[vnabhi]

We reached a T Junction (more of a Y Junction) at Honnavar at around 1430 hours and sighted a couple of hotels, but all were full to the brim. We turned right towards Karwar (left goes to Mangalore) ahd were on the lookout for a good restaurant and also a good petrol bunk.

After around 25 kms or so, we spotted a Kamat hotel at Kumta and broke for half an hour for lunch there. I savoured the south Indian thali there, and withdrew some cash from the Corp Bank ATM nearby. We set off towards Ankola and Karwar after half an hour. We fuelled up at an IBP bunk on the outskirts of Kumta--they took cash.

NH17 had its own charm as it ran along the Western ghats, with the sea on the left. There are some scenic spots along the way to Ankola and Karwar. There was a bad stretch of 8 to 10 kms on the outskirts of Ankola, but it pales in comparision to the Shimoga bit.

When we had covered around 140 kms from Jog, we hit the beautiful town of Karwar. Unfortunately most of its scenic vista points have been taken over by the navy.

Time for some pics:

On the Kumta->Karwar stretch





A pitstop near Karwar beach:-











To be continued..

[ranjitp1]

The writeup continues and I am glued.

You just arent reaching Amboli,you are tantalisingly close now

OFF TOPIC:

Karwar has become a total navy town now,thanx to Indian Navy's Project Seabird which involved the creation of the naval base INS Kadamba.The best part is that unlike the way our govts & NHAI acquires land,the navy acquired all the land and then rehabilitated all the people with excellent facilities,communication links,access etc.They also afforested an equal area of land that was deforested due to construction.Commendable indeed.If my memory serves right,INS Kadamba is the only place which has a drydock and ship lift facility in India.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The writeup continues and I am glued.

You just arent reaching Amboli,you are tantalisingly close now

OFF TOPIC:

Karwar has become a total navy town now,thanx to Indian Navy's Project Seabird which involved the creation of the naval base INS Kadamba.The best part is that unlike the way our govts & NHAI acquires land,the navy acquired all the land and then rehabilitated all the people with excellent facilities,communication links,access etc.They also afforested an equal area of land that was deforested due to construction.Commendable indeed.If my memory serves right,INS Kadamba is the only place which has a drydock and ship lift facility in India.

If I am not mistaken, INS Satavahana at Vizag has similar facilities, but I may be mistaken because Hindustan Shipyard lies in its vicinity.

Those are interesting facts to learn about Karwar. My batchmate cum room mate was from Karwar when I started my career in Steel Industry in the 80s, but at that time the Navy was planning to construct a base there.
I also missed a trip to Karwar to attend his wedding, but only now I got to know how good a town it is.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

If I am not mistaken, INS Satavahana at Vizag has similar facilities, but I may be mistaken because Hindustan Shipyard lies in its vicinity.

Those are interesting facts to learn about Karwar. My batchmate cum room mate was from Karwar when I started my career in Steel Industry in the 80s, but at that time the Navy was planning to construct a base there.
I also missed a trip to Karwar to attend his wedding, but only now I got to know how good a town it is.

Yes true,the drydock @ Vizag,I guess is run by the VPT(Vizag Port Trust).Karwar is a nice little town and spic and span as well.Is the rest of the t-logue coming from office as usual, since you dont work from home?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

If I am not mistaken, INS Satavahana at Vizag has similar facilities, but I may be mistaken because Hindustan Shipyard lies in its vicinity.

Those are interesting facts to learn about Karwar. My batchmate cum room mate was from Karwar when I started my career in Steel Industry in the 80s, but at that time the Navy was planning to construct a base there.
I also missed a trip to Karwar to attend his wedding, but only now I got to know how good a town it is.

Yes true,the drydock @ Vizag is run by the VPT(Vizag Port Trust) & I guess Hindustan Shipyards is the govt owned contractor.Karwar is a nice little town and spic and span as well.Is the rest of the t-logue coming from office as usual since you dont work from home?

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Yes true,the drydock @ Vizag,I guess is run by the VPT(Vizag Port Trust).Karwar is a nice little town and spic and span as well.Is the rest of the t-logue coming from office as usual, since you dont work from home?

I'm already 'working' from the office for the past hour. Hold on, I am searching for photos. My mini-camera's battery got drained out after Karwar, therefore I need to get the pics from my pal for Goa and the rest of the journey. I do have a few pics of Goa and Amboli that I shall post shortly.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

INS Kadamba is the only place which has a drydock and ship lift facility in India.

You mean a floating dry dock right?

That's of the Navy. There is a commercial one in Vasco, Goa.

[vnabhi]

We hardly took 10 minutes to drive through Karwar (luckily the NH 17 does not pass through the busy parts of the town) and soon we were crossing the Kali river bridge at around 1715 hours.



Same pic with zoom:-




In another 15 minutes we crossed the Goa border and saw a shack in red painted "Kingfisher" all over it----man, what a pleasant sight that was!

The highway towards Madgaon passes through a forest in a ghat section and had several turns to the left to South Goa beaches like Canacona and Palolem.
Here are some pics of that road. It started raining lightly too.

[vnabhi]

The road to Madgaon was narrow but well-maintained. Traffic was also very disciplined at Goa.

We passed through Madgaon city at around 6 pm (the city has some streets lined with houses on both sides that made us believe we were somewhere in Europe). The directions are well marked all over Goa traffic junctions.

We continued towards Panjim on the same highway, and saw a board to the left to the airport. We crossed the Zuari river bridge and were in Panjim in around 15 minutes.

Since Goa was not a planned part of our trip, I contacted mobike008 for staying options, and he strongly recommended Osborne Resort at Calangute. He said that he too was coming there after a couple of days. So I contacted Osborne and they were willing to give us 2 rooms at the same discounted rate they'd offered mobike008. They also gave us directions on how to reach there.

Meanwhile, we'd crossed the Mandovi river after Panaji, and were thrilled to see so many luxury yachts on it. Panjim also presented a European look to us in the darkness, with all its lights displaying its spleandour. We took the left turn to Calangute, and after a bit of searching, located Osborne Resorts, adjacent to Kamat resorts.

We found the rooms to be way above our expectations---each double room had a sitting room with a fridge and sofa set, with a balcony opening up a view of the swimming pool. The bedrooms were also well-furnished.

We had a quick round of freshening up, and ventured to the Calangue market to fetch some ice (the resort had run out of it). The minimum we could buy was a 5 Kg pack, so we donated it to the resort and asked them to send us some quantities whenever we ordered.

After a few refreshments, we drove down to Calangute beach that was 2.5 kms away. Had dinner at a beach-side restaurant and crashed to bed at 1130 pm.

The drive from Shimoga to Goa was not stressful at all. Sorry, I don't have many pics of Goa due to my camera's battery issue (could not pull it out till we reached Hyd and used a tweezer). I'll post some pics of Goa after I get them from my pal.

The pool at Osborne


Greenery around Osborne

[mobike008]

Venu, that's a wonderful travelogue. I am glad you enjoyed staying at Osbourne. Nice to see the pool picture, we had lot of fun in the same pool last year when i stayed at Osbourne. Even i wanted to stay there but, my friends wanted something bang on the beach so stayed at some other resort ( name is complicated need to recall it) near Baga.

Your visit to goa was pretty strategic, you left goa and rains behind and we took that beating in full force until a day before we headed out. However, we didnt let the rains dampen our spirits though it did dampen our clothes and us completely.

Look forward to more pictures of Goa

P.S: Captivating title of the thread

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Your visit to goa was pretty strategic, you left goa and rains behind and we took that beating in full force until a day before we headed out. However, we didnt let the rains dampen our spirits though it did dampen our clothes and us completely.

P.S: Captivating title of the thread

Good to know that did not let the rains play spoilsport. Waiting to read your travelogue and pics.
We actually liked Goa and Osborne so much, we planned to stay another day there. But on Wednesday morning, we saw it was drizzling continuously and heard from Hyd folks that it was raining at Hyd for 3 days non-stop. Therefore we thought it was better to make a move to Bijapur that morning itself and left at 11 am.
Was the other resort more expensive? Osborne had indeed reservied rooms for you, and acknowledged that you were their regular cusomer.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Was the other resort more expensive? Osborne had indeed reservied rooms for you, and acknowledged that you were their regular cusomer.

Hope they said it with a smile on their face !

We stayed on the same floor as Naveen K.K and their room was duplex ( not really but a few stairs up) and we got 2 different rooms and was tastefully decorated for Rs.800/room.

Moreover, this hotel is right behind Mambo's in Baga and a few yards away from the nightlife and beach.

I am quite tied up with catching up on work and will come up with a brief travelogue in a week or so.

[traveloholic]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I am quite tied up with catching up on work and will come up with a brief travelogue in a week or so.

Avi, waiting for your travelogue. Am trying to recollect my experience at a go. Not much snaps clicked due to the cruel weather. But yeah, got a few good clicks. Shall try to get them all in soon

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by traveloholic

Avi, waiting for your travelogue. Am trying to recollect my experience at a go. Not much snaps clicked due to the cruel weather. But yeah, got a few good clicks. Shall try to get them all in soon

Nikhil, it was nice meeting you in Goa, hope to see your first travelogue with some pictures. Come up with it soon.

Sorry for going OT Venu, please continue

[Fordmanchau]

Venu Sir, Pandey ji,
hope you all had loads of fun in the week long holiday. Very nicely written travelogue venu sir, hope to see the full details very soon.
And Pandey ji, work can wait a while, please put up your travelogue as well asap.
I couldn't do much in the holidays but got sunfilm and seatcovers installed on my car which resulted in hot air blowing from a/c and non-working rpm meter and temperature gauge. I was horrified.
But turned out to be a blown fuse.