Day 2

Both my brothers work there in Goa and didnt have off on 30th and 31st. So in short I was on my own to plan something for the 2 days. As i was dead tired riding for the entire Day 1, I was in no mood to wake up early, nor did i have any major plans for Day 2.

So woke up quite late, I think by 10.00-10.30am. By then everyone was off to their works except my uncle. So woke up, got fresh and had my breakfast. Now it was time to check out the new house.

One of my brothers is a civil engineer and he himself had designed this house. Man o man.. what house.. simply beautiful. It's a huge house with 2 floors excluding ground floor. Lots of rooms. All the floors are complete by construction but the floors above are without any furniture. I'll post a few pics down of the house. I was thinking at that time, who'll get such a luxurious house to stay at Goa, that too at that time of the year, in peek season, without paying a single penny? May b that's my luck that Goa's my native place.

Day 3

It was 31st Dec today. Last day of the year 2008 and the occasion..reason I was there in Goa. Though till the dusk it was going to be like every other day coz all the parties were gonna start after sun set. My bros were off to there work and I was at home with my uncle and aunt.

With no reason to hurry, I was being lazy and woke up late. Got ready and headed out to Panjim market. Mom had ordered a few things from Goa. So it was shopping time. Spent the whole afternoon shopping and roaming. Got back home late in the afternoon and spent the time till my brothers came home, taking rest.

There wasn't any plan as such for 31st night celebrations as most of the beach parties were canceled due to terrorist attack threat and almost all the roads were flooded with commandos and police officers. I left home with my bro on his bike by 7.30pm. Went to his usual hang out spot. He then made some calls to his friends asking for any plans for the night. All of them decided to meet at the spot and one by one bro's friends arrived at the spot. We were 4 in total and first thing on their list was to booze.. Rest of the friends were gonna come to the Bar. We all went to a bar on National Highway called Celebrations Bar. Everyone ordered their fav drinks. I wanted to avoide drinking that night as I was supposed to leave for Mumbai the next day. But could spoil the mood and ordered a beer. A few more friends were added to the party. And you'll never know how fast the time passes when you sit with your old friends and drinks.

My brother has another of his friends who works for H2O club in Goa. While having drinks, bro called him to see if he could giv us some discount on entry. The entry for the night was 1500 bucks per person but his friend agreed upon 500 per person. We as I said didnt realise when time passed by and got late at the bar itself. Finally we left at around 10.00pm for H2O. I know 10.00 pm is not late by any mean but considering the distance, and 31st night traffic it was very late coz all the foreigners hire cabs and head towards these beaches on 31st night like a fly towards fire.

One of his friends had brought his Tata Safari along and so all somehow fitted ourselves into the car. One thing I really disliked was the fellow who owned the car and was driving was completely drunk. I only had half the bottle of beer and was very much in my senses. I asked him whether I should drive the car or not but they were just in the mood of masty and fun.. Couldnt Do much for that. And to b frank, in Goa this a routin for them.

The club H2O was at Baga beach. When we reached there, the road leading to the club was closed or was one way I dont remember and the other road was completly jam packed by traffic. So we decided to move to Anjuna beach and checked a few other clubs and discos. A few had closed entry and the remaining had very high entry ticket.

Only option left was Hill Top Disco. We rushed there. This disco ususaly has entry for Rs 200/-, had Rs 1500/- for that night. After a long negotiation with one of the club members he agreed on Rs 500/-. Most of the crowd there was foreign people.

I tell you guys, this was my one of a kind experience. Once we were in, we realised it was more of a rev party than a new year celebration. all sorts of things were going on in there. People dancing to the music, boozing.. a huge pert of the foreign visitors having drugs at dedicated corners.. Not a single soul in there was in his/her sense. Managed to take only one photograph of the Dj and the music set up.



Ignoring all the bad stuff, we all started dancing and enjoying our time. Bro and his friends ordered a few more drinks and were on seventh heaven.. We danced the whole night. Meanwhile there was a fire work show at midnight and we all wished each other happy new year and welcome 2009.

We were dancing..enjoying..drinking and eating till late night in the club and finaly decided to leave by 3.00am.

We then went to a chinese stall near by and had some more food. Then went to the beach. We wanted to sit on the beach under the sky and chat for time but security stopped us from going to the beach and therefore we parked our car on the road under a coconut tree and sat on the cars bonnet. We had real good time chating..laughing and having fun. Obviously my plans for leaving for Mumbai the next day were postponed as it was impossible to ride the next day after such a heavy party a night before.

We left for home early in the morning by 4.45-5.00am. Reached home at around 6.00am and crashed on the bed.

Day 4

With such an heavy party a night before I need not say we were like dead bodies in the bed till late the next day.Eeveryone at home had taken an off on the 1st Jan. We woke up late and had our lunch after taking bath.

Now the only thing in my mind was my ride back home..though it was difficult taking those gori chicks out of my eyes I had seen in the disco and on the beach last night...

After the lunch again we took some rest and I decided to go to another of my relatives place in the evening. The place is called Kumbharjua. Kumbhar means potter in marathi/konkani and jua means island in konkani. Earlier It's an island and therefore called KumbharJua...Potter's island. There are 2 ways to reach there..1. Take the banastari over bridge and 2. Take the ferry accross the river.

I had decided to take the second option. Left my place by 4.00pm. One has to go through the famous Old Goa to reach there. It was awesome traveling through all those churches and ancient historic buildings.

The ferry takes you from Old Goa to Kumbharjua.

Day 5

I had set an alarm of 6.30am before sleeping last night. I had learned from 29th Dec's experience that it had to be cold out and I wont be able to leave too early. So better leave after the Sun's out. So got up at 6.30 and got ready by 7.00am.

Wishing everyone good bye and thanking all of them for the gift and wonderful 31st night celebration I finally started my journey at around 7.20am.

I had decided not to stop much for photography and keep riding. I had 2 plans to avoide evening traffic in Mumbai. 1) Ride as fast as possible and reach Mumbai before the peek hour traffic or 2) Ride very slow enjoying the nature and enter Mumbai very late in the night when the traffic fades out.

With R15 in hand who can think of riding slow? I obviously chose plan no. (1).

Though the sun was out, it was dam cold..infact even colder than that in Mumbai when I left for Goa. As decided I was ripping the bike since begining and was riding very very fast..even with the cold in air. I reached near Mapusa in no time. And suddenly I had nature's call. Oops.. I was in trouble then. I pulled the bike over to shoulder and jumped into the nearby field. I had my water bottle handy. Just as I was thinking bout managing things with that little water, god ran in for me. I saw a small pool of water in the field some distance away. It was very lonely at that hour and also the entire field was covered with fog. It was looking like mother nature had a blanket of fog over itself.

With empty stomach I was feeling very relaxed and soon I was back on road. Speedometer always showed speeds close to 95-100kmph. This was going to be my bike's real test because I was riding very fast and also not taking much breaks either.

I was rocketing past all the villages and distances were covered in a jiffy. I used stop for some 10-15mins only when my wrists used to start paining. Then again flat out.

I was absolutely ..absolutely blown away by the bike's performace. Such a beautiful crusing speed and no sign of enging heat up or any trouble. I was loving it.

I kept the throttle twisted for long long time with very few breaks in between and I had my lunch at sangameshwar. When I called back home and told them that I had reached sangameshwar at that time, they were surprised and warned me to ride slow and be careful.

I continued my journey post lunch and pushed hard till I was some 50 odd kms away from Wadkhal. I reached that place at 3.45-4.00pm. I knew I was very close to Panvel and thus Mumbai city then and I really couldnt stop myself from praising my bike in my mind. I called up my GF and for the whole time I was prasing my bike. I had stopped there for a cup of coffee.

It wasn't just the performance that I was surprised with.. I had never ridden any bike in Kashedi ghat like that before. Aaah.. at what speeds.. Unbelievable. People in cars like Honda City and Skodas were looking with their jaws dropped till the cars flooring as I used to pass by and take those corners as they came. Itttt wasss ammmazing...

This bike also impressed me a hell lot on overtaking manuvers. No matter what gear u r in, this bike picks up with no hick ups. Some real good moves on the way are still fresh in my mind. Superb...Superb....

Once I was back on road after the coffee I continued my journey the way I hav been riding. I crossed Wadkhal and now was on the way to Panvel. This road is a bit risky and at times gets over crowded. But with a 2 wheeler it's never a problem.

I reached panvel at around 5.50-6.00pm(I dont remember exactly). And then there was the city traffic. It took me almost an hour before I reached home at around 7.00pm . Mom was so happy to see me back home safely. Made calls to everyone about my safe arrival..to Goa..to GF and to friends.

I truely salute R15 and as i had written before She had become a God for me. What performance..simply awe stricking.
It was indeed a memorable ride for me. Memorable in all aspects. The riding part..the Goan life... new year celebration.. The Rev party....hehe..everything..

Total Kms covered were 2046kms.
Total Days : 5 Days.(2 days riding + 3 days stay)

Thanx...
I hope U like the pics and write up.
Regards
Ketan Nikharge
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