That underrated monsoon beauty of Collem near Dudhsagar of Goa

Sometimes if everything goes wrong on a vacation, you still bag a few moments which can be cherished forever and the same thing has happened during our Goa vacation. Dudhsagar is one of the largest waterfalls in the country and every traveller keeps this place on the list to visit during the visit to Goa. We were no exception and one day we have decided to visit the waterfalls for a photoshoot over there but unfortunately, we messed it up to the core and we couldn't visit Dudhsagar waterfalls even though we were very near to the place. Well, we made a lot of mistakes.

1. We stayed in North Goa and the waterfalls are in South Goa, hence the travelling itself killed a lot of time.

2. We were quite focused on decking ourselves up instead of waking up early and starting soon so that we could reach on time.

3. We forgot that it was monsoon and the government wouldn't allow cars to hike up till the waterfalls post 4 in the evening.

4. Monsoon rains in South Goa are intense because of the woods. Even though the roads are wide and traffic-free, sometimes you end up stopping till the heavy rain takes a pause.

If you commit these kinds of mistakes, you can never visit this beautiful waterfall but all our efforts didn't go wrong because we bagged a lot of memories with the longest car drive and also got to explore the underrated beauty of Goa through the village called Collem.

After our crazy party at Café Lilliput of Anjuna, we have reached the early morning to our hotel at Panjim. And ended up waking in the mid-afternoon even though we have decided on this very getaway on that day. We rushed up again, got decked up and ended up at the Konkan restaurant nearby to have food. Panjim to Dudhsagar is around 100km which may take 3 hours to reach. So we calculated and according to the calculations, we thought that we could easily reach the waterfalls in the evening and return from thereafter the photoshoot without considering the weather conditions.

Our spirits were quite high as we even took everything that is needed including our photographer. We were 7 members in a 7 seater car starting from North Goa to the extreme South Goa. The roads were quite breathtaking and they were wide enough to travel hassle-free but soon after the forest area started, late monsoon rains hit us so badly. Even though we were in the car, we could hear the raindrops coming down like spears. Thankfully, my brother drove well. It had already become dark because of clouds even though it was around 3.30 pm.

We successfully covered around 80 km of distance and then people appeared from nowhere stopping our car to tell us the disappointing news that cars weren't allowed post 4 pm because of the waterfall flow due to monsoon rains. We couldn't agree less because we have already experienced that wrath on the way. There were guides over there who suggested parking our cars at Collem railway station and taking a train from there to reach Dudhsagar station. Even though we were disappointed, this particular plan sounded good. By keeping our comfort zones aside in the mood of witnessing the waterfall, we accepted the deal with one of the guides who said 400 per person to make us visit the waterfall and bring us back.

We found the deal not so convincing but we didn't have any option. Hence, we parked our car and it was quite muddy and the drizzling didn't stop at all. We covered ourselves and rushed to the station. Meanwhile, due to network issues, the online payment couldn't happen but we dealt with the guide in such a way that he asked us to pay later. Thankfully, the payment was not successful because our trip to Dudhsagar ended with that particular station itself.

More than anything else, the clouds at college are the main attraction and the monsoon weather was gorgeous with greenery around. The railway station is a vintage beauty indeed. The maintenance was good with two platforms and the whole premises was scenic. But, we didn't know the trains weren't that often in terms of arrivals and departures towards Dudh Sagar. After walking all our way to the station in the evening, we found that there would be one train for everyone and half an hour that takes people to dudhsagar. I was disappointed listening to it and I already know that wouldn't work because of the timing issues and light failure. During my previous visit, it was in the morning and everything went well, but my mood got degraded because I was feeling bad that I couldn't take my pals to those waterfalls as the plan got failed gracefully.

I suggested we should get back to the car but they were quite adamant about waiting over there. We waited for 2 hours indeed. During this waiting time, we have explored almost every inch of that station. We got a good time discussing everything, about our next plans and had many conversations over tea and snacks. Many travellers like us ended up at the station escorted by these tour guides and everyone was eagerly waiting for a damn train to reach the platform.

Finally, the train has arrived and it was already late evening. I could sense the plan failing even better with the low light because there wouldn't be any point in visiting a waterfall at the night no matter how well it lit up. And it is also dangerous to make dark mode plans for waterfalls because, unlike beaches, mountains are rocky and slippery enough. Moreover, we planned for a photoshoot and no way it could happen considering the weather and light conditions. But those vacation spirits didn't make us give up on our plan and thought of visiting it just to see.

Then the drama started. People were rushing on the train but the ticket inspector was objecting them to allow even though the tour guides has been paid to take care of everything. Even our man told the same but soon after the train arrived, we were told to adjust in a general compartment and he said he would take care of everything even though the TTE was on top of his voice. We went inside and we stood, but I couldn't keep my calm. So I explained every possible chance of the plan getting failed even more. My pals agreed to my words because even they could sense the weather and behavioural changes of our tour guide. In a moment, we got off the train and told the guide that we must return and if possible we would return the next day.

He didn't have an option instead of letting us go and fortunately, we haven't paid him. We were disappointed but on the brighter, we got to visit the beauty of South Goa in and around. We had the best long drive of 160km between Panjim and Collem. Technically, we explored most parts of South Goa by driving from the middle of North Goa. Broadly, we have explored the roads of Goa in our car and at the midway, I saw a green grassland and we stopped the car so that my pals could get a lowlight photoshoot. I thought pictures could elevate their moods and somehow we managed to get back with a little disappointment. But this messed up plan always stays in our memories.