Ride with Raj
New Member
Welcome to my blog. The last couple of months of 2018 proved to be the best months from the travel perspective. You might have checked by last blog if not here is the link to that Bhandardhara-Tryamabakeshwar-Ellora
As the year end approached me and my roommate decided to travel again. We did have few options (Kerela, Hampi,Rameshwaram) but there were some setbacks and we had to change our plan. Finally we opted for a bike trip to Goa. Although I have been there thrice but having 4 days in hand and out of options, kahi na kahi to jana tha so Goa it was. We had 4 days with us ( 29th Dec - 1st Jan ). We decided to leave early morning of 29th Dec.
Day 1: Pune to Goa
We got up at 4 am and got our luggage ready, the bike was ready had already fueled it last night, by the time we left it was 5:30 am. It was so cold outside. Though the jacket provided some comfort to the upper body, the cold wind was piercing through the gloves and jeans. It was a hell of a ride in the early morning. After driving for about half an hour I felt like I will turn into a whitewalker. We were desperately looking for some fireplace near roadside and just 30 km before Satara we did find two auto wale bhaiya who had lit up the fire roadside using the shrubs. We immediately stopped there and warmed ourselves. We asked them "Bhaiya kaha se aa rahe itni subah" to which they replied "Mumbai se" and I thought Mumbai to Pune on auto... man they need some respect. They did made some funny comment " Bahut thand hai .. aagey garam to peeche thanda ho jata peeche garam karo to aage thanda ho jata".
As we crossed Satara the sun came out giving a sigh of relief to us. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. We had poha and tea and came out in the open in sunlight. We basked ourselves in the sun for 15 min and left again. The highway NH 48 is a treat to ride on. We maintained an average speed of 70 Km/hr. We took 5 min breaks in between to straighten out legs and body. At around 10:45 am we reached Kolhapur bypass bridge and halted there for 15 min. By this time we were all warmed up.
We started again at 11 am and by 12 noon we reached the place where we had to leave the NH 48 and take a right turn. There are two routes you can either go via Belgaum or via Amboli ghat. We took the latter one. We came across a hotel around 1:30 pm and decided to have lunch. The bike had also come in reserve. After having the lunch we started again. The first priority was to get the bike refueled. Luckily after 5 km we found a fuel station and fueled the bike. We passed though the Amboli ghat witnessing some amazing views. Crossing the ghat and few small villages we finally reached Mumbai Goa highway (NH 66). It was 3:30 pm by this time.
At lat we entered Goa, there was a bit of traffic on the way due to the construction work going on. At around 5:30 pm we reached out hotel "Hotel Seagull" near Candolim. We had pre booked the hotel and it cost us around 10,500 INR for 3 nights. The rooms were very good and hygienic. We decided to take some rest and freshen up before leaving for the quests in Goa.
We left the room by 6:45 pm. It was Saturday and here happens to be a Saturday market in Arpora. We left for the market and reached there by 7 pm. After parking our bikes we took a tour inside the market had some snacks and then sat down to listen to the bands playing there. We stayed there for 2 hours and then returned. We stopped by the restaurant near our hotel for dinner. They had a man who was singing on the karaoke and his songs were not some hip hop or rock. Alag hi level tha bhai bande ka...he sang the song which were totally unpredictable... katai zeher..."Main hoon prem rogi meri dawa to karao" and "Haal kya hai dilo ka na puncho sanam". We returned to our room afterwards.
Day 2: Chapora, Vagator, Arambol, Candolim
We got up next morning, had our breakfast and headed towards Vagator beach. It was a quiet beach with no crowd. We didn't stop there for long. From there we headed towards Chapora fort. Reaching at top we got beautiful view of the Vagator beach down the fort. We sat on the walls of the fort for around 1 hour and enjoyed the view. It was 11 am by now. Next we decided to go to Arambol beach. It was 23 km from Chapora fort. We reached Arambol by 11:45 am. The foreign crowd was more than the Indian crowd on this beach. We booked two shacks for us and ordered some food. We spent approx 2 hours there and as it started to get hot there we planned to leave. We came back to our room, got refreshed and had some rest.
In the evening we left for Candolim beach. We reached there by 7:15 pm had a long walk across the shores and then sat in one of the restaurant. The restaurants put the tables and chairs on the shores so one can have a see facing view. We ordered some food and beverages and enjoyed having the wonderful view of the sea in front of us.The sound of the sea waves and the atmosphere was really mesmerizing. We spend a good amount of time there before returning to our rooms.
Day 3: Dona Paula, Augada, Panji
Next morning after having breakfast, we headed toward Panji city and Dona Paula Jetty. We reached Dona Paula around 11 am. On reaching there we found that there was a barricading put on the path which led to the point from where sunset is viewed. A notice was placed there that the building is structurally unsafe so entry is prohibited. We had to restrict ourselves to the outer area. Staying there for 1 hour we then proceeded to Aguada fort. It took us 40 min to reach the fort. We explored the fort and then returned to our hotel after having the lunch. In the evening we decided to go to Calnagute beach to see the sunset. After reaching there I regretted my decision. the crowd there was so large it seemed they had come for Kumbh snan or Ganpati visarjan. Dimag kharab ho gaya kasam se. and it was that point of time when I realized that Thanos was right. We left from there To Candolim beach. We got the sunset view and the crowd was also contained. We stayed there for 2 hours and then returned to our room. After parking the bike we went for a walk across the streets. We then had our dinner and came back to our rooms and started preparing to leave next morning.
Day 4: Goa to Pune
Now was the time to leave. We checked out at 8 am and left for Pune. Driving for 40 km straight we stopped for breakfast and then moved again. Crossing the Amboli ghat and villages we reached the NH 48. We stopped again to have lunch after we crossed Kolhapur. We took breaks for 5 min at regular intervals. We crossed Satara and finally entered Pune. We reached our flat by 6:30 pm. The journey took us 10 hours to complete.
We covered approx 960 km in this journey. The experience was fantastic. Though we could have covered more places but on our previous visits, we already covered majority of the places in Goa. This time it was more of a relax mode.
Hope you all have liked the post. Do let me know in your comments. Will keep bringing more travel diaries, till then shurkiya, alvida, salam and take care.
As the year end approached me and my roommate decided to travel again. We did have few options (Kerela, Hampi,Rameshwaram) but there were some setbacks and we had to change our plan. Finally we opted for a bike trip to Goa. Although I have been there thrice but having 4 days in hand and out of options, kahi na kahi to jana tha so Goa it was. We had 4 days with us ( 29th Dec - 1st Jan ). We decided to leave early morning of 29th Dec.
Day 1: Pune to Goa
We got up at 4 am and got our luggage ready, the bike was ready had already fueled it last night, by the time we left it was 5:30 am. It was so cold outside. Though the jacket provided some comfort to the upper body, the cold wind was piercing through the gloves and jeans. It was a hell of a ride in the early morning. After driving for about half an hour I felt like I will turn into a whitewalker. We were desperately looking for some fireplace near roadside and just 30 km before Satara we did find two auto wale bhaiya who had lit up the fire roadside using the shrubs. We immediately stopped there and warmed ourselves. We asked them "Bhaiya kaha se aa rahe itni subah" to which they replied "Mumbai se" and I thought Mumbai to Pune on auto... man they need some respect. They did made some funny comment " Bahut thand hai .. aagey garam to peeche thanda ho jata peeche garam karo to aage thanda ho jata".
As we crossed Satara the sun came out giving a sigh of relief to us. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. We had poha and tea and came out in the open in sunlight. We basked ourselves in the sun for 15 min and left again. The highway NH 48 is a treat to ride on. We maintained an average speed of 70 Km/hr. We took 5 min breaks in between to straighten out legs and body. At around 10:45 am we reached Kolhapur bypass bridge and halted there for 15 min. By this time we were all warmed up.
We started again at 11 am and by 12 noon we reached the place where we had to leave the NH 48 and take a right turn. There are two routes you can either go via Belgaum or via Amboli ghat. We took the latter one. We came across a hotel around 1:30 pm and decided to have lunch. The bike had also come in reserve. After having the lunch we started again. The first priority was to get the bike refueled. Luckily after 5 km we found a fuel station and fueled the bike. We passed though the Amboli ghat witnessing some amazing views. Crossing the ghat and few small villages we finally reached Mumbai Goa highway (NH 66). It was 3:30 pm by this time.
At lat we entered Goa, there was a bit of traffic on the way due to the construction work going on. At around 5:30 pm we reached out hotel "Hotel Seagull" near Candolim. We had pre booked the hotel and it cost us around 10,500 INR for 3 nights. The rooms were very good and hygienic. We decided to take some rest and freshen up before leaving for the quests in Goa.
We left the room by 6:45 pm. It was Saturday and here happens to be a Saturday market in Arpora. We left for the market and reached there by 7 pm. After parking our bikes we took a tour inside the market had some snacks and then sat down to listen to the bands playing there. We stayed there for 2 hours and then returned. We stopped by the restaurant near our hotel for dinner. They had a man who was singing on the karaoke and his songs were not some hip hop or rock. Alag hi level tha bhai bande ka...he sang the song which were totally unpredictable... katai zeher..."Main hoon prem rogi meri dawa to karao" and "Haal kya hai dilo ka na puncho sanam". We returned to our room afterwards.
Day 2: Chapora, Vagator, Arambol, Candolim
We got up next morning, had our breakfast and headed towards Vagator beach. It was a quiet beach with no crowd. We didn't stop there for long. From there we headed towards Chapora fort. Reaching at top we got beautiful view of the Vagator beach down the fort. We sat on the walls of the fort for around 1 hour and enjoyed the view. It was 11 am by now. Next we decided to go to Arambol beach. It was 23 km from Chapora fort. We reached Arambol by 11:45 am. The foreign crowd was more than the Indian crowd on this beach. We booked two shacks for us and ordered some food. We spent approx 2 hours there and as it started to get hot there we planned to leave. We came back to our room, got refreshed and had some rest.
In the evening we left for Candolim beach. We reached there by 7:15 pm had a long walk across the shores and then sat in one of the restaurant. The restaurants put the tables and chairs on the shores so one can have a see facing view. We ordered some food and beverages and enjoyed having the wonderful view of the sea in front of us.The sound of the sea waves and the atmosphere was really mesmerizing. We spend a good amount of time there before returning to our rooms.
Day 3: Dona Paula, Augada, Panji
Next morning after having breakfast, we headed toward Panji city and Dona Paula Jetty. We reached Dona Paula around 11 am. On reaching there we found that there was a barricading put on the path which led to the point from where sunset is viewed. A notice was placed there that the building is structurally unsafe so entry is prohibited. We had to restrict ourselves to the outer area. Staying there for 1 hour we then proceeded to Aguada fort. It took us 40 min to reach the fort. We explored the fort and then returned to our hotel after having the lunch. In the evening we decided to go to Calnagute beach to see the sunset. After reaching there I regretted my decision. the crowd there was so large it seemed they had come for Kumbh snan or Ganpati visarjan. Dimag kharab ho gaya kasam se. and it was that point of time when I realized that Thanos was right. We left from there To Candolim beach. We got the sunset view and the crowd was also contained. We stayed there for 2 hours and then returned to our room. After parking the bike we went for a walk across the streets. We then had our dinner and came back to our rooms and started preparing to leave next morning.
Day 4: Goa to Pune
Now was the time to leave. We checked out at 8 am and left for Pune. Driving for 40 km straight we stopped for breakfast and then moved again. Crossing the Amboli ghat and villages we reached the NH 48. We stopped again to have lunch after we crossed Kolhapur. We took breaks for 5 min at regular intervals. We crossed Satara and finally entered Pune. We reached our flat by 6:30 pm. The journey took us 10 hours to complete.
We covered approx 960 km in this journey. The experience was fantastic. Though we could have covered more places but on our previous visits, we already covered majority of the places in Goa. This time it was more of a relax mode.
Hope you all have liked the post. Do let me know in your comments. Will keep bringing more travel diaries, till then shurkiya, alvida, salam and take care.
Hahahh...