[Bluenile]

After first two busy quarters of business, tiresome multiple iteration of business travels over Pacific, Atlantic oceans and seas for last few months, I decided to take off and be stand still at Mumbai for retrospection and to re-energize the self motivation. I wonder what could we’ve done better??? Paying a visit to the ultimate source of energy for universe, evaluating purity of the heart against the whiteness of the sand, the date with the blue calm sea, cooling the heals with the cold cocktails, cutting the crab legs and surging the speed of life on a picturesque coastal highway to take blessings from the Lord of Beginnings and Obstacles.

Couple of hours effort for logistics, wife’s commitment for readiness and the gas pedal on my Indica Vista Aura Quadrajet propelled us to our journey of the year, from Mumbai – Goa – Ratnagiri – Ganapatipule – Mumbai over a week long trip of thrill and thump.

Day1: (Thane - Pune - Satara- Kolhapur- Nippani - Ajra - Amboli- Sawantwadi - Mapusa - Colangute)
Odometer Reading: 20625
Time: 5:08 AM

Kicked off from Thane (West) @ 5:08 AM despite of trying our best to start @ 4:30 AM. (Trust me I’ve never been late to my business meetings with customers and clients or have never delayed the delivery for major business transformation programs even for a day) It was a hassle free drive till we reach Hinjewadi, Pune as the speedometer was able to consistently improving upon to decent speeds. As the sun went up and we were heading towards Satara, the drive became slower with bikers and trucks plunging on to the sideways and all over. With breaking for Vada Pao and Sprite @ Satara we headed towards Kolhapur on flat and sweet tarmac. The Alloy wheels, tubeless tyres, the fiat engine and the premium leather interior ensured a delightful drive till we hit Nippani. After 2 KMs of Nippani we took a right to Ajra and hit the beautiful and scenic Amboli Ghat further moving towards Sawantwadi. With a bit of pot holes on roads, a land slide and a Makkai Butta(Roasted Corn) at Amboli Ghat and waterfall, we headed to Sawantwadi and Panaji. A gentleman @ Sawantwadi pointed us to take left on NH14 and there were we rushing to cross over the Goa border within 45 minutes of time. By the time we took a right on NH14 @ Mapusa towards Colangute it was already half past 2. We checked in the Paradise Village resort which has a direct access to the Colangute beach. As we were starving by then, went to the cafeteria and could only find sandwiches and veg pakoda. This is a good place provided you are looking out for resort life and a direct access on the Colangute beach. The cafeteria is not recommended at all other than complimentary breakfast. I went back to Colangute beach after about 9 years and it has not changed a bit. We spent some time drenching ourselves in the Arabian sea before coming back to the Suite for rest. In the evening after a sumptuous Indian buffet dinner @Tangerine, a boutique resort on Colangute- Candolim road, we resorted back to beds. I strongly recommend the place as they provide a very good quality of food, service at a very competitive pricing.





Day 2. (Colangute - Candolim - Aguada - Panaji - Dona Paula - Colangute)
Woke up @ 5 AM and hit the beach just at the Sun Rise. Spent an hour in the sea before returning to be in the swimming pool and breakfast. After having an awesome Tandoor Pomfret for me and Tandoor Paneer and Mint ice cream for my wife for a small lunch @ SOUZZA LOBO, we headed towards Candolim and Aguada Fort. On our way, saw the Kingfisher Villa and Taj Vivanta @ Aguada. Spent some time @ Aguada Fort with the Sun and the lonely fort and then started for Dona Paula. Watching the Sun and the Sea touching the coast of Goa, we came back from Dona Paula to Miramar beach to help setting the Sun. Seeing the sun off the coast, we passed by the Mandovi river boat ride to start for Colangute. As we couldn’t get a place for dinner @ Souzza Lobo and waiting time not less than an hour we hit a small décor for a candle light dinner @ Colangute Market for Grilled Tiger Prawns for me and Veg for wife. Couldn’t find much of crackers on the deewali night.















Day3. (Colangute - Chapora - Anjuna - Baga - Colangute)

Woke up after the Sunrise and hence spent less time at the sea with high tide and the pool in the morning. As I’d an initial booking for 2 nights, we headed for a better hotel “Neelam the Grand” at Colangute. The hotel offered a much premium suite at the same rate with better facilities and amenities and definitely with a much better cafeteria and food. After checking in, we went for pure vegetarian lunch @ Plantain Leaves and started for Chapora Fort in the afternoon. Had an immaculate view of coast line, beach and the forest from atop the Chapora fort. Then moved to Anjuna beach and saw the Sunset at the rocky beach. After some shopping, we headed back to Baga beach and had dinner @ Brittos. The soothing music, candle light dinner, cozy ambience and the cool breeze and the view of tides at sea side made it an evening to remember.












Day 4. (Colangute - Old Goa - Panaji - Colangute)
Woke up early and rushed to Colangute beach. Spent an hour drenching us in the sea and came back to take breakfast. We started for a Sunday visit to Churches and headed to South Goa directly. After a drive of 45 minutes we were parked by the side of Basilica of Bom Jesus. Spent some time inside the church and for the Light and Sound Show. Moved on to spend time at Se Cathedral and St. Francis of Assisi. With a couple of Cornettos we visited St Augustin Tower, St Cajetan Church and few other churches which have been renovated by ASI. After a detail church visit in velha and old Goa we returned by the road to Panaji by the bank of Mandovi river. Spent some time at Fontainhas checking out old Portugeese buildings. Drove to Kala Academy for the second time but it was closed. Hence being hungry rushed back to Colangute and more precisely to our most favorite food place “Souzza Lobo”. On our way back we visited the beautiful church at Saligao and Colangute and saw couple of full assembly in happening. Back at Souzza Lobo we got our favorite place by the side of the sea and ate to our full content. Spicy Baked Crab fry, tiger prawns for me and veg for my wife with Matka Kulfi and Mint Ice Creame helped us setting the sun. This place ROCKS! After the best dinner at Goa, we sat at Colangute beach for some time with the cool breeze and got the tattoos done. As my business etiquettes and professional ethics don’t allow me to flaunt a tattoo on my formal wear, we limited to the temporary ones that can remind us of this crazy trip at least for a week or so. As we still had energy left in us, we again drove back to Panaji to see the Church of Mary Immaculate Conception and Saligaon Churches in lights and our effort paid off big time.

















Day 5. (Colangute - Mapusa - Sawantwadi - Rajapur - Ratnagiri)

Was a lazy morning with a quick breakfast, we were packing off to bid adieu to the Rome of the East. @ 10:23 AM we were hitting NH17 @ Mapusa to head straight to Ratnagiri. After 4 hours of drive on pot hole ridden road and ghats, we checked in @ Hotel Vivek and had a good lunch. They have good rooms with a standard pricing and room service at no extra charge for very nice food quality. We immediately started for Thibaw Palace which is nearby but couldn’t get in as it’s closed on Mondays. We spent some time at Thibaw point which has a great aerial view of Ratnagiri town, coast line, beaches and the hills.





Day 6 (Ratnagiri - Ganapatipule - Nivale - chiplun - Mahad - Panvel - Thane)

Started off @ 7:45 am from the hotel with a quick breakfast, we took a shorter route to Ganapatipule via Aarey warey and a beautiful coastal road. The road by the side of the hill one one side and the sea at the other makes it a ride to remember. The deltas and the coast line make it the best segment of Konkan roadways. We offered prayer at Ganapatipule and spent a little more than 15 mins on the beach. We left Ganaptipule to virtually end the trip by heading towards Mumbai via Nivale. The NH17 in Konkan throughout gave spectacular scenic landscapes and a lot of pain for driving. I could hardly maintain the speed @ 90-100 KMPH for a while. We took a good lunch at Vitthal’s Kamat @ Mahad and broke for an hour. The road just before Pen is pathetically bad and the traffic of long trucks hardly let you drive comfortably. We touched Panvel @ 5:15 PM and reached my place @ Thane @ 6:30 PM.














This ended a trip of 1438 KMs in total and my Vista consumed about 70 litres of Diesel on the highways and 20 litres in the city. As the pictures have been resized, their resolution and quality have not been at par with the originals...

Note from Team-BHP Support: Mentioning high speed driving is prohibited on our forum. Please refrain from doing so in future. Thanks

[lsp]

Bluenile
The travelogue was short and crisp, mirroring the style with which you create the official documents and presentations.

Could you please share the charges for the places where you stayed for the benefit of people who are planning to visit Goa?

PS: How about uploading the pic of the temporary tattoo you got?

[Bluenile]

Dear Mr Pawar,

Appreciate your time on the travelogue...Wish I could have leveraged your creativity and innovative graphical images though!!! Have you ever imagined, how much effort I must be spending for those so called "official documents and presentations"...

As always, being a poor planner and being LATE thanks to working with a great workforce/my professional competencies, I guess, I kinda got ripped off for the hotel deals while finalizing the logistics at the last moment.

Paid off 3500 bucks per night for both Paradise Resort and Neelam the Grand. The suite at Neelam was far better with a balcony, two separate TVs (an LCD in Living room and a TV in the bed), better maintained and serviced with more out door amenities. Paradise had a direct walk out to Colangute beach.

Here goes the tattoo...

[kannan666]

Lovely pics and a good, crisp write up Bluenile ! Goa never fails to excite !

[Bluenile]

thanks much kannan..

[Bluenile]

The black henna tattoo (Temporary Tattoo) found on Goa beaches can be quite a bad experience for people having a sesnsitive skin and allergy. The reaction actually happens post couple of weeks and hence tourists hardly get to know about it.

The tattoo material may contain contained the chemical para-phenylene diamine ( PPD ).

2 weeks later the tattoo area became very itchy and a raised swelling scar may be forming. In some cases it remains as burns, blistering and scarring for long.

"It is a terrible price to pay for a small tattoo that was supposed to be temporary and completely harmless".

I request you to decide on this dillegently.

[nkrishnap]

A very nice travelogue there. Nice pictures too.

Whats up with the Tatoo?

[suhaas307]

Great travelogue Bluenile!

My family regularly visit Goa and it's good to get another person's perspective of the holiday. We try and incorporate the positives of others' holidays and road-trips into our yearly Goa jaunts!

Nice pictures and crisp text! A great read!

Originally Posted by Bluenile

The black henna tattoo (Temporary Tattoo) found on Goa beaches can be quite a bad experience for people having a sesnsitive skin and allergy. The reaction actually happens post couple of weeks and hence tourists hardly get to know about it.

The tattoo material may contain contained the chemical para-phenylene diamine ( PPD ).

2 weeks later the tattoo area became very itchy and a raised swelling scar may be forming. In some cases it remains as burns, blistering and scarring for long.

"It is a terrible price to pay for a small tattoo that was supposed to be temporary and completely harmless".

I request you to decide on this dillegently.

I've been a victim to this several years ago. Honestly, it's not worth getting a temporary tattoo even if you aren't allergic to the contents of the concoction that they use. I had a bad rash that went on for months after a little experimenting about 6 years back. I regret it to this day!

[Bluenile]

Thanks Krishna and Suhaas,

For spending time in this thread.

The tattoo is definitely not a recommended one and is definitely not fun couple of weeks later.

Suhaas,

You are lucky enough to get opportunities to visit Goa regularly.

For me as well, information gathered from this forum were quite helpful.

[bigwheelz]

Great Travelogue Bluenile....
For my Goa trip, I will use your first 4 days iterenary as it is.
For Day 5, I am planning to visit Dudhsagar Falls and Mahadev Temple, Tambdi Surla on my way back to Pune.
Hope I stick to the planned route.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by Bluenile

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...juna-beach.jpg

This reminds me of "Om" Beach at Gokarna!