. The beaches in Goa wore a deserted look, it was raining most of the time and there were no shacks. But still there was this magic that is hard to explain. I got hooked on Goa and this led to repeat visits in 2011, 2012 and now in 2013; all in almost the same time i.e. the first week of November. There are reasons why I prefer to visit Goa in the first week November. The post monsoon tourism season in Goa starts on the first of November, so you have the beach shacks just ready, there is less crowd compared to the peak season and accommodation is less expensive. In 2011 we went to Goa as regular tourists, we had pre-booked our room at an upscale hotel near Sinquerim beach and had planned our day-to-day activities. It was a 5 day trip and we did most of the usual things: day 1 was all about water sports at Calangute beach followed by a visit to Anjuna Beach, Chapora Fort and Wagator beach and culminating with a dinner at Brittos at Bagha beach. Day 2 we was dedicated to Old Goa (Basilica of Bom Jesus and other historical monuments) and shopping for wine and cashew nuts. on Day 3 we visited the spice plantation and had the boring lunch there followed by the usual beach shack, Tito's, casino and so on. But it was the Day 4 that had the most significant impact on us, or should I say on me, it was this day that we visited the Palolem beach , which is at the southern end of Goa. The beauty and serenity of this beach blew me away. Calm waters, clean and soft sand, less crowd and some wonderful beach shacks and huts. From this day on Goa for us became Palolem. In 2012 we stayed at Palolem in Cafe Del Mar beach cottage for full five days and we hardly missed the happening North Goa. In 2013, Goa beckoned us again and we went back to Palolem beach one more time for a five day trip but this trip turned out to be the most exciting one , particularly for its climax. Day 1 (JOURNEY AND THE USUALS): We started from Bangalore at sharp 1am in my friend's i10. We had anticipated that we will reach Canacona (Palolem) at 10am in the morning. I was supposed to drive non-stop till 5am from where my friend had to take the charge till we reached Goa. Our route was quite a simple one Bangalore- Haveri- Bankapur- Hubli Karvar road- Karvar- Canacona- Palolem. This was a route that we were well versed with and everything looked promising at the start. However, we were in for some ugly surprises. When we hit the yeshwantpur fly-over, we were greeted by one of the longest traffic jam that I have ever seen; starting from midway on the fly-over till the toll booth. It took us almost 40 mins to cross the toll booth. The traffic on NH4 was insane , it seemed as if everyone was running away from Bangalore. Trucks , buses, cars etc., chocked the road and I could just manage an average speed of 40kmph. This was not what we had hoped for when we started at 1am in the night from Bangalore. Adding to our woes , when I took a diversion intending to cut through a similar jam at a toll booth after Tumkur (as directed by my dear friend) a KSRTC bus scraped through our car ,hitting the right side view mirror , denting the fender and unhooking the bumper (from the right end). This is the first time something like this had happened while I was driving and it completely shook me. We stopped after the toll booth to assess the damage and were surprised to find that it was not as bad as we had thought it to be. We pushed in the bumper and it somehow got latched in place, the side view mirror had some ugly scratches but that's all. I continued driving, it took me sometime to overcome what had just happened but I quickly gained my composure. Thankfully, we could do an average of 60kmph from this point on. By 5 o'clock we had covered a measly 175kms, it was disheartening to say the least. I gave the reigns of the car to my friend at this point and went in the back seat to take a nap. I woke up 7 at Haveri where we stopped for some coffee and snacks. The Kamath restaurant where we alighted was jam packed , so many cars and so many people. This quite explained the mad rush on NH4. We left from there at 7:30, driving down a couple of minutes we stopped next to a beautiful Sunflower field to take some quick snaps. Having satiated our photographic appetite we continued further and after a short while we took the diversion towards Bankapur.   Most people travelling on NH4 normally drive till Hubli and then take a diversion for Karwar, but we prefer Bankapur link road because it is very beautiful and good to drive on; except for few bad patches which can be ignored. why Bankapur-Yellapur road and not Haveri-Hubli-Yellapur? Bankapur -yellapur road has a total distance of 69 kms and a drive time of around 1 hr 15mins. Whereas, Haveri-Hubli-Yellapur has a total distance of 125 kms (approx) and a total drive time of 2 hrs 10 mins (approx). So you save about 50kms and almost an hour , in addition you drive is more scenic. So next time , probably you can try it out. There are plenty of lakes en route, a quaint little Tibetan village and some beautiful forests.   We reached Yellapur crossing at around 10am, from this point onwards I drove the car all the way to Palolem ( Canacona, Goa). The road from yellapur to Canacona through Karwar ( NH63) is a delight to drive on. Traffic was sparse and the road condition was good; I could easily do an average speed of 80kmph despite it being a ghat section. It took us a total of 2.5 hrs to cover this last stretch of around 140 kms, including a tea/refreshment break of around 20 mins or so. We reached the parking lot outside Palolem Beach at 12:30. Having parked our car, we went to Cafe Del Mar Beach huts, where we had stayed during our previous visit, only to be disappointed by the fact that it was not yet ready. It seemed that the season had not started and most of the beach huts were yet being constructed. It took us some searching but we finally found a place and we were happy that it was quite cheap, just Rs1000 per day, even though it was beach facing.  We had lunch at a shack called Cuba. After resting for a while we hit the beach and the warm water of the sea rejuvenated our spirits. Palolem beach is really exotic, it has soft sand with shallow and even sea bed which means you can walk straight into the sea for more than 50 ms and yet the water will be only chest height. Normally, the waves are not very strong and for those who love swimming in the sea, this beach is a paradise. We kept soaking in the sea till the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Our first day culminated with some delicious snacks and a wonderful dinner. some pictures from day 1-  DAY 2 (BEING AN EXPLORER): I got up early in the morning and went on the beach with my camera. I love taking long walks in the morning on a beach, it's just so freshening. The mood and the environment is so relaxing that it motivates me to get up early, otherwise I am so not a morning person. I decided that I will explore the southern side of the beach I had not done in my previous visits to Palolem. I clicked pictures of almost all the beach huts for reference purpose, in case I or others visit the beach again. I was surprised to find some beautiful beach huts which I was not aware of, particularly one called 'The Art Resort'.     As I walked towards the southern end I was more than surprised to find a small lagoon, which is very beautiful. Also, there is a hillock there which has access through a wooden foot bridge.    Just after passing the bridge you will see stairs winding through huge rocks. After climbing the stairs I found that tucked between huge boulders are few huts which seemed empty , an amazingly beautiful restaurant (shack) and a shop that sells handicrafts and some fusion apparels. After the shop the stairs go down and there is a winding path that takes you to another set of stairs which go down. When I went down I was delighted to find that there is another small beach ( an extension of Palolem) which is very private , as hardly any of the regular tourists know about it , I myself was discovering it in my third visit to Palolem. This beach is small with a narrow strip of sand and right at the edge of the sand are two very beautiful beach huts and a restaurant. I have decided that when I visit Palolem the next time , it is here that I am going to stay. One of the Beach Huts is interestingly called 'The Bridge and Tunnel Beach Huts and restaurant.' I took few snaps and identified one spot where I planned to come in the evening to take some sunset snaps.    However, I was in for few more surprises, as I crossed this small beach I came to another hillock and a flight of stairs. I climbed them and found myself staring at another hidden place, it's called the 'THE NEPTUNE'. On enquiring with few workers , who were initially reluctant to talk, I found that it is here that the famed 'SILENT NOISE PARTY' of SOUTH GOA happens every Saturday during the peak season, and I was elated to know that there was one that night ( it was a Saturday - 2nd November ). I took few snaps and exited the restaurant, I walked further to find myself on a paved road. Walking further on that road I saw another beach that looked very different from all that I have seen till date. A small fishing beach with lots of small rocks and a beautiful green tree in the sea, how is it possible? I spoke to a lady who was walking by and found out that this beach is called 'Colomb' beach.  By this time I was tired and the sun had started showing its presence, it was 8:30 and I realized I have been on the move for almost 3 hrs, and yes I had to go back too. I retraced my steps , took few more pictures and returned to my hut at 9:30 to find my friend looking curiously at me.   For the remaining part of the day I relaxed in one of the shacks, gulped a few drinks and completed a half read novel ( Chasing the monsoon by Alexander Frater).    In the evening at sharp 5:30 I went back to the spot that I had marked for some sunset shots. The walk seemed very long in the evening and it looked like I would miss the sunset, so I had to run , I climbed the foot bridge and hurried towards my spot just to catch the sun moments before it set at 6:00 pm. I did set up my tripod and plugged in my remote shutter release so that I could take some interesting shots with long exposures to create a dreamy kind of effect.    Later in the night after having our dinner and at 11 pm, we went to 'THE NEPTUNE' to experience the much anticipated SILENT NOISE PARTY. Walking to the place was slightly uncomfortable as the small beach that I had been to in the morning was completely submerged because of high tide. We had to walk along its edge , wading through knee deep water. When we reached our spot ,we found on enquiry that there is a Rs600 entry charge ( not cover charge as nothing is included in it except a welcome drink i.e. strawberry juice laced with vodka ). On paying up you receive a wireless headphone which has some volume controls and a switch to change channels ( giving you choice to listen to your preferred DJ). As you change channels the colour of the earpiece changes, so you know how many people are tuned to the same DJ. They have food and beverages counter and the prices are quite affordable. Initially the party looked boring , there were few performances - fire dance and acrobatics, the music was ok, and the videos being projected on two huge screens were clichéd. However late into the night the crowd grew thick and the DJs delivered some great music. Overall, I can say it was an okay kind of party not mind-blowing, the only upside was that it was new for first-timers like me. We came back to our huts at 3:30 am, and thus ended a happening day at Palolem. DAY 3 ( EVENING AT CHAPORA FORT): Next morning I got up late i.e. at 8:30 am and did head straight to a shack to have my morning tea. I joined my friends for breakfast at 9:30 and they proposed that we should go to NORTH GOA, for a change. Since 2011, I had not gone to North Goa, it is not the kind of place that I like anymore. However, there is one place that I admire and that is Chapora Fort. The thought of spending a quiet evening at Chapora fort got me excited and I agreed for the trip. We started from Palolem at 10:30 and reached Bagha Beach at 1 pm. After having our lunch at Britto's and thanking our decision to stay away from the madness of North Goa, we started towards chapora. We reached chapora late in the afternoon and took the climb. By the time we reached the top all of us were quite thirsty so we walked towards a vendor who was selling some cool drinks. The boy ( vendor) turned to be a huge Salman fan and he was visibly upset by the fact that tourists associate Chapora fort with - in his words - the "three monkeys" ( Amir, Akshay and Saif). He described how the place was made famous by Salman first and to prove his point he named a list of movies ( starring Salman) which had been shot there. Now we know why Salman movies rake in the moolah; he has such diehard fans. Chapora Fort has always captured my imagination, I love the many textures that it offers. The expanse of sun dried grasses which take a golden hue in the evening, the dark colour of the fortified walls and the glistening water of the ocean illuminated by the setting sun, all add to the magic of the place. I took some pictures and gazed into the vastness of ocean till my eyes were tired and my friends exhausted. By the time we left chapora it was almost dark , I took the onus of driving all the way till Palolem, we reached Palolem at 9:30.   Last edited by GTO : 28th November 2013 at 16:16. Reason: Removing inappropriate pictures. Please avoid, thanks |
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27th November 2013, 10:51
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27th November 2013, 20:15
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| Re: Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 continued from previous posts.. some more pics of chapora fort:       DAY 4 ( TEST OF ENDURANCE: GOA-GOKARNA-JOG FALLS-MURDESHWAR-MARVANTHE- MANGALORE- BANGALORE) Next morning we decided to return to Bangalore through a different route, we wanted to experience the famed coastal highway - NH17. Our plan was to go from Goa to Mangalore covering Gokarna, Murdeshwar, Marvanthe beach and Udupi (Kaup Beach ) and then from Mangalore to Bangalore to experience the Bangalore -Mangalore highway (NH48-NH75). Little did we know what was to unfold in this journey and what perils lay ahead for us. The total distance to be covered was around 700 kms and we anticipated that this entire trip would take approx 15 hrs or so. I took the steering wheel at sharp 8:30 from Palolem . I drove nonstop till we reached Gokarna at 11 am , we went straight to the beach but were disappointed because it is so dirty and unattractive. There are two more beaches in Gokarna apart from the main one, the paradise beach and the OM beach. However, we decided that we didn't have enough time to explore all so we started off towards Murdeshwar. While I was driving towards Honavur which is on the way towards Murdeshwar and is 50 kms from Gokarna we saw a karnataka tourism board giving the distance reading for JOG FALLS. HONAVUR- JOG FALLS - HONAVUR At the spur of the moment our plan changed and we decided that we should also cover JOG FALLS. Jog falls is 60 km from Honavur on the Honavur -Shimoga road , so this meant that we had to take a detour of 120 kms but considering that its mostly ghat section we figured out it should take no more than 4hrs to cover it and come back to NH17. And so it was, we drove all the way to the falls , starting at 12:00, there was not much water there but yet it was a pleasing sight. While driving back from Jog falls towards Honavur we stopped at a view point and witnessed an incredible view of the valley. We took a turn at place which gave directions towards some island there, we drove all the way to the river but didn't take a boat to the island. It was all happening very fast and completely impromptu. We touched NH17 at Honavur at 4:30. The detour took 4 and a half hours but it was worthwhile.   HONAVUR- MURDESHWAR-MARVANTHE -MANGALORE Murdeshwar is 28 kms from Honavur crossing, the road is both beautiful and maintained. It was a short pleasant drive to Murdeshwar. We reached Murdeshwar beach at 4:45 in the evening and headed straight to the RNS sea facing restaurant to fill our starving bellies. We had some snacks and coffee and felt reinvigorated. Murdeshwar beach is very beautiful but is also too crowded, what made our day was the beautiful and majestic Shiva Statue and the towering temple. This place was truly deserving of all the hardships that we undertook to reach it. We left Murdeshwar at 5:15, it was just a half hour stay there but yet we felt satisfied.      Then, I handed over the car to my friend and it was his turn to drive. The road was okay and we hoped that we would reach Marvanthe just to catch the setting sun at 6pm. Marvanthe is just 48kms from Murdeshwar and it was a reasonable target. The road was smooth till Bhatkal and we felt reassured that we were right on track, however as we crossed Bhatkal the road started deteriorating and once we reached a place called SHURURU there was no road left to drive. The road condition was pathetic to say the least and this threw us off target. We reached Marvanthe beach at 6:30 way past the sunset. Marvanthe beach is so beautiful, it is the most soothing beaches that I have been to, quiet , endless and pristine. The parallel backwaters make the place magical. By the time we reached marvanthe it was almost dark , yet, using long exposures I could manage some good snaps.  By now it was quite clear that we couldn't cover beaches in Udupi, there was no point as it was already night by then. So, we decided to continue the drive towards Mangalore. The road from marvanthe beach to Mangalore via Udupi is in a sorry state and it was a struggle to manage an average speed of even 40kmph. The 108 kms from marvanthe to Mangalore took us 3 hours. We reached Mangalore at 10 and felt relieved thinking that at least after this the Mangalore-Bangalore highway must be in good condition and our journey would not be so stressful. We stopped at a shabby looking 'family restaurant and bar' to have a quick dinner, before starting for Bangalore. MANGALORE TO HASSAN We started from Mangalore at 10:45, my friend suggested that he would drive till Hassan which is midway and then from there I would drive all the way to Bangalore. The total distance to be covered was 350 kms and we hoped we could clock it in 6hrs. None of us had the faintest idea of the nightmare that we were about to experience. We used our GPS to navigate towards NH48 as it was supposed to take us all the way to Nelamangala crossing ( Bangalore). Once we hit NH48 we were very happy; this was the last leg of the journey and the road condition was good to start with. After driving for around 10-15 kms on the highway we hit the first rough patch with lots of potholes. We said to ourselves that this might be a one off patch and we hoped that the highway would be smooth from there. But as we drove further the road conditions started deteriorating, it became difficult to maintain any momentum. We could see plenty of Volvo buses passing by which gave us some confidence. Keeping fingers crossed, we kept driving till we reached a place called Nellyadi , which is around 35 kms from Mangalore. We stopped there for tea and spoke to some locals to ask them of the road conditions ahead; they informed us that it was not good but that it's manageable. We continued driving but after just a km or so we hit a very rough patch of road and from this point onwards there was NO ROAD AT ALL till we reached Sakleshpur, which is 58 kms from Nellyadi. It took us more than 5 hrs to cover this patch of 58 kms and I can say that there is no worse road that I have ever seen in my life. My advice to anyone planning to drive from Mangalore to Bangalore on NH48 is that - just FORGET IT, if not for anything else at least have mercy on your car. This road from Nellyadi to Sakleshpur is axle breaking, neck fracturing and nightmarish to say the least. From Sakleshpur the road till Hassan is Ok, but after having driven through the most unimaginably bad road of your life it will feel blissful to you. We reached Hassan at 5:00am in the morning. It took us almost six hours to cover the 160 kms from Mangalore to Hassan, i.e. an average speed of about 25kmph. HASSAN TO BANGALORE From Hassan the road to Bangalore is like a dream. Just as the road from Mangalore to Hassan is one of the worst in India, the road from Hassan to Bangalore is without doubt the best that I have ever driven on. It took me just 2 and a half hours to cover the 200 km from Hassan; all the way to Koramangala in Bangalore. We reached home at 7:30 and finally a great , fascinating, unplanned and exhausting trip was over. We started from Goa at 8:30 am on the 4th of November and reached Bangalore at 7:30am on the 5th, we were on the road for exactly 23 hrs. My longest drive ever. |
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28th November 2013, 13:56
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28th November 2013, 14:12
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28th November 2013, 14:32
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28th November 2013, 14:43
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| Re: Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 A very well written travelogue Tarique,and beautiful pics to enhance the readers experience. Thanks for sharing. As for the road condition, there are regular updates on the Mangalore- Bangalore stretch and there are several BHpians who have adviced people from taking this road, pity you missed this update. It would have spared you car as well as you all the agony. But looking at it positively, you would never have had a 23 hour drive  |
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28th November 2013, 17:50
| #8 |
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| Re: Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 Excellent pics !!! Especially the one's at chapora fort and waterfalls are breath-taking. Going to read the TL now.  Want to ask you about the cam and lens used ?Cheers |
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28th November 2013, 18:36
| #9 |
| BHPian  Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vasco-Goa
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| Re: Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 Excellent Travelogue man, and the pics are absolutely breath taking. Palolem is wonderful of-course. A few things that came to my mind. 1. It is a common thinking that starting at 1AM is a good idea as the roads would be deserted. But that is what every one thinks and I have seen some of the longest toll jams during these period. I have tried starting at 4 AM and that some what has a leaner traffic. 2. I have always travelled through the Hubli-Kalghatgi-yellapur-Ankola route and this Bankapur road is really a good news to me. will try it out next time. Please give more details about this route, where to take a turn and where the road joins the yellapur road 3. I always read that visitors to Goa / elsewhere stick to one great restaurant / place and tend to revisit it every time they return. Goa or for that matter any place should offer a great variety of stay / food and I feel change is good. So when ever I visit a place for second time or third I try to do something different, may be a different hotel or stuff like that. May be it may not be great, but it would be different. This is some thing like you tried the Mangalore route back instead of the hubli route or the Jog-Sagar-Shimoga route, there were other routes through Udupi-Agumbe-Balehonnur-route. so I feel it is great to try a different stuff for the experience sake 4. Reg the roads, instead of shiradi ghat, you could have tried the charmadi ghat. it was much much better with a small bad stretch and it passes through mudigere to hassan and then the normal route. 5. believe me the road from Hassan to Mangalore via Shiradi ghat was one of the most beautiful / wonderful roads once upon a time and also the road from Mangalore to Goa via the coastal route was one of the best roads to drive. Things got deteriorated after the mining truck movements ( what with 40-60 Tons cargo or more I guess ) and the roads have totally disintegrated. Shiruru stretch is the worst. 6. With sunset missed at Maravanthe, it is 11 Kms from Kundapur, there is this wonderful hotel - Shetty's lunch home where chicken ghee roast is ultimate and most amazing chicken you will taste ever. We used to ride motorcycles from bangalore to KUndapur only to eat this chicken ghee roast during week ends and we called it the chicken run. start from Blr on bike on saturday morning, reach kundapur by evening, eat the ghee roast, go to maravanthe and sunday morning ride back to Blr. so next time if you are anywhere near Kundapur, make it a point to visit Shetty Lunch home. 7. Explore Patnem which is adjacent to Palolem next time as it is more secluded and exclusive and just a bit wee more breathtaking. overall a wonderful trip log and most amazing pics. Loved it to the core  |
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29th November 2013, 11:49
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29th November 2013, 14:00
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29th November 2013, 17:48
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| Re: Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 Thanks to all for your wonderful comments!! I feel motivated to write more travelogues. Quote:
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30th November 2013, 12:50
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30th November 2013, 17:26
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30th November 2013, 18:21
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| Re: Bangalore to Goa & more: November 2013 Quote:
As AshKamath has also mentioned. This ghat is called the Shiradi ghat and is rather infamous for the ever so non existent roads ever since the Beijing Olympics. All the possible iron / iron ore had been shipped from Bellary/Hospet to Mangalore port by this road. Even though this activity has stopped nearly 4 years ago (ever since the mining ban), the road continues to be tatters. It is very evident that the authorities mend the road only to ensure that it falls apart in the upcoming monsoons. Whenever you plan to charter untested routes, it is always advisable to check Team BHP site. I am cent percent sure, you will have a blog present on every possible route in India. The one for Shiradi Ghat is as below http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...udupi-324.html Cheers | |
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