The Goan Odyssey

7:00 a.m. When the whole world was overshadowed by the Monday morning blues, I stretched lazily on the world's best bed. BAM! Suddenly it hit me. We still had 2 more places to visit, plus, we had to enjoy at the Calangute beach! Why am I stressed out thinking about it? Who cares! No more time to lose! Downstairs, a lovely buffet spread was waiting for us. What should have been relished, was quickly gulped down. As we were heading out towards the beach, I stopped at the reception and checked the rates for hiring the hotel's cab to the airport. I wanted to know how much they would charge extra if we were to stop at Aguada Fort and the Immaculate Conception Church on the way. The receptionist said she would collect the details and give it to us as soon as we returned. Off we headed towards the beach. Without Google maps. Suddenly, DT suggested, "Why not check out Baga beach?" Though Sreejith had said to avoid it because it was always too crowded, judging by t...

There we stood in the middle of nowhere. No board. No sign. Nothing. Just a narrow road. A road that looked like it led to our deepest fears. Summoning all our hard-to-find courage, we took a few steps forward. Still no one around. Kept walking. Finally, a board showing Chapora Fort was visible! At least, we were on the right path. On continuing further, we reached the base of the fort, where we saw so many people. It was a relief. This was the point, I had the guts to take a pic. It was steeper before this point. Walking towards the fort, I heard most of the people speaking Malayalam. Are we in Kerala?  Evide thirinjaalum Malayalis. We climbed the steep hill, which looked more like a wall. Sreejith mentioned it was a bit steep but I hadn't expected this. Veruthe alla aalkar ee fort ittechu poyye... Entry okke road side il aakikoode... I turned around to see where we were. Whoaaa... Everything was moving around me. This wasn't a very good idea... Going down wa...

Light dawned and seeped in through the blinds of our windows. I lazily opened an eye and shut it. I don't want to go anywhere! Just stay in bed all day, after all that has happened yesterday. Nothing can make me move from here! Nothing! But... this was a trip. Grooooaaan! Day 2 in Goa. We had a long list of places to go to. And no car. This would definitely be an adventure. Pancakes with Chocolate Sauce & Maple Syrup. I dragged myself out of the bed to see DT awake with no energy as well. We both got ready and went for the complimentary breakfast. It had a limited set of items but it was good enough for us. I took a sip of the kokum juice. A bit sour but very refreshing - highly recommended by a friend of ours. Once we were done with the food, we got out and walked towards the bus stop. As per the map, buses should go via Calangute to Chapora Fort - famous in our circle for the scenes shot here for Dil Chahta Hai . "You know, what? Hamein har saal...