Goa Escapades - IV

There's something about that place which draws me to it each time I feel like stepping out,

It makes me feel like a butterfly that's just discovered its wings...

It makes me want to fly...

It gives me the wind to cruise along...

A weekend was all I had, and I made the most of it. Called up two friends and we were sorted on the companionsh

ip! The four of us left at around 10 pm on Friday night and literally hit the highway at 12 midnight (from Panvel). We reached Goa in the morning around 10.30 am, taking a different route from Orus - Vengurla - Pernem - Arambol - Siolim - Baga. It was wonderful! The route was so picturesque and much more gentler than the Sawantwadi route... The beaches at Vengurla which are visible from the drive are amazingly beautiful. Though someone said that they're quite treacherous too, as the sand level suddenly dips to 10 ft and isn't gradual like most other beaches would be. Having driven through the night, we were almost tired and desparate to reach our destination, the sight of those beaches neatly lined across the road was soothing, comforting and literally rejuvenating.

We reached Baga at 10.30, met a friend who was staying at a place with a couple others. We all had breakfast together at Sebi's and then we headed to meet Jack uncle. He gave us a room, the one we'd taken the first time we'd gone to Goa. We took the room, changed clothes, lazed around a bit, and then we were off. After a little bit of rest, we were ready to hit the waters. We first decided to hit the beach at Baga and good decision it was because Baga for the first time in all the times we've gone was empty and clean. The water was absolutely clear... It reflected the blues in the skies almost perfectly! The tides were strong though and there were the lifeguards who were on duty at all times there. We didn't venture deep, just till our knees and enjoyed the sensation of cool water on our bodies with the scorching heat above us... The beach somehow is still an enigma to me, in spite of having visited them over and over again, the sight of the water never fails to lifts my spirits. It makes me want to splash, cuddle, run, and float till eternity.

Then we decided to go back to our room, change into something more suitable for the water, got into our costumes and in that time, we got ourselves 2 Activa's and then we set out for Arambol thinking that we'll have our lunch there... We reached Arambol around 3 pm and to our surprise, Arambol was almost empty. There were a few shops that were open, a couple of restaurants on the main beach and a few tourists (those that we could count on our hands). We walked towards the Butterfly beach and there was not a soul in sight except for the contracted workers who were either renovating the existing shops or breaking them down. We walked the short trek to the other beach and saw that there was literally not a soul out there. A faithful dog followed our trail and stood with us patiently till the end. The sweet water lake was overflowing and had risen to the top, was filled with a lot more algae than I remembered but was still as serene and even more beautiful! Imagine, the entire stretch of the beach and the entire expanse of the lake all to ourselves... Aah, it was the most beautiful image in the world, and to make it perfect, I was floating in the water... I love the float, it's the most beautiful position! When I'm floating, I love having my sunglasses on so that I can stare at the blue sky and the clouds. There were these layers in the clouds, one layer which was almost stationery, the other which was more wispy were moving across the sky. The sun was glaring at me from one side, but I could care less. Of course the sunscreen didn't protect me and I'm now brown and almost sun burnt, but for some funny reason, when I'm in the water my skin looks fair almost white.. there's this glow that I get on my skin.

We lazed around till 4.30 almost 5 and then the hunger pangs got to us. We decided to make a move back to Baga. Thought we'll stop on our way at Siolim at the bakery but they were all sold out on the veg stuff and didn't have much options in non-veg either. So we headed to Athens at Baga and enjoyed a Goan fish curry, a pizza and a biryani coupled with a few breezers. After a heavy lunch which we ate at 6, we headed to the rooms and did some time pass.

Later, we then decided to go out for a small ride, so we rode up to Aquada and saw the Calangute market and all. After coming back we still have some energy left so we decided to go and sit by the beach and have a hookah... aah.. such bliss... only suddenly a storm came and the strong winds literally made us shiver and chatter...I ran to the rooms to get some more clothes on before heading back to the shacks.. We then returned to our rooms around 10.30 - 11 and decided to just hit the bed...

Next morning we woke up at 8, headed to Walk-In for breakfast and ate amazing omeletes and sandwiches Taking the bikes we then rode to Asvem and enjoyed ourselves silly. Playing some football, some throwball and some other such games. I enjoyed my moments of floating in the water and then it was time for us to head back. We came back to Baga, started getting dressed and changed and packed.

Around 2 pm we handed over the keys to the room and went to Walk In again for lunch. Had to wait for almost 1 hour and 1/2 for the food, but it was worth the wait. Post lunch, we went to the beach for some hookah and spent time till 6 pm only to realise that we could actually get some tattoos done. Tattoos took another 2 hours and then we finally left at 8 pm from Baga.

Coming back we took the Baga - Siolim - Mapusa route to NH 17. Took around 3 - 4 stops on the way and drove non-stop to reach Mumbai by sharp 8 am. This night's journey was a lot more tougher, we were tired and it was a drag to force ourselves to stay awake. I managed to grab an hour or so of sleep when we had almost reached Panvel, but my friend who was driving was absolutely exhausted. The worst part of night-driving is the constant glare of the headlight from the rearview mirror, to add to the stress it was raining pretty much continuously so our speeds were much slower. Nevertheless we managed to reach in time. It was monday, and everyone had to report in for work. Thankfully being a freelancer, I simply took the day off!

The trip was complete, and we were all superbly thrilled!!

:)