Day 3 at Goa and its time for a hectic travelling towards South Goa. Its better to hire a vehicle for long trips. The sour fact is that the vehicles charge you a bomb for it. Another important thing to be disclosed is that you need to know what places do you want to visit. Or else you might end up paying for your trip and enjoy nothing. Thanks to Godfather, MJ and Hardik that we could know what places to visit in South Goa.
Normal trip to South Goa charges are Rs. 1500. But thanks to some great HR skils from Dada that we could also visit the southernmost tip of Goa called Palolim beach (read further to know more) at an overall charge of Rs. 2000.
We hire a Wagon R and get ready for the most memorable day of our trip. First we visit the Saint Francis Xavier church (please search on the internet or travel books for more details) After that we visit the Mangeshi Temple and finally at the Big Foot Musuem at Loutulim. Good enough till now.
We reach Colva beach to have our lunch… I guess its hotel Sagar. Food is not that bad. We are ready for an hour’s journey towards Palolim beach. The driver is really patient in fulfilling our demands to reach out there.
Palolim beach is a haven for all the tourists. Being on the southernmost part of Goa, one hardly visits there. We hire a boat out there to visit Butterfly Island and Honeymoon Island which are supposed to be human-free, crowd-free and private of course (winks…) If you are lucky enough then you can see dolphins in your one hour boat ride towards the islands and couples cosying on the private islands (laughs). The boatsmen charge you anywhere between Rs.400 to Rs. 700 (You do not need an HR like Dada to bargain but we needed him… Hahaha) The boat ride is dangerous but fantastic and I end up paying Rs. 50 more (happily) as a tip to the boatsmen. They are really happy by my gesture. (Psst… Dada n Aatish don’t know about it. Hehehe.)
We spend an hour cleaning ourselves and attending nature’s call and whatever you say. We head towards a casino called Chances to try our fortunes. The driver warns us that we may end up getting bankrupt out there. Alas! He was true. But luckily we had already kept some reservations in our mind to spend a certain amount.
It took us a long time to reach Chances near Cidade Goa hotel via Panjim-Dona Paula road. We start gambling cautiously by starting with the slot machines and end up playing Roulette and losing big bucks. But frankly, no issues about it!
The worst part after leaving Chances… Finding a vehicle at night is like finding a pin from a haystack. The trouble is not over even if you find it. They charge you an atom bomb at night. In Mumbai, night charges are applicable after 12 am but in Goa, they are applicable after 6 pm. (Oh! i wished we had a vehicle) They charge you anything above Rs.700 to reach your destination and you have no other option rather than fulfilling their demands. Sometimes, too much bargaining is not worth.
We end up finally in our hotel and go to Domino’s at Baga beach for our final dinner in Goa. We have petty arguments about the system in Goa and then decide to go to Tito’s pub.
After paying Rs. 800 per single (the couple charges are Rs. 500), we realise that we made a big mistake as it was deserted (Usually Fridays and Saturdays rock). I get pissed off for wasting money at Tito’s and do nothing. Thanks to the HR and Aatish that it didnt go wasted.
Finally we walk our way towards Calingute (To be honest, we had spent enough) and doze off in our hotel rooms.