Goa Trip - Part1

One day before the trip “Me: The time has come to shift gears, step up the accelerate, for adrenaline fueled entertainment...!” I was really excited for an amazing bike trip to one of the best destinations in India, Goa. But this time the trip did not start with the sound of our key’s clicking and the grunt of our bikes, instead it began with boarding a bus at midnight. It was 7 in the evening when Zeyn and I were travelling to Pune from Mumbai when the decision of a bike trip all of a sudden changed. Granny and Roy had second doubts about going by bike as it was going to be a long ride. I was really disappointed at their decision of going by bus. Wait! I am forgetting one friend here in all this discussion, Aldon [Bishop] who chose to be a neutral party in this argument. After a long discussion the bus tickets were booked and this my dear readers is how the trip to Goa began for the Urban Riders. 

Day 1:

All the disappointments aside, we boarded the bus [Paulo Travels] at 12:30 AM from Wakad. After a good night sleep we reached Mapusa bus station a little after noon. We stayed at Aldon’s house here which was just 10 minutes’ from Mapusa market. Mapusa was a beautiful town to stay in and the market here is known to be one of the best in Goa.

We reached home and without wasting any time we freshened up, changed into the something comfortable and got out to get the feel of Goa. We walked back to the market and asked around if we would get bikes for rent here. We found many shops here but there were no bikes available as all the bikes were already rented out. We asked in one of the shops "Bikes kidar milega abhi?", they replied back saying that we will only get bikes at Baga beach now. To reach Baga we had to take a bus and as there was no direct bus to Baga at that time we decided to go via Panjim. It is not at all hard to find a bus to Panjim. As soon as we reached the bus station we could hear the conductors shouting, "Chalo! Chalo! Panji direct, Panji direct". It took us around 20 minutes to reach Panjim and by this time it was way past afternoon and all of us were starving for some food. Back in Pune when we were planning for the trip to Goa we had decided that we would try out the best delicacies in the best restaurants in Goa. 

So we got down from the bus and started searching for a restaurant on Zomato (The best app in the planet to search the best restaurants with user reviews and ratings). It took us some time to search a restaurant but finally we did find one and believe me it was marvelous. So our first dine was at Viva Panjim. I personally fell in love with the ambiance from the moment I set my sight on the walls, so many awards, paintings and antiques, wow! 

Viva Panjim, A hundred and fifty year old ancestral home converted into a restaurant.

The wall full of awards.

Not only had the objects on the wall, but also the chairs and tables felt antique and appealing. The food was amazing and the best part was it was very light on the pocket. I am sure to visit again on my next trip to Goa. 

Cheers!

After having some mouthwatering lunch, we walked back to the bus station and took a bus to Calangute/Baga. As soon as we reached we started asking around for bikes, but even here all the bikes were rented out. We asked if we could get bikes somewhere else but they said that we would get bikes tomorrow and not today. We decide to go to Calangute Beach and on the way to the beach we did some shopping and had some refreshments, then we rested on the beach for sometime. The beach was crowded with so many tourists. We just sat there looking around and admiring the beauty of the sky's changing color with every passing minute. 

Admiring the beauty of the sky at Calangute.

The Urban Riders

It was dark now, so we thought that we should head back home. We walked to the place where we could get a bus and found out that after 8 we wont get a bus from here, so we thought that we should stay back and witness the night life at Baga beach, just another spontaneous plan! We walked a lot on this day, we kept walking and walking and we owe it all to Roy and Granal, then while walking towards Baga beach I saw a house in which two bikes were parked and in small it was printed “Bikes for Rent”. Yeah! We got bikes. We rented the bikes for all the days we were going to be in Goa. We had dinner at O’Pescador where we enjoyed some karaoke music along with delicious food and wine and then after dinner we headed back home.

...To be continued