Goa in the Rains

After constant bugging from Qantas,SAA,ANZ,NCA..phew..we finally thot that we wud break for the triple b's.And thus a group of pristine nine (7 cargo + 2 local's) soldiers marched onto the s6 compartment of the Malabar express.Friday the 26th evening witnessed the mixing up of vodka,mirinda and the beautiful smell emanating from the latrines of the Mangalore bound Express.
Exactly at 8.30 pm,the train's catering staff survived a mild breakdown due to the sudden shortage,when they executed an order of exactly 45 parathas,another 10 chappathis,rice,13 egg masala,and 7 vegetable curries.The other travellers were lucky enuf to get a refill in Kollam station.
27th Morning 11 am…
Mangalore was deluged with the early monsoon showers,but it was colorful enuf with all those beauties…we supposed that they r all heading to manipal.hey buddy this is the land of our fav…aish…
Hotel Shamon Palace witnessed the highest level of defamation when our dearest maadu(vinoo)…proclaimed that he wud not even take a small stroll to the toilet.He said that he has backup capacity for another 2 days….Man i bet 1000 bucks..but he is a machine.The rest all of us visted it twice,once before and once after our brunch.
The Mangalore Railway officers were very kind enuf when they said that we only need to take unreserved tickets to Madgaun, in the Matsya'Gandha' Express.Exactly at 2.30 pm, the express took its position in the main platform,but i ll tell u the whole of the mangloreans or all the others were travelling in this train…First we thought we ll go sit in the general compartment,but that thot din last long when we saw around…i donno how huge the number was there clinging onto the general….
Finally we managed to get into one of the compartment,but was received by some nice words,kicks, disco,hip hops,etc with bags and suitcases flying in air as well as swimming on the floor.Mr Vinoo got horrified,infact he was infatuated with the mangalore station platform and decided not to part with it until and unless he is given a Reserved ticket in the Matsyagandha express.Kuttan managed to find some empty space in one of the other compartment,where all of us shifted,carrying our heavy luggages.Myself,thomman and kuttan finally had an encounter with the TTR who was gobsmacked to hear that we r 9 in passeneger and we dont hav a reserved ticket.But i suppose he was a business man,who was very concerned abt his monetary status.He indeed promised us to get seats,inspite of the heavy rush.Moreover we were to alight the train by 8.30 pm.so there was no question of Berths required.The journey henceforth was very exciting,2 people in s1,3 people in s3,1 person in s5,2 person in s4…we were infact playing spreadsheet.

5 times shifting and running around the compartments = 500 rs

The ttr was very understanding and he extracted just 500 bucks from us.

Karwar was the station which was before madgaon…and there Kuttan behaved hysterically to a fellow passenger with a confirmed ticket.He declared that the seat wont be given to the actual successor and he said its his…thank god thomman saved the situation pulling kuttan into another compartment…..

Nonetheless the train was packed with "Cargos" journeying towards Mumbai…hi hi…
Raining Madgao-We were received by my friend Nitish at the station and we proceeded to Hotel La Flor.It was a cosy place and the rooms were neat and clean.We took 3 rooms each having an extra bed to accomadate all of us.The heavy downpour forced us to dine in the same hotel itself.And now is the best part,we were warned that the rates r not that budget,but a bit high,all these statements were shattered when we saw Royal stag large at just rs 12.People over here in kerala pays more than 80 rs for a peg.Goa has an encouraging attitude towards alcoholism..The more u drink the lesser u pay.Kuttans joy knew no bounds.He along with kanakan and thomman started blasting.Fish Xacuti,mutton Vindaloo,Golden fried Tiger Prawns..oops we were kicked on our stomach. Kuttan wanted to take one more bottle to the room for further 'motivation'. And for the Life's Calling part,cashew fenny….Goa gOA

Royal Stag in Goa * 7 ==== Tvm's Royal stag…..

result: Kuttan Paamp at 11pm…. 
28TH sUNDAY
The Long night's fast was broken with chicken sandwich and red wine.OOps.did u know???? the alcohol content in wine over there is 18%,KF strong boast abt a 8%.
In fact we were late for the morning,cos of Lenins 1.5 hr struggle in the bathroom…he sweared that it was unintentional.Non stop Bus from Madgao to Panjim was caught after much struggle in the ATM, a Cloth sale centre and the restaurant.1 p.m brought us to Panjim Bus station..where we took a short walk to our Hotel,The Manvins.
Maadu lost his temper walkin,he evn scowled at some civilians.
The hotel was not bad,they boasted abt an underground arena,disco,pub etc…But we were charmed with the Madgaon hotel.
The Hotel authorities agreed to give on rent an Indica and 2 bikes and after a lil hussle and bussle…with 2 smelly helmets we were all on our trail for the Baga Beach.
The way to Bhaga was filled with tourist rather than shops or restaurants.Goa is enriched with lot of pubs bars,restaurants,which can accomadate the bollywood stars as well as we  :-))
Our Great expectation of a peace and perfect beach was shattered with hundreds of sunday crowd swimming and bathing there.Baga boast of the most secure beach in the whole of goa….and so its a paradise for both tourists as well as the localites.Within minutes we were ready to plunge into the sea,with maadu having his skii board…

Kuttan had the peculiar character of not touching the beautiful sea..infact he was allergic to water,but i ll tell u he is a gourmet as well as a gastronome,giving company to kanakan.
He sacrificed to look after our belongings on condition that he was allowed to sit in one of the beach side Bar.
Beach,beers and b…sorry beauties…..The females in that part of the country have  wonderful legs,and they took pains to tend it well and flaunt it with the help of short skirts.Good bye Bloreans,we love Goa.

After a long bath and bake…with bruises only on vinoos' body we left to calangute,
CALANGUTE…..sweet calangutte welcomed us with blue berries and sweet corn together with a slight drizzle.
The rains were gettin harder,so the crowd outflow was greater than the inflow..we took  this as our opportunity to savour the beauty of the beach..Dancing in the Rain……Kuttan as usual settled in another bar/pub with our belongings…we regularly met him to hav our hunt….Red wine,Brandy,Whisky,Gin,Fenniii,Scrambled egg…the list goes on.but wait did anyone say we din hav our lunch…ya we skipped….with the result of all the nine turning gastronomes.Bathed and Bathed,rains getting stronger,we enjoyed evn more….
By around 6.30 pm we made a move..all of us were tired…but we dint want to waste the evening….
Goa boast abt a night cruise with dance and music.The one which i missed during my last trip here…Paradis Cruise was ready to take us for the 10.30 pm cruise…and they said they hav,live dance programmes,disco and an open deck.We readily agreed,booked the ticket got fresh at our romms,had a quickie dinner…din really have..except for the Royal Stag and soda…And the ship pulled its anchor up.The live programs were fun and we all had our good share of bird watching evn at that point of time.The ship had a snack and a liquor bar,,where we cud buy things.We spent some time practicing photography,birdwatching,night prowling etc.

Towards the end of the 1 hr cruise .Kanakan broke down with a heavy Stomach ache…but was cured by his ability to vomit out all he had….
Back to manvin's and were fast asleep.

29th Monday

Myself and Thomman woke up eaqrly morning to travel to Madgaun for the self driven Qualis car which my friend has promised.We paid the rent had our breakfast(this time it was descent in an udipi restaurant..comprising of idlis,dosas and all other south indian vegetarian delicacies..

By about 10.30 am we made a move to the Arambol beach(Harmal)…on the way we stopped at mapusa(a small town area,very crowded,shoppers delight…and they hold a shopping every  friday's ..)A couple of audio casettes were bought to sooth our ears…madoo sweared by sayin that the cassette is bull shit(actually it was Bollywood top 10, and goan hits)..

Previously Arambol beach has to be reached by using a jhangar….this was the condition when i last visited here…now they hav built a full fledged bridge from siolim to arambol.At abt 12..we reached Arambol,as expected there was no crowd at all..but a few foreigners/hippy….but much to our dismay the sea has eaten most of the sandy area,..and we cudnt find a nice beach to dance upon….after taking a few snaps,..we left the place in 10 minutes.

Next we thought of raiding Morjim beach which was the beach adjacent to arambol in the coastal line..or rather in our Goa map.Even here it was the same condition with the sea swallowing most of the land areas….but i ll tell u both of these beacher are a beauty ,during other times of the year…..Without evn spending any time …we left the place and stopped at another location on the coastline..where we made it into a comfort station.Actually this errand was to espionage a foreigner lady riding with a black local…..bad luck..they escaped….

Next on the list was the famous Vagatore beach…..As usual Lenin spent another 1000 bucks giving charity to the cloth vendors there…..the place was crowdy..and there were lot of honeymooners….feast for kuttan,kiran,bejoy and sandeep….the others were not badly treated….The view from Vagatore rocks were awesome….snaps were taken in all directions….Myself,Bejoy and lenin went down to the beach under the cliff and had a rendezvous with the water….colours colours and colours only….Fort chapora or rather its remains were visible in the distant…and all us were longing to go there after the trio played their part in the movie "Dil chahta hai"..

Before moving to chapora we had a lunch/motivation session,,mean while it started drizzling…but our high spirits took us to treck and reach chapora….magnificient view from there…took hell a lot of snaps…..was not of sound mind…snaps shows postures  of lord shiva,kali,ravanan etc….all made adhoc by our bodies…

the full stomach got drained after the treck and the dances in the chapora….

Our next destination was the famous Anjuna Beach….or hippies paradise…..by the time we reached anjuna..it was raining cats and dog…but our spirits din let us down…myself,bejoy,kiran sr,sandeep and lenin…bathed in the beautiful rough sea endorsed with small rocks and pebbles like people who hav come from Rajasthan..The series of thing which happened then are un utterable…..Local reuters reported late that evening ..that some people were basking in anjuna beach nakedly,semi nude…whatever they say..we dnt believe them….mean while..kanakan,kuttan and Thomman…got involved in their motivating activities…Thomman was seen mouth agaped….later we came to know that a gang ,ostly girls were doin rain dancing in front of them…Kuttan..who was the elder of the lot was seen making friend with another local guy..who promised to serve him food,beer and shelter for less than 500 bucks…

We set out from there shortly…it was now abt 5.30 pm…and we all were in a partying mood…off we went ravaging clubs…and finally landed at TITO's…the happening place in goa…their disco starts at 10.30 night and goes upto 3,4 am..depending on the crowd….and the catch is that they cahrge 500 bucks for stags….but they promised two drinks..another club Mambo…charged 500 without drinks….we well opted for the first one…Since we had plenty of time..we thought we ll take rest for some time..and adjacent to TITO club was the other end of Baga beach…

My god u wont believe me but Baga is a beauty..especially on that day with very less crowd..clean water..damn..iam wondering who cleaned that overnight…Anyway most of us had a good dip….and by around 7 we left to our good old manvin Hotel.

After Dinner(on a high way restaurant/bar) we came back to Titos by around 11.30 night,took the entry tickets..and entered…We saw some usual Discotheque setup..the dj busy with hip hops…and the crowd was mostly males..and also less in number…Most of us waisted no time but started dancing…This time it was our dear old Kuttan…who blasted the whole of the night…from the time we entered TITO's to the time we left that place..that was at abt 3…he was dancing…god damn it…his stamina…By around 12 we had company with lot of ladies joining the disco..and as usual as couples…anyway we dint hesitate to open up our inbuilt binoculars,night vision goggles etc…The night saw lot of hip hopping,trance music,break…music….we danced to our heartfull.. On our way back to The hotel….Kuttan was explaining how he was appraoched by a "Guy"…that person evn went to the extant of kissing him..but he escaped narrowly…god knows what happened….

30th morning…sorry there was no morning since all of us got up at 11. am..myself and vinoo..went to Kamat for our breakfast and then we went to cybercafe to check our return journey train status…since it was not confirmed yet…

now to vinoo's luck and all other's badluck the tickets r still in waiting list…and we din know what to do..anyway all the flight timings of all flying companies were noted along with the charges…Amongst them air deccan was offering budget rates..that of second AC…all details were communicated to the other sleeping soldiers…and we decided we will anyway book tickets from Goa atleast to Blore…Off we started off to the Airport..which was in Dabolim…under the Vasco town ship…this town is very famous..rather infamous…Our credit cards kissed thrice,the wiping machines at the Air deccan office…and with a triumphant pathetic feeling we went to the bayana beach in vasco….Meanwhile Lenin happened to purchase a football…frenzied with the upcoming world cup soccer….

anyway we were all in mood..when we saw the lonely bayana,,with lot of space for a gud match of soccer.Team kanaks versus Team Flemi…

Team Flemi won the match with 2 goals to none…..it was a clear cut victory….with the defeated Teams captain runing ashamed towards the Qualis..claiming that he just saw Kuttan with some motivation…. 

From there we set out to Old Goa,famous for its archealogical and cultural importance.Lunch got skipped.knowingly or unknowingly….The Musuem Near the Basilica of Born Jesus,saw 9 brave soldiers hunting for prehistoric portugese evidences,as if it a davinci trial….The chapel near to it was filled with old paintings and artworks….Basilica of born jesus housed the sacred remains,,rather body of St Francis..Lenin was missing during this time…Later we came to know that he went to the extend of offering  free snaps…he lured 3 couples to pose and took photograph  and promised them to email the pics..all this using Vinoos Digicam…who got horrified on seeing this..sheer out of "Baijar"..

We had a descent tea at one of the restaurant there…kuttan tried his best to behave indescent by ordering…Bread Omlettes,Bacon sandwich etc…By the time we got seated into the qualis..the down pour was heavy…we flew to panjim…and then travelled to miramar beach…from there all the way to dona paula..another sight seeing place…rains just slowed down a bit and we raided donapola…..Vinoo was felling a lil dizzy and one of us offerd him a paracetamol..he straight away suspended the idea of havin paracetamol..in empty stomach…We cudnt understand how that stomach got empty bcos he just had a chicken sandwich,veg sandwich and a tea…anyway we laughed till our tummy ached…Vinoo and his Innocence…Kuttan mite surely write a book on him..

This was the last of our tour days…and people were suggesting.movie in inox..thomman especially….sandeep,kiran and kuttan was suggesting a final getogether…anyway we visited inox..just to c the posters and then headed towards a wine shop..where many bottles were bought….lemme tell u..pretty cheaply..

Finally we found out a medium budgeted resataurant for the getto…Kuttan brought out the wild idea of each person summing up their accounts for the tour…..since everyone were higly motivated…none was words less…evn the silent man sandeep spoke for around 10 minutes…we discussed many things…killed kuittan many times..laughed..had a hell lottof time..kanakan emerged as the leader in the group discussion..and in fact cudnt sum up his thoughts on everyone..he draged his brag upto manvins..where kanakan mansion house was dismantled…rather destroyed…

People donno when they slept..but i woke up early morning..cos the vehicle has to be returned to the agent before 8.30/am///

31st morning was very clouded

Travelling alone to Madgao was relatively boring,but things changed very quickly…the dash board started indicating T belt and also the battery indicator was on…

Summary….Vehicle broke down..

Exercise session for 30 minutes with the localites pushing qualis ,encouraging it to start,but of no avail…finally the vehicle owner was called and vehicle handed over to him,with another 1.2 k to please his eyes.

Meanwhile Bejoy called with the news that 5 tickets on train got confirmed,but the other 4 are not..so four of us proceeded with the Air Deccan Journey……to Kochi…

The airport in Goa was situated in Dabolim.All of us were still in the Picnic mood and we had no plans of leaving the beautiful place…Bejoy,Kiran,Leninn sandeep and kuttan..had the chance of extending their tour upto midnight that day….but ours got ended in the Airport…

More to come on The eventful Journey..In the Deccan