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Old 23rd May 2009, 14:34   #106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by laluks View Post
The NH17 up towards Maharashtra reminds me of Dil Chahta hai, which we missed this time. Dont tempt me yaar, I might just join you for another spin

Don't you worry about tempting...if i'm down there i'll force you to come with me.

Its always good to have enthusiastic travellers with you.the fun multiplies.
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Old 25th May 2009, 20:27   #107
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Quote:
Originally Posted by navpreet318 View Post
Don't you worry about tempting...if i'm down there i'll force you to come with me.

Its always good to have enthusiastic travellers with you.the fun multiplies.
Yes, the fun multiplies
How about me planning a visit to Dehradun? May be sometimes next year.
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Old 25th May 2009, 21:04   #108
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Day 7, May 7, 2009
Devbagh Islad - Karwar - Goa (Varca)


We all were ready for the nature walk by 6Am. Its a refreshing 1 hour walk through the banks of the Sea, Kali river in a little dense greenery. You can see some birds, crabs and the like.

Confluence of Kali River and the Sea
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-cofluence.jpg

Kalibridge as seen from the island
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-kali-bridge.jpg

The boat jetty at the island
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-boatjetty.jpg

Kites
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-kites.jpg

Sea Eagle
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-seeagle.jpg

Crabs
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-crab.jpg
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-crab3.jpg
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-crab2.jpg

After the nature walk we had breakfast and got ready for the dolphin sighting boat ride by 10AM. It is a 30 minute ride into the sea. My kids spotted some dolphins.

By 11Am we were done and were ready to checkout. Took some photos around the place.

Our Cottage
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-cottage.jpg

Other types of accomodation.
Loghut
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-loghut.jpg

Fishermans Hut
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-fisherhut.jpg

Took the boat back to Karwar by 11.30.

My impressions about Devbagh Island Resort of JLR - not worth the money spent. It is 3K per person per night, and nothing special. Avoidable!

We were rolling on NH17 again by around 12Pm to Goa, and reached our resort at Varca by 2PM.


Mangalore and Udipi offers you very little as a holiday destination, but worth a drive through. The ghats around are green, but not as lush as Kerala and most of the ghat roads are plain and uninspiring. It is doable by any car and the drive is just a drive. The temples around are mostly visited by pilgrims - and if you are visiting them thinking they are archeologically great, you will be disappointed.

Further look out for the two wheelers and buses who just have no concern for anybody.

Day 7 till Day 11 was at Club Mahindra Varca resort.

Last edited by laluks : 25th May 2009 at 21:06.
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Old 25th May 2009, 22:09   #109
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Day 7 to Day 11, May 7 to May 11, 2009
Club Mahindra Varca Beach Resort


Took my timeshare holidays with Club Mahindra in their Varca resort. This resort is an RCI gold crown winner for 9 years in a row and offers 5 star facilities.

Reached the resort by 2Pm and checked in. I felt like Bangalore, the resort was overcrowded with families. The parking was almost getting full. The Car rested there all the while!

Civic deserving all the rest after ~1500Kms
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-ciby.jpg


The resort had two swimming pools, both were filled with kids and families.

Pool near the lobby
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-pool1.jpg

Area around this pool
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-pool11.jpg

Second pool near the apartment
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-pool2.jpg

Kids cooling
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-pool22.jpg

The only respite was the beach.

way to the beach
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-beach.jpg

Beach
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-beach.jpg
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-beach2.jpg

The apartment was good, with centralised ac.
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-aprt.jpg

Had a nice walk around the resort and looked at all facilities the resort had to offer, and planned for the next 4 days.

They have three restaurants, with one near the beach. The evening was uneventful and had dinner at their Dune Shack restaurant near the beach.

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You can take your pick of seafood from the display. Tried Lobster, tiger prawns and Pomfret. Cost are very much reasonable with the member discount - Lobster Rs2500/kg, Tiger prawns Rs2250/kg, Pomfret Rs1500/Kg, King fish Rs1500/kg , where as you get the same in Bangalore for less than a third/fourth of this price(except lobster which is hard to source).


Next days, children went to the Fun camps for the full day. It included clay modelling, painting, model making, dancing, films etc. Me and my wifey learnt Salsa, did some ayurveda, sauna etc. For lunch and dinner we hopped around the three restaurants. The Waterfields restaurant near the pool was our favourite. The third restaurant Tamara offered different regional buffets which was good. (Definitely there are restaurants in Baaga which gives you good tasty sea food, but since no one wanted to get out of the resort we were happy with what we had there)

Evenings were at the pool from 4 till 8PM. On the whole lazing around with no care nor concern.
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Old 2nd June 2009, 11:25   #110
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Mods, why dont we keep a bookmark to this thread. Its a bible for those travel from Bangalore to Goa .

I'm planning a short 3-4 days trip to Goa by end of Sept or Oct begin. Trying to collate a must see list and make a memorable trip.
Not sure whether I could proceed for this plan since our son will be just 8 months by then. Confused whether I would have to opt for train and hire a cab for sightseeing or I can opt to drive my car from BLR to GOA.

Last edited by jacs : 2nd June 2009 at 11:36.
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Old 2nd June 2009, 17:17   #111
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Thanks jacs.
With a small kid I'm not too sure for a full drive. Goa will be atleast 10hours from Bangalore.

I could not find more time to update the last two days of this trip. Will do it soon.
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Old 2nd June 2009, 17:39   #112
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Awesome Travalogue.
We Hyd T-BHPians are planning a drive to Goa in July.This should be a ready reckoner for us.
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Old 2nd June 2009, 19:48   #113
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Thanks hillram.
I'll update the last part before you guys hit the streets
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Old 22nd June 2009, 10:11   #114
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Sorry for the delay in updating.

Day 10, May 10, 2009
varca - BigFoot - Spice farm - Varca

Got really bored sitting in the resort all these days and decided to get to the streets. Wife and kids were so tuned to the lazy life that they turned down my offer for a drive. I was determined, so got out to see the two places I have missed out on the first trip. Bigfoot and a spice garden.

[Still left out is the wild life and waterfalls of Goa - any ways summer is not the right time for both, hence still left out - making sure a return is planned soon].

Left the resort aroung 10AM, and forgot the camera in the apartment.

Ancestral Goa.
The place is near to Loutolim, and you can visit this place from 9.00AM to 6.00PM on all days. Here the old living styles are told to us by some sculptures and models built to look like the old ages. Other than this the Big foot and India's longest laterite sculpture is also here. Entry fee is around Rs 50.

Big Foot
Once there lived a good and wealthy man by name Mahadar who always helped the poor. The greedy neighbours and other people always took advantage of him by fleecing, taking advantage of his good will. All his possessions were lost due to this. But he had tremendous faith and he held on to his life. Pleased with this Gods granted him a boon. Mahadar only asked for a place to stand and pray. Gods gave him a hot rock, where he stood on one foot and prayed. Seeing the faith and devotion gods took him to heaven leaving his foot print. The belief is anyone who prays here with a pure heart will be blessed with luck.

Indias Longest laterite Sculpture.
Sant Mirabai playing her Ektara in Greek-Roman style is made in a long laterite stone by Maendra Jocelino Araujo Alvares in 30 days. It is 14x5 meters. Was not impressed very much with this though.

From here it was another 10km to ponda. Decided to drive to ponda and see a spice farm. Saw a Sahakari Spice farm on the way and decided to look in. Entry fee is Rs300, which includes a walk through the spice garden and lunch. Here you can see lots of spice plants, but if you are from Kerala - your kitchen garden will be more rewarding than this! They had an elephant there, but no rides. Here you can see the setup used for making Cashew Fenny. Lunch is bland. On the whole a complete waste of time and money.


After this Just drove around a little while on the road from ponda towards karnataka, the roads seems to be done now. I truned around after 10/15kilometeres to return to the resort.

Reached the resort back at 4PM, and hit the pool till 8PM. We have to leave the next day, so had early dinner and retired.

Last edited by laluks : 22nd June 2009 at 10:16.
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Old 22nd June 2009, 22:09   #115
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Day 11, May 11, 2009
Varca - Palolem - Karwar - Yellapur - Hubli - Haveri - Bangalore.


After a lazy breakfast and photo sessions we checked out of the resort by 12PM.
Lobby
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-lobby.jpg
Swimming Pool as seen from the lobby
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-swimpool.jpg

We went to Palolem for lunch.
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-palolem.jpg

After lunch we roamed around a bit near the beach, shopped around and got some gifts and fruits. Wife and kids were like, please dont disturb us we want to take rest. They got into the car and within minutes were fast asleep.

We started the drive from Palolem to Bangalore at 3.30PM. The drive was via Karwar, Ankola, Yellapur,Hubli, Bangalore. Nobody was getting up and so I kept on driving. Stopped for petrol near rannibennur, asked the family about dinner. They said they are too tired and wanted to skip dinner. So again kept driving till Bangalore. Reached home at 12.30AM.

A continuous drive for 9 hours, and we covered Goa-Bangalore which was around 630Kms.

Hit the beds at 1.00AM cursing that we have to go to office next day.

END


Last edited by laluks : 22nd June 2009 at 22:16.
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Old 22nd June 2009, 22:13   #116
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That concludes this trip.
Statistics - 2750Kms. FE ~11.5kmpl.

To sum up.
Mangalore, Udipi is a drive through. The ghats are uninspiring but good to drive through. Kudremukh area was green. Devbagh Beach resort is average.

But Goa -She has its own charm whichever way you look at it.

Waiting for the next Goa trip soon! It might be a monsoon drive now! Keep guessing.

Thanks guys for reading.
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Old 22nd June 2009, 22:28   #117
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Great write up and pics laluks ! That brought back real cherished memories, really miss Goa now ! Must plan a trip soon !
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Old 23rd June 2009, 00:02   #118
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Great write up and pics laluks ! That brought back real cherished memories, really miss Goa now ! Must plan a trip soon !
Thanks man.
Goa in rains would be fun.
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Old 13th July 2009, 22:27   #119
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A trip to the RAINS

Trip 3, A trip to the rains for 3 days
Bangalore - Hassan - Shiradi - Mangalore - Udipi - Maravanthe - Murdeswar - Jog - Sagar - Shimoga - Tumkur -Bangalore

Day 1, July 9th, 2009
Bangalore - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Shiradi - Uppinangadi - Puttur -Mani -Mangalore.


Left Bangalore by 5AM. Reached Shiradi by 8.30AM. Shiradi ghats unlike in May has become deteriorated, thanks to the heavy rains. There was a huge traffic jam too for 2 hours there. Finally reached Puttur for my colleagues marriage at 12PM. Attended the marriage and left to Mangalore via Mani by 2PM. Thanks to yet another traffic pile up we reached Mangalore by 4.30PM. Had a tea break and drove to Udipi and stayed at Hotel Karavalli. A deluxe Non AC double room is just Rs450. Isn't it cool? Had dinner at karavalli and retired.

Day 2, July 10th, 2009
Udipi - Maravanthe - Murdeswar.


Had a leisurely nap till 10AM. Had breakfast and rolled out to Maravanthe by 12PM. NH17 Roads have become a mess already. Stopped at Maravanthe for some photoshoots.

Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-mv1.jpg

See the sea has become rough and reached the shore.
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-mv2.jpg

Civic covered with mud and ore mixed together from its recent Mangalore drive!
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-mv3.jpg

We then went to Murdeswar. By the time we reached there it was 3PM and we were quite hungry. Went to Naveen beach resort for lunch, and had some seafood. Food quality is average. By the time we finished lunch it was 4.30PM. It made no sense to drive to Jog, hence stayed there. Naveen beach resort charges Rs1600 for a double AC room, not worth that money at that location. But we just enjoyed the heavy rains and the beach and the solitude we had at the resort as we were the only ones!! All the while Shiva was watching our fun!

Day 3, July 11th, 2009
Murdeswar - Jog - Sagar - Shimoga - Tumkur -Bangalore


We left quite early from the resort and drove to Jog. We took a right turn at Honnavar and it was a pleasant 60km rain drive through lush greenery. We reached Jog falls by 10AM. We were there at the usual picnic spot for 1 hour.

Eventhough it rained so much Jog was not at its full splendour.
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-jog6.jpg
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-jog7.jpg
Then we went to the guest house side where we could touch the water. We enjoyed that place for around 2 hours. It was raining cats and dogs. But it was pure fun.

The new guest house
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-guesthouse.jpg

The water falls so close. It was pure fun and was dangerous too.
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-jog1.jpg
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-jog2.jpg
Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-jog4.jpg
Click image for larger version

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Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...-jog5.jpg

Finally we left Jog at 1PM to Banglore. We reached Tumkur by 6PM. Had Tea break at Kamats and reached Bangalore by 9.30PM, thanks to the mad traffic.

Statistics
Trip days - 3
Total distance - 1080Km
FE - 11.8kmpl.

The End
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Old 2nd September 2009, 09:14   #120
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laluks,

Great write up. You've covered it all so well. Just came across it last night and went through it all. I enjoyed it very much. Only one error. The Church you mentioned in goa as the Saligao church is actually the Church of Candolim village. You can also see it from the lighhouse.
thanks for sharing
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