15th September 2010, 13:09
| #1 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Hyderabad
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| Goanomics Sun, surf and sand  . What a place!!! Here, i am serving some starters in the form of a photologue. Main course (detailed report and lots of pics) will follow.First view of the beach from the train  Aguada fort complex  Anjuna beach   Baga beach   Shopping paradise - Baga market(ask the ladies)   Brittos    Candle light dinner @ Brittos   Playing football @ Calangute beach  Some more shopping spots @ Calangute beach   Sunset @ calangute beach   Saw these felines near a shop on the baga market road  Chapora fort  DCH Point?  Dona paula beach/ferry     Something for the petrol heads @ Dona paula - video of my ride will come shortly  Walking like an Egyptian  on the chapora fort, overlooking the Vagator beach Ganesh visarjan @ Calangute  Beautiful Goan roads   |
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15th September 2010, 13:22
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 379
Thanked: 20 Times
| Starters Some more starters... Lifeguards @ Anjuna and calangute   Miramar beach   Waterscooter @ Miramar beach  Moon-rise @ Calangute beach, shot at max zoom with my new Canon SX 20 IS  Peacock on the Chapora fort  Saw this private yacht on the River cruise spot enroute to Dona paula  Tried this DCH ishtyle   Sinquerim beach     Getting Tattoo-ed on calangute beach  Tattoo shops on Calangute beach  TITO's! 'Where else?! For all your needs in Goa!' - This is what their caption reads  Vagator beach    Waves lashing the Aguada fort at Sinquerim beach  |
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15th September 2010, 13:33
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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15th September 2010, 13:35
| #4 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Andromeda
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15th September 2010, 13:39
| #5 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Hyderabad
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| The starters are so yummy that I can wait for the main course. I recall my trips to Goa and the loads of fun we had. I can see you having unlimited fun. Awaiting more pics  |
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15th September 2010, 14:16
| #6 |
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15th September 2010, 15:06
| #7 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Hyderabad
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15th September 2010, 15:12
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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15th September 2010, 16:54
| #9 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: BANG-A-LURE.
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15th September 2010, 17:34
| #10 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: hyderabad
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15th September 2010, 19:23
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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16th September 2010, 01:06
| #12 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 379
Thanked: 20 Times
| The main course Incredible India, it is! There are too many places and only one life to cover. Our quest to cover as many places as possible has burnt our pockets, but not the spirit. After our foiled attempts to visit Kolleru lake and bird sanctuary in AP, wife decided Goa it will be, since she hadn’t been there before. Now I did visit Goa once, but it was official with only half a day of sight seeing thrown – Aguada fort and Calangute beach were covered. After a few calculations and with a shoestring budget, the target was set and I booked the to and fro train tickets in sleeper class. Both ways it was wait listed but I was positive they would get confirmed. We got a great deal on Travelguru for the Hotel. Hotel Osborne was very close to the Calangute beach and as per the website costed us only Rs. 1714 for all 3 nights, including taxes! And so started the great Indian train journey, on 10th Sep. The plan was to reach Begumpet railway station by auto, catch the MMTS (FL16) to Kacheguda. Upon reaching Begumpet, we were told that the MMTS does not always come on time. Not wanting to take any chances, we took the auto to Kacheguda station. Due to the off day (Eid), the traffic was smooth and we reached in half hour. Upon boarding the train, we realized our tickets were still in RAC. After persistent follow up with the TTE, we were allotted berths at 11.30PM. The rest of the train journey was very pleasant. Learning a trick or 2  Putting the super zoom of SX20 IS to test @ 1x  @ 5x  @ 10x  @ 20x (max 560mm eq)  There were various large groups one particular group from an MNC, right across my office, was fun to have for company. Needless to say, all were in their highest of spirits, just waiting to get off at Madgaon/Vasco for their share the sandy beaches on offer. There was hollering whenever the train passed through tunnels and we too tuned in. Doodh sagar falls was at its full glory, gushing out loads of ‘doodh’ and was met with high decibels of ‘ooooooooooohhh’s and ‘aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhs’. Doodh sagar falls  Lot of them got down at Madgaon but the ones getting down at Vasco were greeted with the first sight of surf en-route Vasco when the train stopped for a crossing near Majorda beach. First sight of surf-sand-coconut trees    Destination  Getting down at Vasco, as per our budget, the plan was to hire a bike, head to the hotel and return it on the day of our departure, saving 1500 in the process. But as with most of our supposedly well planned out things, Vasco was literally shut down for the combo of Eid/Ganesh Chaturthi. So, we hired a taxi that charged us 600 to Calangute. The taxi was a new Wagon R and the driver was in love with his cell phone for the rest of the 50KM. The ride from south to north Goa was breathtaking, with a few showers and lush greenery all around. Clouds looming large over the Arabian sea  We finally arrived at our hotel at around 6 and then came the next shocker. We had to shell out an extra 800 for one lunch/dinner. This was mentioned in our booking with Travelguru (in fine print that I failed to notice- my bad). Travelguru fine print illustration  The room was a standard A/C and was pretty decent. Only the towels smelled of clothes that are dried indoors, thanks to the relentless showers. Our room overlooked a nice little pool and was segregated into 2 rooms, the drawing room and bedroom. There is no room service (probably due to the off-season) and pax opting to have lunch/dinner or other beverages have to head to the in house restaurant. Hotel osborne - room view       A quick shower and the receptionist, Lawrence informed us of bike rentals in the house next door. Zico bike rentals charged us 500 for 2 and half days of Honda Deo. Our ride for the next 2 days  Being close to the Calangute and Baga, that was where we dashed off to in our Deo. It was sunset at Calangute amid scores of tourists (Weekend crowd) and some shopping for the lady. Sunset at Calangute beach     Shopping/eateries at Calangute market  We petrol heads cant miss these, can we?   After sunset, we headed to the (world?) famous TITO’s/Mambo’s. On a weekend in Goa, this is the place to be for the partying kinds. We turned up pretty early and there was a live band that was playing Rock/Jazz classics. Tito's   Wanting to catch TITO’s in action we promised ourselves to get back at 10 and headed to the Baga beach market. Baga market was crowded with pedestrians, cars, buses and shopping havens. Baga market shack  Brittos  After some more windowless shopping, we make it back to TITO’s, only to realize it is fully packed. One and half hours of waiting went into the drain. No one was ready to leave their tables and we were starving. Next time, TITO, next time. We push off and make it to a hotel that displayed 100% pure veg. ‘Rasoi, the kitchen’ is a few 100 feet from Tito lane and served some good veg dishes, including the Gujju/Rajashtani thali. The dal tadka and mushroom masala were pretty good, allaying my fears of not finding good veg food in Goa. Rasoi, the kitchen  After a tired day and night, we sign-off the Goan evening with the promise of full on masti, next day. Last edited by ExtremeTorque : 16th September 2010 at 01:21. |
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16th September 2010, 01:18
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| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Hyderabad
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 . Did only the water scooter stuff | |||||||||
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16th September 2010, 15:26
| #14 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 379
Thanked: 20 Times
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16th September 2010, 17:11
| #15 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | |
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