[Dr.AD]

This is not really a travelogue, because the travel is hardly logged. This is not even my latest travel, but in fact, a year old thing.

Sometimes, in a quiet moment, our mind wanders around our past life and plays with some old memories. For us - the driving enthusiasts - past life typically means past drives, and on such moments, my mind starts replaying some drives from my past. Today, while sitting idle and sipping my evening tea, my mind started replaying my various driving trips throughout 2014. And the thing that immediately struck me was that it was exactly a year ago - the weekend of Jan 18-20, 2014 to be precise - that I drove to Goa and spent a day lazing around on a beautiful beach. What a simple, short, and beautiful trip that was! And I never got out of my laziness and never wrote anything about that drive. But now looking back at those pictures, somehow I felt I should share those here. So here I go.

It was an impromptu plan with a friend and fellow bhpian ragsri. It was indeed a very simple plan: driving from Bangalore to Goa on Saturday, lazing around on a beach on Sunday, and driving back on Monday. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing eventful. But in that non-eventfulness, in that doing-nothing-ness, lies the beauty of that plan. A drive does not have to be adventurous or even challenging to become enjoyable. A simple, routine, relatively relaxed drive to Goa is just equally enjoyable. And that is how this one was.

There isn't really a story to tell here. Just a couple of shots from the car while driving there and back, and then lots of random shots on the beautiful beach. That is all.

And before I start, I should add that the route we took was the usual Bangalore-Hubli-Ankola-Karwar-Goa route (and the same for return trip), and our destination in Goa was a beautiful small beach called Patnem beach. This is one of the southernmost beaches in Goa, and one of the first couple of beaches you hit when you enter Goa from Karwar. Most of the pictures (unless otherwise mentioned) are taken on Patnem beach. And oh, the car was my Maruti Suzuki SX4-ZXi. Actually this is my first travelogue with not even a single picture of the car, and hence I should clarify what car I drove since you would not see that here.

OK, so here are the pictures...

[Dr.AD]

A couple of shots of the views from the car near Karwar:






Our "resort" on Patnem beach. This was in reality not a resort, but just a few beautiful cottages right on the beach. I stayed in this cottage of the left, with a nice pathway leading straight to the beach. Very beautiful setting indeed!




As I walked out on to the beach, this is how our "resort" looked as seen from the beach:






And this is how the beach, with silky smooth sand, looked in the evening light:










A tiny stream flows from somewhere and merges into the mighty Arabian sea. Very poetic:

[Dr.AD]

My "self-portrait" on the beach:




Some more random shots on the beach:














A tiny hill, separating the Patnem and Rajbagh beaches, adds a character to this whole stretch of the coast:






The golden tinge here is not due to any postprocessing of the image. It is actually the natural color of the beautiful evening light that had lit up the whole area:

[Dr.AD]

As I continue my stroll on the beach in the beautiful evening light, I walk past some nice little "beach huts", some beach shacks and restaurants, and as if this was not enough, some beach cricket to add to the fun!


















Our cottages too lit up in the same golden hue of the evening light:




From my veranda, I get a glimpse of the setting sun:




And finally, a couple of shots of the late evening and the sunset:

[Dr.AD]

Next morning brings in fresh range of colors, with the Sun being on the other side. The blue hue of the morning has replaced the golden of the previous evening:




And even more random shots of the beach, as I lazed and walked around the beach:

[Dr.AD]

A quick visit to the neighboring Agonda beach:











Back to Patnem; Sunset and the dinner arrangements at Patnem:

[Dr.AD]

Lazing around even more, while having breakfast on Monday morning:








And then the return drive starts. A random shot on NH17 between Goa and Karwar:




Crossing the bridge over Kali river in the outskirts of Karwar:




Beautiful views from the bridge:






I was told the island seen below is where the famous Devbagh Beach Resort is located. Not sure if it is true:




The windmills rotating in the distance, as we speed across the plateau from Hubli to Bangalore:




And finally, back on the picturesquely straight and flat NH4, where we wrap up our beautiful weekend with some "very good" speeds :-)




Well, that's all folks. Thanks a lot for reading!

[Rudra Sen]

Mod note: Thread moved from Assembly Line to travelogue Section. Thanks for sharing.

[Octane_Power]

Thanks for the beautiful pictures. I felt like I was spending my Sunday afternoon in Goa itself (re-living the memories of past visits)

If possible, next time I'd love to stay here, given that it is so less crowded and looks so serene, rather than other famous beaches which are full of the usual hustle-bustle.

-Bhargav

[ankan.m.blr]

Thank you for the wonderful pics. I have never been to Goa; I had this impression that beaches there are very crowded and dirty (as told by friends). Now your photologue has changed this impression; the long drive itch has started. Please share the accommodation details (booking / pricing etc ). TIA.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

Thanks for the beautiful pictures. I felt like I was spending my Sunday afternoon in Goa itself (re-living the memories of past visits)

If possible, next time I'd love to stay here, given that it is so less crowded and looks so serene, rather than other famous beaches which are full of the usual hustle-bustle.

-Bhargav

Thanks Octane_Power. I agree with you. I have stopped going to the "famous" beaches in Goa, and in all my recent visits, spent time on the less crowded beaches which are really very serene.

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Thank you for the wonderful pics. I have never been to Goa; I had this impression that beaches there are very crowded and dirty (as told by friends). Now your photologue has changed this impression; the long drive itch has started.

Thanks ankan.m.blr. Well, your impression is true about the touristy beaches such as Calangutte and Baga. Those actually belong in "Avoidable Sightseeing Places" thread that is currently in discussion on this forum :-)

However, I would recommend Mandrem and Morjim beaches in North Goa, and Agonda and Patnem beaches (not Palolem - avoid that one) in South Goa, just to name a few. These are really nice and (relatively) less crowded, and in general very serene and clean. If you visit these places, I am sure you will have a great time and come back with a much better impression of Goa.

Another way to enjoy Goa is in monsoons. That is a completely different Goa (very different from your impressions about Goa), and you will have a great time! In my opinion, Goa is one of the best monsoon destinations for a drive from Bangalore and in general experiencing the tropical rains. You can check out my monsoon pictures here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...eam-drive.html

Besides the natural beauty, monsoon is also the time when there are zero crowds on some of the beaches (I have been to Morjim beach in the rains and apart from us, there was nobody there at all), and you get heavy discounts on most of the hotels and resorts.

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Please share the accommodation details (booking / pricing etc ). TIA.

I stayed in a place called Cuba Patnem (if you google it, you will find the details). It was a simple (not a star place) but very nice place on Patnem beach. I really loved it. The prices were around 2K per room per night, if I recall correctly.

[Mr.Boss]

Thanks for the wonderful set of snaps, they do speak a lot. I have never been to Goa and your snaps are tempting me to Visit.

[noopster]

It's so unusual in the middle of a harried work week to suddenly experience a feeling of Zen! Thanks Dr. AD for transporting us to that remote, beautiful beach and especially for doing so in such few words

I spent a couple of days in 2010 on a South Goa beach called Agonda where a family wedding was scheduled (there is a travelogue penned by me on the forum about it as well, in case you're interested!) This is really well-written. Looking forward to more of your travelogues.

[Karthik Gullu]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Thank you for the wonderful pics. I have never been to Goa; I had this impression that beaches there are very crowded and dirty (as told by friends). Now your photologue has changed this impression; the long drive itch has started. Please share the accommodation details (booking / pricing etc ). TIA.

Hi ankan,

North Goa particularly Calangute is one of the best and crowded beach of Goa. However, if you want to do para-sailing, motor boats, ride in banana boat then this is the place for you. Bargain the fare before taking the ride otherwise they charge a bomb. This place is full of shops around, difficult to get even a parking as you are friends already told you .

South Goa is paradise, if you are looking for a peace place to relax at the beach, do yoga and enjoy the silence. The beaches are calm and relatively less crowded with mostly foreign tourists. I would suggest you to visit Agonda beach and stay in Rama Resort if you are not expecting top-end luxury. It is set of wooden cottages / Beach huts with spectacular and serene view of Agonda beach. Accommodation tariff is reasonable with good rooms, food and services. 10 days before he was charging 2.5K for non AC and 3.5K for AC cottages.tariff is subjected to change season wise.

[createrkid]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

There isn't really a story to tell here. Just a couple of shots from the car while driving there and back, and then lots of random shots on the beautiful beach. That is all.



OK, so here are the pictures...

Travelogues need not necessarily contain lines of words now, do they?

The pictures speak for themselves and oh boy! I'm lazying around in my room looking at these and it sure is tantamount to actually being there. Might I ask how the weather was at that time of the year? I haven't been to Goa in years hence the noobish question.