Goa - SunBurn

Goa - One stop location for Sun, Sand and Beach. I had plans for hitting Goa for Christmas holidays and the idea came up after a friend of mine came back from Goa in November. He gave some references for finding accommodation, I worked a plan and discussed with the area boys about heading to Goa for 3-4 days. We planned for Christmas holidays and i got in touch with a reference in Goa for accommodation. Everything was set and we were able to find stay within our budget. Initially 5 guys had agreed to join ( as always the last guy ) dropped out last moment. I could not have asked for anything better a fully loaded Hyundai Verna with 4 Guys on wheels ( ahhh what a comfort). Back from work early morning, packed up my bags and we all left home at 5.30 Am and out goal was to reach GOA by 6 :00 in the evening. On board were I, Kishan, Pandu, Moni - I was told drive will be a good fun as we will come across some amazing landscape and highways where you can zip. True and again with Verna on wheels zipping around at 140kms you was at ease for us. After crossing Nelamagala we stopped by breakfast at hotel ( and the breakfast was not the best of all we have had) wrong place to stop by. We were taking the Hubli , Belagum route and the roads were good and as Moni knew the route he guided us through different bypass and NH highways which made the entire journey comfortable. We reached Belagum at 2.30 PM and stopped for lunch. While enquiring about good hotels with a localite there were these two guys who were staring at me as i had a camera in hand. They were curious to know whats inside the car. I managed to take this snap when they were staring at me. I like the innocent appeal they have in their eyes.



This time around we were able to find a good place and the lunch and the food was good. We had 3-4 hours of travelling more and we left Belagum at 3.30 , we passed through the Amboli Ghats - we encountered some amazing landscapes and waterfalls, the roads are so narrow and but again they are well maintained. ( with the exception of few potholes) - As the Sun was descending it added to the beauty of the place. We stopped over for Tea and we walked a distance from the shop their was this water fall, again Natural Beauty and you just sit and appreciate God's creation. Here are few snaps which i managed.




Land Scape and Water Falls




Hello .... we are heading to Goa. Stop over at Water Falls in Amboli Ghats

Taking a break for 20 minutes, we decided to move on as we still had to cover around 100 Kms to reach Baga Beach. It was around 6: 00 PM we reached Panaji check post. As expected about the rude behaviour of the Goa police, we were stopped and enquired with typical DADAGIRI style accent. ( Oiii Kahase Araha Hea) and i was not wearing the seat belt adding to that we had dark sunfilm for the car ( which is not allowed in Goa) - I respect the rules, but we did not know that and we were asked to pay a fine of 400 Rs or remove the sunfilm. Offcouse we did not wanted to do both and as usual ( i feel sorry about this, but we can't avoid certain things at times) we paid 100 Rs under the table and left.


We reached Baga at around 7.15 PM - I called the house owner from a landmark he had given, he guided us through the small lane which lead to the cottage. The Sun had set and Goa was AWAKE - with fancy lights and road side bars, foot tapping music from every pub or a restaurant you pass through - We just saw each others face and said " Brother Welcome to Goa" - Got fresh and introduced our self to the house owner. Immanuel ( very friendly, talkative, Humble person) - He gave some tips on what to see in Goa and places to Visit. The best part of the cottage was it just 100 mtrs away from the beach front. We just had to walk down the lane to hit the beach. Long day of Journey we decided to have a drink and headed out to a near by beach side shack. Christmas Day and place was all of music and candle light tables lined up in the beach front. We sat in comfort of the sand and enjoyed the cool breeze and nice music. Security was tightened as were were able to see Commandos with Ak -47 patroalling the beach front. We even got a chance to speak to a few and did not manage to take some snaps.

Friday - Pandu aka Sony, was the first one to get up early in the morning. We came out to the shack and were so pleased to see the beach early in the morning. Endless destination and few ships and boats moving around,it was nice to see a change from our regular traffic jams in Bangalore. We had plans of doing some water sports and Sony was eagerly waiting for it. After working a deal with few people managing the show , we decided to go for Banana Ride, Motor Bike Skeing, Bumper Ride - I had seen Banana ride in MTV Roadies and i one thing i was scared of was stepping back on taking part in water sports was because i do not know swimming. But again i saw a lot people doing it and made up my mind. With life jackets on we were all on the BANANA in no time, the first fall was ok and the second was a bit scary as we went a distance away from the sea shore ( i was thinking of sharks, whales and fish ) , with that done we finished motor bike skeing and then came the BUMPER RIDE - Finally when i finished this i came to know why the game in called bumper ride, it really bumps your BUTT. ( Scary man again) - LOL :) I have a few snaps and will be adding it.


We had lunch in the same shack and were just hanging out in the near the bed, seeing other people play and also catching up on some size 0 ( Pandu, Kishan and Moni) by now know this by heart. We were tired and decided to head back to the cottage and slept for a few hours. Time for the Sub go down and what a better place to ask for sitting in beach front sipping your evening tea ( just amazing) . We took a stroll and walked from Baga Beach to Kalangut. Go by the shops picking up few things, window shopping and we decided to taste WINE. Got a bottle of SULA and reached the shack and ended the day quietly planning for the next move in the morning. We had plans to visit other beaches and locations.

Saturday: Woke up at around 8:00 Am and headed to the beach, finished our breakfast in the shack and left to vist Anjuna, Vagathore and Candolim. We just took a walk on the beach side and headed to Candolim for lunch. Boy this is the place to see SIZE 0 - There was Asia Biggest Dance Party Sun Burn happening in this area and we had plans to hit the party. Ahhhh with the budget we planned already crossed we started to wonder if we can make it up.So Saturday we decided we cannot as we did not have finances but again we did not wanted to miss the party as the environment at the party zone was amazing and it was inviting everyone.




So after spending a quite night listening to the music from the Sun Burn venue, we decided to hit the party on Sunday. We worked out finances and decided to RoLL.

Sunday: Woke up at around 8: 00 AM and headed to the beach. Lol - I was desperate to learn swimming :) and played till we got tired in the beach. We spent round about 2 hours playing and headed back to the cottage to pack our bags. We decided to leave the same night after the party and head to HUBLI - and vist Sony grand parents house. A few snaps of us with Immanuel ( Cottage owner and Bhutia who was working in the shack ( Good Boy) .




After having lunch in Chicken Fish - Restaurant ( We first visited this 5 years back when we had been to GOA) we headed to - SUNBURN

SUN BURN - GOA 08

Dec 27th - Dec 29th

Tagline - We Love Peace, We Love Sunburn

Venue : Candolim Beach Goa

After buying tickets we entered the party zone at 4.oo in the evening, the party zone was spread across and had live performances and international DJ's , Nikil Chinappa ( MTV) Band - Jilebi Cartel . Here are few snaps which i clicked as we entered.



Welcome to SunBurn....



FoLlOw Me .... Don't touch me






Party got over at 10.00 PM and after good session of music, dance and fun - we left the venue and had dinner in a Chinese restaurant. It was 11.00 PM and we were heading back to HUBLI.
After a tiring drive we reached home at 4 in the morning and slept for a few hours. At home we had some fun with little kids ( who had bunked school) and were all geared up to welcome us and i cannot forget the game we played in the evening with all the family members. ( Kavade Atta) - We left hubli at 6.15 in the evening and reached Bangalore at midnight 1.30 AM.

That's all for now. I would like share few things before i sign off:

Best time to vist - Nov till Jan 05

Place to be - Baga or Candolim ( Explore other places, dont not stick to one.)

Travel - Own transport is better, by train or flight is more comfortable.

Never Miss - SUNBURN which happens from 27th Dec - 29th Dec, Water sports ( Banana Ride,

Motorbike Skeing, Bumper Ride) - Baga is the happening place for water sports.

Don't - If you are heading back from vacation to your town . Don't travel late night by own transport ( we did it and i honestly will not recommend it to anyone).

Must Visit: Baga, Anjuna, Vagathore, Candolim.

Food : Most of shacks on beach offer good food and do not miss out the candle light table dinner and Tea/Coffee/Beer before the Sunset.

List goes on and on just remember HaVe FuN :)

If i can be any help for reference write to me at - vinay.justin@gmail.com

Here are some more snaps - Check these out SUNBURN GOA - 2008

Cheers.
Vinay.