This trip was by far the longest the BHF arranged, and the irony was it was decided in four hours flat. Late Friday evening, we were having tea, while planning on venues for the trip. V was not interested in the usual Khandala-Lonavala-Lohgad route, and we did not know the exact timeplan to go to Matheran by train. It was then that I said we will go to Goa. The feeling took some time to sink in, but I have to admit, it was fast decision making by the guys. The gals got only the updates. Told them "We are going to Goa, pack up". And that they did, remarkably fast.
Back in office, cancelled the Friday party, and told Ayhay to do some homework. Apparently, Ayhay did a splendid job, and landed home with 50 pages of GOA tourism, maps, routes, hotels, conveyance -- practically everything. Harsha offered some pearls of wisdom from UK, and told us the locations of Udipi hotels in Goa. Five hours after the idea was mooted, we were aboard the Sumo, and at 0130 hrs on Saturday (13), we left home.
The first "stop" we had was at Kolhapur at 0730/13 (After a brief stop at a roadside hotel three-four hours earlier for a cup of tea). Ate some breakfast, and were told that Goa was still 5 hours away. Even as we were getting back to the Sumo after breakfast, it was hard to believe that we actually left for Goa.
The road from Kolhapur to Goa is not all that mentionable, and it would do good, if they were widened...so that two vehicles may pass each other, without the window-seat guys getting a heart-attack. But the ghats are just awesome, that too in this monsoon, it is a marvellous sight. The elevated height gave us the chance to see the clouds moving around, and you could actually see the fog cover moving, hiding one part of the dense forest, while revealing an equally striking part.
Anyway, our driver maintained some semblance of speed, and after two-three times of going here and there in the wrong direction, he eventually got us to our resort: Chalston Beach Resorts, overlooking the sea.The smell of the salt in the air, and the constant rumbling brought out another rumbling-in the stomach. Went in search of some Udipi hotel after freshening up, and found one pretty close: PLANTAIN LEAF hotel, or something like it. I have mentioned it in BOLD, because I want you to remember the name. Dont ever go there, even if he is the penultimate hotel on the face of the earth. The food is okay, but the waiters are horrible. This particular guy was throwing the salads on to the table from at least three feet, and was bossing around, as if he is doing a favour to us. Imbecile that he was, he didnt even bother to lay the plates, nor serve some water until we asked for it. Come on, even the tea shop across the road sets a glass of water in front of you before bringing your chai-samosa.
Lunch done, we left for Sapora fort. Now, this is called Chapora, Chappra and a lot of other things, but I stick to Sapora, because that was what was mentioned on the signboard. Here, again, the driver lost his way, and had to turn back. The fort in itself, is nothing but ruins, but one has to come here for the view of the sea it offers. Also, Niral said there was a cave inside. Sad girl, she mentions it now, if only she had told earlier, we would have covered that as well. Anyway, the fort is more appealing for the scene in DCH.
V met one of her college friends here, who had come from Bangalore, riding his bike all the way. Again, the opening lines of this blog started reverberating in my ears. Walked along the high ruined walls of the fort, thinking of its glorious past. The fort overlooks a beach, and you can see "firangs" playing beach volleyball there in their standard two-piece bikini suits. The sun was shining hot on our backs, and coming around the fort, we saw a small hole in the wall, from where a trodden path leads you into a valley. The valley ends in a rocky beach, from where you reach the cave. (Niral told me this, and I have cursed her amply for telling it late) I had been till the last rock which overlooks the beach, and it was only a small distance, which separated me from the cave.
Anyway, we spent almost the whole of the afternoon there, trekking into the valley and back. And almost the time we were leaving, it started to rain. Ran or no rain, we wnated to see the Baga beach on this day, so we told the driver to get us to Baga beach. This time around, again, he led us onto the wrong track, and after a lot of "Bhaisaab, Baga beach kitthe???" we eventually got there in the rain. Fortunately, there was a tea-seller there, who gave the much necessary refreshment. Goks went a step further and brought 'bhutta', and Shan was passing around the 'nippat' and 'chekli' ... Ok ok...I know it..."Chekli" alla kaNo..."Chakli"...
The sea at Baga was very furious, and given the rain, and the time, we thought it best to return, and went back to the hotel, and gave our legs some much needed rest. For dinner, strong protests arose from me and V not to go to PLANTAIN LEAF, and to search for other hotels. We found some hotels, which gave offered a 15 minutes wait in the rain before they could 'place' us somewhere. I was desperate not to go to PLANTAIN LEAF, and even though Ayhay was trying to convince me that "it is the food you eat, and not the waiter", I called Niral to ask her about other hotels...she suggested Titos and Boscos or something like that, which I dont remember now, but both were full. Now it was like we go from hotel to hotel, and Santu and Ayhay get down to ask the waiting time, and we go to the next hotel in the road. Finally we got around to this place called the Indian Spice, and frankly, the food seemed quite good. The waiter was even asking Goks whether he wanted some fresh mackerel which were caught "just now" in the sea. V told me that it was her treat, way too late in the night, otherwise I would have had some more exotic stuff. Anyway, I liked the place more for the songs he played than for the food. Great place...
Dinner over, we came back to our rooms, deciding that we would go early to the beach next morning. So saying, we hit the sack. What happened the next day will come tomorrow's blog.
Contd here.
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