Goa - The Grand Road Trip

Trip Log:

Members: 2

Start time: 7:30 AM, Wednesday, 15^th Aug, 2012

End time: 9:00 PM, Monday, 20^th Aug, 2012

Duration: 6 days, 5 nights

Total travel: 1850+ Kms (Self-driven car, Single driver – that’s me :P)

Trip Type: Road Trip

Total expense: INR 22K, inclusive of fuel, accommodation, food and everything else for two of us J (yeah it’s was budget trip

What went great:

- Beautiful monsoon road trip

- Whole Goa explored including suburbs

- Fort Reis Magos – A discovery

- Awesome sunny weather on all days at Goa

- Binging and Drinking everyday

- The Wife :)

Pain points:

- Accommodation confusion on first day

- Big to-dos

Weather: Cold, Rainy, Sunny, Windy

Vehicle: Our car (Ford Figo Diesel)

Day 1: 15^th Aug - The Start

Bangalore -> Hassan -> Mudigere -> Karkala -> Manipal

7:30 AM: The plan was to start at 4:00 AM. But as always…J

Start

Navigator cum cleaner cum Biwi -Start

11:00 AM: Tea halt after Hassan (15 min)
3:00 PM: Omlette bread at Coffee corner

4:30 PM: Kadambi falls (on the way)

5:00 PM: Kudremukh (beautiful but tiring western ghats driving)

7:00 PM: Manipal Hotel checkin

Met Shanky (Parul’s sis) and her friend at Manipal.

10:30 PM: Great Dinner Saiba,Manipal. Good value for money. Yes, that can happen only in college crowded areas. Try Pepper Kababs there.

Day 2: 16^th Aug – Goa calling

Manipal -> Murudeshwar -> Honavar -> Jog falls -> Honavar -> Gokarna -> Karwar -> Palolem

10 AM: Breakfast at The Cosmos Café, Manipal

10:30 AM: Start

12:30 PM: Honavar
2:30 PM: Jog falls, Big disappointment compared to what I expected in a monsoon season. It was Jog falls revisited after 6 years

Now, August 2012

Then, Aug 2006

3:00 PM: Lunch at Jog falls. Realized that we have lost significant day time
4:00 PM: Non-stop drag Honavar

7:00 PM: Karwar

Karwar Ship museum

8:30 PM: Non-stop drag till Palolem

Confusion on accommodation

Delighted with the beach thing…Biwi wanted to stay in a beach resort but rooms were not great. Varun wanted to stay 2 km away in a good resort but alas…room was available only for 1 night. Varun keeping an idea of home-stay enquired at Pande Residency, a decent homestay but biwi wanted to just stay on beach. So, finally we booked room at Palolem beach resort.

10:30 PM: Checked in at Palolem Beach Resort. Great location but old room

11 PM: Dropadi Beach Restaurant, guess it’s the best beach restaurant in palolem. I have been there in 2006 and it’s exactly the same even now.

Dropadi Restaurant (same lighting as it was in 2006)

Bday boy 2012

12:00 AM: My b’day…Party, party, party J

Change in Plan - 1

Biwi never visited South Goa, so we planned for 2 days of South Goa stay. South Goa is laid back, relaxed. So, now, biwi suggested (read as instructed) to head for south goa for more happening life. Ok will think tomorrow.

Keeping your own conveyance and no advance booking always helps in making flexible plans. Thank God, my woman understands this. J

Day 3: 17^th Aug – South to North Goa

Palolem -> Panajim -> Baga

10:30 AM: Check out

11:00 AM: Palolem Beach walk

Beautiful Palolem beach

11:00 AM: Breakfast at Seagull, Palolem. Very Good breakfast.

@Seagull restaurant, Palolem

12:30 PM: Started for North with a very slow pace. The day is relaxed!

Took the halt at several scenic place on the route.

Backwaters on the way

Rather taking the main-highway, we opted for the beach road (figured out the road in our GPS). The road is scening, well laid with no traffic at all however it’s narrow. This alternative path could be taken if you want to check various beaches of Goa.

2:30 PM: Panajim. Parking issue, circumventing the roads.

3:30 PM: Reached Café Ritz but closed for lunch L

Located Café Ritz as the best place for Goa food. But as always we were late and it got closed for lunch just 10 min back. :P

3:45 PM: Reached ‘The Upper House’ while searching for Shere-e-Punjab. Hehe. A lovely place. Biwi is happy! Must go restaurant in Panaji.

The upper house restaurant, Panaji

5:00 PM: Visited ‘Church of our Lady of Immaculate Conception’ at Panaji

6:30 PM: Baga beach. Checked in at May Flower resort, Baga. Good resort with bad hospitality and untrained staff. Rest time!

AC working (not working)

Room’s AC was on power but not cooling. Complained. Reply received – ‘sir, voltage fluctuation in the area. Can’t help.’ I gave up after lot of argument. Who would like to waste time and energy when party outside is waiting!

10:00 PM: Baga beach walk. Plan was to go Brittos via beach. Sudden rain-shower so thought of being at Teetos lane.

Teetos and Mambos...None

Yeah I know about these places…but heavy entry fee for clubbing…Sorry… I have not been programmed like that. You must charge for food, drinks but an entry fee like a zoo? Ahem.

Teetos had unlimited drinks on offer. But unlimited drinks offer have never been great with me. Crowd was more than expected there. So, left the idea.

Went to Kamaki and had a great time till late night.

Day 4: 18^th Aug – A Relaxed day in North Goa

Baga Beach -> Aguada Fort -> Reis Magos Fort -> Vagator beach stay

10:00 AM: Hotel check-out

11:00 AM: Brunch @Brittos. A lovely place at Baga. Must go.

Brittos

Show outside Brittos on the beach

1:00 PM: Started for Auada fort, amazing weather.
Took the alternate route, just parallel to beaches

2:00 PM: Aguada fort. Lots of photography session including model photography ;P

@Aguada fort

3:15 PM: Banyan tree on the way

3:30 PM: Aguada jail. Thought that’s some kind of historic place but oops that’s a real jail…U-turn :D

4:30 PM: Three kings church.

5:00 PM: Fort Reis Magos. One of the well-kept fort, I have ever seen. Recently restored. The art gallery was awesome. Wished I would have had more time and biwi wouldn’t have had crying for hunger…as always. Grrr…

@Fort Reis Magos

Fort Reis Magos inside

Alone but Strong!

7:00 PM: Checked in at Asterix hostel, Vagator (extreme North Goa). Rest!

Not very good experience at Asterix

It was reviewed as #1 hostel in goa on tripadvisor and we booked it only to experience the hostel. Met Amber who was great at hospitality. Hostel looked amazing and we were happy. But oops… the room he showed was not in the hostel premises. He booked us a room which was half km away from hostel in another lane. As per my understanding, they have taken this another house on rent, which is no way near to their existing hostel. The room was AC, clean and decent. But there was nothing else in premises. Amber mentioned that we could use main hostel amenities but a disappointed mind consoled - it’s not worth to give it a walk now.

We booked Asterix for getting hostel experience. Room in another facility not at all matching to the existing facility should be told while booking.

Guess what…we quickly cut short our plan to stay at Asterix from 2 days to just 1 night.

11:30: Started for Brittos. Late night!

12:15 AM: Oops…Brittos closed. Head to Teetos lane. Traffic jam

1:30 AM: Saying No to Mambos and Teetos…went to Valencio’s…lot of hustle bustle but still with ample open space and yes we got a silent corner to relax. And yes we got a waiter who delighted us with his amazing hospitality.

Party, party, party till 4 AM!!

@Valencios, Baga

Chhar baj gaye lekin party abi baaki hai

Change in Plan - 2

Our earlier plan was to leave Bangalore on 20^th but realizing our laziness, biwi and I decided to start for Bangalore tomorrow itself with a relaxed mood. Also we were done with beaches and parties. Wanted to go back home now. Yeah Bangalore home is also a party place. ;)

Day 4: 19^th Aug: Meeting Kirti and yet one more day at Goa!

Vagator Beach -> Candolim beach -> Palolem (stay)

11:30 AM: Check out of Asterix.

12:30 PM: Sunnysideup Restaurant at Candolim beach. Met ‘married’ Kirti ;) and her hubby

Kirti and Gaurav

2:30 PM: Café Coffee day

3:00 PM: Bid good bye to Kirti and left from Candolim. Already realized we have again lost significant day light to drive. We planned to reach Hubli at least.

6:00 PM: Reached till Palolem

Change in Plan - 3

Hubli was still 3-4 hours drive. So thought of taking halt at Palolem beach itself. Reason: Still in Goa, beach still there, party still possible, easily available accommodation.

Lot of research for accommodation this time. Finally zeroes upon Pentacon resort. One of the best place to stay at Palolem (after 7-star Lalit resorts) but yes it’s not exactly on the beach. But no problem…we were already were done with beaches.

Hospitality, Services, Snacks, Dinner…everything was good. Confortable stay.

And yes, logically we ultimately spent 2 evenings at Palolem. As per plan

11:00 PM: Good night for a long drive tomorrow

Day 5: 20^th August – Bangalore calling

Palolem -> Karwar -> Ankola -> Hubli -> Davanagare -> Chitradurga -> Tumkur -> Neelamangala -> Bangalore (home..sweet home)

8:00 AM: Breakfast and Checked out

9:00 AM: Dragging till Ankola

11:00 AM: Non-stop drag Drag Hubli. Very good single track road.
1:00 PM: Non stop drag till Haveri/Ranebennur

An amazing view of the Wind mills. Took left in a village for better Wind mill view and photography.

GPS failed

Observing the road map…the plan was to take a small route in village and en-route hit the highway (NH-4) again. Alas..no network inside village. Lot of wrong paths, village streets taken. Took us almost 1.5 hrs to come out. Probably we could have taken U-turn. Still, must say - experience of wind mills farms was worthwhile.

2:30 PM: Back on NH-4.

3:00 PM: Non-stop drag till Davanagare

Benne Dosa

During trip planning, we found very good reviews about Benne Dosa of Davanagare. Entered in the city to reach famous - Kottureshwara Benne dosa. Oopps dosa not available. Will reopen by 3:30 PM. Disappointed.

Hungry. Started back. Way back saw another Benne dosa shop. May not be famous but still it said ‘something’ and Benne dosa on board. Yeye!

Great dosa. Biwi said just ok for dosa. Promised to make better dosa that that on weekend. (which she failed to make better while I am writing this blog…he he)

4:30 PM: Chitradurga. Small break here and there for photography. Traffic

6:00 PM: Drag till Tumkur. Heavy traffic now

7:00 PM: Neelamagala. Very heavy traffic

7:30 PM: Nice road.

9:00 PM: Home sweet home!

PS: Thanks Team-bhp, tripadvisor, off course Google Maps and last but not the least, my navigator cum cleaner - Parul (biwi) for planning this road trip. :)