Goa
                 This summer vacation we planned to go Goa. Since we are staying in Panvel, it is easier for us to opt for train rather than a flight, as Konkan railway runs from kurla to goa via Panvel, pen, Roha, Chiplum, Ratnagiri, etc. We booked the tickets around 20 days before, as Goa is such a tourist hot spot that through out the year it is almost booked. Luckily we got confirmed tickets in JanaSatabdi express which comprise only sitting chair arrangements.
                 We boarded the train around 6.30 in the morning. It was a semi cloudy day with mild showers time to time. Overall it was a romantic atmosphere, which complimented the journey to one of the most romantic place like Goa. My 6 years old son, who was in  his maiden journey to a tourist spot has so many apprehensions and doubts that whether his parents are boarding the right train or going to a right place or not. We were really amused by his uninterruptedly questionnaire style. Some times he was very happy, sometimes he was worried and sometimes he was just fulfilled his long desire to see and board a train, in fact train itself fascinates his imagination so much that every month he requires two to three drawing note books to draw sketches of train. The train stayed on Panvel for only 2 minutes .So we had to board the train with great rush.
                 The train was heavily packed with fancy air bags and MTV like guys. May be they were going on a study tour or for some assignments. The most remarkable thing was except we few, majority were in either beachwear or skimpy dressed. But the trains pantry car had made all the arrangements to entertain people with their culinary abilities. In every ten minutes one fellow used to emerge from the pantry with variety of snacks, meals to soft drinks, bottled water. The range includes some all time favourites like samosas, fried noodles, bada pau, biriyani, gulab jamuns dahi badas etc. Through out the journey these people really kept people engaged.
                From Panvel to Goa the distance is about 560km.Since the Konkan railways runs through the western ghats mountain range in these 560k.m, we went through almost 76 tunnels. Few tunnels were so long that it took 5 to 10 minutes to cross that. Every time it entered into a tunnel we got a strange filling of very mild suffocation with mild deafness of ears, may be due to pressure difference. Many small kids cried profusely due to ear pain. The effect is close to the effect when one gets at the time of taking off of a flight. Through out the length to Goa we passed on beautiful meadows, green fields, rivers and never ending mountain range. The beauty of nature is very hard to describe. Especially, when the train passed through a river which is just a few yards from the railway track and on the lee side of the river there is the mountain range runs, with solitary huts to big villages in it. After Ratnagiri, the density of population inside the train started thinning. By the time we reached . A few of the fellow passengers were there with us till Margaon. Margaon is the last stop of this train.A day before the journey we booked in Holiday Inn Resort Goa to stay in.
             As we stepped out of the Margaon station we found the agent of our hotel standing with a placard to receive us. Without any hassles, mini air conditioned bus of Holiday Inn, took us to the resort. It took around 20 minutes to reach there. The resort was situated in the South Goa just at the side of very beautiful sea beach of Cavelossim. The resort was too good with its landscaped garden, delicately placed plants and its design. The entrance lobby is basically a big open corridor with cane chairs and small tables. Just in the center a big lantern was hung. Below the lantern there was a dummy boat with few rocks and plant pots to give it a authentic goanese look. Few steps below the main lobby there was a bar with a small stage in which artists with guitar and trumpets sang many popular music in the evening time. The Cavelossim beach was just in front of this lobby. The restaurant was just below the two halls .The holiday package we took include the buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with one day tour the Mangesh temple, Old Goa Church and star cruise to sail in the famous Mandvi river, besides the capital city of goa, Panaji, till the conjunction place of the river with the Arabian sea. The room was well decorated with centralized A.C, with a refrigerator, tea, coffee kettle and a T.V. . The room had a very cosy look with a small balcony with a sea view. No way will one get bored in the resort as the resort has so many things to do. One swimming pool, a gymnasium, kerala style rejuvenation center, beauty parlour, lovely landscaped garden, a children park with all those slides, sea-saws, swings and all in it, a internet cafe, with live music all through the evening by local artists. If one get time to get bored from all these then just walk down to the sea beach with lovely sands and huge waves. My son was so happy that in every two minutes he just thanked both of us for bringing him to such a place.
                  We stayed there for five days. The very first day opted to take the package offered by the hotel. So around 2.45 p.m. in the afternoon, after lunch we boarded the hotel bus to see the temple. The bus took about 45 minutes to reach the temple. As it is the distance was not that far, but the curls and curves of the mountainous route made it very tedious and time consuming. It was a temple of Lord Shiva and the priests seemed to be South Indians. In the entrance itself petty vendors gave us a basketful of flowers and coconut to offer the deity. The temple was very well constructed with a big natyamandir which resembled the structure of lining Tower of Pisa in Italy. This structure is very unlike in Indian style temples. Inside of the temple wall was lined with silver and beautiful motifs on it.
            The Mangesh Linga is said to have been consecrated on the mountain of Mangireesh (Mangir) on the banks of river Bhagirathi by Lord Brahma himself, from where the Saraswat Brahmins brought it to Trihotrapuri in Bihar. They carried the linga on to Gomantaka and settled at Mathagrama, the present-day Madgoa, establishing their most sacred and ancient temple of Mangesh on the banks of the river Gomati or Zuari as it is called today. Lord Mangesh is worshipped here in the shape of a Shivalinga.
              When, in the year 1560, the Portuguese started Christian conversions in Salsette taluka, the Saraswats of Vatsa Gotra felt insecure and shifted the Mangesh Linga from the original site at the Kushasthali to Priol in Atrunja Taluka, which at that time was ruled by the Hindu kings of Sonde. After remaining in the house of a temple priest for sometime, the Sri Mangesh deity was finally installed in its present site at Priol.
             Just below the temple there were a few shops carrying T-shirts, caps, hats and beach wear with goanese style impressions on it. We brought a lot of this stuff as souvenir .
            Our next destination was the old Goa church. It took another 15/20 minutes to reach there. Visitors from India and overseas flock to the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, built in 1605, and now declared a World Heritage Monument. The church houses the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of Goa, who died while on a sea voyage to China on December 2, 1552. The following year, while transferring his remains to Goa, in accordance with his wishes, it was found that the saint's body was as fresh as the day it was buried. This miraculous phenomenon continues to attract the devout from all lands, and an Exposition or public viewing of his body every ten years attracts lakhs of pilgrims. During the 450 years of Portuguese rule in Goa, St. Francis Xavier was believed to have accorded protection to the rulers who handed over their symbols of office to the saint during every changeover of the office of Governor General. The Saint had miraculous healing powers which were experienced by the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad when he came for the Exposition of 1878.
           From the church the bus took us to Panaji city. Here we made some shopping like cashew nuts and exquisite wines of goa and Feni, One souvenir a visitor always carries home from his hoildays in Goa. Cashew trees abound the Goan hillsides. The flowering in January leads to luscious, brilliantly coloured fruit in March, April and early May. It is then plucked, while the apple is used in the process of producing "Feni", the nuts are roasted for consumption. Feni is a short wine made up of ripe Cashew fruits. Ironic though it is, the Portuguese imported this leafy tree to Goa where after taking root, it has given Goa the distinction of being the originator of the delicious alcohol "Feni". Distillation does not occur in the monsoons as the humidity is not conducive to the process of fermentation. The distillation of cashew into Feni, involves a three part process. After the cashew is plucked from the tree, the nut is seperated from the cashew apple.The cashew is squeezed for extraction of 'Niro' ( a sweet juice which tastes best when had chilled). Finally the 'niro' is then allowed to ferment and later poured in a big earthen pot and continuously boiled for distillation. The first distillate is called 'urrak' (which has a very low alcohol content). Subsequent distillates yield feni. The nuts are separately roasted and cracked for consumption.
        From there we went to the side of Mandvi River. On its banks, the Panaji city was situated. Here we took the tickets and boarded the star ferry .The small ferry had a capacity to take of about 200 people. On the upper deck they made light and disco arrangements. With DJs and loud music the ferry took us to the mouth of the river Mandvi where the sea and the river conjoines each other. In the ferry several snacks stalls were there. It was a very good arrangement to attract tourists. Both the sides of the river got very good view of Panaji city in one side and the other side there was a island with Governors house and secretariat on top on it. The entire day we spent was very enjoyable.
           The next day we planned to go to south goa. But before that we preferred to have a sea bath in the Arabian sea. Breaking the big waves coming time to time and the thrill behind being swept away by a very big wave was really exiting. In fact even if I belong to Puri, a small city, in the side of Bay of Bengle, I never happened to take bath in sea. This fun filled sea bath in a unknown place is really awesome. In the, afternoon, we hired a taxi and left for South goa just after a sumptuous buffet lunch in the hotel. The previous days experience of the type of road was very much in our mind but in real we found the roads are much curlier and the curves were very close to each other. All the roads are full of forests and few villages in between the stiff mountains. My son became sick and vomited all the lunch because of that road. I became little bit scared. But after around 45 minutes we reached near the fort of Caba de Rama. This was very old fort built by the Portugueses. The fort was encircled by a 10/12 feet wide and 16/17 feet deep moat. The fort was in a horrible condition without any preservation. All the walls are full up of small big holes as the cementing material between the stones were already tarnished by the nature drastically. I was scared to climb the fort for which we have to return half way.
           From the fort ,it took about 20 min.to reach the Palolem beach.As very well said,it was the paradise among all the beaches we found it really Extremely beautiful. It. s a beach of white sand facing a blue bay between two headlands. The little wooded islands on the northern headland is an striking feature of this beach,there are stalls
selling seafood snacks, souvenirs, and clothes of the shapeless, bright,informal kind. Panaji, the capital, is more than 70 km away from this place.Palolem has lots of beach huts to offer. These beach huts are owned by villagers who ensure a comfortable stay. Most of the tourists in Goa enjoy in these beach huts as they right on the beach, enjoying the crashing of the waves. Since we were already staying in the South goa on the banks of Cavelossim beach, it was not that far from us. We bought some local mangoes and few clothes from this place.
                While retuning back the driver took the highway running through out goa via Margao and Panaji.We went to the Margao market to buy some stuff and found it very crowed full of local stuffs from vegetable to fruits to sea foods. To visit to all these three places took some four hours.
              The next day we preferred to stay in the hotel.As it was a resort it has got several things to be explored.
In the morning we went for a swimming in the Hotels swimming pool. The pool was in a such a place that in the
backdrop one can see the sea. In between the sea and the shore there were plenty of coconut trees and few sitting
arrangements to relax. Just by the side of the pool there was a snacks corner providing snacks and hard and soft
drinks of different kinds. We took lots of photographs of different places just inside the hotel. Few photographs below were of the resort and the cavelossim sea beach.

               The next day we were all set to go to the  North Goa. I would say it was our journey to explore what goa is upto.Proving the the popular dialect, goa is all about sands, beaches and lots of fun,I found is very well said. Any way we took a taxi and set for to go the Colva beach.Itis north to Cavelossim beach.The beach is almost
same as cavelossim beach with large waves and sands and not that crowded. From Colva beach we went forward towards north by the side of Dabolim Air port to Vasco da Gama one of the oldest and main city of Goa after Panaji. Here the main land of goa is spread like a peninsula towards western side into the Areaban Sea to create a gulf called the Mormugoa Bay. Here the second bigest river of goa named river Zuari joins the sea. with the
other side on the north of the city was the Mormugoa harbour is situated. The harbour was full of iron ore. Several bulk careers were there lined up for either for loading or for berthing or unberthing. After several years I saw ships ,tugs sea with ships in operation. After this self memorization of the past we left the Vasco city and move forward north to reach Dona Paula beach.
               Goa Dona Paula is very famous for two things: an enticing spooky past and the water sports at the beach.The enticing story is about a girl named Dona Paula de Menzes,after whom the Goa beach has been named. She was the daughter of a viceroy in colonial India,who threw herself off the cliff, when refused permission to marry
a local fisherman, Gaspar Dias.
              The myth says that Dona Paula is entombed in the Cabo Chapel of the Raj Bhawan and is supposed to be seen emerging from the moonlitwaves wearing only a pearl necklace.This story attracts many tourists and they come here just to experience the sweet pain of love, making Goa Dona Paula a favourite tourist spot.
              Goa Dona Paula offers the tourists a wide choice of water sports ranging from water-scooter to cycle to motorboat rides. Other water sports include windsurfing, parasailing, water-skiing,toboggan ski-biscuit, skibob, sports fishing, snorkelling, harpoon fishing, kayaking, and yachting.
            One can tour around Goa Dona Paula and visit the interesting National Oceanography Institute that provides a world of information on marine biology. Besides all these, Goa Dona Paula is famous for the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, where you can spot both migratory and local birds. But we could not visit both because of lack of time.         
             Our next destination was the Aguada Fort. The fort Aguada built in 1612 comprises a lower fort with bastions all around and an upper fort. It skirts the sea shore and ascends the summits of the bare rocky uplands called Aguada fort. The upper fort was built as advantage point to serve as a fort and a watering station to the ships, while the lower fort offers a safe berth to Portuguese ships. The upper port comprises of moat, and underground water storage chamber, light house, gun powder room and bastions. It also has a secret escape passage to use during the time of mergency. The Aguada means watering place in pertuguese. The storage capacity of water tank is 23,76,000 gallons. It has five divisions with a support of 16 huge columns and a staircase to descend. A light house at initial stage used to emit light once in seven minutes. In 1834,updated to emit light creating eclipse every 30 secends, however abandoned in 1976.
          From Fort Aguada we went to four beaches close to each other and were completely different from the previous beaches.To complement the Land structure of goa these beaches are very rocky with lots of eroded soil creating huse difference between the the main land and the sand and rock beaches. From the point we saw theses beaches are about 40 to 60 feet deep. These beaches are very beautiful but very dangerous to venture into.
         Calangute and Baga is just 15 km from Panjim.On the shores of the Arabian Sea, under the shade of palm
trees, bathes the Queen of Beaches. In a green semi-circle,the villages of Arpora-Nagoa, Saligao and Candolim do
their bit to enhance the divine beauty of Calangute. Fun in the sun, sand and sea along with frolicking families, eager
hands making sand castles, colorful crowds surging towards  the sea, the young and old alike lazing on the golden sands are some of the images that characterize this Queen of Beaches. This picture of a perfect tourist haven is completed with shacks and stalls under the shade of palm trees. We  could not stay their for longer time as it rained heavily at that time.
         After Calangute and Baga our next destinations were Anjuna and Vagator beach. Both these beaches are totally different from all these beaches. Here the beaches are highly eroded by the sea for which the sea was almost 20,30 feet down from the main land .To reach the beaches one has to climb down the rocks as almost all the soft soil and sands are already eroded creating such gigantic deeps. These beaches have got the horrific but still stunning looks which attracts every body. Adventure, beauty and occasional glimpse of dolfines made these beaches so special. I felt with out seeing these beaches will definitely incomplete ones Goa trip. As these are very rocky beaches one has to be very careful while venturing into the sea and shore both.
       The whole day we spent in these beaches were really made our goa journey so special. The happy blending of natural beauty, adventure, stiff and rocky mountains, with golden sandy beaches with occasional rocks to enhance the beauty, plenty of churches all around with Bon Voyage templates by the side of the roads, happy and relaxed public, lots of cashew and wine shops with thousands of hotels and resorts, unshaped garments with goa and coconut tree pictures on it, plenty of hats and caps can be picked up as sovenier,highly priced taxies,that is what I found Goa is all about. Its true I fell in love with goa and would like to visit it once again and explore it more and more.
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