no no this is not one of my snaps from Goa. in fact I was not able to find them as most of them have been damaged, Enough of my ramblings. let me proceed on to the next level. So what happened in the four nights that we had kept aside for our trip...
Day 1 - went almost as planned. After reaching Bangalore. we had a sumptuous lunch and then made the tickets for the Bus journey. on an impulse we purchased the return tickets too but there were no volvo coaches at 6.30 pm so purchased two tickets on a deluxe ac bus. hmm shouldnt be that bad! after that we spent some time purchasing at thenearest market. there was no time for sight seeing so we let that pass. At night 9 pm we boarded the bus- a volvo coach and we were on our way to Goa. If you havent experienced a bus ride in a volvo then I seriously recommend one to you. they are smooth. fast, luxurious and an experience of its own. especially a night travel that too with the person you love most. the smooth motion, the seats. the lovely night. you will feel so secured and cosy and as if the whole world revolves around that one grand coach. uhh did I say too much? Okay so lets [proceed. It was drizzling and in the night the drops pittering against your window- Aha! just heaven. It was so heavenly that my husband asked me to change seats and he smugly set his broad frame near the window while I took the aisle seat. so much for gallantry!At around 6 am we woke up and had tea in a small coastal town ( dnt remember the name ) . After that we were too awe struck to sleep. evrywhere thre was an abundance of green. the tres had fresh green - new leaves dripping with moisture. there was freshness everywhere, everything loked clean and scrubbed. no slush no murk.at times we could see the coast , the sea and i developed a pain by craning my neck too much. Finally we reached our destination at 10 am . in fact it wasstill fw minutes to 10. well the time taken was commendable and I was happy that we would still have a few hours to spare on our return journey to catch the flight at 11 am from bangalore to delhi. As soon as we alighted from the bus, shalen my hubby sar a rental shop, a rental for bikes and car. i was for the car but the super male in him wanted the bike. and there was no way i was being able to pursuade him, not even for checking into the hotel. Now we had this big case- a suitcase and a bagpack, so definately I wanted to at least check in by a car. but ultimately he had his way. we tok a bike and God! how embarassed I was to lug in a bagpack and with a suitcase on my lap on a bike.. I looked a sight. And then-- just as we reached the main market / city centre our bike came to a halt. Why? no petrol. Finally after some furios calls to the agency they send someone with a jar of petrol. For that we had to wait for around half an hour. Not a good start I could feel. Finally we were offfrom Panaji to North Goa to our hotel in north Goa , candoliem. we didnt know the way so asking for direction we reached Candoliem somehow after some hits and misses. Just as we reached candoliem. a furious downpour welcomed us drenching us to our bones within minutes. It took another 15 minutes in the rain to find our hotel and by that time we both looked like something the cat dragged in. When we reached the hotel , the manager kindly told us that he had recieved any information about our reservation from the delhi agency. Grrrreat! We produced our papers and the manager wa quite accomodating and after a few phone call he cheerfully accomodated us in the hotel. ( WHISPERING PALM BEACH HOTEL) I hd gone for an online reservation after checking it out in the net. Though it was okay but I was abit dampened as it was not exactly like how it was promoted. I was under the impression that it provided a beach view but it didnt and the swimmimg pool wasnt maintained , so was the jacuzzi- maybe due to the season. It was peak MONSOON at that time. not a recomended time to visit Goa if you want to frolic and roll around in the sun,.We had lunch after unpacking and freshening up- at least lunch was good. At the back of the hotel just a few steps away was the beach and so after lunch we went there for some photo sssion and to explore. it was a deserted stretch and the sea was rough. after an hour or so we decidedto explore on our own some of the beaches of North Goa. First we went to Fort Aguada. visited the ruins and remain enchanted watching the splashing waves for a quite a time. After that we headed to Anjuna Beacgh- with great expections. But it was no 1- almost deserted. no 2 - dirty and littered 3- nothing that could enhance the fun quotient.. so just took some snaps. had some coffee.bought some beads and .. thats it. After that we left for vagator beach. At least it was cleaner but even that too didnt have any crowd.It had some sitting arrangement though. the beach was quite rocky and it felt better to stay there and ruminate. watched the sun set, was it an earth shattering experience.? it was a memorable experience. period. We decided to give calangute a miss for that day as it was getting late. and headed instead to Mambos - a pub or a bar in Baga beach. It was already dark. it had started to drizzle again. When we stepped inside Mambos we found it crowded with Foreigners of almost all nationalities. there were hardly any natives. we felt like fish out of water. hurriedly tok a drink each, observed the people open mouthed - u know like awestruck villagers but left at 9 pm for our hotel where we had dinner and completely passed out exhausted . the next day held promises. we were supposed to go on a sightseeing tour from the agency. but tomorrow was another day and in another post