One of the ferries that transported us over a river
Candolim Beach, Christmas 2015
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| The sea along the Konkan Coast |
The famed beauty of the
Konkan coast lures many people to the region especially in December- January,
since it’s the coolest time of the year. Many choose the Konkan railway and
those living nearby might drive along but how many people decide to drive
halfway across our vast country? To be precise: Chandigarh- Goa- Chandigarh? My
guess is, not many.
We began our journey on
the afternoon of December 18, 2015 and returned to Chandigarh on New Year’s Eve
at a quarter to twelve. We travelled through Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, covering over 5000 kilometres! Our vehicle: the
Skoda Yeti, a beautiful, sturdy four-wheel drive. After a night halt at Delhi
on the 18th, we proceeded to Udaipur in Rajasthan, passed through
Gujarat on the 19th and landed up in Navi Mumbai on the 20th
of December. Rajasthan is not particularly traveller-friendly despite being on
the tourist radar, since the roads are narrow and the marble industry brings
trucks by the dozens all day long. Getting stuck behind one of these is
miserable. However, the people are generally courteous and patient unlike our
friends in Delhi or UP and Bihar or anywhere else in the East! NH 4 also lacks
signboards and decent restaurants or dhabas. All we saw in profusion were
truckers’ eateries without any ‘family’ cars parked outside. But the
countryside is beautiful in a stark, expansive way. Shrubs and Eucalyptus trees
line the hilly terrain and Bougainvillea in red and pink separate the single
lane roads. The Rajput legacy lives on and most hotels and guesthouses have
facades designed to resemble fortresses.
Upon entering Gujarat,
the first thing that strikes you is the excellent roads and signboards that are
displayed prominently. What a relief! To see the asphalt gleaming in the
sunlight was a real pleasure. Everything perks up suddenly and this continues
pretty much all through Maharashtra. Navi Mumbai was crazy. If you think Delhi
is crowded, just visit Mumbai. Flyovers, high-rise buildings and horrendous
traffic. Overwhelming. Or maybe we’re just spoilt in Chandigarh.
Further south of
Mumbai, the pretty Maharashtra countryside greeted us and then came the Konkan
coast. Lush, green, thickly wooded and undulating, the road follows the sea
most of the way and it’s a feast for the eye. The Western Ghats have a steep
gradient in some places. The weather was cool, the population sparse and
everything was laced with a languid air. The houses had thatched roofs without
exception because of heavy rains that come down all year round and many of them
were painted in bright, pretty colours: Blue, Pink and Yellow.
We crossed the narrow
rivers five times by ferry along with our vehicle and it was great fun. Bigger
ferries transport upto eight vehicles plus motorcycles, the smaller ones only
two or three SUVs. It was cheap (only two hundred rupees for the Yeti and four
of us passengers), the people were polite and patient and the surroundings were
spectacular.
A word about the
cuisine: fantastic local dishes. We had prawns galore but there was also lots
of Pomfret, Surmai, chicken and pork on offer.
We dropped in at two
temples en route: Harihareshwar in Maharashtra, which is called Dakshin Kashi
and Ganpatipule in Goa. Both are located on the beach and, unlike North Indian
temples, they were clean and peaceful- no Pandas trying to extort money.
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| Delfino's, Candolim |
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| Fisherman's Cove, Candolim |
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| Lovely Portuguese style house, Panjim |
We reached Goa on the
23rd and- wow! It was lovely. Our rented Dupleix was in Candolim,
which is perhaps the best beach since it’s clean and not too crowded. Baga and
Calangute were crazy: crowded with barely enough standing space but lively,
too. Candolim is peaceful even though it’s overrun with Russians. Restaurant
menus are bilingual: English and Russian, shopkeepers speak Russian and every
other person is White. I heard English and French accents but, surprisingly no
Australian or American or German.
One’s spoilt for choice
where food is concerned. There are restaurants every few feet on the main road
in Candolim. Delfino’s supermarket dominates the market and in the same line
there’s a bakery that goes by the delightful name, Butter Fingers. Yummy
brownies there.
I wasn’t too impressed
with the shops since T-shirts, flipflops, hats and key chains are about all one
can buy but the market was lit up for Christmas so it was fun. Christmas music
playing all over, Churches everywhere, the Christmas spirit was ubiquitous. The
three beaches I mentioned are in North Goa. We travelled down to South Goa-
Panjim and Fort Aguada. Panjim has an old world Portuguese feel with gorgeous
houses and Churches, broad roads with shady trees Basilica of Bom Jesus that houses the remains of St. Francis Xavier
is a tourist hot spot but the crowds and commercial ambience there left me
cold. In stark contrast is the Immaculate Conception Church, which is situated
at a height, and its white radiance is breath-taking. We were fortunate to
visit it on Christmas Day.
Our return journey wasn’t
half as much fun, how could it be? We took the Murudeshwar- Pune- Surat- Jaipur
route and, although the roads were good we were weighed down with a sense of ‘back
to work’ (hubby and me) and ‘back to school’ (my son, who’s in Class Ten). We
did 1100 kms the last day! Because it was New Year’s Eve and hotels would be
exorbitant. And also because my son had to get back asap to make up for a week’s
school he’d missed. It was back breaking but the joy of sleeping in one’s own
bed made up for the rigours of the journey.
Ah, Home Sweet Home.
