A Trip to Remember

Sometime in the latter part of last decade of the century gone by, specifically around 1997 - 98, I decided to take a trip to magnificent Goa. Then, at that time, I was working in Mumbai. My family was staying with me and my relatives were asking me to find a nice place to spend the Navratri vacations.

Goa was in my mind for a long time. Because, Goa, not only had lot of history and culture attached to it but it was a beautiful natural paradise.

Goa is famous for its white sanded beaches, rivers and little hillocks, the extension of the Western Ghats. I was curious to see how the hills, rivers and the sea confluence at one place and how awesome must be it's sight.

The Konkan Railway had just begun train services from Mumbai to Margao in Goa.

Building a rail line, tunnelling through the Western Ghats, a difficult terrain was a challenging task but the Indian Railways took upon themselves dauntingly and did a magnificent job.

Constructing numerous tunnels and bridging the gap over countless mountain streams and riverines is a marvellous engineering feat.

I booked the tickets and we were group of fourteen people. The train started from Mumbai Shivaji Terminus. It was a day train leaving Mumbai early morning and reaching it's terminus Margao in Goa in the late afternoon. The train travelled through the Western Ghats, providing beautiful landscapes, lush greenery with the views of rivers and waterfalls. As the time of the year was just after monsoon so all the rivers were full of water and as the terrain was hilly so there was numerous waterfalls. It was a memorable train journey. We crossed more than fifty tunnels. The children in the group stopped counting after that number and there were so many bridges that they counted till a hundred. After which it became so monotonous that they voluntarily gave up counting.

We reached Margao station much before sun set. Then we went to the Tourist Hostel where we had our rooms booked. Then after refreshing ourselves we sat down to relax with a cup of hot south India coffee and to make plans for tomorrow. We had total three nights and four days in our tour itinerary before our return to Mumbai.

The next morning our bus with the guide which we had booked came to pick us up just after we had our breakfast. The first day we decided to visit north Goa and it's beautiful beaches. North Goa beaches are considered for those who love to party. The South Goa beaches are for those who are fond of tranquility.

We soaked in the amazing beauty of the region as we walked through the sandy beaches . There were numerous of them viz. Calangute Beach, Baga Beach, Anjuna Beach, Candolim, Vagator Beach etc. We spent time lazing around these beaches and then we headed for fort exploration. Then we returned later in the day to watch the amazing sunset. The setting sun meeting the Arabian sea in the horizon was a scene to behold.

The next day we embarked to explore south Goa beaches. The south has some amazing of them. Such as Agonda, Palolem, Colva, Benaulim, Varca and many more. Palm fringed sandy stretch and peaceful sun, sandy solace for the city travellers.

Goa has an awesome geography of estuaries, rivers, sandy beaches with a long coastline of mainland Goa. In the interior region low, forested plataeus merge with the wooded slopes of the Western Ghats which sometimes rise to great heights. Within this is the Mandovi River which beholds the four tiered Dudhsagar falls. This much storied falls have romanticised many adventurers and literary persons alike. It is sixty km from Panaji, the capital of Goa and is located on the Belgaum Vasco Da Gama rail route. We enjoyed getting wet from the water spray of the falls.

In the evening we enjoyed river cruise on the river Mandovi one day and on the Zuari River on another. The Zuari and Mandovi Rivers form an estuarine system. We met the local fishermen who had made bountiful catch of sea fish and prawn. There were sea side fast food eateries where these prawn were quick fried and served hot with local made sauce. These could be enjoyed with local drink feni made from locally grown cashew.

The final day we spent on heritage and cultural trips. We visited the most famous church, the Basilica of Bom Jesus. Some famous temples on our route were that we visited were Shree Mangueshi Temple, Shanta Durga Temple, Devaki Krishna Temple etc.

We concluded our trip by returning to Mumbai on a cruise ship. We were enthralled by the gentle undulating bounce pattern of the ship amongst the soothing Arabian sea waves.