Goa - 5 Days in Heaven

Trip to Goa

      March 17^th was my birthday and my spouse had presented me a perfect memorable gift. 

Trip to Goa” Wow!! I was super excited this time because it was my first trip to goa with my spouse. Goa is one “hot& happening” tourist place. Goa has loads of things to do. Goa is exotic & is definitely not one of the places to stay in 5-star resorts! It is recommended to be as close  nature to the beaches, local culture, local sea food, local pubs and local markets as possible. It's all about blending with the place to get the most out of it. My trip to Goa was of 5 days long or actually, 5 days short! Because, it is one place which you can never get enough of! The best thing about Goa is that time just stops there. In all the 5 days spent there, I had never bothered to look at the time. I just did not care what time of the day it was. Because time is not a limitation in Goa for anything. On 17^th March 2015 we started our journey.  From Chandigarh to Goa. 

Chandigarh to Goa Distance by AERIAL DISTANCE is (1734 km), RAIL DISTANCE (2279 km),    ROAD DISTANCE (2227 km) Depends on the route we choose. Firstly we went to Delhi to take a flight for Goa. 

     

   Reached (Panjim). The view was Amazing. 

 We were  tired from a long journey. So we decided to check- in Resort “Esetila do mar”. 

The wooden interior was awesome. The hotel was situated at calangute beach. The view was awesome. 

Our room was at pool site. It refreshed all our tiredness. Took some rest in the Room and then visited Calangute Beach. 

Calangute Beach It was fully crowded and it was so beautiful especially sunset view was amazing. I have never seen view like this. I was on cloud 9th that time. Thankfully, the sea is huge and the beach is big .Weather was lovely and ambiance was perfect for enjoyment .We all thoroughly enjoyed playing in water. Back to hotel. We have completed our 1st day in Heaven.

We have started our 2nd day from North Goa.. Fully Sunny, It was too hot and crowded and lot of beaches. When we have decided to choose hot Favorite 2 wheelers. Most of the people enjoy moving around in Goa by 2 wheelers. Bikes can be rented on a per day basis for Rs 250 to 400 approx.  

We reached Fort Aguada. Fort Aguada and its lighthouse is a well-preserved seventeenth-century Portuguese fort standing in Goa, India, on Sinquerim Beach, overlooking the Arabian Sea. A freshwater spring within the fort provided water supply to the ships that used to stop by. This is how the fort got its name Aguada, meaning Water.

Now It’s a part of Jail and open for visitors a nice view of the Arabian Sea can be obtained from here.  Sun and humidity of Goa was on peak. In the afternoon beaches is one of the worst places to be at. After that we reached “Vagator beach”.

Vagator beach became my favorite instantly. It is the quietest, prettiest & cleanest with amazing eating joints & beautiful shafts because of which it attracts the best tourist crowd. The sunset through rocks is breathtaking from Vagator Beach. There are a number of places playing to a dance & trance crowd during the tourist season. These include Nine Bar located just above Little Vagator, Hilltop (a little back from Little Vagator) and Primrose back towards Big Vagator beach, they play different types of trance and psychedelic music from different DJ's from around the world. Disco Valley of Vagator Beach is a place that used to be the place for Goan trance parties starting from early 1980s.We were spend many hours in this beach. After that we went Baga beach.

Baga beach is famous for its water sports. However, it too is quite crowded! Parasailing is the best water sport, a must try for all. Anjuna beach is the red sand rocky beach of Goa. In fact, there is something unique about every beach there. 

There was one thing common to every beach I went to. Life. There is so much life there. You can spot a small fish or a small crab or snail in every possible puddle of water. It is amazing. Life hardly needs space! Completed 2nd day in Goa.

We have started our 3rd day in Hotel Goa. Due to Busy schedule we have decided to remain in hotel and visit the local market at baga beach. We have decided for the shopping for full day. The market has something for everyone, with fresh produce, clothing, electronics, textiles and jewelry for sale. There are also tattoo artists, body piercers and hairdressers. We purchased lot of things like dried fruits, nuts, local delicacies, Fanny, cashunuts and many more. 

After some time we went Top Gear Pub is the perfect place to down a few drinks with its range of delicious seafood snacks (be sure to try their fish) and a laid-back ambience, Top Gear Pub is also a hit with the locals. Completed 3rd day.

We have started 4th day in South Goa. We went Agonda Beach One of Goa’s most picturesque beaches, it is known for its white sands, palms, casuarinas and large hillock that serve as a perfect backdrop! A nature lover’s paradise, adding to the peaceful holiday is the absence of commercial beach stalls, with just a few restaurants located close by. The fort of Cabo de Rama, situated close by makes an interesting excursion from here; named after Lord Rama of the epic Ramayana, according to mythology, Lord Rama’s stayed here with his wife Sita during his 12-year exile period.

After that we reached Palolem Beach A popular tourist attraction in South Goa, the crescent-shaped beach is surrounded by hillocks and palm trees. Palolem is a natural bay surrounded by lofty headlands on either side. Because of its crescent-shape, you can view the entire beach from either end. The beach, about one mile long, offers a lot in terms of water sports.

The perfect end to a day is by taking a serene sunset river cruise along the Mandovi River. The cruise usually lasts for about two hours, and offers pleasing views of Panjim city. A couple of drinks followed by some carnival-like song and dance and delectable dinner ensure complete entertainment throughout the evening.

Our return journey was booked and left Goa in Flight and reached Delhi. Delhi to Chandigarh With this our memorable, adventurous trip had come to an end. We have returned to our home at Chandigarh with loads and loads of good memories.....

1 Day short Trip to Chail (Chandigarh to Chail) by Road in the Month of march

Perfect Holiday Destination

We had a Long week end and decided to explore nearby places of Chandigarh. We decided to make a short one day trip to chail (102 km distance from Chandigarh by Road.) Whether around the area was bad. We booked maharaja double bed room for a night costing Rs. 17000/- per night on Internet (8/9 March night). We started early morning on 8^th March 2015 at 7:30 am by Hyundai I10 car filled the tank and checked air in all the 5 wheels. Chandigarh to kandaghat is very good National Highway Road -22 very comfortable journey. It was raining, so extra care had to be taken while driving. Remain on the left side, keep giving pass to vehicles when desired.


From kandaghat to chail is a typical 10 feet terrible plus 2 katcha path 13 km down wards to sadhu pull on Aasan river and then 15 km regular climb up to chail.


During our visit sadhu pull had been washed away by flood and heavy traffic. This came to our knowledge only after reaching bridge. There was no sign board for showing bifurcation of separate road to cross Aasan River through temporary bridge.


This bifurcation was about 1.5 km before Sadhu Bridge. This bifurcation road was kacha road and steep and required testing of our driving skills due to rain and kacha base there were slips of tyres. Local People gave us information that sadhu pull was washed away about 6 months back. It may take a year for its reconstruction. We stopped for a break (15-20 Minutes) near SadhuPul. Sadhupul is a small village in (dhalta) Himachal Pradesh between Solan and chail based around a small bridge constructed over the hill river Aasan. There are beautiful points on the river Aasan where one can take a break and route to Chail. We could see some camps for adventure activities like rope climbs etc. along with Aasan river. Chail is also considered as the hiker's paradise. The area is away from the bustling life of the state capital Shimla. It lay surrounded by magnificent deodar forests.

We reached chail by 12 Noon. It was very pretty place. We imagined our self in heaven. We were      tired with a long journey. So we decided to check in hotel “Chail palace”.






Maharaja Room. The interior was awesome and gave us of feeling being Maharaja. It was very tastefully designed. It refreshed all our tiredness



We took lunch in King Dining hall. Took some rest in the Room and then visited sidh temple



Sidh Temple is (1.5 km) from Chail Palace Maharaja Bhupinder Singh originally began building his palace at this site. It is said that a Sidh - saintly person - appeared before the Maharaja in dream and declared that this was the place where he had this temple built.

We also visited worlds highest cricket ground 7500 feet.



For some time we stayed in small market Mall road of chail also. It was 6:00pm when we came back. There is a beautiful park around chail palace and nice walk ways around 74 acre property of chail palace.



We returned to our Room by 7:00pm and then dinner at 9:00pm and saw Tv for an hour and slept. During night it was snowing throughout when we woke up in the morning we saw white carpet of snow on lawn/Park of chail palace. It was snow all around. It was clear sky and sun shining. We enjoyed snow for two hours by walking over it and playing with snowballs. We waited for snow to melt, So that we can start our drive back to Chandigarh. By 12:30 pm



We started our back journey to Chandigarh reached Chandigarh by 5:00pm.