We started from Mumbai on our 1-month old KTM 390Adv at 6am and took National Highway 66 (NH66) for our very first long ride together. Took a breakfast break after crossing Panvel, kept it light as we always prefer on our rides.
What beautiful nature we passed by...
We stopped a couple of times to click some photographs en-route. Pillion's seat is extremely comfortable, I enjoyed the ride thoroughly.
After a fulfilling ride, we decided to take halt at Chiplun and spent the night at Vanashri hotel in a room with heightened ceiling, which was a feeling of freedom, feeling of space in itself. Had delicious dinner at the hotel room, and had a sound sleep.
Woke up to a beautiful sunrise view from the balcony, coming up in day 2
Oh! beautiful morning this was. There was a feeling of calmness in the environment, just the sound of nature and birds. It's such a different feeling for a person staying in Mumbai. The pleasant weather itself made the morning so beautiful, and sunrise view from balcony added as a cherry on the cake.
We were to head towards Goa early morning. But decided to soak in the feeling for a couple of hours and left @9 am.
We continued on NH66 and preferred to stick to the same even though Google sometimes suggested different routes. What we love about this highway is that it is filled with nature, which means we get to click photographs. Somewhere in between, I also lost my spectacles. 😟
And soon we reached Maharashtra-Goa border, and surprisingly there was no checking in regards to pandemic. Nevertheless, we moved ahead to the other side of Goa, where we had booked a room, which is over 100kms from here. We refilled the tank at Panjim at a petrol price of ₹10 less than that of Maharashtra.
Reached Fatima Guest House, Agonda @8pm. The check-in procedure was super smooth. Thanks booking.com and Fatima Guest House. Got freshen up, had dinner at the resort restaurant and slept for the day.
We woke up in Goa this morning.
Fatima Guest House, at Agonda Beach Road, will make you feel like home. Pretty homely vibe they have. Beach is just 100m from the guest house.
We went to the beach in morning and enjoyed sometime in water.
As there is no vodafone, airtel network, wifi is a must, thanks Vallerine for all the arrangements and your hospitality.
Had breakfast at the restaurant and worked through the afternoon. In the evening we had snacks along with some drinks and took a walk in nearby streets.
Started my day with breakfast at Dunhill restaurant, there came a dog to accompany me. Enjoyed my mint tea and sandwich with a Seaview. Also there was a family filled with drama for entertainment. Lolz... Roamed in nearby streets to photograph all possible elements. Just a little ahead we found a photographic location. We captured a few pictures.
We took out bike to ride for a while and straight went to Palolem, which is like 10kms from Agonda. We rode searching for a couple of things like cellular network(for receiving otp) for some bank transfer, and an ATM to clear hotel dues and also thankfully found an optical shop and ordered a spectacles for myself. It got delivered the same evening at our hotel room, how cool is that.
While our way back to hotel, we stopped at Fatima corner, right in-front of Agonda church. Church was closed for tourists because of pandemic, it opens only in the morning for sometime and that's strictly for locals. But sitting at this restaurant we could enjoy the outside view at-least along with a sunset and heavy snack as we had skipped lunch that day. The food was delicious.
Had breakfast in the room. We had to checkout the next day from Fatima. Fortunately we found a house available on AirBnb for our dates, and immediately booked, as it was a fast filling season of Christmas and New Year. But, but, just after a few minutes of booking, i received a message from the host, saying he cannot host us because of pandemic, and asked me to cancel the booking. I contacted the costumer service and got my 100% money refunded, thanks @AirBnb.
We had lunch at Agonda Shell restaurant, food was served after a long wait, but it was delicious and we enjoyed our food with a sea view.
We went looking for some room nearby for our extended stay in Goa. After a long search, found a studio apartment with kitchen, and immediately booked to not lose in the peak season fight. Took rest in the room while sun was shinning bright outside, but then went to the beach right in time when Sun was going down.
Had dinner and cleared all the dues at the hotel, as we had to checkout next morning.
Woke up, had tea, packed our bags and shifted to another resort. Checked-in at New Common Home, which was again super easy.
Right after Check-in, we went out to wander on our bike. We saw a sign of Cola beach, and decided to head towards that. We enjoyed the off-road ride to the beach. Cola beach was unexpectedly crowded, and it was difficult to find some isolated spot for photography. There were too many families roaming freely without following any measures for pandemic, that was scary. Nevertheless, we enjoyed in the unique lagoon there, post that we looked for a spot and sat there for a while.
We went back to the resort, had food and slept for the day.
Today is 25th December, Christmas day. Goa is all decked up with lights and decor and music. Everywhere there is a festive vibe. And I'm writing this exactly after one month, present day is 25th January, 2021.