Very unlike me where I am posting this a month later, but its been insanely busy 4 weeks...so, now...
Goa - the very word conjures up sunshine! Well, cheerful it was - though it was more work based and travel to Goa was our umpteenth but then the travel buffs that we are any reason (and sometimes no reason!) is good enough...though the one thing different was that we decided to go by road...till now it had always been airways!
So, as usual, woke up at 4am, got breakfast and dinner packed and left home 5am sharp as planned. Took the elevated expressway toward Nelamangala and then a left before Tumkur to get on to the Pune highway, after that its nearly 400+ kms of a single road via Chitradurga to Hubli, just after the toll booth before Hubli, you will get a diversion marked Karwar, took that road and suddenly we were off NH4 on to NH63 and then at Karwar turned right on NH17 to Goa.
Since we were booked in Varca beach resort of Club Mahindra, we turned left at a church just before reaching Margaon, then on to where small four roads intersection, take left, till you reach another church, then over a bridge ...then just follow the road, till just barely a km before the resort you see the CM board. Till then no boards, plenty for people driving down from Mumbai, practically none from this side. Typical...so by the time we reach, our teeth were on edge. 10hrs of driving on excellent roads spoilt a bit by this aberration. However once we got in, our displeasure evaporated. Welcomed with the cool cocum juice so typical of the area, check in was quick and we collapsed on to the welcoming bed. The rooms are spacious, well appointed though the toilet could have been a wee bit bigger, however no complaints on the amenities. Nice cool AC and off we went to zzzzzzzzz land.
The next two days were spent recce-ing the resort which has 2 lovely pools, a wet bar and 3 restaurants, it does sort of spoil you for choice, though for some reason the beach shack was not functional, however the private, clean beach with not too many people more than made up for any lacunae. One of their busiest resorts, yet the privacy and silence is unmatched. Kudos to the CM staff for their courteous service and fabulous upkeep of the resort. The sprawling resort with its lush greenery, fountains, lovely spaces, private beach and a super buffet is a great holiday destination, the fact that its is in Goa is an icing on the cake, which makes the holiday all the more special. Water sports is a great attraction for youngsters. The pools are fabulous. A great slice of the holiday mood is thanks to the resort.
After finishing our work, stocking up on wine and dry fruits and just lazily loafing around with no destination in particular, so no pressure and all stresses melted away. Since we were in our own vehicle, we had fun but heard many complaining about the taxi mafia which people are forced to use for their trips charging exorbitantly. Fortunately, never used them. Also available are scooters / bikes for hire, a great way to travel if you are just two! Also FX Pareira is a restaurant abutting the resort gate and gives you clean, tasty, non-oily, healthy food for a very economical price, had a field day tasting the sea food...yum!!
Reluctantly, we left on 25th of Jan at 7am back for Bangalore and returned by retracing our onward path...we were back home in time for tea. Again the packed meals saved the day as during the meal times, we were not next to any eatery and would have been in a fix.
Route taken - Bangalore – Tumkur – Sira – Chitradurga – Davangere – Ranibennur – Haveri – Sirsi – Ankola – Karwar – Cancona – Palolem Beach - Madgaon – Varca Beach (CM resort)
Distance to CM Varca Beach Resort from home - 624kms.
Total on the Odo : 1362kms.
Mileage : 15.5 kms/litre of diesel.
Temp in Goa in late Jan - 27 deg C - It was very pleasant.
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