Foot-Loose!!

Saying it through Pictures - Goa Dec 2005

I don't think I'll ever finish telling you the US stories... Because my narration went on and on and on.. that I got bored of it.

I have decided to shorten the narration of my trips and say it through pictures. Someday I'll talk about my US trip as well through the pictures.

We went to Goa for a beach+jungle trekk in December 2005. Here's the story and a link to the pictures.


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We planned for Goa in the last two weeks of 2005. As always, Jyothi and Sid did most of the planning and organizing while all that Prakash, Megha and myself did was to pack up and join the trip. Coming back from my trip to the caves of Ajanta and Ellora, I was to join the gang at the Youth Hostel at Mapusa, Goa on 24th Dec. That's where I met Bharani, who was new to the gang.

We did nothing but roam around in Mapusa that day and we booked our ticket for our return journey. It was Christmas the next day and we had planned to visit the fort of Aguada, the beach at Kalangute and old Goa before getting to Panaji to report for our trekk. We had hired a self-drive van for the trip. The fort at Aguada was built as a light tower and water reserve and was built on top of a hill. At the foothill was a penitentiary that faced sea - I guess being an inmate would have been fun. It was noon, the worst time, when we hit the beach at Kalangute but I was surprised that it still looked rush hour! We turned around to get to Old Goa. A magnificient town area, unlike any other in Goa it literally felt Old. The magnificent churches and a museum that narrated the story of Goa. We were in time to check in for the trekk at youth hostel Panaji.

26th, the first day of trekk was acclaimatization that prepared one for the long trekk. We packed our stuff and walked to the port of Dona Paulo. I was surprised to find in our trekking group there were more kids that grownups. The trip was short. Back at base camp we took a ride into the sea to see the dolphins.

27th, the trekk started and the destination was the beach of Bogmalo. This leg started from Dona Paulo and went through land owned by the Indian navy to reach the rocky beaches of Bogmalo. Since photography was not allowed during the stretch we kept our Cameras in the bags. Bogmalo was not a clean beach, but a rocky beach was a new experience. A beautiful sunset added to the effect.

On 28th we were to get to the beach of Benaulim, walking over 13 kilometers on a stretch that was entirely on the beach sand. We walked and the beaches got cleaner and the scenery was beautiful. We had taken off our shoes to feel the sand and the occational splash of waves on our feet. Towards the end of the stretch our feet started hurting, as the sand near the sea was firm like cement. Benaulim camp was the most beautiful of the camps we had.

On 29th the destination was the jungle camp at the base of the Dudh Sagar falls. A bus took us to the Vasco railway station. After a short train journey we started walking again. Soon were at the guard posts at the Bhagwan Mahavir National Park, the Goan stretch of the western ghat rain forests.

30th we climbed the hill to reach the middle of the Dudh Sagar falls. A portion of the Konkan railway passed through this and for a while we walked on the rails. This was the most boring leg of our walk as the trail had a dry feeling to it. Our destination was the camp at Kuveshi, a place that belonged to the state of Karnataka. The camp site beautiful. A tree stood on the bank of a shallow water body giving a scenic reflection in water. A stream ran nearby and I cannot possibly forget the refreshing bath I took.

31st we started walking to Atali, a camp site that was inside the reserved jungle area. It didn't look a jungle out there, with a few cultivated lands and men around. yet that was a memorable camp as that is where we waited till midnight to welcome the new year of 2006. We had a camp fire around a single candle, as firewood is banned inside the jungle and we sang songs till it was a few hours past the midnight. This was the last day of our trekk.

One the new year's day of 2006, we started walking back to hussle of the town. We reached Mollem and took a bus back to Panaji to get back to our base camp. We took an early exit from the camp, citing the reason that we had a bus to catch. Having walked around 40 kilometers in 5 days it took us no time to slip into a good sleep in the bus.

The photo graphs we took gives a more vivid description of our trip.
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posted by ദീപക് -:-Deepak @ 9:47 AM