A Small Adventure in South Goa

Looking up for cheap, yet cosy and comfortable resorts in MakeMyTrip.com,landed us with a resort in South Goa, a few kms from Margao. While the only image in my mind of Goa had been that of the beaches , I was in for a pleasant surprise. Goa gave us the much required change from the polluted air of the city. The lush green everywhere , the scattered  red roofed cottages, each cottage different in its own style, each  blending with the nature like it belonged there , the age old churches..like a place untouched  by noise and other pollution, that we call a by product of urbanization. 

Renting a rickety scooty – the only one available near the resort then – my husband and I made our way towards Palolem  beach that was 25 km away. There were hardly any petrol bunks to be seen and we were asked to buy petrol  from a General Stores that looked hardly any different than a small and messy storeroom. Taking the only road, we started off with a full tank. In a few kms, there were no more settlements to be seen. With only the lush green everywhere, interspersed with a few barren lands , few monkeys jumping in the low branches,  the road blocked in a few places by herds of untethered cattle.. it was similar to a ride through a jungle. With the sun hiding behind the clouds and the occasional drizzle, it was just perfect. 

Due to the onset of monsoon, the usual calm blue sea was instead  brown and the waves lashed out angrily at the shores. The lifeguards shooed us away to safety taking shelter from the rain themselves.  Not too eager to get back, we set off for the Agonda beach 10 kms away using Google Maps. It was around noon and soon we were  brought back to reality by the rumbling of the stomach and nature’s call. Being off season, almost all the restaurants were closed and we were left with no option but to head back to our resort 16 kms away. 

The long route that was refreshing was now un-ending and tiring. Almost halfway back, right in the middle of nowhere, is when we noticed the pointer moving towards “E”. With not a soul in sight, with not even a bird in flight, the whole place was suddenly eerie and scary. It’s weird how the brain works. That same path that was perceived romantic suddenly felt eerie. We sped fast to reach before the fuel ran out, only to end up in a junction that we had never seen before. Only a small dilapidated liquor shop stood there. Inside were a few men hunched over cards.  On enquiring  the elderly  man outside hoping he was sober, we returned back in the same direction as he suggested.

Driving back in the direction pointed for another 4 kms, we came upon a barren land with no vegetation. A lone man in torn shirts and trousers was digging right beside the road. Adrenaline and fear rushed in. The hunger and the need to heed to nature’s call long gone. There was no road to where the Arrow in the  Google Maps pointed. The only option was to head back and take the longer 16 km route the Map showed. Cursing under the breath, we took a reverse and raced. I wondered what would happen if  we broke down somewhere with no settlements nearby. Were the people friendly?  Would  take advantage of lost stranded tourists? A thousand questions came into my mind. When we are scared, the mind conjures the worst imagination and brings every news ever read that were shelved deep inside the subconscious. Every news on women being raped flashed across in few  seconds. The occasional creaking from the vehicle didn’t help things either.

Just when the fuel pointer showed a steady E, and it was running on reserve, we came across a few cottages. There we were pointed to a hair saloon in Bali from where we bought petrol! Breathing out a huge sigh of relief, we took the longer route ensuring we always had some people in sight and reached our resort.Muttering a heartfelt thanks towards the heavens, we attacked our lunch.

The Vacation

When you are stressed out, confused or probably just wondering “What the hell am I doing with my life?”, the typical advice from most people will be to take a break and go on a vacation. Following this age-old advice, I embarked on my version of “eat , pray , love” journey to find myself.  Here are a few snippets from my travelogue.

 Wedged in the middle seat with a snoring lady on one side and a total stranger on the other in a low budget aircraft with 3 hrs jouney ahead wasn’t that appealing in the beginning. The stranger soon exchanged with his son and having nothing to do, I started talking to the kid. I took out my usual questionnaire of “What do you want to be ? …What do you like?.. blah blah”. But I was just not prepared for his answers. The boy being an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu had his fb nickname as ‘”Pranshu “. His aim was to become the Prime Minister of India and before that he wanted to make India pollution free. Apparently, he never let his parents use polythene covers at home .. My hands quietly pushed the sandwich wrapper deeper inside the bag.. Having a few degrees in hand and considering myself  knowledgeable enough to talk about global warming ,pollution and any environment issue, I started wondering what I had actually learnt. Here was a 10 year old who  was actually implementing the little that he had learnt in everyday life!He did leave me speechless for a minute there!

I went to give a shot at basketball  and to burn off a few calories from the butter aloo paratha, with my younger cousin . We were soon joined by a friend of hers and we invented a game with various levels to see who can shoot hoops better. With the beginners luck, I was doing well for a while until I became tired and began shooting aimlessly in my turn and just passing it on. The kid had advanced 2 levels ahead of me and I had already given up hope and I let out a dramatic sigh and was about to march towards the wooden chair to slump on it and watch the remainder of the game a spectator. Just then, the kid said” Stay positive and concentrate na. You were doing well. Why are you giving up so soon?” The kids words stayed with me for a long time after the game and made me wonder whether as we grow old, we just too many obstacles and tell ourselves that we are too old or too tired or not good enough to follow our dreams and reach our goal.

The trip to Manikaran was totally worth braving the cold and the scary curves in the mountains. Hot springs are found everywhere right beside the ice cold beas. The hot springs inside the Gurudwara are used for preparing food for the Annadhanam served there. While we were trying to cook rice by lowering in rice in cloth pockets inside these springs, the people who were responsible for taking the cooked food inside turned up. Taking away two pots of Dal, they warmly invited us to join them for  the meal. The phrases “ warmth in the eyes”  and “warm hospitality”  shown by strangers suddenly made sense in the minus 5 degree environment.

Whether it was the temples we visited or the strangers we met or just the pure environment , I felt a difference. No, I didn’t find out overnight what I wanted to do in life. But then, the vacation made me realize that there is life outside the four walled AC room and the Acer laptop that I spend more time with every day. It made me look back and wonder when it was that I lost all the lessons learnt as a kid and started calling myself a proud member of the adult society only to pollute the country and become self obsessed.

The age-old advice works .And I would repeat the same. When you are just out of a love failure or facing a tough time in your job or stressed out by problems in a family, “Take a break and go on a vacation”. You might not find your knight in shining armour waiting for you in the end of it with open arms or a sudden solution to every issue in your life, but you will realize that there is life out there and when you meet different people , you start seeing your problems from a different perspective. So go on and take a vacation!

Manali

Having grown up in one of the hottest places in SouthIndia where winter meant 30 degrees, I was just not prepared for the winter in Delhi. Delhi airport greeted me with a cold blast of wind at 13 degrees and it was just the beginning. Two days stay in Delhi with heavy jackets to cover my cute T-shirts that I spent more than an hr picking out, I was already wondering whether I was in the right state of mind when I decided and booked tickets to go to Manali this winter.

  Manali is 570kms from New Delhi and we had booked the Himachal Pradesh tourism bus. Contradictory to our fears, the bus had a heater and the travel was most comfortable until I looked out the huge glass window as the bus took sharp turns while going uphill.My eyes strained to see the snow capped peaks in distance. To me, it felt like someone had emptied sacks of salt and sprinkled it in a few places. To my mom however, it looked like dosa maavu flowing there.These ladies … hmph! Having played only with the ice in the refrigerator, I just couldn’t wait to go to Sholang valley and put my hands into the snow. It took me thermals and 3 layers of clothing even to get out of the hotel room.On the way to sholang valley , we picked up some snow boots and a full cover wrap to  save our clothes from getting wet.

  The rapid currents of the river beas glittering like a silver trail over boulders that are flawlessly smooth from the persistent waters, a layer of the whitest snow covering the rocks rising above like the clear vanilla coating on a donut , leafless apple trees awaiting the summer, coniferous trees that forgot to shake off the snow from their branches, the sun high above just a silent spectator to this amazing beautiful landscape underneath… Words are not enough to capture its beauty.. Sholang valley has something  to offer for everyone here.. Mouth watering hot 2 minute maggies on the roadside are the favourites here. Skiing for amateurs, experts and for those who just want to hold the sticks and smile for their fb profile pics, Paragliding from the highest peak that you have to reach via a rope car, mid level safe paragliding for those who had come with worrying parents , snow scooters , yak rides…For the ones who want to quietly sip some masala chai  and take in its beauty, there is still a lot of entertainment around with friends throwing snow at each other, kids making the typical snowman, people skidding on their skies and falling on their backs, honeymooning couples silently walking around holding hands.. After 2 hours of paragliding, skiing, falling down and clicking pics in every possible pose I realized that I can no longer feel my feet, and we started back. I really do wonder how the bollywood, kollywood  and tollywood heroines in thin sarees can romace in ice when it actually feels like a  thousand knifes are piercing  you everywhere.

  A visit to the Hadimba temple is a must on every tourist’s list. Its not its historic or archeological significance that a tamilian notices there, but that it comes in the Manirathinam movie Roja and that, according to the movie, this temple is in Kashmir!  Whether it’s the temples we visited or just sheer luck, blessed were we, with a snowfall at night. When the pure snowflakes fell like a blessing from heaven and covered the roads, the locals ran off to take shelter while the tourists waited to click pics. I am no thick skinned mammal and the heavy snowfall that took the temperature down with it to almost -15 degrees later that night did leave my teeth chattering and wishing for my warm bed at home.

  The ice carpeted road had us skidding the next morning and only the sight of the furry dogs and the realization that even running was impossible on these roads, got us back inside and made us wait till the sun melted the snow a little. Swallowing up the details of the other temples and shops visited, I fast forward to the rafting experience in Kullu . White water river rafting facilities can be taken from one of the many private operators at Kullu. During winter, with the water flowing in beas hardly one fifth of its summer capacity, I expected rafting to be just a pleasant ride in the amusement park with a few ooh s and aah s as the inflatable boat floats over the rapid currents hitting the huge boulders. Only when the ice-cold water turned my feet and my hands holding the rope numb, did I realize that it was no simple rollercoaster with the safety belts on!

  I turned away with a last glance at the snow capped peaks. I made  a silent promise to myself to come back in the summer to see the valley filled with juicy red apples, to visit the rohtang pass that is closed in the winter, to do paragliding off the highest peak and to do rafting when Beas is at its most furious.I know I am going to go back. Someday.. Someday soon.