The start
The plan for Goa was going on for a very long time.
“Making this trip successful” was one of our shared goals. Everyone played their part to achieve this. Because planning for a Goa trip and actually making it successful are two different parts.
We traveled, learned, fought, came together. Many more emotions were expressed and experienced.
When you travel you learn more about yourself and others.
The four of us, me, MR, Sumukh, and SL started on November 28 from Bengaluru on the night train to Sagara.
Me and SL studied 11th and 12th together, but we met each other after 6 long years. Probably this trip introduced him to our small group making it a little bigger.
I did love one thing when Sumukh said he could not sleep because the dream plan to Goa was getting executed. He was excited.
But, he did sleep quite more than me because I couldn’t sleep due to snoring noises.
I recorded the snoring noises and shared them in our WhatsApp group, members were amazed after listening to it. It was really frustrating. But, you don’t have a choice.
However, with less sleep, we reached Sagara early in the morning around 6:30.
I could sense the feeling of extreme cold weather outside. Probably I was freezing but my hoodie and the cap protected me from the cold breeze.
Everyone was excited, and Shashi came to pick me up. Everybody reached their home, got freshened up quickly, and were ready by 8:30 AM.
We all visited Ganapathi Temple. Took his blessings before starting our trip journey.
The journey towards goa & the Casino
South Goa is not that far from Sagara, but North Goa definitely is. So we started early around 9:00 AM. Sumukh had already loaded all the junk food into the car, to make the trip hungry free.
We stopped at multiple places to drink, coffee, have breakfast, and click pictures on the way.
When you enter Karwar, you start experiencing the real coastal vibes.
The narrow roads when we enter Goa are something that is dangerous, the vehicles travel in the same lane. But, the roads are well-maintained, and you can reach Goa like moving butter on Tawa.
This trip was not possible while we were all studying, because, back then you would need a lot of validations and approvals from many and the resources.
I feel this was the right moment for us. Completing this trip did definitely play an important role, in all of our stories.
The Casino Experience
Have you ever visited a Casino? I didn’t. So this was going to be a new experience.
I personally wasn’t expecting this. All thanks to Sumukh for getting us the entry.
The games were crazy. But always remember “Something which comes easy, goes easy”.
Probably, it was everyone’s first time experience.
We were moved from land to cruise by boat.
As soon as I got in, I tried to click a picture from the inside, but soon it was forced to be deleted by the security.
We looked for a lot of games to understand, and many were not easy. We finished our dinner and started looking at the games that other people were playing.
It is a natural human tendency to do something that the majority of the crowd is doing. We somehow understood few of the games, and we started playing it. We didn’t bet much, the money that we bet was nothing compared to what other people who were more serious about it. We did make a tiny profit, which served as half of the expense for breakfast the next day.
Believe me, no matter how strong of a person you are psychologically, once you get into the game of betting, you start changing your mind slowly. You start feeling that you are lucky, and you start believing in your luck and increase your bet. Which many people do!!
No one should rely on these kinds of profit. I think no one should make these kind of things a habit.
I keep telling often myself and others to “Rely on skills and not luck”.
The Beaches
Beaches visited: Anjuna, Calangute, Baga & Cabo De Rama.
Same beaches with different names.
The beaches are crowded, and will definitely not meet your expectation. The roads are narrow, which is definitely not for the current number of visitors.
Some of them played water sports, and some of us enjoyed being seated calmly discussing a few things that mattered.
We did walk a lot when visiting Baga Beach. Because, of the issue with the car parking.
I don’t think any of us had an issue with walking for a long distance.
I have noticed this in my circle, people are willing to walk for long distances. Atleast I have not seen boys rejecting the idea of walking.
Anjuna Beach was way more crowded.
Cabo De Rama is fabulous, and I think if you visit any beach in Goa, visit this one. It’s okay even if you skip all of them but not this.
The Restaurant, Lost Car, and The Fontainhas
In our group some of us are vegetarians. Usually, it is hard for us to find a good vegetarian restaurant.
However, we decided to have lunch at Kokni Kanteen. It was late and was completely occupied. The receptionist gave us a number and said, will be ready at around 4:30 - 5:00 PM. We were hungry, but still, we visited a nearby church and didn’t go inside as we were not allowed because of our shorts (Technically, Goa wears).
We took a lot of photos in and around the area.
But as soon as we entered Kokni Kanteen, some of us could not bear the fish smell. It may be because of packed or congested areas inside. So, me, Shashi, Naga, Sumukh, and SL flew out of that restaurant as soon as we got in. We searched for the nearest vegetarian restaurant and started going towards it. By the way, SL joined our group because he is an occasional vegetarian.
So the lesson learned is never to trust your non-vegetarian friends to find the restaurant, cross verify it.
The Lost Car:
It’s an irony to lose a car. Naga almost lost his parked car, because, he couldn’t remember where he parked. The car’s location was off too. So, as it was a new place, forgetting the location was acceptable.
We walked for several rounds in and around the restaurant. Finally found it via a phone call to a guy who helped while parking a car. By god’s grace, probably MR took the parking guy’s phone number, because, he was from Karnataka.
Lucky us, we finally found the car.
When we were searching for the car, meanwhile HS, hulekal, Sumanth, and MR reached Fontainhas to explore and click the picture, unfair of you guys.
When we reached Fontainhas, it was dark. We could just see a few things around but were able to click only a few pictures.
The Return
Reaching the Goa is fun. But, having the same energy while returning is also important. Hopefully, every one of us had this energy while returning.
Of course, Hulekal’s love for Hindi songs, and our love for Kannada songs helped us maintain our energy throughout the journey. The stories and the nature around us did help, so the credit goes to everything.
We visited Cabo De Rama while returning to Sagara, as this beach is located in South Goa, thought of getting a proper sunset in this beach, but, we couldn’t experience this properly. But, the beauty of the beach just mesmerized everyone, and we totally forgot about the sunset.
We returned to Sagara, and the next day December 2, 2024, I, hs, SL, Sumukh, and Naga took the night train to Bengaluru.
Finally, we completed the Goa trip successfully.
Many people planned, but we planned and executed it. So totally everyone is happy about it.
Probably, many of our mutual friends got annoyed too, because of the number of stories that we posted on Instagram was high and repetitive. But, with this, now everyone knows we visited Goa.
There are still so many events that I could not pack into this story, I keep all of them within.