Down the memory lane...

First CBC get together in 1998...
(Dated: April 1998)


The trip to GOA was a really fabulous one... and shall be cherished by all those who participated in it for a long time to come... Maybe, till they go for their honeymoon trip's ... or till CBC'ians meet once again...

I reached GOA on 11th April 1998 (Saturday) morning at about 10:00am by bus from Chennai, via Banglore along with Rajneesh. Rohit Pathak, Mandeep Singh and Sandipan Dutta (Uddi) had already reached there a day before from Banglore, and so had Neeraj Nayak and Nilesh Pastagia from Pune. We had 2 double bedroom flats with Cable TV and furnished kitchen (though we didn't use it !) for ourselves, in the Army Holiday Home, courtesy Pathak.

Day 1 (for me and Rajju... It was Day 2 for others) :- ----------------------------------------------------

I and Rajjo arrived at 10 and we hired 3 bikes(yamaha's) and one kinetic. The fellow left it at our place and we went to Panaji and filled up petrol. As soon as we started off from there towards old Goa, the traffic cops stopped us for licenses. Rajjo who was riding didn't have one and neither did Pastagia . So, we finally ended up paying a FINE !!! (Well begun!!!)

Thereafter, we went and saw some of the oldest Churches in India, St. Xavier's Church in Old Goa and the faous Cathedral there. The architecturea and the size of those structures is simply amazing. There also rests the body of St.Xavier, which has been lying there for centuries without use of any preservatives etc. Thereafter, we went to a famous Shiva temple in Old Goa, one of the few places where you see Lord Shiva with a Beard and whiskers. Well, that was a pretty spiritual beginning of my trip to GOA. Had a great time riding around Goa on the bikes !

Then, at around 4:30pm, went to Dona Paula, a really romantic place to be in. The place is surrounded by sea on three sides and the wind at the top of the mound reminded people of a scene from Titanic. Rides on Water-Bikes were close to those you would have seen in Baywatch.

Rode back to Panaji, and went for a night cruise on-board Santa-Monica, on Mandovi river. The boat was nice decent crowd and lots of live-music from a band which was performing there, singing and dance. This was followed by a lovely dinner and then went to Miramar beach, where we stayed till mid-night. The beach was really fabulous in the moon-light, with a light-house from Aquada beaming reminder's at you from across the bay.
Finally came back to the rooms at around 12:30am !! and still sat down to chat.

Day 2:-
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Gave up the bikes and went to Anjuna beach . Reached there by around 11am. Anjuna beach was the best of them all... secluded, calm and serene environment. Had a memorable time in water for a couple of hours and then decided to try a trek. So all of us took a round trek from Anjuna beach over a small ridge and in about 45 minutes reached Bagga beach. Bagga was much more lively, crowded and full of holidaying people. Had a nice lunch in one of beach-barn restuarants, after which Rajju,I and Pathak chose to walk down along the sea to Calungute beach, while others opted to take a bus back to Panaji. So, three of us tredded the sands of Bagga and reached Calungute beach in about an hour. That walk was really something...;-))...
It was close to evening and rushed back to the Holiday home as others apart from me and Sandipan had to leave that evening at 7pm.

So, bid a farewell to Nayak & Pastagia, who were going to Pune and Mandeep,Pathak and Rajju who went to Banglore by bus. So now two of us, Sandipan and me, went to the Panjim city, hired a Kinetic for the next 24 hours that we had in GOA. Went to Miramar beach to see the live music and games show etc happening there... After spending a couple of hours on the Miramar beach, went for a great dinner. I burnt a finger trying to see how hot the sizzler plate was!!!! It was close 11pm and two of us rode to Dona Paula, to see the light of Vasco-da-Gama in the night. Vasco looks so beautiful from here in the night and so do all those small and bigs ships in the sea... (Amit..remember the sight of Mussoorie from our balcony in Doon..)
Cool breeze and the calm humm of the sea were a real medicine for the soul. Were back in the room, at about 1:00am.

Day 3 :
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Sandipan and I, decided to try out some thing new on the last day of our stay in GOA. So, early morning we walked into the GOA Tourism office and collected a few maps and guide books. After doing a close study of what all was possible in one day, we decided to get going.

We decided to go to the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. We first drove to Ribandhar, a small place on the Old Goa highway, from where a ferry took us across the Mandovi river to the CHODAN island. The great thing was that we were able to take the bike along in the ferry. So, once on the Chodan island, we had a great inner-Goa bike safari, riding through those inner part's of GOA was a great experience... Were rode through the island, only to realise that hiring Canoe's etc for a trip to the sanctuary was beyond our budget. So, we rode to the other side of the island, took another ferry to reach BARDEZ mainland, and went to the POMBURPA springs... I had a cool bath in the spring.
Around noon, we were heading for Aquada Fort. Since the fort is a prison now, we went the fort from outside only and also saw the Aquada light house. From there we went to the Candolin beach, where we spent the afternoon. Uddi had his fill of sea-food there, besides we also saw some para-sailing stunts etc. Rode back to Panjim at around 5:30pm, packed bags and said Good-Bye to Goa at 7:00pm. That was my GOA dairy..... Good Bye Ma maa maayyayayaa yaa... maa maaama mayyayaya...