The Railways did not oblige our starved tummies and it was taking an awful long time to serve b'fast. Parag couldn't wait any longer and we dragged our asses to the Pantry Car, i.e me, Parag and Tanveer. If you don’t know already, there is not much to choose between a Sloth and Karan when they are both in their sleep-mode, he will do anything to stay-put and wait for the b'fast to arrive. Well, we rushed to the Pantry Car like we were flood victims and then one-by-one we tasted everything that came out. At one point, we had a dish, stepped out of the train (thinking we had enough) but again got back in and started trying another dish, now that was extreme b'fast by any standards. Got back to our seats and the guys started feeling dizzy, not me, I feel dizzy only when I see "my bed" and they started stretching first and ended up sleeping. I was tracking the time and as is expected of any outstation transport, the train was running late by an hour (not bad by Indian standards). Finally, we reached at 12:00 PM at Thivim station (train was till Madgaon) and the moment we stepped down, the decision to carry shades, hats and sunscreen made sense. It was not scorching but it was HOT and the humidity in the air didn’t help, the beaches were not close by and that compounded the heat wave
Our contact in Goa (Kris and Tanveer's common friend) was waiting for us, he went by the name Sanjay. Cool guy (looked local of course) and he bought an Omni to pick us up, the drive was like 20 Mins to a bungalow that was nicely nestled in one of the many neighborhoods in Calangute. On the way, he told us the adventures of Kris when he was there last time but nothing clinching that we could take back to Mumbai and hold him to a ransom ;) My first impression of Goa was pretty much like Kerala (minus white lungis), it also felt like Sri Lanka coz I was there last year on my transit to Singapore. Small winding roads, tall coconut trees, paddy fields, cheerful crowd and yes the “Firang Brigade”, they were everywhere, I hoped the East India Company was not planning a second tryst with India via Goa
We reached our Bungalow, it looked very clean and serene and went by the name "Angerosa". Hmm never heard that kind of name before, the ground floor was occupied by an old couple and they rented the first floor to guests, the floor had 3 separate rooms with A/C, attached bath, small refrigerator and private balcony and one of the rooms (where Karan and I put up) also had its own kitchen. The rooms looked like any regular Hotel room and we were impressed.
After stripping ourselves and shoving the luggage, everyone had a welcome shower and ready to head to the first eatery in the vicinity. It was called "Viva Goa", nobody knew of the place before (though I was the only one in the group to have never been to Goa) nor tasted the food but that’s what this trip was all about, exploring and finding the good, bad and ugly. I was hoping I would always end up on the good side ;) So we ordered our Lunch and the routine of dishes was pretty much the same all through our trip, I always had chicken/veg and other HKs were in to fish/chicken. To keep the "spirit" alive, I joined Parag with a Breezer and we had a sumptuous meal. We hired a car "Santro", Parag was insisting on an Open-Jeep (which he regretted later) and we were on our own to explore Goa. We took off from the restaurant and headed for Baga beach, Calangute/Baga/Candolim/Sinquerim beaches are all on the same coast line on the North of Goa.
Baga Beach had a steady stream of visitors not restricted to Firangs and the water looked reasonably clear, the waves looked cool and the sand looked like sand for a change (not like Mumbai where it appears like gunpowder). The coast line was long and it was surrounded by palm trees. Water-sports were also available for the patrons. We had decided to try it on the Sinquerim beach instead, basis feedback from the locals. While strolling on the beach, we saw the "Brittos" restaurant and again by word-of-mouth, it was supposed to be a good eatery. We decided to come back to have dinner
Baga Beach had a steady stream of visitors not restricted to Firangs and the water looked reasonably clear, the waves looked cool and the sand looked like sand for a change (not like Mumbai where it appears like gunpowder). The coast line was long and it was surrounded by palm trees. Water-sports were also available for the patrons. We had decided to try it on the Sinquerim beach instead, basis feedback from the locals. While strolling on the beach, we saw the "Brittos" restaurant and again by word-of-mouth, it was supposed to be a good eatery. We decided to come back to have dinner
We left Baga Beach and headed to Fort Aguada, that's like a must-see places in North Goa, en-route we saw the majestic gates of Kingfisher Villa. Mr. Mallya certainly knows a thing or two on how to make an impression. Frankly, I have watched better cribs on the Travel & Lifestyle channel, John Travolta and his pad in Florida is one of the many examples, don’t even get me started on Mr. Trump and his assets. To me, exclusive means "what money can't buy". Ok, enough of my bragging and back to the trip. We reached the foot of the Fort and it looked pretty awesome with a white watch tower. Some part of the Fort also extends to the "Taj Fort Aguada Resort" nearby. Now I was told, some shooting sequences from DCH was filmed here and yes, it did look authentic. The view of the Arabian Sea from the fort was very bliss; my camera did justice to the landscape, when I brought back the memories. We spent time roaming the Fort ramparts and taking pictures and then headed back to the Bungalow. Crashed on the bed for a few hours before it was time for dinner
As planned, we headed to "Brittos" on the Baga Beach and tasted local delicacies. We enjoyed the open-air restaurant and the evening atmosphere and then thought of getting down on the dance floor. We checked around and found, the most popular joint close by was called "Titos". We checked with them and it was going for 800/- per person entry only, we thought it was a little too over the top for "entry only". We did debate on it (everybody wanted to get down with the chics ;)) before common sense prevailed and we drove back to the bungalow and called it a day. Parag wanted to have the "Rave Party" experience and we decided to head to the Anjuna beach (it seems there was a joint called Hilltop, popular for Rave Parties) next day...more on that in D-Day 3 post
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