Team-BHP - Christmas break - Bangalore to Goa

Goa Trip Travelogue

Destination : Goa for Xmas Vacation

Date:

Start :
24th Thursday
Morning - Dec 2009

End
28th Monday
Night - Dec 2009

Duration : 5 days – Travel time – App 10Hrs from Bangalore to Goa , App 15 Hrs from Goa to Bangalore

Route :

Bangalore to Goa

Bangalore – Kengeri- NICE Road - Tumkur – Gubbi –Tiptur – Arsikere –Kadur – Birur –Tarikere- Bhadravathi By-pass - Shimoga – Anandipuram-Sagar-Talaguppa-Siddhapur – Kumta –Mirjan –Gokarna-Madangeri-Ankola-Sakkalbert-Karwar- ( Break for the night ) Polem-Mashen- Panji Mapusa – Anjuna .

Goa to Bangalore
Anjuna- Mapusa- Ponda-Tisk –Mollem- Castle Rock- Alnavar-Hariyal-Khalghatki-Shiggaon-Bankapur-Haveri-Ranebennur-Davangere-Chitradurga –Sira-Tumkur-Nelmangala-NICE Road-Kengeri- Bangalore

The above is the standard route to come back to Bangalore. We got lost near Castle rock and went down to Belgaum and then came back to Bangalore via Haveri – This was a detour of almost 100Kms + We badly missed a PND device on this trip .

Details of our travel from Bangalore to Goa

Day One
Bangalore – Kengeri- NICE Road – Tumkur – Gubbi –Tiptur – Arsikere –Kadur – Birur –Tarikere- Bhadravathi By-pass - Shimoga – Anandipuram-Sagar-Talaguppa-Siddhapur – Kumta –Mirjan –Gokarna-Madangeri-Ankola-Sakkalbert-Karwar- ( Break for the night)

Day One Break Fast
Day one started with my cousin brother coming to my place and dump his all luggage in our Scorpio ( M Hawk ) . My brother owns a Santro . For the trip my cousin’s brother family of Husband , wife and kid and with me and my wife became the team to go to Goa .

With all the luggage in , we have a rule to go to a Ganesha temple every time we go on a long trip . For the same we went to Dodda Ganesha temple and then turned the car to Brahmins coffee bar near Ranga Rao road very close to Bull temple road . With continental breakfast expected for the next 5 days( No Idli,Vada ,Dosa ) , we had good Idli, Vadas and hot filter coffee . Once we were done , we started our goa trip @ 9.30 AM from Bull temple road .

The trip started with us connecting to Tumkur road via NICE Road ( which we entered Via Kengeri ).Then we connected to Nelmangala and were in front of Jazz Toll Tumkur by 10.30.
We entered Tumkur and then by mistake went to Sira road . Then we realized that we were on the wrong road and came back to Tumkur city and then started for Gubbi.
Connecting to Gubbi via Tumkur city is very slow, with city traffic . Once we are done , we covered Gubbi and then reached Tiptur.

Day One Lunch -Shimoga
We stopped in Shimoga for lunch . We had working lunch and then started our next journey towards Sagar . We reached Talguppa and then started the Ghats section of Siddapur . This is a forest range where vehicles will not be allowed after 9PM from Siddapur side . We all were enjoying the ride with my cousin brother taking on the wheel . With not even a sole in sight , no vehicles we were criss crossing the Ghats in decent speeds .

Scorpio MHawk Tyretronics warning : While driving in the Siddapur Ghats , the Tyretronics of the MHawk started warning that the back left tyre had a pressure. The pressure was around 34.1 . We stopped our vehicle . We took a break and we could not call any one for help as we were completely out of network coverage .

We took a 20 mt break and then started the vehicle . This time we had no issues . I spoke to Sireesh Auto team once we reached Kumta . It seems sometimes the tyre pressure increases and it’s better to switch the vehicle during this warning . We again got this warning on the other tyre on the back once we left Palolem Beach .

We also had one more issue where the Reserve fuel came off during covering Siddapur Ghats . Once the Scorpio was in a proper ground , the warning did not come back . I am personally not happy with the new M Hawk console - where the digital fuel indicator is not up to mark . (Digital meter instead of analog )

It’s still not clear Whats the reserve fuel in the MHawk according to the new cluster . The new cluster reserve warning comes of when its said the Fuel is around 10Lts . Once u reach the bunk to fill up the diesel ,we actually can accommodate only 40 Lts and there is still 20 Lts of fuel in the tank ………

Day One Coffee Break- Kumta

Back to our trip , we stopped in Kumta and touched NH17. Here we had a coffee break where we had some dosas and then started towards Gokarna. Our original plan was to go and stay in Gokarna for the night and then start to goa first thing in the morning .
With the whole trip arranged at the nth movement ( We planned on 23 Dec to go to goa ) there were no bookings available in Gokarna .
With complete weekend crowd logged in , all resorts were full . We tried 2 resorts and beat a hasty retreat.

Day One – Night break – Karwar

We started from Gokarna and reached Karwar and reached Karwar by 10.30PM. We went to city centre and checked in Hotel Premier . Charges are 950/ night and was a K hotel for a night stay.

Day Two- morning - Breakfast

We ordered for some breakfast in Karwar and got some horrible Idly vada in a roadside hotel . We bid goodbye to it and then went to Palolem

The Highway NH17 is bad till Goa border. Once we entered Goa , the roads were significantly better . Palolem was just 25 Kms and we entered Palolem, we parked our car in a pay and park facility ( charges 40Rs/ Car ) and went out for our first beach in Goa .

Day Two-Morning - Palolem Beach –Goa

Supposed to be one of the best beach in Goa , we normally used to travel from Anjuna /Calngunte and used to come to Palolem . ( App 60-70Kms drive ) This time we made sure that the route was such a way that we visit Palolem first .

Palolem is a larger beach with great view with lots of Bangalore, Mangalore, South India people visiting it on their way to goa .All four of us got into the beach , did not wet ourselves as we had to still cover till Anjuna and didn’t want to have a long ride after a good time in the beach

Palolem is nice for a walk with ur partner . Having stayed there for 90 mts we started our journey to Anjuna

Day Two –Afternoon – Anjuna
Route was Polem-Mashen- Panji Mapusa – Anjuna .

We reached Anjuna by 1.30 after passing through Panji city , Mapusa . It’s better to to take Mapusa route to go to Anjuna . Roads are very narrow while going to Anjuna . One has to be a bit careful while driving a SUV in Goa as there are every chance of having a rub with an another car or the road cornors.

Day Two- Afternoon – Check in @ Villa anjuna. www.villanjuna.com

The checkout was smooth as we had made bookings in advance . Having travelled for 1 ½ day continuously , we all wanted a good break . We all hit the pool in Anjuna , had a relaxing swim and then had our lunch ( With no proper Breakfast in the morning in Karwar )

Once we had our lunch , we relaxed a bit and then started to Anjuna beach .

Day Two –Evening – Anjuna Beach – Sun set – Dinner @ the shack

Once we reached Anjuna , we settled down for the sun set view in Anjuna . Anjuna is a rocky beach with lot of cliffs , boulders . Its suggested to go to the extreme end of the beach to have a dip in the water . Anjuna beach is also deep and one need to be a bit careful while entering the beach .
We finished our dinner at the shack and then came back to our hotel . It was a long walk back to our Hotel which is a bit far from the beach .
Once we came back , we started enjoying the movie 10000BC on HBO being played on the Large screen in Villa anjuna . Once done with the movie we retired for the night .

Day Three – Morning – Breakfast – Villa anjuna

We had good continental breakfast and then started our Journey to Baga Beach .

Day Three - Morning – Baga Beach

Baga beach now has a proper parking lot where u can park ur cars . I had travelled to goa in 2006 and in 3 years a lot of things have changed . This parking lot is now common for all who visit TITOs , Mambos or the famous Calngunte beach road where one can do shopping .

Baga is a very famous beach for all who visit Goa . With lots of visitors , water sports , it’s a must visit beach in Goa . Fast boat rides , Banana ride , Parachute ride from the boats are some famous rides .

Banana rides cost 200 / person . Fast boats cost 500 / person . Para gliding – 2people 1K , Per person is 600Rs

We had Banana rides during our last visit and didn’t want to go on these rides . My wife along with my cousin brother’s wife went for the Parachute ride

Day Three – Afternoon – Lunch @ Bristos

This shack is one of the oldest in Bagha beach and serves some excellent food . We had to wait for ½ hr to get a table @ Bristos . Very good atmosphere to have food in Bristos . We finished our Lunch and then came back to Anjuna villa by 4 PM . With all the food in the stomach , we slept like a log for next 2 hrs and then got up , had a nice bath to make sure we lose all the salty water sticking to us .

Day Three – Dinner @ – Biryani Restaurant in Anjuna

My wife wanted to shop in Calngunte road. We parked our car again in Baga Beach and then took a cab to go to the end of the road to Calngunte. We did n’t want to walk as my cousin brother son was tired from all morning activity and we had ( Taxi From Baga beach parking to Calngunte road - 100Rs / for 4 people )

We came back to Anjuna and logged in to Dum Biryani Hotel
This place in Anjuna serve good Biryani ( Dum Biryani ) .We finished our lunch and then hit the sack …

Day Four – Morning –Breakfast in Villa anjuna
We finished our breakfast and then started for our next beach hop – Mandarin

Day Four – Morning – Afternoon – Evening Mandarin Beach

Probably this is the best beach in Goa that I have visited till date . This is on the way to Allambol beach and u get Mandarin before Allambol Very less crowd , hardly any large groups , very laid back beach .U have to cross a creek and a man made wooden bridge to reach this beach .

All four of us including my cousin brother’s 2 ½ year old son enjoyed this beach . We did not do any beach hoping in this trip and stick to one beach . ( Last time it was like Anjuna in the morning , Baga in the afternoon , Calngunte in the evening )…

Day Four evening – Mandarin Beach to Anjuna – the Night mare started .

While coming back from Mandarin , we got stuck in the second road jam. In this trip I found we have more road jams as there are more cars , more of 2 wheelers hired by Foreigners.

We had to wait for almost 1hr as there are narrow bridges across and we get stuck while moving in the deep traffic . We could not go to Anjuna directly . The diesel refill we had done was not enough and we got our second warning of running through reserve fuel somewhere close to Mandarin beach.

Goa runs out of stock of Diesel .

Our first visit to a Petrol bunk near Mapusa did not yield us any Diesel .We were informed that Diesel is normally supplied to goa via the sea route with each ship supply of Diesel lasting three months of entire goa supply .

Unfortunately the time we went to goa, they had run out of stock . We were running on low fuel and then hopping bunk after another bunk . Things came to a situation where we tried the last bunk in Goa – Mumbai road.

This Bunk gave 5 Lts of diesel and closed as he went out of stock .

Now the real night mare started . With no fuel , in hands and our trip back to Bangalore and stuck near border of Goa . My cousin brother and myself weighed all options .We did n’t want to go to Anjuna back without fuel and wanted to make sure we have the fuel in place to start our next day trip back to Bangalore .

The nearest Karnataka border was approximately 150 Kms away and we were not sure of how much fuel we had in our car due to the digital meter ..

We weighed all options and then finally decided to go to the nearest petrol bunk in Maharashtra which was 30Kms away .

Enter Maharashtra for Diesel .

We were supposed to go to Sawantwadi . Reaching Sawantwadi , we again had to go through Ghats section with very narrow roads ,with the Kadamaba bus from goa to Mumbai driving like mad …

Enter Sawantwadi – No fuel in the first bunk …..

We entered Sawantwadi – which has a beautiful lake in the middle of the city and went to the first bunk. Same case , no fuel and we thought we will spend night in Sawantwadi as there was no fuel in our MHawk . ….

We visited the next bunk which had a long lengthy Q with lot of Karnataka vehicles waiting for their turn to fill Diesel . We waited for 15mts before we got our turn to fill the fuel ..

Once we had a complete full tank fuel , we were relived lot . We headed back to Mapusa and to Anjuna . We reached Anjuna around 11.30 and went and straight hit the bed ….

Day Five – Morning – Check out Villa Anjuna @ 7.30 AM – Start our trip back to Bangalore

We all planned to go back in the same way we came back from Bangalore . But we missed connecting to Panji and went towards NH4A . We started this route and thought of taking this route . This is where we did our first mistake . With Google maps assisting on our iPhone and not knowing where we are heading , without a PND navigating device , we did mistakes after mistakes while coming back from Goa .

When we left goa and hit the NH4A , we were greeted with Trucks on both sides of the road . Believe it or note , this trucks were standing waiting to enter some yards . The waiting trucks formed almost a Q of 1-2 Kms .

We could not over take as we again had trucks in front of us ..We lost 45 mts to one hour to reach Ponda .

Ponda - Castle rock

Very bad roads . Can equated this to Saklesphur ghat sections . No roads for almost 2-3 Kms and had a horrible drive ..

Day Five – Breakfast break in Dhood Sagar resort

We had our breakfast in Dhood sagar resort . A nice resort with good quality restaurant …

Day Five - Castle Rock to Bangalore ……

Once we hit Londa , we did our second mistake of the day . We took a left to reach Belgaum instead of going straight to Dharward . This is where the whole detour started . We hit Khanpur , Desur , and Belgaum .

We went through Belgaum city asking every third guy for directions and then hit NH4. From Belgaum to Bangalore it was 500odd Kms and we were already on road for 4 Hrs ……

Toll roads start from Belgaum

We started paying toll from Belgaum for the toll roads and end up paying at least 250 Rs till we reached Tumkur .

Some parts of the roads are ready and u can switch on ur Cruise control in ur vehicles and take ur leg off from ur Accelerator and relax ..

Day Five – Lunch Break – Davangere .

We had lunch break in davangere and had Jolla Roti meal .. Once we were done we started our trip to Bangalore

Day Five – Roads from Chitra durga – were a beauty …

Roads from Chitra durga was great . All 4 roads has been ear marked with grad separators

Day Five – Coffee Dinner break in Kamat Upachar – After Sira

We were driving for almost 200Kms nonstop and then took a break @ Sira in Kamat Upachar . Had good coffee , while others went for a Idlies …

The next part of the trip had we covering Tumkur and reach the HELL ( Nelmangala till NICE ROAD ). With trucks parked , mad traffic trying to reach Bangalore from all corners we call this the HELL …

Once we touched NICE Road , it was smooth reaching home …..

What we need to learn from this trip ?

1.Plan routes in advance .
2.Take printouts of at least 2 option of routes available for the destination
3. If possible buy a good PND device to make sure we need not ask or look out for sign boards
4. Fill fuel once it goes ½ tank . We never know what situation can be at some times
5. Beach hopping is not suggested .
6. Try to be at one destination rather than trying to cover more places .
7. IF we are driving to Goa from Bangalore , plan at least 4 days of full stay . Else its not worth driving from Bangalore .
8.Stop over in Karwar – Davangere or Hubli suggested if one is driving to goa
9.Have lots of water , gum , mint , good iPod with music for good music ..

Photos will be uploaded shortly …………………………………