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Jan 2011..that was the when I had last been to Goa and I was away from touring for quite sometime, for almost months. Plenty of reasons behind it, no leaves, family responsibilities, bored of riding to same old places again and again. But it was till I got my hands on the GoPro. Well it's a real entertaining tool/gadget. It's cause of this camera I started doing the weekend rides once again. But then, it was strictly restricted to one day rides, only on Sundays and public holidays, no leaves was the obvious reason. Luckily I got a week long holiday just when I needed it the most as I had had enough of boring routine.
As I started shortlisting destinations and planning the ride, first name that came to my mind was Hampi. This is one place that's been on my 'To Do' list since quite a long time. I remember reading someone's travel log of Hampi + Goa ride. So on similar lines I chalked out 2-3 plans which included places like Hampi, Goa, couple of wild life sanctuaries from Karnataka and Southern Goa etc. Lalit was interested in riding with me to Goa but unfortunately I got my leaves on a very short notice and he couldn't get his leaves approved in that short span. So it was just me. Had it been a ride with Lalit or someone else, I would have finalized on one of the 2-3 plans that I had chalked out but then riding solo has it's advantages. I kept all the 3 itineraries open and thought let the time and destiny decide the route of my journey. I had a plans as hectic as covering almost all the above mentioned places and as relaxed as spending all 5 days in Goa itself.
Usually I prefer traveling as light as possible and when that's the case, my custom made tail bag provides sufficient luggage space. But since I was carrying 2 cameras this time and one of them being Gopro(which I wanted to use extensively) I decided to carry my laptop along so that every day's data can be transferred to the laptop at the end of the day. From the Ladakh ride's experience I knew my 15.6" laptop won't fit inside the tail bag. So the hunt began for additional bags, preferably saddle bags. Contacted a few people and finally Surojit and Hemant bhai agreed to help me with the bags. I had two option to choose from, Surojit had agreed to lend me his brand new VaiTerra tail bag cum saddle bag or should I call it a hybrid bad?! and at the same time Hemant bhai had designed a new pair of saddle bags which he wanted to test on someone's bike. It was probably the first ever set of bags of that design. Thanks a lot to both you guys
(y) With both the bags at home and a few tests later, I decided to take Hemant's bags for the ride as it held my laptop slightly better than the other bag.
Bags packed and ready to roll..
No matter how many ride you been to, you can't avoid that feeling of anxiousness and nervousness the night before the ride. Everything was in place, ride set of bags, all essential things, brand new tires, brake pads, new engine oil. Next morning, ride begins with an unexpected delay of an hour and half. With parents blessings, start off from Dadar at around 5.45-6.00 am. Nothing special to mention bout the ride till Vadkhal except the chilling cold and it's even worse at triple digit speeds. Stopped at Vadkhal for morning breakfast. Been riding on NH17 for years now and I have NEVER seen road near Pen police station in good condition. It's always in that pathetic condition full of potholes and shabby patchwork. Vadkhal onwards road improves a bit and I can say 80% road is in pretty good condition from Vadkhal all the way to Goa.
I stopped at some place after Nagothane, where it was too foggy to see beyond few meters. The video log starts from this place. Ride through Kashedi was as usual, amazing! But the morning chill slowly disappeared as the Sun continued it's journey towards the West horizon. I don't know whether it was the heat or something else but by the time I reached Savarde I had mild headache. I pulled over at a near by shop to rehydrate myself and take some rest under the shade. As it was anyways lunch time I enquired for a good place to have food and he suggested a near by restaurant names Hotel Shiv Sagar. It's a pure veg restaurant and I strongly recommend this place for lunch if you are at Savarde. Lunch break surely relaxed me a bit and the headache was a lill better not completely gone. In my day's plan, I had decided to visit my dad's native place Raipatan before moving forward to Goa. But the headache forced me to give a second thought to my decision. Raipatan is 17 Kms off NH17. So that means almost 35 Kms of additional riding apart from the 600+ Kms of Goa ride. My mind suggested me to head straight to Goa and avoid additional stress but the heart said something else. It had been almost 7 to 8 years since my last visit to our home and I really wanted to be there this time. I decided to ride till Oni, from where I was supposed to take the left turn to Raipatan, and decide then and there whether to go to Raipatan or not, depending on the headache and fatigue.
As I reached Oni, I noticed that the headache had almost gone and I was feeling much better than earlier. So obviously without any second thought I took the left turn to Raipatan. That state highway was a completely different story 7 years ago. Now the road condition is much much better and safer than earlier. I could do pretty good speed on that state highway. Also earlier one has to fill in petrol at Lanja on NH17 as there were no petrol pumps on SH, once you exit NH17 at Oni. But now there's a new HP petrol pump at Saundal. Nice I say!! Met my uncle and aunt after a real long time. Almost couple of hours later I started off again to Goa. Refueled at Saundal petrol pump on the way. Sun was right in front of me on the western horizon.
Nothing much worth mentioning till I reached Sawantwadi. Well, it was completely dark when I was nearing Sawantwadi and the new 4 lane highway is under construction. I should have taken the older NH17 route instead of the under construction highway but since there was no sing posting indicating that the highway is under construction and of course due to darkness, I continued on the new highway and quickly realized I was riding on a new road. But there was no point turning back as I wasn't sure then whether the old highway was still open for traffic or not. This new highway, as I told you was under construction and hence full of dust, dirt, diversions, speed brakes and no sign posting at all. Had tough time till I reached the point where the old NH17 once again meets this new highway. Continuing the ride with a thick layer of dust on jacket, helmet, bags, bike..almost every inch of it, I crossed the border and entered Goa. Change in road condition was quickly evident, wide and butter smooth. Porvorim -> Panjim -> Raibandar -> Old Goa. From Old Goa, I have 2 options to reach my place, which is an island - 1. by road via Banastarim which is a longer route and 2. by ferry via Gaundal which is a much shorter route. But I wasn't sure till what time does the ferry ply between the two villages. So I inquired bout it at the HP pump and was informed that it ferries till 10.30-10.45pm. I happily chose the shorter route. 10-12 minutes later I was at home. Granny was waiting with the food ready to be served. Had dinner and went to sleep.
I had kept no plans for Day 2 as I just wanted to relax and spend time with relatives and granny. Woke up pretty late and checked out the house. Granny has converted the backyard into a nice little garden with all sorts of flower plantations and even Banana trees
Roamed around a bit and came back home for lunch. Had food and again went back to sleep :P Woke up after some time to visit my relatives in Goa. I have my cousins and aunties staying at Porvorim, Betim, Verem and a few other places. I rode to all these places in the evening and stayed for the night at my cousin's place in Betim. Dinner at Terry's was just amazing. A restro bar right next to Betim ferry. You can see the Mandovi river flowing silenty and the lights of cruises and casinos reflecting on it's silent waves.......................
Video Log
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As I started shortlisting destinations and planning the ride, first name that came to my mind was Hampi. This is one place that's been on my 'To Do' list since quite a long time. I remember reading someone's travel log of Hampi + Goa ride. So on similar lines I chalked out 2-3 plans which included places like Hampi, Goa, couple of wild life sanctuaries from Karnataka and Southern Goa etc. Lalit was interested in riding with me to Goa but unfortunately I got my leaves on a very short notice and he couldn't get his leaves approved in that short span. So it was just me. Had it been a ride with Lalit or someone else, I would have finalized on one of the 2-3 plans that I had chalked out but then riding solo has it's advantages. I kept all the 3 itineraries open and thought let the time and destiny decide the route of my journey. I had a plans as hectic as covering almost all the above mentioned places and as relaxed as spending all 5 days in Goa itself.
Usually I prefer traveling as light as possible and when that's the case, my custom made tail bag provides sufficient luggage space. But since I was carrying 2 cameras this time and one of them being Gopro(which I wanted to use extensively) I decided to carry my laptop along so that every day's data can be transferred to the laptop at the end of the day. From the Ladakh ride's experience I knew my 15.6" laptop won't fit inside the tail bag. So the hunt began for additional bags, preferably saddle bags. Contacted a few people and finally Surojit and Hemant bhai agreed to help me with the bags. I had two option to choose from, Surojit had agreed to lend me his brand new VaiTerra tail bag cum saddle bag or should I call it a hybrid bad?! and at the same time Hemant bhai had designed a new pair of saddle bags which he wanted to test on someone's bike. It was probably the first ever set of bags of that design. Thanks a lot to both you guys
(y) With both the bags at home and a few tests later, I decided to take Hemant's bags for the ride as it held my laptop slightly better than the other bag.Bags packed and ready to roll..
No matter how many ride you been to, you can't avoid that feeling of anxiousness and nervousness the night before the ride. Everything was in place, ride set of bags, all essential things, brand new tires, brake pads, new engine oil. Next morning, ride begins with an unexpected delay of an hour and half. With parents blessings, start off from Dadar at around 5.45-6.00 am. Nothing special to mention bout the ride till Vadkhal except the chilling cold and it's even worse at triple digit speeds. Stopped at Vadkhal for morning breakfast. Been riding on NH17 for years now and I have NEVER seen road near Pen police station in good condition. It's always in that pathetic condition full of potholes and shabby patchwork. Vadkhal onwards road improves a bit and I can say 80% road is in pretty good condition from Vadkhal all the way to Goa.
I stopped at some place after Nagothane, where it was too foggy to see beyond few meters. The video log starts from this place. Ride through Kashedi was as usual, amazing! But the morning chill slowly disappeared as the Sun continued it's journey towards the West horizon. I don't know whether it was the heat or something else but by the time I reached Savarde I had mild headache. I pulled over at a near by shop to rehydrate myself and take some rest under the shade. As it was anyways lunch time I enquired for a good place to have food and he suggested a near by restaurant names Hotel Shiv Sagar. It's a pure veg restaurant and I strongly recommend this place for lunch if you are at Savarde. Lunch break surely relaxed me a bit and the headache was a lill better not completely gone. In my day's plan, I had decided to visit my dad's native place Raipatan before moving forward to Goa. But the headache forced me to give a second thought to my decision. Raipatan is 17 Kms off NH17. So that means almost 35 Kms of additional riding apart from the 600+ Kms of Goa ride. My mind suggested me to head straight to Goa and avoid additional stress but the heart said something else. It had been almost 7 to 8 years since my last visit to our home and I really wanted to be there this time. I decided to ride till Oni, from where I was supposed to take the left turn to Raipatan, and decide then and there whether to go to Raipatan or not, depending on the headache and fatigue.
As I reached Oni, I noticed that the headache had almost gone and I was feeling much better than earlier. So obviously without any second thought I took the left turn to Raipatan. That state highway was a completely different story 7 years ago. Now the road condition is much much better and safer than earlier. I could do pretty good speed on that state highway. Also earlier one has to fill in petrol at Lanja on NH17 as there were no petrol pumps on SH, once you exit NH17 at Oni. But now there's a new HP petrol pump at Saundal. Nice I say!! Met my uncle and aunt after a real long time. Almost couple of hours later I started off again to Goa. Refueled at Saundal petrol pump on the way. Sun was right in front of me on the western horizon.
Nothing much worth mentioning till I reached Sawantwadi. Well, it was completely dark when I was nearing Sawantwadi and the new 4 lane highway is under construction. I should have taken the older NH17 route instead of the under construction highway but since there was no sing posting indicating that the highway is under construction and of course due to darkness, I continued on the new highway and quickly realized I was riding on a new road. But there was no point turning back as I wasn't sure then whether the old highway was still open for traffic or not. This new highway, as I told you was under construction and hence full of dust, dirt, diversions, speed brakes and no sign posting at all. Had tough time till I reached the point where the old NH17 once again meets this new highway. Continuing the ride with a thick layer of dust on jacket, helmet, bags, bike..almost every inch of it, I crossed the border and entered Goa. Change in road condition was quickly evident, wide and butter smooth. Porvorim -> Panjim -> Raibandar -> Old Goa. From Old Goa, I have 2 options to reach my place, which is an island - 1. by road via Banastarim which is a longer route and 2. by ferry via Gaundal which is a much shorter route. But I wasn't sure till what time does the ferry ply between the two villages. So I inquired bout it at the HP pump and was informed that it ferries till 10.30-10.45pm. I happily chose the shorter route. 10-12 minutes later I was at home. Granny was waiting with the food ready to be served. Had dinner and went to sleep.
I had kept no plans for Day 2 as I just wanted to relax and spend time with relatives and granny. Woke up pretty late and checked out the house. Granny has converted the backyard into a nice little garden with all sorts of flower plantations and even Banana trees
Roamed around a bit and came back home for lunch. Had food and again went back to sleep :P Woke up after some time to visit my relatives in Goa. I have my cousins and aunties staying at Porvorim, Betim, Verem and a few other places. I rode to all these places in the evening and stayed for the night at my cousin's place in Betim. Dinner at Terry's was just amazing. A restro bar right next to Betim ferry. You can see the Mandovi river flowing silenty and the lights of cruises and casinos reflecting on it's silent waves.......................Video Log
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