Team-BHP - Goa at its best..!
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With 8 days at my disposal without any work commitments, I wished I could fulfill my dream of being Leh'd! But, that was not to be, with a lot of complications getting in the way. I decided to still make the most of these off-days and went for the second best thing - Goa! And trust me, though it was my seventh trip to Goa, it was my first real Monsoon trip - the most beautiful time of the year according to me :)

I have an Innova here in Surat, but I wanted to leave it back for my parents, and so I started hunting for a self-driven car for rental. After a lot of search on this forum and Googling around, I finally found what I was looking for - someone who was ready to give me a good car in Surat, without his driver and without blocking a certain amount on my credit card(took me a lot of convincing for this) - Auto riders. I must say I had a brilliant experience with them - would approach them for a car for Delhi-Leh-Delhi too.
The plan was simple :
Day 1: Surat - Mumbai - Ratnagiri - Sawantwadi - Candolim
Day 2 - Day 6 : Leisure
Day 7: Goa - Sawantwadi - Amboli - Ajra - Kolhapur - Pune - Surat

On the third day, we went to Keri/Anjunem Dam right upto Karnataka Border (on the ghats towards wildernest), and it was such an amazing experience, with waterfalls everywhere and great weather. The total drive from Surat to Surat was 2400 kms, and the car they gave was a Ford Ikon 1.3 , in a very good condition. It returned us a mileage of around 16 kmpl.

Since the drive was pretty much uneventful, I would leave you with these pictures :) The last picture with waterfall is the one on Amboli Ghat - such a perfect, scenic route for Goa from Bombay!

Superb pics !! Waiting for more :)

Lovely pics bro. Is it the "Lemon Tree" Goa in the 2nd pic?

Fantastic pictures! Keep em coming!

Brilliant pictures! Keep them coming. Hoping that you would elaborate more on your drive in the rains and how you spent those 6 days in goa!

more .pics please.
Just awesome..!:D

Nice Pics ! You have made me miss Goa even more now ! Need to take off soon !

I miss Goa already - been too long! Looking forward to more pics

Superb snaps.. hope you will fill in more details soon..

Looks more like a Hill Station than the road to Goa.

mathranik:

your travelogue has come at just the right time; am planning a drive down to goa on 22nd aug and i look forward to your pics to get ready for what is in store for us whilst we drive down :)

would love to know more details -
1) time taken for your ride - to and fro
2) road conditions
3) were you driving alone anything to be cautious about
4) renting a car for a trip - that too self driven - thats 'sone pe suhaga'
5) where did you stay? how much did you pay and number of days?
6) which places did you visit ?
7) rains - heavy / medium / low or sunshine / traffic etc

Car Rental : how come you decided to drive in a ikon? can you share more info about your rental car guys so we can take their services if possible?

Great Luck for your Leh trip - hope your travelogue will be as picturesque as this one :)

am waiting to find out the exciting stuff listed above and some more hic.,

Quote:

Originally Posted by RP_812 (Post 1413897)
Looks more like a Hill Station than the road to Goa.

Thats because we drove to Anjunem Dam/Keri, thats around 60 kms from Panjim, and its at a height of around 900 metres. Also, monsoon lends a very mystical, green shade to all of Goa - hence, the hill station look!

Quote:

Originally Posted by saildrive (Post 1413958)
mathranik:

your travelogue has come at just the right time; am planning a drive down to goa on 22nd aug and i look forward to your pics to get ready for what is in store for us whilst we drive down :)

would love to know more details -
1) time taken for your ride - to and fro

Surat to Goa was through Panvel, as mentioned, and it took me around 15 hours for the drive, including two breaks. The way back was through Pune, and was a faster drive - around 13 hours.

2) road conditions

Except for a very few bad patches, the roads all through are very well maintained, and a charm to drive on. Speeds in the range of 80-110 kmph would be the order of the day.

3) were you driving alone anything to be cautious about

I was just with my girlfriend, and there was absolutely nothing to be cautious about. Just be careful on the Chiplun ghat at night, if you plan to drive overnight. The trucks and buses approaching are ignorant about the oncoming traffic. Other than that, all is good. Restaurants every few kms, fuel stations, etc.
4) renting a car for a trip - that too self driven - thats 'sone pe suhaga'

Call it luck, that it worked out so smoothly. A lot of them had discouraged me saying it was very tough getting a self driven rental car.

5) where did you stay? how much did you pay and number of days?

We stayed at Lemon Tree Amarante Resort on Candolim Beach. Its a four-star deluxe resort with almost all 5-star facilities including a spa and indoor games, with a beautiful pool - not to forget the sunken bar! The drinks were on-the-house every evening 6 to 8 . It cost me around 4,500 a night for a garden room.

6) which places did you visit ?

Almost All of Goa!! All the regular beaches like Vagator, Anjuna, Calangute, Baga, Colva, etc. Then there were some beaches in North Goa not thronged by tourists - they actually seem to be taken over by the Russians! Morjim, Arambol to name a couple. Then other than the regular Aguada and Chapora fort, we also went to Teracol fort (the car in the ferry picture). Old Goa was given half a day with Panjim and Dona Paula. We couldnt go to Doodh Sagar as it was closed for the monsoons. The best part of the stay at Goa was the Anjunem Dam/Keri Waterfalls. Its around a 40 km drive, and further till Karnataka Border. One of the evenings/Night was spent on Casino Royale. Thats the biggest floating Casino of Goa, and a really nice place to be :)

7) rains - heavy / medium / low or sunshine / traffic etc

Luckily, rains were light, especially compared to the ones we've been having in Gujarat! Traffic within Goa is decent, just be careful with the mopeds/scooters - they are everywhere! The lanes arent too wide, but no one seems to be in a rush. That's the best part - the laidback traffic.

Car Rental : how come you decided to drive in a ikon? can you share more info about your rental car guys so we can take their services if possible?

It wasnt a conscious decision to take up Ikon - rather it was the only choice in mid-size segment. Other than that, we were getting a Santro, which I wouldnt have ever gone for. But the car kept me happy, although I wasnt too happy with the driving position after being used to my Innova. Nonetheless, a nice car.
Autoriders Mumbai - Contact person: Mr. Chaudhry 09769514119
mumbai@autoriders.net

Great Luck for your Leh trip - hope your travelogue will be as picturesque as this one :)

Thank you !

am waiting to find out the exciting stuff listed above and some more hic.,

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyboy (Post 1413437)
Lovely pics bro. Is it the "Lemon Tree" Goa in the 2nd pic?

It is Lemon Tree :D How can one miss the bar stools in the pool! hehe

Few pictures from the various places we went to , in Goa, and a couple of shots of the roads..


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