Palolem - The beauty of South Goa

The first time I had been to Goa I was expecting unbearable seaside heat, dry climate and people filled beaches, thronging with commercialized  hot spots. But to my pleasant surprise it was not as hot, it had a lot of greenery and vegetation  even though the north beaches were commercialized it wasn’t enough to wrinkle my nose. 

I remember three years ago being absolutely fascinated by the place, feeling that the reverence for the place from variety of people was neither over hyped nor misjudged due to less exposure to unknown beaches. I was ecstatic to find curving roads lined with trees and small Portuguese influenced colourful and quaint houses. Happy and friendly people walking by, though the restaurant owners at the beaches were more clichéd than the most popular Bollywood movie, with their fake accents and their poor imitation of what they thought of the west. Though the only disappointing part was that I was of the belief that this hippie heaven would have retained some of its classic rock and country music feel, I was heart broken to hear trance everywhere, except a very few shacks and restaurants playing a few Bob Marley numbers. 

Sunset at Palolem ...

This time we decided on south Goa , Palolem and its surrounding beaches. A good choice, if I say so myself. We left Bangalore on the Chennai Vasco Express, to be dropped at Margao station. Margao is 45 kilometers from Palolem, so we hired a bike at Margao for 150rs a day, a nice active, new and all. Then we started our ride, even though I expected good roads, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice these roads were, clean, new tar, without humps or cavities to mar our pleasure of riding. The 40 odd kilometers flew by without a glitch. We arrived at Palolem roughly around 3.30. Got a shack on the beach for 200rs per day, You can get for cheaper rates in off season. But this one had an attached bathroom and a small little sitting area in front. We unpacked and ate a lot, to satisfy a hunger that was caused by not eating in the night and morning. The sunset was just spell bounding. Very little people scattered around, mauve and pink painted skies, reflected immaculately on the surmounting waves. 

The next day we left to Agonda which was an easy 8 kilometers away. Agonda is even less populated than Palolem. It was more popular with the localites, than with tourists. That is always good, because you get to see local habits and behavior and probably even mingle with them. There were large families that had gathered around trees, with food supplies and Frisbee. We just laid down under a tree and spent the hot afternoon in the cool breeze reading and sleeping under it. After a good meal we sat down to experience another sunset. Here the sunset was more golden with a crisp silhouette of the hills. The way back was equally enthralling with non lit roads and a cool breeze.

sunset at Agonda ....

The next day we thought of going to Vasco, but that turned out to be about 65 kilometers, we started of late so that would be too late, so we thought of Old Goa. This a man told us would be 25 kilometers from when we reach a particular spot on the highway. We took the superb road again, the hot sun not bothering us with the thick vegetation providing a superb feel and a cool air. Then we reached a spot where we saw a board going to Cabo De Rama to our left. We asked how far Old Goa was from there, they said it would be another 25 kilometers, we had already traveled a cool 20 kilometers by then. So we made an impulsive turn to Cabo De Rama. The road was almost empty throughout. Whomever we asked for directions, dint know there was such a place at all near by, we had a feeling that we weren’t pronouncing it right. Because when we aksed for Palolem – they pronounced it as “Palll-o – llim” , we still headed on, then we found this large clearing, with a stench, my friend told me it must be the fish drying area, it turned out to be so too. There were hundreds of Cranes and Herons perched on the stone bricks, obviously attracted by the number of fishes available easily. The smell was over whelming. There was an old lady who explained it all to us, what they did , how they got the fish and how they dried it. Then we headed to Cabo De Rama. There the road just ended on to a church and fort, or so we thought. The Santo Antonio church was perched amidst the fort structure. The Glass covered shrine for Mary was beautiful with over hanging Bougainvillea. 

Mary's Shrine in Santo Antonio Church in Cabo De Rama ...

Then we went up the fort, the view is so splendid that everyone needs to go there to experience it. Then we did a little bit of exploration and found our own secret passage. The place has an amazing aura, a feel that is hard to describe. The green waters below lashing, huge eagles soaring above the rocks, the fort menacingly looking down. We spent quite a lot of time there and headed back. We had seen a board that said this way to Agonda, I guessed that would be a nearer route back and we took it. Now this road was immeasurably pleasurable even more than the roads we had already taken, some parts of the road were caved out of eart and green vegetation over hanging it, just pure beauty. And in parts of the route one can see the shimmering beach below, the view is exquisite. That was our last day at Goa so we ate to our hearts content, with a sunken heart that dint want to leave. 

Parinitha Konanur

Must see places – No matter what

There are a few places you will see there are a few places you ought to see and there are those places that you ought not miss no matter what .

This is my own personal must see places, it is by no means a universally accepted list , you guys can read acknowledge and even add your own “Must See” places in the comments section …

1. Machu Pichu – The 15^th Century Inca site in Peru, a must visit , due to absolute enthralling natural beauty, history and more.

2.  Tuscany – Tuscany in Italy is a sure shot must see for all those who love gorgeous landscapes, amazing art, culture and heritage and those who just love food and celebrate life.

3. Bali – An Indonesian Island , a Must see for its rich green, beautiful locales, rich culture, temples and more.

4. Bhutan – Beautiful places , mesmerizing Dzongs, and an amazing way of life that ought to be witnessed.

5. Norway – For its compelling landscapes, mountains, and gorgeous natural bounty along with quaint and beautiful houses. Also never to miss are the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis.

Kolli hills

This  is the water falls at Kolli Hills, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, it is around 300 km from Bangalore. a Superb weekend destination with a number of activities to do , pleasant climate and not that far from town. Take the Hosur road , pass Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem and You can ask for directions once you reach Rasipuram.

Activities - Mild treks, walk to waterfalls
Good place to lounge and relax
Climate is very pleasant

Parinitha Konanur

Kodaicanal – A Good Getaway

Kodaicanal is a place I had visited long ago , like many people in Bangalore, during school days. I quite remember it well, as a cool place with lovely weather and awesome flowers. It had been ages since I went there last and on a long weekend me and two of my friends decided to try it out. Taking a bus to Kodai, we reached there in the morning around 9.30, a lovely stretch of Ghat section woke us up, as soon as we got down there we were surrounded by travel agents, cab drivers and such.

The cab drivers informed us that place has no auto rickshaws, which came as a disappointment as we love autos for many reasons, best way to see a place, its airy, cheaper than cabs and not as suffocating as buses. My experience with auto rickshaw drivers away from Bangalore has always been fun, with their personal experiences colouring my travel experience, their preferred “Chai Kadas” their stories of how they came there and started work, even where they live . I think these stories are what makes a trip worthwhile.

We took one of the taxis and asked him straight out for a place that had a view, with shoe string budget and that we dint require luxury inside the room what so ever. We were shown some fancy places with a decent view and options of having a private bon fire, but all that came at a cost we weren’t happy with. Hence we pushed him to move more away from the main city area and show us a place that was more suitable to our nature loving tastes. Finally we did arrive at a nice little place, with a decent view. There was a homely feel to the place especially with the food being prepared at home. The view was of trees and some floral plants blossoming . We relaxed a bit ate well and it was late afternoon by the time we were actually ready to go out to check out the place. We walked to “Bear Sholay” falls which was less than 15min away from our room. It being summer there was very little water, but the walk to the place was enchanting. The roads that lead us to the falls was really good, with quaint houses, enthralling gardens in front of the houses, loads of flowers in bloom everywhere and the most pleasant weather , with a chill in the air and a warm sun.

When we reached the gated area through which we were to walk towards the falls we were more than happy to see the thick woods surrounding us, the evening light upon us we walked on, there is a stretch of the walk that is bar wired, and we thought that would be to keep some animals away, wondering what kind of animals though. There were absolutely no other tourist or soul in the vicinity which suited us well, and soon we were at the dry falls. Spending some good time there we headed back to the main town , walked around the lake and headed to our room, where good food was waiting for our time under the stars. We picked up a few bottles of sweet wine to go with it. 

The next day started early we walked towards the main town and took a taxi and cut a decent deal for the whole days visits, the route up was awesome, like most hill stations was filled with rich green growth and curving roads. We first reached the “Pine Forrest” which was unfortunately buzzing with loud and garish tourists, the driver loved his knowledge of movies, his explanation of any place had something to do with which song, which film was shot there, or which actor walked down which path and such. 

He did tell a number of songs that were shot there but the shouting tourists drowned his voice. The place was beautiful but noises don’t compliment such beauty and hence we were off to our next destination without much time lost, the next destination as told by our driver was called” Guna Caves” where the “Guna” was shot, the story goes that it was earlier called “the Devil’s Kitchen” as a lot of deaths had been witnessed there, who ever went in got into fatal accidents and such. But later the movie was made there, they actually constructed some temporary wooden staircases and barriers for the shoot. The famous south Indian Actor “Kamal Hassan” acted in the film. As soon as we got to the place all I could see were huge number of monkeys and vendors selling dry flowers, etc . There wasn’t much to eat and we hadn’t eaten anything since we left our room. We got a few bajjis which were promptly taken away from me by monkeys that intimidated me to throw them. I then learnt from a localite that I should intimidate it back to save my bajjis. I learnt the trick quite well and used it again on a trek. I assure you it worked. We were so exhausted by all the tourists and monkeys that as soon as we saw another path that lead to some nice growth of trees where there were no tourists we took the opportunity to explore the place and relax. We don’t know how long we sat there, then we headed to the Guna Caves. 

The sight was a mixture of disappointment and wonder, the climbing and walking lead us to a “Large Grill” which was the biggest disappointment ever because I thought a cave actually meant a cave and not grill. Then we realized that for the safety of tourists this was placed and there was no way of crossing over but only the view from there was to be had. When I went real close to the grill is when the wonder happed it was an exact replica of a “Chinese Painting” mist everywhere, sloping hills with protruding trees and branches, view stretched real far with tiny houses at the far end, we stood there in awe for a long time clicking photographs and with earphones plugged in tight to drain out the nasty, loud jumping tourists who wrent even bothered with the view but seemed more than content just with photographs of themselves being taken in front of a tall strong Iron Grill.

After all this we headed back to find our driver blowing steam from his ears running to us and yelling in Tamil, that he was worried we were lost and its dangerous and everything and a long drawn to and fro of words ensued with my broken Tamil and his fast Tamil. We cleared our differences and headed out, after all that we were in no mood for more touristy places, so we instead stopped to buy plants. Some small “Chadi” as they call it in Tamil, we had some food to keep us from dropping dead and headed right back. Stopping at some view points and shopping places. The driver unfortunately never understood our craving to see a nice place and non enthusiasm for shopping , but well we did shop for chocolates – home made delicious ones at that, spices , oils and all of that.

We headed back to our room with stomachs filled with chocolates and Dosa. The next day all we did was relax and not move an inch, sat in the open and just enjoyed the breeze.

The place has a lot to offer, but it is better to go by your own vehicle to be at ease, there are many places to see and some are called the “Valley tour “ and some are called “Forrest tour” with hell a lot of places jammed into the itinerary. If you don’t go by your own vehicle then make sure you have one person on the gang who knows some Tamil and explain your preferences before boarding the taxi.

Parinitha Konanur