Our Road Trip to Goa after 15 years.

Duration December 26^th to December 30^th, 2022

Dear All, it gives me immense pleasure to scribe out my experiences aka my trip to Goa with my family. It was a  trip were  everyone was excited about especially my kids since my daughter was 3 years old when we had visited last time and we are were having vague or no memories of our last visit except our place of stay.

Discovery of Stay

When I started hunting for an affordable stay I was astonished with the exorbitant rates prevailing in Goa especially for the period December 26^th to 30^th December. Since I am with a family I wanted a decent accommodation with a rating of 4.0. It became a daunting task since a decent place for a 4-night stay was not available for less than 45K. finally I narrowed down on a property called “Silver Shell” in Calangute. I booked a month before with 50% advance payment. They were very professional in responding to your queries but nevertheless they were not bad.

I was not getting any discounts since it was a peak season and the property had a swimming pool and was at close proximity to lot of Vegetarian hotels and Calangute beach was at a distance of 1.5 kms(15  minutes’ walk) . I will talk about the Pros and cons of the place in detail at the end of this amanuensis

The Route we took was

Bangalore -> tumkur->Hiriyur->Chitradurga->Davangere->huballi/hubli->Dharwad(take a left after Dharwad Toll road/NICE road)-> Moller->Panji->Calangute

Tip: There are lot of toll booths, please have enough money loaded in your Fast Tag. There is one toll where you must pay cash after to take the left from Dharwad. You can follow google maps.

Road condition as of December 26^th, 2022

Excellent road till Dharwad (Approximately 410 kms). After Dharwad take the left then the bad road starts. The distance of 140kms out of 200kms is bad with some stretches of very bad road conditions.

Once you take the left from Dharwad the first 25 kms of road is decent followed by 25 kms of very bad patches of just single lane with some unconstructed single lanes/mud bumpy roads. You have to cross 3 railway gates on the way and these were closed for train crossings so we lost a minimum 10 minutes at each railway gate.

Tip: No gas stations for some 30kms of stretches so plan for your fuel refilling wisely.

The ghat section starts after some initial 40 kms and it is full of curves and hairpin bends and little narrow so be cautious and maintain a speed of 40 km to 50 kms. Road condition of the ghat section is very good.

You can travel at 120 to 140 kms/HR speed till Dharwad except the Dharwad toll road where it is a single lane road and overtaking the load laden lorries are challenging due to single lane without a median, be careful in driving this stretch of 30 kms. 

First Day of the trip

We had planned to have breakfast on the way since we left Bangalore at 6 am and it would be ideal  for us to have hot breakfast somewhere near Tumkur. We had packed our lunch anticipating that there will not be any good vegetarian hotels on the ghats after Dharwad towards Goa(it turned out to be a very wise decision). Tip – Pack your lunch if you are leaving Bangalore at 6 am.

We left Bangalore at 6.10 am and reached Tumkur at 7.20 am via Nice road(Kanakapura road Exit). We had narrowed down on Pavitra Thatte Idly restaurant which is on the highway in Tumkur but on the right side. You have a U turn and withing 25 meters of U turn you can see the hotel to your left on the service lane. To my surprise many frequent wanderlusts were taking a U turn to this place since they knew this place. Place was a rustic Village style hotel but with decent quality tiffin items, cleanliness is  not that much but a good idly with butter on it (for which the place is famous for). We had our breakfast and left Tumkur at 7.55 AM.

After Tumkur the road is a 4-lane highway all the way till Dharwad where you have to take a left turn to Goa.

After the ghats section you reach a place Mollem where you find a big gas station and it is a junction where you can take a left turn and drive for 10 kms to reach Dhudhsagar falls. You have to take a jeep to the falls after some point which we didn’t take nor planned for.

@Mollem- 68kms before Calangute is an intersection the left side road along the petrol goes to Dudhsagar. You can go by car for 6 kms and the remaining 6 kms you have to go by Jeep. We reached this place around 3 PM and found no jeeps were available and already people were waiting. Seems the Jeep ride will take 1.5 hours and he will drop you and pick you back after 90 minutes. Since we were tired and didn’t feel like waiting so we went back on our journey towards Goa.

From Mollem Calangute is 68 kms. We reached Goa by 4.30 pm  approximately 10.5 hours including the detour we took for Dudhsagar. Total distance from my home in south Bangalore to goa(Calangute) was 610 kms.

Checking in to the Hotel

It was a cramped road to reach the hotel. It was in one of the gullies near Calangute. Driving even a small car was a challenge though mine was a XUV and you cannot park your car near the hotel. Even alighting and taking out your baggage will make others wait on the road. They had a Valet parking 100 meters away in a shaded ground with coconut trees and looks like the nearby hotels share this common place for parking for their guests. After checking in we found our rooms to be in the fourth floor. Luckily we had a Balcony facing the swilling pool which is right at the entrance of the hotel , as you walk through the reception you hit the swimming pool. Surroundings of the hotel can be rated only 3.5 but we had taken a family room with four beds with 2 beds in mezzanine for kids. Rooms were neat with balcony, AC, small fridge, TV and good amount of wardrobes. Bathrooms were spacious and neat.

After taking a short break we wanted to explore and started walking towards the beach. The Hotel is at a location very prominent to walk and explore. The beach is 1.5 kms from the hotel and it takes 15 minutes of walk along the street full of shops that sinks straight into the beach. It was almost 5.50 pm and I was more obsessed with the sunset, sunset had created a beautiful canvas of pink-, yellow- and orange-colored clouds crowning the entire beach horizon. At distance in the sea, I saw tugboats like doing paragliding expeditions for those who had paid for the sport. My kids too went on a water bike ride which was just for a minute way expensive 400rs/person/minute. The Beach shores were full of touts yapping for sea side eateries and sport rides. The Jarring rock music from the shorelines eateries made us to go back after sitting for not more than an hour. Serenity of the nature was spoiled by these eateries and business community lined all along the shore.

 

On the way back we stepped in to a pure veg restaurant to have our Dinner. It was called the Plantain leaf. There are more than ten pure veg restaurants on the road to the beach and all were above average, and I would rate taste of all the pure veg restaurants as 4+. We retired to our room by 10 pm though the beach road and surroundings was full of hustle and bustle.

Tip: There are lot of cashew shops selling cashews but the prices are more than what you get in a local wholesale market. Since I know the prices of cashews and the price depends on the size of the cashews they had mixed all sizes more of a strategy to sell to customers who doesn’t know much about cashews. There were hundreds of stores with huge sacks of cashews stacked up at their entrance, but none were truthful on the price and quality, so better avoid buying.

Second Day

Our second day was more eventful since it was never in the plan nor planned for. Me and my wife went to the beach for a morning walk before the kids were awake. We took some snaps as couples and on the way back wanted to taste the idly vada sambar in a restaurant but it was way below average since we are from Bangalore  the taste and quality of Bangalore’s Idly Vada Sambar can never me matched up to.

 

We enquired about water sports and packages at our hotel’s reception and took a package for both the kids for 5 water sports including paragliding in the sea. It was 1500rs per person but one and only worth aspect was paragliding. It was a learning for us as well. The water sports events were at the Baga beach and we were asked to report at 11 am. Anticipating crowd we went ahead of time. Baga beach is 1.5kms to the north of Calangute, you can even walk from Calangute shore to Baga beach along the shoreline to reach.

We explored local private buses which were lot cheaper than autos or taxis. There are plenty of buses from Calangute to Baga to Mapusa and to Panjim. We took a bus by the way all are private buses and no ticket price regulation. Calangute to Baga beach was just 1.5 kms and he charged us 20rs per person, still cheaper than other means of transport.

We reached the water sport counter and looked out for our contact person once again these guys are touts or a group of touts organizing this, once again no regulation on rates and timings. Since we were early, we were allowed to board the second boat for Paragliding. Initially we didn’t buy tickets for us(parents) so we bought sitting tickets by paying 400rs per person to go in to the sea to take photos of our kids doing paragliding. After a 5-minute boat ride we were asked to board another boat which had the paragliding. Once we got in, we were wooed to do paragliding, so we ended up paying 2000rs for me and my wife. Also, for dipping in water during the gliding you have to pay 300rs extra per person. They extort money for everything you ask and there is no regulation. But in the interest of fun, you don’t mind spending if you can afford.

Paragliding was an amazing experience you can do alone or together(two person). We had carried our camera and we took lot of photos and videos. After Paragliding we were returned to the shore to complete other water sports for kids. Once again the other water sports activity like jet skiing , tub ride and banana ride were for less than a minute and it was getting very crowded and there was no order or regulations by the touts who were organizing these activities. Somehow we completed our activities and 2 minutes walk from our hotel took a bus back to our hotel. We had our lunch at a different restaurant this time Anand Sagar which was a pure vegetarian. In the evening my kids enjoyed swimming and we spent our time by the pool side having Pakoras. We went to Shiva Sagar for Dinner which was 3 to 4 minutes’ walk from our hotel.

Food Tips: In all the pure vegetarian restaurants food was good especially butter Pulkas, dal kichadi, parathas, and curd. Best part was Curd where they serve it generously without a limit on the quantity/measurement. Sometimes they didn’t charge for a small cup of curd.

Day 3

There were no concrete plans and we checked with the Hotel front office for places to visit and he suggested to go to MAPUSA for a market shopping experience. We took a bus to MAPUSA. It was a 20-minute bus ride and the charge varies between 25rrs to 30rs per person depending on the bus conductors. Once again, no tickets or regulations on pricing. It was a very hot day especially afternoons are scorching hot without any humidity (due to winter/December month weather). To our dismay we found the market next to MAPUSA was like a chor market or cheap market where you get fruits, vegetables, clothes, groceries, and meat. It was stinking and unclean like any city markets. WE strolled for 30 minutes then realized that there is nothing more you can do. We boarded a bus back to Calangute. Once again, we had good lunch at Anand Sagar and retied to our rooms for an afternoon nap. Me and My daughter took a body massage at a Thai Spa which was great but little painful. They have various packages, and we took a medium pressure package with Aromatic oils. Evening was spent by the pool side with kids enjoying their swimming. We went to the beach for a late night walk took some snaps and retired to our room after dinner.

Day 4

We all took a morning walk to the beach to experience the morning serenity and the music of waves but even at 7 am the beach was crowded with tourist, touts canvassing for boat rides and sports rides and vendors selling samosas and tea. We sat for 90 minutes. I ran for a kilometer on the hardened sand closer to the waves as I like walking on hardened sand than the loose soft sand. My daughter wanted to get her hair braided with color threads for taking snaps and we got it done by paying 40 Rs for a single braid. We returned our room and then planned to visit Fontainhas in Panjim(old Latin colony style houses with each street houses in different colors). Distance from Calangute to Panjim was 14 kms and Taxi’s were asking 3000rs. I decided to take my car out which was parked since the time we checked in. It was a wise decision since we took 30 minutes to reach Fontainhas in Panjim. Parking can be done on roadside for free near the Fontainhas. We strolled all the streets, took some snaps. There are couple of vegan and vegetarian pastry shops(Which sells gelato ice cream and good pastries). We grabbed some to satisfy our taste buds. Tip: they are very pricey and run by expats, Portuguese people)

We also wanted to visit the near by Panjim market which was the city center and where all the cruise casinos could be seen on the Mondovi river. Parking at Panjim market is challenging and somehow we got a paid parking slot for 50rs/hr. We explored the market where you can buy everything at wholesale price or prices lesser than compared to MAPUSA market or shops near Calangute. This was a decent market were you get everything. We bought cashews at wholesale price at the market. Strolled along the Mondovi river, took some snaps at the backdrop of those floating casinos. We had planned for a Vegan vegetarian Pizza restaurant called Saraya run by Portuguese for lunch and it took some 20 minutes for us to reach the venue. This place is on en-route to Calangute no detour needed if you are heading back to your hotel in Calangute.

The place was very rustic hardly with any sophisticated furniture or nice ambience, but they had a very high rating for the food. We ordered pumpkin soup, hummus with bread as starter and then two 12 inch pizzas. Pizzas are made of sour dough, and they also have vegan options. Place is pricey but worth the experience considering the gastronomical aspect of the taste.

After a sumptuous lunch we headed back to our room to relax. Once again kids had a great time in the pool and we were sitting by the pool side watching them have fun. We headed out to have our dinner at Anand Sagar and we also enquired about packing our lunch for our next day return journey to Bangalore

Day 5

The final day of our vacation with little sad mood of the kids to return to Bangalore. We were all awake by 6.30 am and our plan was to finish our breakfast by 8.30 am and checkout by 9 am. Me and my wife headed to Anand Sagar to pack our lunch since the ghat section till Dharwad doesn’t have any pure vegetarian hotels. We had bought a pack of Curd from a milk shop(Which are many near our Hotel). We packed pulkas and rice along with pickle for our lunch. We checked out at 9.45 am little late than planned for. My wife drove till Mollem( first leg of our return journey) which is 68 kms from Calangute. We stopped at a nice tea Chaha shop named Amrutatulya(looked like a chain of shop).very nice place which serves jaggery tea and various other flavors. First place I witnessed which charged a nominal price of 12 Rs for a tea. We relaxed and I took the wheels since Ghat section starts immediately after Mollem. Traffic was heavy both upcoming and ongoing looks like due to New Year celebration in few days. There were hair thin spaces between vehicles passing by due to ghat section of the terrain. All the three railway gates were open this time so that we were not made to wait for a passing train. We reached Dharwad at 2.30 pm. We pulled over to take a break for having our packed lunch. We were little apprehensive about the freshness of the food that was packed at 8 am in the morning but to our surprise everything we packed was good. We ate to our heart’s content and my daughter started driving from that point. She drive for an hour probably would have covered 75 kms on the 4 lane highway. At 3.30 pm my wife took the wheels and drove till 4.45 PM by then we had reached Chitra Durga. We stopped for a tea after the Chitra Durga toll plaza. After a 15-minute stoppage I took over the wheels and reached Bangalore by 7.45 pm. We had taken 10 hours to cover 610 kms with two tea breaks and one lunch break. It was a safe and fun filled vacation especially for the kids since they had seen Goa with lot of cherishing memories for a long time

 

Summing up

Our vacation of 4 nights and 5 days was a rightly paced one for a family with balanced amount of sight seeing and relaxation. Some guidelines aka tips for planning a similar vacation.

1.       If your family members can drive rather than solo driving nothing better than that, my big thanks to my wife and daughter to take over the wheels and give me the time to enjoy my drive both during the onward and return journey

2.       Please fill gas in Bangalore and fill once in Mollem or Goa. Price of Diesel was two rupees more in Goa. Bangalore rate when I filled for my onward journey  was 88.72 and in Goa it was 90.2.

3.       Preload your Paytm or ICICI wallet for Fast-tag. Approximately you need 400 for one way toll so loading 1000rs should be enough

4.       Explore bus rides to go to places like Baga or Mapusa from Calangute, cheaper and best way to explore the city

5.       Pack you lunch for both your onward and return journey so that you are not stuck without proper food which matters most when you travel with family(Kids or elders)

6.       Parking is a pain in Calangute compared to Baga.

7.       Calangute is relatively crowded than Baga, not sure why since these are just 1.5kms apart and you can walk from one to other vice-versa.

8.       Taxis are very expensive especially during the last week of December. Don’t hesitate to take your car to places like Panji or Fontainhas since you can get free or paid parking

9.       Don’t get tempted to buy cashews which are stacked like hay in every shop towards the beach because they have mixed all sizes of cashews and rates are definitely higher than Bangalore chickpet rates

10.   There is nothing to shop in Goa since it is a tourist place so don’t waste your money if you want to be frugal.

11.   Vegetarian hotels are aplenty so don’t bother too much for getting good veg food. All the hotels are run  Gujjus or Marwaris even though they have Udupi in their names

12.   Please bargain if you are buying anything on the shore . For example, munching a pineapple or braiding your girls hair or buying a hat.

13.   Don’t carry any alcohol to Bangalore since they check every car and every baggage you carry in your car by physically searching everywhere.

14.   For sure Alcohol is cheap or less than Bangalore price

15.   One good thing was that every shop was not selling more than MRP price whether it is a water bottle or a shaving blade or a packed ice cream.