After over 45 days of examination period, we were looking forward for a well deserved break. The destination decided was GOA… Obviously there was a lot of excitement and eagerness regaring the trip. With some bagpacking and absolutely no planning we headed to GOA by JanShatabdi Express from Thane at 5.30 am. We reached thivim by 1 am and headed towards Mhapusa by bus from where we took another bus to Panjim. After some time we hired bikes and headed towards SBI quaters where we had booked room for us for the next 6 days.

The first day, the day we reached GOA, we spent some time settling down and taking the feel of the city and getting acquinted with the places and roads around and riding bikes at top speed till Miramar Beach. Dinner, Few Glasses of Wine and good sleep concluded the day.

The Second Day morning we returned the bikes and hired bikes from ‘Cozy Nook’, from where we got bikes in good condition. After refueling the fuel tanks, we headed straight towards Dodamarg ahead of which was located Pappu’s Native. At the end of the long drive, we were caught by RTO police for crossing GOA border and entering Maharashtra without permit and were fined accordingly. A mouth watering lunch and some rest energised us to move towards Tilari Dam. After roaming around Tilari for sometime, we headed towards a river in vicinity where we had fun playing in water after which we started our return journey to Panjim.

The Third Day was planned for churches and temples of GOA. We headed straight to St. Francis Church in Old Goa. Some intensive Photo Sessions and having some fun…. we headed to the temples of Goa. The first was ShantaDurg Temple, which was later followed by Nageshi, Mahalakshmi and Mangeshi Temples. A quick visit to DaunaPaula after dawn and a heavy delicious meal and again few glasses of wine marked the end of the day.

The Fourth Day was the one everyone was more then eager about… it was the time to head to beaches of Goa. To Start with we headed straight towards Chapora Fort where a famous scene from movie Dil Chahta Hai was shot. Till reaching here few of us were not much happy since they were desperate to head to beach. Others stayed back in a shadowed corner while Pappu, Shirish and Me headed to take a look around the fort. The 100x Digital zoom of my cam played the role and we spotted something that I wont like to mention here. After a bit more exploration of the fort and surrounding beaches, we enquired a local colddrink seller regarding the beaches around and we headed straight to Morjim Beach. Morgim beach gave us a feeling of not being in India, since we were the only Indians to be seen around. Clean water and white sanded beach with firangs around is not all about Morgim. It also known for the Tortoises and the Tortoise Nesting farm. Prior to Morgim our next destination was Arambol Beach. Enroute Arambol Beach our hungry bellys accidently landed us to a beach where we gotta see quite a few eye candies. I wont explain in detail what it was while I wont even mention the name of the Beach…. lol. After a nice walk along the beach and delicious Sizzlers and lunch, we headed towards Arambol beach. Unlike the earlier two beaches, Arambol was quite crowded and gave a feel of being on Juhu/Girgaon Chowpaty of Mumbai… He He. After sunset and having some fun, we headed back to Panjim. Post some shoping in Mhapusa, we had dinner … Which followed taquiela shots at the room.

The Fifth day was marked by a delayed start to Fort Aguada… Fort Aguada is divided into two parts. The lower Aguada is still used as Jail while upper Aguada is open to public. The fort still has a strong fortification and is still in a good condition. From here we heaed to where we got tattoos made. A quick ride to Callanguate Beach where few of us headed for water sports and a couple of us stayed back. A drive back to Panjim and we all got dressed up to head back for a disc, but to our bad luck we were quite late and were not allowed in as they had enough of stag entries for the night! After this what happened was experience of lifetime and not to mention it here…. while others were having fun, I was killing time talking to friends over phone and sipping coffee at the Subway at Callanguate. Here I witnessed the darker shade of GOA’s nightlife too…. A drive back to Panjim at 4am and Morning Breakfast (Actually dinner for us) at Hotel Fidelgo and nice sleep marked the end of our last night in Goa.

The Sixth day, we had our train “Kokankanya Exp.” scheduled at 6pm, but there was a lot of shopping and bagpacking left. After having a bath we headed straight for lunch followed by purchasing cakes and wines… A quick bag packing and we left towards “Cozy Nook” to return the bikes from where we hired a Quallis to drop us at Karmali station. The drive to Karmali through Old Goa, was all about memorizing the fun and floric in last 5 days. Unfortunetely the seats reserved for us were scattered among 1st, 9th and 10th boggie of the train. The adjustments done ran into vain and Shirish and Me still had to go to 9th and 10th boggie to sleep since others had to stay together incase train haulted at signal at Diva Station. Next day morning we parted ways to head to our homes with good memories to cherish. Bad experiences and memories do occur but its on us how do we tackle them at that moment and move forward with the good that has happened with it.

Goa, it has to be there on the cards next time. Now that few of us are more aqcuinted to the place while Tejas still struggling to find the roads, Hope he doesnt head towards Mumbai next time while riding from Callanguate to Panjim … lolzz. Next time its to explore more of Goa and enjoy the beaches to the most with more clusters of great memories to cherish for life.