[whatever that means]
Hmmm.. so here goes something which I wanted 2 write down from a long time….finally got the time!!
Am talking of our great Tour-De-Goa!![well not exactly… but what the hell!]
After several days of planning and after endless conferences on yahoo[which themselves
ended quite abruptly with no result whtsoever] we finally dicided to Go Goa [the Goa].
at Night :
The the seats were booked for a night journey from mysore to udupi on bus which arrived at 9.i was the 1st one to arrive to the bus stand followed my mama,sabi, and moron[oops sorry make that preetham ,abhinav and arun].we boarded the bus and started what was quite a fun journey. Teasing each other..for example the 1stattack went on arun who was rueing for not being able to email to his galfriend [????].and then on abhinav who was already buzy callin and messaging his innumerable GFs[ya rite!!].and after sometime we slowly drifted off to sleep until we arrived in madikeri which was at its pleasant best hours before dawn all chilly and foggy.we got down at the bus stand to remove or to drain out rather all that we carried all the way from mysore.and then a had a cup of hot tea [which felt really good after the chilly ride that I had] and then back to bus as it continued its journey this time down the hills toward the coastal plains.and then right at dawn and got down in the holy town of Udupi!
Day time:
Thanks to arun who had arranged for a hotel room rite in front of the busstand we had our bath in cold water[though arun really said there was hot water..which wasn’t available for me n mama who went in 1st]and after that watched some tv while preetham couldn’t help but wonder how do so many channels come here in udupi when they don’t back in mysore.all this while waiting for abhinav who took almost an hour[in my standards]to take bath[though he defended it quite candidly that it took more time to apply the soap…ya whatever!!!]and after all that we went down to have our breakfast at the restaurant below ..the topi plain dosas ;).
And after that under the light drizzle we went to one of the most sacred temple of south India yes the udupi sri Krishna temple[sadly thou we didn’t get the darshan…but it was all worth it].
From there we went directly to the railway station[which was CLEAN if u were to compare to other railway stations] on a rickshaw which had sworn to make our food digest I guess by the way it was wobbling and jumping all the way …blame it on the road rather!!
Finally we were in the station…and after all the enquiry on the train which according to railways was on time but according to our shek[read abhishek] who was to come from suratkal on the same train and join us in udupi it was to be late by an hour!!
With nothing else to do…all 4 of us sat on a bench with mp3 players and music fones plugged to our ears lookin athe rain washed tracks and the hoarding beyond that…and calling shek as we were getting really impatient waiting for the train .
Finally after more than an hour the train arrives..with shek standin iout from one of the doors with a cap and a jacket with a broad typical sheik smile.
Heaving a sigh of relief me ,arun preetham and abhinav boarded the train and then shifted to a reserved area which was 15rs extra but was more free and comfortable then the other crowded bogies.
After chattin about things and stuff we finally settled down to enjoy one of the best train rides and one of the beautiful ones..all because of the konkan railways…from drillin our way throu 3kms long tunnels to goin over bridges over lookin rivers mergin the the Arabian sea.froam lush green fields to the barren water logged[flooded rather] places..u get to see them all.
With nothing much to do everymody settled down to play rummy[I guess] while I settled down to read a book on the life and times of Delhi[which sadly I coudnt complete] which shek had brought with him.
The rummy was followed by a game or 2 of uno after which all 5 of got buzy doin our own stuff me reading the book,Arun listening to music and reading a magazine and abhinav and shek rushed to the doors of the boggie and look out..preetham was buzy jumpin from one activity to other[don’t mistake me now..nothin out of ordinary ;)].
After ‘woo’ing out of the windows and doors while going through tunnels to just lazing around eatin chips and drinkin cup of tea and coffee …we finally reache dour destination margoa alias madgaon alias the place we stay on this 4 day trip.
We got down ad hired a taxi to take us to the Vailankani beach resort in colva where we were to be stayin.
We settled down in to separate rooms abhinav and shek in one..me arun preetham in nother…after refreshments we headed to the colva beach few hundred mts from where we stayed.
We all had our share of fun enjoying and admiring the sea and the beach[which was dirty but never the less Indian ….after u realize ur at the edge of the great mass of land that is India] except for shek who was quite used to this after all he had one near his college..he was rather buzy scoldin[literally] the sea about how stupidly the waves come and go…”damn Iam bored already..and u..stpid wave keep doin it for eternity…this is ridiculous”
Amid sinster plans to throw shek into water by all 4 of us[ which was unsuccessful as he would come nywher close] we played and wetted ourselves[ now don’t mistake me…it was the waves].crying tsunami for every other wave..in our version “tu-su-nami”..we spent all over energy in the sea…and returned back to our rooms calling it quits for the day.
at Night :
We slept…we…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………..
Day time:
Tourists visit places….the place don’t visit tourists. And to visit those places we needed a mode of transportation…we had many options…taxi and rickshaws were…a strict no no.
So we hired 2 pulsars and an activa to travel around goa.[talk of BAD decisions…here was one].not knowing the adverse effects of this…we headed to our 1st destination…BIG FOOT[no don’t worry…there aren’t any Bigfoot or yetis in goa] it’s the anglicized version of the foot mark[ rather big for a normal human being if u ask me…well tats y then same…Bigfoot] on a rock[really???] on which many years ago a man who lost everything prayed to god and got his wish…so the legend goes anyone who can stand on one leg and fold ur hands high doing a namskaara towards the sky and ask for a wish..it will be granted.
Well it might sound easy[or difficult …depends how u understood my description] but really not so the foot mark is inclined and u need a balanced body[and mind] to pull it off. We all had a go and prayed or wished rather…our preetham did it thrice actually wonder what he asked for..thouh he was wobbling like a big rock on a slope with his iommensly huge body which has grown over the days…[he is proud of it thou].
Here we did our 2nd mistake..none of us wished for the rains to stop..yeah..it was rainin and raining bad…from the very day we arrived.we the young souls of India..continued our journey to Fort Aguada on the national highway via panaji with 2 hamara bajajs and an activa.
The rain gods wee on the roll….and it was raining cats and dogs…we rode on…stopped near a church were people had gather for the Sunday mass…didn’t pray to god for the rains to stop..we just rode on..after counting for 25 cars to pass by[as rains wont let up].
Me and shek on the ill fated activa and arun on one pulsar and abhinav and preetham in another[on the not so ill fated pulsar].the rains continued…the waters rose…we lost balance..we fell…and shek got hurt.it was not as bad yet….worse to come ..the bag with the camera and phones fell into water and the active the hired active….got a dent.
All tired and the energy we reached a restroom where we rested and realized the damage done ..the place was pretty old…yes it was Fort Aguada.we couldn’t enjoy the Fort much with a digicam all watered inside out and abhinavs cell dead due to suffocation by drowning in water.
After spending some time in the Fort and after encountering the a strange gal who was disappointed tht the light house on top of the Fort was not working said “kuch nahin hei yahan” to her parents and left with them .it wouldn’t hav sounded much odd..but the light house in question was from the portugese time…and it was off time for a light house to be working anyways as it was 12 in the afternoon!!!!
And so we left Fort Aguada…and carefully drived back..not falling anywhere back to Panaji the Capital of Goa.drenched to the core and doubtfull wether the restaurant manger will allow us in[which he thankfully did with a dry look] we had our lunch at the Kamath hotel with a hot cup of tea to heat the cold shivering drenched body of ours.
Me and shek where the 1st to recover…more so than abhinav who was finally relived tht his phone was back to life after operating and drying it….we left of on our dented activa to explore around….and realized Sunday is holiday…almost all the shops where shut..it was like a bandh…shek brought something to carry back to his college…and we came back to hotel where others were holed up…ate a meetha paan and headed back to madgaon in the rain again. Here the 3rd mistake happened and was repented just as soon….as arun got fined by the local traffic police for driving without a helmet..100 bucks as a bribe.after returning to colva..the 1st thing to do was to return the activa which was not needed as shek was to leave the same day.And voila…hell broke loose and the guy who gave us the activa demaded a hefty 2000 bucks as a claim to the damages we made to activa .
After intense request and innocent faces the guy agreed for a 1000rs fine…and left us in shock as how things can go bad.after learning a lesson one of the many which I will list out in the end we came back to our resort and returned back the other 2 pulsars as we where in no postion to take nymore risks as the luck was against us these days..and then at night we dropped of shek to a bus stand from where he returned to madgaon and from there back to his coll.
Though we had planned to go to the beach in the night..it was cancelled due the rains which gave no clues of stopping.
at Night :
We slept watching dhoom2[I guess..]
Day time:
Fresh and not to remember the previous days folly we took a bus to madgaon and from there in the rain went to Dona paula beach for water sports[which was not available due to rains I guess] and Miramar beach which was strange and water was as dirty.
And headed back to madgaon in the eve.
at Night :
Cant remember much..just this dream of this giant pirate ships docked near the beach..colva beach…where we were staying….scary huh!! ;)
Day time:
I had this vague idea that ”shopping is for gals” …boy was I proved wrong…
Arun ,abhinav and preetham dedicated the whole next day for shopping in panaji..which had all the leadin brand retail shops which mysore cant boast of…and 3 guys dug in..from the over priced Lacoste..to cute pepe…from dumb nike to friendly adidas…and not to forget the kaju alias godambi alias ger beeja[aruns idea].shopped all of them..
And me too bored plugged my ears with some hip numbers from Enrique and others while wondering around behind the shopping boys with to umbrellas in hand…u know the rains had not eneded yet…!!
And after nother lunch and somemore shopping we returned back to colva.
at Night :
The rains had stopped…so it was time for a walk in the beach in the night..
The moment we stepped onto the sand I was shocked my the erry silence and the ghostly waters rising and hitting the sand…just like they have been doin for centuries…and before them…couldn’t help but agree more with shek’s comment on the stupid waves…..but with a scary tinge to it.
Preetham who was already quite SCARED to be on the beech at the odd time panicked even more as abhinav wondered alone along the beech .poor mama uttered his trademark padvarahalli dialogues as he could no longer see Abhinav who had vanished in the darkness more so for Preetham who was more blind then the rest of us.
Arun who had stayed back in the room was doing god knows what!!!
It was the last night we where goin to eat in the sagar kinara restaurant where we had been eating our breakfast and dinner.
And headed back to the room to have a goodnight sleep…and yeah arun doesn’t eat much…he is on diet I guess.
Day time:
Wooo!! Its shopping again….this time for shell earings and shirts and stuff from the shops nearby the beach…cheap…and strong .yeah the shell earings just didn’t break….proved later by abhinav to prove it was worth it to arun who as usual had a cynic look at it.
And thus was spent the last day in goa….as we packed our stuff and headed back to madgaon…and boarded the train where my bag was inspected by the police for weapons smuggled out to Karnataka by naxals via goa…and no I didn’t have those weapons ;)
at Night :
And we reached back to udupi..had our dinner in the same hotel where we had the day we arrived…boared the bus..took our seats….exchanged our seats and then we were back doing what we did on night 1…..this time teasing mama…who was confused in the railway station he was wondering “our train is moving” but it was the train next to us….and when finally our train did move…I guess he was thinking it was the platform tht was moving ;) [sorry mama].
After all the teasing and sleep in the bus and a jump and dance of bus over the humps wnd women yellin at the driver we finally reached mysore…safe….
Day time :
At 7 we got down the bus…and headed our ways…marking the end of the tour -de –goa!!
Which spread a range of emotions on our faces…excitement,anxiousness,impatience,pain,tiredness,fear,bore..hungry…stupidity…and much more….what ever u call……experience it was…one of the best…with friends…better then the best!!
Moral of the story:
1]Off-season ……….. means its really The off-season
Never visit goa in an off- season…coz it aint called off-season for no season..they mean it…coz..rains are sometime injurious to health,wealth and fun!!
2] Never hire vehicles unless your damn sure you wont get it dented or nythin.
3] Water sports are played on water..not in water…so don’t expect them in rains
4] Beaches are dying due to global warming and human hamming.
5] Don’t go alone ;)
Well that’s it..i know its really long a blog..but coudnt leave out the details..coz god lies in details…ya rite..nyways…cia..
