Thursday, July 15, 2010

Goa Tour

Since i came to IIT Bombay, the place i wanted to visit the most was Goa. Me and my friends made many attempts to visit Goa during the first year. But we failed each and every time.
Suddenly on 8th july evening we realized that most of our guides were out of station. So, we suddenly decided to make yet another attempt to
visit Goa. But there was more intent to it this time. We decided to book tickets for bus. At around midnight we booked 10 tickets to Goa. The bus to Goa would leave at 5:30pm from Kanjurmarg.
The next day, full with energy 10 of us left for Kanjurmarg to catch the bus for Goa. The journey was boring to say the least. It took us 16 hours to reach Goa. I couldnt even sleep at night. But finally we arrived at Goa.
Our first stop was Margao, a small town in south Goa. We took a cheap hote(Rs 220/head)l there. After having lunch we booked Qualis to visit various temples and churches in south Goa. We visited two beautiful (but identical) temples. The temples were really quite and i found peace there. The environment there was quite and peaceful there. Some of us also bought 'Goa T-Shirt' from a shop outside the temple. Then we went to visit some churches. The first church that we visited was Se Cathedral. It is the oldest church in Goa. The church was huge and full of architecture. I have never seen such a huge church before. We also saw the coffin were the body of St. Xavier's was kept. We visited a art gallery in the church. After visiting that church we visited another nearby church. The state of the church looked like it was not used for hundreds of years.
After visiting the churches the Qualis dropped us at Colva beach. It is one of the famous beach in south Goa. The beach has many coconut trees. At around 5pm we decided to take a bath and have some fun in the sea. After having a bath some of us decided to have a beer in the beach. The beer didnt have any effect on me, so i was a bit disappointed . After that we returned to our hotel. After taking a shower we went to have dinner. For the first time in my life, i ate lamb. It was extremely mouth watering to say the least. We had some drinks (scotch) with red chilly lamb. After that we had some baskin robbins icecream. After that we came to the hotel . Some of us slept and some of us watched the fifa world cup match for the 3rd place.

Next morning after having some light breakfast we left for north goa. It is the happening and rocking part of Goa. We changed four buses to reach our destination. While moving towards the Calangute beach (The most famous beach in Goa) we saw hundreds of wine shops on the way. On reaching the beach many dalals contacted us for hotels. One of the them said he has he room for 10 people costing around RS 1500. We were surprised to hear about such a cheap hotel in Goa and that too near the beach. The dalal took us. We were waking through the beach and were wondering where is the hotel. Suddenly he pointed towards a hut and took us inside. We were surprised to see concrete walls inside the hut. The hut was a disguise for the police. The building was illegal and had to be covered with coconut leaves. After a long discussion we decided to stay there (after all our budget was very less). After dumping our luggage we headed for the beach. We also bought a football. The beach was a 3kim long. It is known as Calangute and Baga beach. We walked from Calanguta beach towards the beach. Along the way we played football. A dog also joined us in playing. After reaching the beach some of us had beer and chicken. After that we had 4-5 hours of fun in Baga beach. Never spent so much time at a beach at a stretch. We played many types of sports with the ball in the water. In the evening we came back to the hotel and took shower.

After that we went for dinner at a restaurant in the beach. The restaurant was quite expensive. Some of my friends decided to go for crab and some decided to go for squid. I opted prawn. The prawn was good but the curry was awful because it was cooked with coconut oil. After the expensive dinner some of us went to buy some decorative items for our home. After that 6 of us decided to to have high volume of alcohol and have fun in the night. We stat in a open air restaurant in the middle of the beach. Three of our friend ordered Hokka and all of us first ordered Cashew Fenny. It is a local Goan drink. After that we went for couple of pegs of Royal stag. We had lots and lots of fun there. The nice was full of fun and the sea made it better. After that we went back to our room. The Fifa world cup final was going on. I was supporting Spain and rest of my friends were supporting Netherlands. Finally Spain won and i was the happiest man in the room that night.
Next morning we left the hotel and headed straight to a Fort near the sea. We spent around one hour roaming inside the fort and taking photographs. Then some of our friends found out a way to reach to the sea. The path to the sea was extremely tricky and risky. It was like trekking but was more dangerous. I couldnt even complete it because my pant was torn on the way :-(. But the seen there was amazing.
After that risky adventure we went to the bus stand to catch a bus for Mumbai. After yet another long and boring bus journey we returned to our campus at 6am in the morning. After coming back we ate the famous Goan sweet called Bebinca.