Continued from Mumbai to Ganpatipule (using ferries) and Ganpatipule to Goa
This is Part 3 of our journey which includes the Stay in Goa and return via NH4.
Previously in Part 1 and 2: Ipsi and I drove from Mumbai to Ganpatipule via coastal route using ferries with a night halt at Ganpatipule. On day 2, we drove till Goa via the coastal route and NH66.
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Stay in Goa
This was my nth visit to Goa and like with all my previous trips, this too had a different feel.
We didn’t really have any checklist this time, but that didn’t stop us from heading out on each day.
Day 1: Cola Beach and Cabo De Rama Fort
On day 1, we decided to head towards Cola beach and stop at Cabo De Rama fort on the way.
Being July 2021, we were not sure if restaurants had opened in Goa. There was lack of clarity on that piece of information.
Armed with snacks, we drove southwards. Before Cabo de Rama fort, there was a huge ground which seemed to be overlooking the sea. Vantage point view – my favourite kinds.
We decided to check it out and were truly rewarded. The wind, the rough sea, the dark clouds, the crashing waves – we could well have been at Ireland. We later found out that this was called ‘Cabo de Rama view point’.
Picture right on top of this article
We spent nearly an hour there just admiring the view. Thankfully, it was not too crowded so we could sit peacefully without unknowingly photobombing someone.
By this time we were hungry and noticed a restaurant close to the view point: Fisherman’s. Luckily for us, the restaurants in Goa had been allowed to open up just one day prior to our visit.
Content with our food, we headed towards Cabo de Rama fort. By the time we reached there, it
started raining heavily.
Although we had umbrellas, the ground was muddy and we decided to shorten our visit there.
We drove further south towards Cola beach. None of us had been to this beach but had heard a lot about the beauty of it. On Cola beach road, there was a sign board indicating a right turn for Cola beach. However, we could not spot a road. It was a muddy path.
As per the maps, we were about 3 km from the beach. We contemplated parking at this point and walking on the path, but given the fact that it was already 4PM, we would not be able to complete 6 km before dusk.
We decided to drive on the path till where we could. After rolling-pitching on the road/path for about 1.5 km, we decided to park our car and walk the rest of the distance.
Since it was off season, the path was not clear and there was no one to guide us with the direction. We kept walking towards the direction of the sea and soon heard the sound of water.
The beach was spectacular. With a freshwater lagoon on one side and the open beach on the other side, it was indeed picturesque. Unfortunately we could not spend too much time on this beach as the sun was about to set and the idea of trekking back to our car in pitch dark was not a pleasant visual.
Day 2: Typical Cafe and Shack day
We started the morning by visiting a recommended local cafe : Cafe Chai Coffee. A nice place with an elaborate menu.
After this we decided to go to Bogmalo beach and spend the day at Joey’s shack which was amongst the very few shacks which was allowed to open during the monsoons.
Lots of drinks, sea food and gossip.
Day 3: Madgaon and Majorda beach
Since this was our second last day in Goa, we headed towards Majorda to get our RTPCR tests done.
After the initial shock of realising the difference in RTPCR cost of Mumbai and Goa (800 INR in Mumbai vs 2400 INR in Goa), we headed to Mario gallery to spend some more money.
We then went to our favourite Martin’s Corner for lunch since we were in that area. Unable to do much after our heavy lunch, we decided to spend the rest of our day on Majorda beach.
Day 4: North Goa
We initially decided to rest on our last day as we had a full day of drive after that. However, the weather was too beautiful to be at home.
We decided to go for a drive towards north Goa.
Drive through Fontainhas in Panjim and then have coffee at Taj Aguada. That was our rough plan.
And for a change we stuck to our plan – albeit with drinks instead of coffee at Taj Aguada.
Dabolim to Mumbai Via NH4
Since Ipsi had a few commitments on the next day, we decided to complete the entire stretch in one day. The fastest route was via SH4-SH54-NH4 and as per the map, the entire stretch could be completed in 12 hours.
That sounded doable.
I usually avoid national highways/expressways as driving on them usually makes me very sleepy.
This time I didn’t have a choice as I did not have the luxury of time.
SH4 and SH54
We started from Dabolim at 5AM.
Both of us had never been on this route before and hence the fact that we entered Karnataka took us by surprise.
Another surprise on this route was the ghats. Natural beauty, umpteen waterfalls, nearly zero visibility in some parts, ample lush green – all this made our drive worth it.
Posing near Chorla ghat
On checking the map, we realised we were passing through Chorla ghats. In these ghats was one of my bucketlist resorts – Wildernest Nature Resort. Unfortunately, I have never been able to stay there despite coming to Goa ‘n’ number of times.
My only concern now was the lack of restaurants. As soon as I voiced my concern, we came across a small restaurant. Another of those ‘kuch aur hi maang liya hota‘ moments.
After breakfast, we continued our drive towards NH4.
Apart from a small patch in Belgavi, the entire journey till NH4 was smooth and scenic.
The route we took was through Chorla- Kankumbi-Jamboti-Belgavi.
After about 4 hours of being on the road, we hit NH4.
NH4
As soon as we hit NH4, my worst fear came true. I started feeling sleepy. Considering I was the only driver, this was not a good sign.
Sleepy driver is worse if not equally as bad as a drunk driver.
And we still had 8 hours of drive left.
We desperately started searching for a coffee shop. Considering we were on the Mumbai-Bangalore highway, I thought a coffee shop was not too much to wish for. But seems like it was.
We stopped for another breakfast and chai. Since we were in Karnataka, we also picked up some Tapioca chips.
This break helped us drive for another one hour without feeling sleepy. Reason for another chai halt.
We entered Maharashtra near Kolhapur and were expecting a check post to check our RTPCR reports. That did not happen, but instead we were fined for an expired PUC. My car’s PUC had expired a few days before our trip but I totally forgot about it.
The PUC fine and conversation with the police gave me a bit of adrenaline rush and we managed to drive a good distance before the drowsiness bout hit again.
Thankfully it was time for our lunch stop by then. The good part about NH4 is that although there wasn’t any coffee shop, there were plenty of decent restaurant options.
Several stops later, we finally reached Mumbai at around 21:00.
Though we made good time, due to the drowsiness, we did not enjoy the NH4 stretch that much. We should have taken a stop midway which would have made the drive enjoyable.
For someone who loves to drive on good roads, NH4 will be a dream road. Absolutely smooth and due to the monsoons, it was also scenic with Lush green fields and dramatic clouds for company nearly through the entire stretch.
Final Words
A road trip from Mumbai to Goa should definitely be done at least once in a lifetime. And preferably during the monsoons.
I usually try to take different routes for my to-and-fro roadtrips and thankfully managed to do the same for this trip too.
Below was my final route.
There were a few things I would have liked to do differently though:
- Not miss the ferry at Harihareshwar. If we had taken the Harihareshwar, Dabhol and Tavsal ferries, we would have had more time in Jaigad and could visit the fort and lighthouse. Also we could have avoided night driving on the Jaigad-Ganpatipule stretch.
- Drive on the coastal route right till Vengurla. I have done that once before and wanted to drive through it this time too but we had time constraints this time
- Definitely not attempt to drive Goa-Mumbai without an overnight halt as I was the only driver, and a very sleepy one at that.
- Wish I had checked my PUC document prior to the trip. I hate paying fines.
Overall a very adventurous and fun trip and am glad Ipsi agreed to take this journey with me.
I may be jinxing it – but I must be amongst the few people whose Goa plan has always materialized. It’s been about 30 times now and I definitely have my sporting friends and family to thank for that.
To see more pictures from my Mumbai-Goa roadtrip, click here : A photo blog