Memoirs of mesmerizing Goa trip

This was a late planned trip and so the onward bus journey wasn’t comfortable and the bus struggled to get us there in 20 hrs!!!...no better than a shuttle. It was a semi deluxe with no push back and poor leg space, but we somehow managed to put up with all the inconveniences, in high hopes of the upcoming good days at Goa. The bus on itself was a miracle…or mebbe the route…the more we travel the more the distance would be!...at some point of time I saw a Bridgestone saying the distance left was 150 kms and after moving some 8-10 kms it was again 156 kms…how could one explain this? This happened a lot of times. I concluded that the bus was travelling in circles….well what else could this be? So reaching Goa was a distant dream realized after 20 hrs of travelling. The driver was extremely kind to pull over at each and every possible stop waiting till the last passenger at the platform boards the bus! By around 2:00 am the bus was overcrowded and the whole crowd was getting blocked around my seat, just then I noticed a boy around 15-16 yrs sleeping on the floor and was adaptive to use his sandals as pillow. He was sound asleep and was least bothered about the people around, stamping on him as they passed by. I wish I could sleep like him - not to be awaked by the disturbances around. At 4:30 am there was a board which read – “Panaji – 230 kms”, surprisingly at 8:30 am the distance was again an unconquerable 168 kms! Finally at 11:15 am we reached Panaji.

Let me introduce the group. We were a group of seven – Naveen, Dilip, Antony, Jiben, Aswin, Mithun and I. All mallus. Naveen was the only vegetarian in the group; dilip wanted to be so but slipped later. Jiben was the chief photographer; his photography had a professional touch. Aswin was very gregarious and talkative at times. Mithun preferred to remain silent most of the time. Antony was the real hero – his dressing, style and sun glasses …all that he tried had a Goan style. The introduction will not be complete without one more thing – Except naveen and dilip the rest of us loved to Imbibe!

We were tired of the last night sleep over and this was evident on every one’s face. From Panaji bus stand we took cab to Seema hotel residency located 5-6 kms from the city. After a small quarrel we paid them 250 bucks though they demanded 300. As one of my friend rightly said, a multiple of the money saved here was paid off elsewhere …you will know it soon!

First day: The rooms in Seema hotel were not good enough, but who cares...we hardly spent any time in the room. The room backdoor opened towards a lake and the view was good. There were cargo ships carrying sand and scrap iron sailing around frequently. Soon we got the Goa tourist map only to realize that we are staying far away from the main tourist spots. This place was recommended by my neighbor in Mysore. He was in Goa for 5 years, supposed to know the tourist places well. I don’t understand why he asked me to stay in Seema – far away from the main land. We decided to shift to a place close to the beach. We took a bike – Honda shine and car – Zen for local commutation. 5 in the car and 2 in bike. I love riding bike and grabbed the opportunity. Aswin was with me on bike. We started immediately after the sumptuous lunch.

The first place we visited was the BASILICA OF BOM JESUS church. It is famous for the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier ,who died when he was only 9 in 1515. Recently somebody chopped off the finger and so the coffin was placed high up inside a tomb. Naveen brought a camera, but didn’t know how to operate it. After some trial and error we clicked the first clear shot of the Mummy. After a brief photo session outside the church we did a small shopping- some half pants and T-shirts…those were not worth the money. The half pants couldn’t withstand the rough usage at the sea and were torn soon. The next spot was some beach – I can’t quite recollect the name. It was a desolated beach. We didn’t want to waste much time there and so left for the next beach which was no better than the first except that there were quite a few beautiful objects to be captured on camera…Yes I mean it…those beautiful objects are gorgeous ladies strolling around with their boyfriends. We know the risk involved in flicking but their sensuous beauty gave us the strength to overcome fear and managed to take couple of beautiful snaps. By now it was 6:00pm but we decided to go to one more beach – Calingut, one of the most popular beaches in Goa.

After taking snacks from a mallu hotel we left for Calingut which was 25 kms away. Mithun opted the car and Antony accompanied me on bike. The road was very good and I was riding at 70-80 kms/hr. We were almost there but then the roads were very narrow. I was behind a car at a turning and just then I saw someone in bike about to overtake that car, I didn’t want him to overtake me and so ripped to 60 kms/hr and overtook the car only to find a car coming from the opposite end. My mind gave away to my instincts; I didn’t know what to do. It was an almost certain accident, could even turn worse considering the speed at which we were moving. My heart started to beat faster and I could feel it pounding behind the great rib cage. No time to think... Only action. The lives of two of us solely depended on my instincts. The car must me coming at some 50-60 kms/hr and even if he managed to stop at a short distance the bike wouldn’t come to a halt in such short distance. I don’t know what all went through my mind in that small fraction of second. I recalled my mom’s words….not to ride fast and get carried away by the thrill of it. Before I could do anything the bike started skidding without ever loosing balance. The handle was rock hard and banged against the car’s front door leaving deep scratches all over and in the process the bike came to a halt without a scar on either of us. Unbelievable!!!!! Walking away safe without a scar after a near death accident is a luck very few are bestowed with. Thank god we are alive. Thank god iam alive to see my parents again. The car driver rushed out of the car and locked my bike and took the key, he was joined by a local. It was all my mistake and I have to pay for what I have done to his car. They demanded 300 bucks, I fought in vain to bring it down but then they would call the police. It’s better to settle it for 3000/- than making a fuss. The settlement was made on the spot. The bike lost the right indicator and the headlight shield… I wonder how much the bike owner would charge me for this. The very thought of the accident sends a shiver down my spine. Later Antony told me that he jumped out of the bike as it skidded. Things would have been different had he not done that. So it was our combined instincts that saved us.

Calingut was some 3 kms away. Though the previous incident kept on haunting me all the while I pretended as if nothing happened. The beach was simply superb and crowded with foreigners. We ambled along the coast for some time cracking jokes at each other and misinterpreting the behavior of the local restaurant people – giving new meaning to their language. There is a general misconception about Goa that people come here for boozing and for dating – true to some extent. Our prejudistic mind tends to take everything in the wrong sense and considered anything and everything as containing sexual connotations! We took snacks from one of the beach side restaurants; the restaurant guys were tricky but not good enough. They tried in vain to force us into eating something which we haven’t ordered! We came to know from one of our friends that there is vacancy in one of the villas nearby Calingut beach. We fixed the deal and decided to shift to the new place the next day.

The night at Seema was all fun. Bought a full bottle “Black Dog” for the five of us and had a wonderful time boozing. Antony’s performances after boozing made us roll on the floor laughing. His peculiar style of saying “Show” “Show” after boozing was more than funny that I couldn’t control myself laughing. The whole party turned out to be very boisterous that the receptionist had to come over to our room asking us to be silent. I had never been in such high spirits in the recent past.

Second day: We woke up pretty early so as to shift to the new villa. I was woken up by the bike owner, I didn’t care to wash my face, went straight down to meet him. He made a predictable estimate of 650 bucks and I had to pay it. So the accident cost me 3650/-. Soon we got ready and left for the villa – Palm groove, in a qualis arranged by avinash – the villa owner. This was a really good place to stay in that it is cheap and closer to the beaches. This time we got a pulsar and a Maruti 800, the rents being cheaper. It was fun traveling in pulsar.

Calingut was out first destination. The sea sports are very popular and adventurous. Bargaining didn’t help reduce the cost of the rides. The rates were uniform everywhere. We were approached by a local fellow, though we bargained he refused to accept and finally he had the deal and asked us to sit in a restaurant. We waited for nearly an hour but this chap had absconded, but this small spell at the restaurant turned out to be fruitful. I could get quite a few snaps of the foreigners. Some were really good. I regret having missed some good opportunities! In the mean time two of us were caught for photographing a couple on the beach side. The guy was furious and wanted all the photos deleted. We could do nothing but delete it, things would have been worse had the locals intervened. Those deleted ones were excellent snaps.

The first ride we tried was Para gliding. Though this looks like a real big deal it’s not much thrilling. There is a parachute attached to a speed boat. You will be tied to the parachute and as the boat moves the parachute glides and flies high in the air. It’s good when the parachute takes off but then on it’s no fun. You are suspended from the parachute for the rest of the time. You will get a wonderful view of the whole sea and coast. We were not happy with Para gliding and spending 500 bucks for it. The next ride was banana ride. This was interesting. A cylindrical kind of boat is tied to a speedboat. 5 people can sit on this banana boat at a time. The speed boat pulls the banana boat to the sea and as it turns it twists the banana ride pushing down everyone on the ride in to the sea. The boat waits until everyone mounts back. This is repeated thrice. It is fun swimming in the middle of the sea. I enjoyed it a lot. On the second fall I was the last one to climb back. I managed to climb but the momentum was just too much that I fell from the other end back to the sea again...lols!!!!...it was so funny. I gasped for breath but somehow managed to get back on to the ride again. Dilip was even funnier. Just like me he was also the last one to climb back but he pulled down everyone as he tried to climb back. Naveen was no better. He pulled down the operator of the glide into the sea and wouldn’t let him climb back. The operator climbed back and tried to pull naveen back onto the ride, it was tough, so everybody joined him in getting naveen back. The operator was exhausted that he asked – “Is he a hero or a zero?” This was the last ride we tried. By then it was 3:30 pm and time for lunch...I was already starving. My new half pants were already torn and this was more than embarrassing and I didn’t have a spare trouser. I restrained the humiliation and went for lunch at the nearby restaurant.

After the heavy meal we went back to the room. I had the fun of my life time riding with a torn trouser on burning hot pulsar. Stopped on the way to get some water, poured it over the seat to cool it down. My posterior was already half burned! Back in the room we took shower and without wasting much time went to the next beach. There were some 4 beaches, said to be the best beaches. This was highly recommended by a cab driver @ palm groove. Travelling over 20 kms we reached the beach but it was the most desolated beaches I have seen so far. There were some small wooden tents under construction, mebbe it’s not the right time to come to this beach. These small tents are for the upcoming tourist season. The movie Josh was shot here at this beach. With no one around the beach is the ideal place for writers to pen down their thoughts. You will be lost in thoughts sitting on this beach side. The placid sea, the cool breeze and the low tide makes the beach very beautiful. I wanted to stay there for some more time but then we didn’t have enough time. The next big plan was to go to pub. Tittos is the best in class; it is the best pub in India. This is close to Calingut, Bagha area. Tittos is only for couples, but single entry is permitted upon paying a higher rate. This was as told by one of our friend who recently toured Goa. We were well told in advance by the locals that the entry is only for couples and others are not allowed and there is no such thing as paying higher rates for single entry. We decided to try our luck at Tittos, but unfortunately only couples were permitted. This was a big loss. Tittos is said to be one of the must visit pub in Goa – the only one of its kind in India. Next time I should go to Tittos with my prospective girl friend!!....kidding…iam still a single. Having missed this chance we went to 9 hour pub. This was an open air pub but crowded by tourist. By the time we reached there it was almost closed. But sat there for some time before going back to the room to booze! Back at the villa we had the food and drinks ready. Though there were families staying around the place avinash had permitted as to booze at the restaurant premises, so we were extra cautious not to disturb anyone. It was already 11:30 pm and lights were off in all other villas except ours. As we boozed Jiben and Aswin were busy talking about the Onam celebrations and this was more than boring to me. Even after repeated request to change the subject they kept talking the same stuff. I haven’t enjoyed boozing as much as I did yesterday. We drunkards were joined by Naveen and dilip and they had fun watching us drink!

Third day: The last day at goa! After the heavy breakfast we went to a Fort popularly known as the “dil Chahta hai” fort – this was where the movie “Dil Chahta hai” was shot. This was a beautiful place. The fort was partially demolished. This is one of the best places for taking good snaps. In the scorching heat of the sun it was difficult to climb all the way up the fort. The view from the top of the fort was amazing. The lush green plains on one side and the serene sea on the other side. The place was covered with dry grass – this reminded me of the wheatish grass seen in the movie Gladiator. I had such a wonderful nostalgic feeling going around the “Gladiator grass”. Took couple of photos around this place. This must the one place where we have taken the most number of snaps. Our first group photo session was at this place- all the seven of us together. The foreigner was more than happy to take a snap when offered an opportunity. At the entrance to the fort there is a rusted gate, anything inside the gate looks like locked in jail from outside. Dilip took a snap from outside the gate with all the 6 of us holding on to the gate from inside; it was as if all of us were locked in prison. This was a great photo and a misleading one too!

The last place to visit in Goa was the Aghoda fort and the Bagha beach. This was not such an interesting fort; there was a jail around this area used during the times of the Portuguese in India. Not having enough time to spare we left for Bagha beach. We went to a sea side restaurant for lunch, the complete view of the beach from a cool place! We could enjoy the beach view without getting baked in the scorching heat. “Fini” is the delicacy drink of Goa. We had 2 pegs of “Fini”, it was really good. I wanted to take more but then controlled myself since we have to travel back the same day. As we sat there eating starters, imbibing Fini and enjoying the view, a small girl around 5-6 yrs old spread a mat on the beach; she was accompanied by a boy, probably her brother. The boy started playing drums on a broken steel plate and the girl started dancing and doing wonderful acrobatics. We were taken by surprised to see this. I immediately took the camera and clicked few snaps. I get easily carried away seeing children struggling to live. This was one instance. After the performance I gave her 10 bucks, - worth paying for the few snaps I have taken. More starters followed and we had the best food in the last 3 days. It was quite expensive too. By then it was 3:45 pm and it was high time we go back to the room and get ready to leave!

The return bus was at 5:30 pm and we reached there on time. The return was comfortable. It was an Airavat. Air conditioned with enough leg space. Antony sat next to me leaving Jiben alone….but someone has to sit alone since we are seven and the bus is a 2 seater. I slept well and reached back Bangalore by 6:00 am. Unbelievable!...The return took hardly 12 hrs as against the onward trip which took 20 hrs nearly. Reached back Mysore by 8:30am…Putting an end to the 3 day blitzkrieg. This would definitely be one of the most memorable days in my life and the one I would love to cherish forever. Those were the best days of my life!

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