The conference was over on Sunday evening, and as I couldn’t get a low fare plane out of Delhi on Monday, I decided to fly back on Tuesday, and spend Monday looking around Delhi.
I had taken a Pre Paid taxi from the airport in Delhi to Chanakyapuri, where Pondicherry State Guest House is, where I had preferred to stay. The accommodation was good enough. Well, where else would you get a room for Rs 400 a night? Well, this rate is only for the people who book from Pondicherry and have a Pondicherry address.
Managed to visit the Red Fort on Sunday evening itself, and thanks to the lighting conditions (and my deteriorating photography skills), none of the photos came out well.
I booked a tikcet with Panicker’s Travel who had a package that covers Agra Fort, Taj Mahal and the Lord Krishna temple at Mathura. Cost me 750 bucks. The volvo bus started at 6 am, and I had to wake up at 4 am and leave my hotel at around 5. I had a sweater over my shirt, a jerkin over the sweater, and a thick pair of jeans, and I was still shivering thru the auto rickshaw ride to the point of departure of the bus. I don’t know why it took so long, but we reached Agra fort only at around 11 AM, as I would have covered the distance of 200 km in about 3 hours time in a car.
I caught this model at the hotel where we had lunch. They say it is worth 5 lac rupees.
The south gate of The Taj Mahal
I was quite busy photographing this gate, and you may notice that the group with which I was has moved ahead of me. I went near them after a few pics, and listened to the things that the guide said about the place, and passed through the gate.
And this is what I saw when I passed through the gate. First it looked to me like a very high resolution image of the Taj Mahal displayed on the screen the size of the entrance. Well, I have seen the Taj only on photographs in the past. And this just looked to me as a super high resolution image to me. The lighting was perfect. Usually people enter through the west gate, but our guide took us through the south gate. I didn’t ask him the reason.
I strolled around for about 2 hours in there, tried to pay attention to detail, which I am not very good at, and shot as many photos as I could. I am used to taking photographs only with a camera with a view finder, and my year old Olympus digital camera has only got a screen and no view finder, and in the sun, I am unable to get the images clearly, and therefore none of the pics look professional.
Then we came out, went to Mathura, where after visiting the temple, I had a glass of milk. It tasted heavenly. Or perhaps there is a difference between south Indian milk and North Indian milk. But I just loved the taste.
Camera, mobiles or nothing that is electronic is allowed inside the mathura temple.
We left Mathura and reached Delhi by around 10 pm. Had dinner, and went straight to sleep and woke up only at around 10 o clock on tuesday morning. Packed up everything, and left the hotel at 2 pm, reached chennai at 8.30 pm, and reached Pondicherry at around 11 pm.
I walked down the road, and found that there were small plants and trees on the sand, and the backsides of a lot of shacks, and I didnt really know that there was a beach behind it. I walked and walked and walked and found a small entry passage in between those plants, and at a distance I saw some sand. It was around 8 PM, and I was worried. Was this what Goa had to offer me? Baga beach being so much talked about on all blogs and websites where ever I searched for it? Anyways, to take a closer look, I just walked inside. It was unfortunately a moonless night, and the lights were insufficuent, and thanks to my poor eye sight, I couldnt see much of it except the 2 shacks on either sides of the pathways.
I just went and sat on one of the shacks and ordered a beer. I asked for Kingfisher, and what I got was King’s Black Label. I paid for the beer, and walked towards the sea, and then I looked left and right, and to my amusement, it was a very beautiful, long beach that extended upto Calangute on the left and to a little cliff on the right. I could see this from the lights from the other shacks on the beach, and there were more than 4, and I see better when I have some alcohol in my blood. I walked thru the length of the beach entered 2 more shacks, had 2 more beers, located the passage way thru which I had entered the beach, walked passte TITO’s and came to the main road to find an auto rickshaw back to the hotel. The time was around 11 PM, and unfortunately I couldnt find a single mode of transport that would get me back to the hotel which was about 8 Kms away.
I have been good at walking, and when I have no work, I never mind walking any distance provided it is not sunny and Im not sweating and when Im not late for any work. I had dinner at a restaurant that displayed on its sign board that it is open from 6pm to 4 am, had 2 rotis and some chicken mahlai masala, and walked out towards Calangute where a taxi approached me. When I told him that I need to go to Sangolda, he said he wanted Rs 300, and I offered him Rs 150, what it would have cost me for an auto ride back to the hotel, and finally settled for Rs 200, and went back to the hotel.
Total cost of visiting Baga Beach that evening was Rs 350. This is too costly, how am I going to pass 5 days in Goa this way? So I just decided to take a Honda Activa the next day and go around places by myself.
Went back to the hotel, and asked the guy at the reception that I needed a Honda Activa or any other scooter that has got storage under its seat into which I can leave my camera and the wallet if I decide to go for a bath in the sea. He said it would cost Rs 250 per day, while outside when I enquired aournd, they asked me only Rs 150, but that was for 12 hours and these guys offered it to me for 24 hours, meaning I can park the vehicle in the hotel at night, and if I want i can take it around and have some fun at night too. Thats just Rs 100 extra. So I decided to take it from the hotel itself, and the next morning at around 11 am, the scooter came.
I walked down the road, and found that there were small plants and trees on the sand, and the backsides of a lot of shacks, and I didnt really know that there was a beach behind it. I walked and walked and walked and found a small entry passage in between those plants, and at a distance I saw some sand. It was around 8 PM, and I was worried. Was this what Goa had to offer me? Baga beach being so much talked about on all blogs and websites where ever I searched for it? Anyways, to take a closer look, I just walked inside. It was unfortunately a moonless night, and the lights were insufficuent, and thanks to my poor eye sight, I couldnt see much of it except the 2 shacks on either sides of the pathways.
I just went and sat on one of the shacks and ordered a beer. I asked for Kingfisher, and what I got was King’s Black Label. I paid for the beer, and walked towards the sea, and then I looked left and right, and to my amusement, it was a very beautiful, long beach that extended upto Calangute on the left and to a little cliff on the right. I could see this from the lights from the other shacks on the beach, and there were more than 4, and I see better when I have some alcohol in my blood. I walked thru the length of the beach entered 2 more shacks, had 2 more beers, located the passage way thru which I had entered the beach, walked passte TITO’s and came to the main road to find an auto rickshaw back to the hotel. The time was around 11 PM, and unfortunately I couldnt find a single mode of transport that would get me back to the hotel which was about 8 Kms away.
I have been good at walking, and when I have no work, I never mind walking any distance provided it is not sunny and Im not sweating and when Im not late for any work. I had dinner at a restaurant that displayed on its sign board that it is open from 6pm to 4 am, had 2 rotis and some chicken mahlai masala, and walked out towards Calangute where a taxi approached me. When I told him that I need to go to Sangolda, he said he wanted Rs 300, and I offered him Rs 150, what it would have cost me for an auto ride back to the hotel, and finally settled for Rs 200, and went back to the hotel.
Total cost of visiting Baga Beach that evening was Rs 350. This is too costly, how am I going to pass 5 days in Goa this way? So I just decided to take a Honda Activa the next day and go around places by myself.
Went back to the hotel, and asked the guy at the reception that I needed a Honda Activa or any other scooter that has got storage under its seat into which I can leave my camera and the wallet if I decide to go for a bath in the sea. He said it would cost Rs 250 per day, while outside when I enquired aournd, they asked me only Rs 150, but that was for 12 hours and these guys offered it to me for 24 hours, meaning I can park the vehicle in the hotel at night, and if I want i can take it around and have some fun at night too. Thats just Rs 100 extra. So I decided to take it from the hotel itself, and the next morning at around 11 am, the scooter came.
I walked down the road, and found that there were small plants and trees on the sand, and the backsides of a lot of shacks, and I didnt really know that there was a beach behind it. I walked and walked and walked and found a small entry passage in between those plants, and at a distance I saw some sand. It was around 8 PM, and I was worried. Was this what Goa had to offer me? Baga beach being so much talked about on all blogs and websites where ever I searched for it? Anyways, to take a closer look, I just walked inside. It was unfortunately a moonless night, and the lights were insufficuent, and thanks to my poor eye sight, I couldnt see much of it except the 2 shacks on either sides of the pathways.
I just went and sat on one of the shacks and ordered a beer. I asked for Kingfisher, and what I got was King’s Black Label. I paid for the beer, and walked towards the sea, and then I looked left and right, and to my amusement, it was a very beautiful, long beach that extended upto Calangute on the left and to a little cliff on the right. I could see this from the lights from the other shacks on the beach, and there were more than 4, and I see better when I have some alcohol in my blood. I walked thru the length of the beach entered 2 more shacks, had 2 more beers, located the passage way thru which I had entered the beach, walked passte TITO’s and came to the main road to find an auto rickshaw back to the hotel. The time was around 11 PM, and unfortunately I couldnt find a single mode of transport that would get me back to the hotel which was about 8 Kms away.
I have been good at walking, and when I have no work, I never mind walking any distance provided it is not sunny and Im not sweating and when Im not late for any work. I had dinner at a restaurant that displayed on its sign board that it is open from 6pm to 4 am, had 2 rotis and some chicken mahlai masala, and walked out towards Calangute where a taxi approached me. When I told him that I need to go to Sangolda, he said he wanted Rs 300, and I offered him Rs 150, what it would have cost me for an auto ride back to the hotel, and finally settled for Rs 200, and went back to the hotel.
Total cost of visiting Baga Beach that evening was Rs 350. This is too costly, how am I going to pass 5 days in Goa this way? So I just decided to take a Honda Activa the next day and go around places by myself.
Went back to the hotel, and asked the guy at the reception that I needed a Honda Activa or any other scooter that has got storage under its seat into which I can leave my camera and the wallet if I decide to go for a bath in the sea. He said it would cost Rs 250 per day, while outside when I enquired aournd, they asked me only Rs 150, but that was for 12 hours and these guys offered it to me for 24 hours, meaning I can park the vehicle in the hotel at night, and if I want i can take it around and have some fun at night too. Thats just Rs 100 extra. So I decided to take it from the hotel itself, and the next morning at around 11 am, the scooter came.
I walked down the road, and found that there were small plants and trees on the sand, and the backsides of a lot of shacks, and I didnt really know that there was a beach behind it. I walked and walked and walked and found a small entry passage in between those plants, and at a distance I saw some sand. It was around 8 PM, and I was worried. Was this what Goa had to offer me? Baga beach being so much talked about on all blogs and websites where ever I searched for it? Anyways, to take a closer look, I just walked inside. It was unfortunately a moonless night, and the lights were insufficuent, and thanks to my poor eye sight, I couldnt see much of it except the 2 shacks on either sides of the pathways.
I just went and sat on one of the shacks and ordered a beer. I asked for Kingfisher, and what I got was King’s Black Label. I paid for the beer, and walked towards the sea, and then I looked left and right, and to my amusement, it was a very beautiful, long beach that extended upto Calangute on the left and to a little cliff on the right. I could see this from the lights from the other shacks on the beach, and there were more than 4, and I see better when I have some alcohol in my blood. I walked thru the length of the beach entered 2 more shacks, had 2 more beers, located the passage way thru which I had entered the beach, walked passte TITO’s and came to the main road to find an auto rickshaw back to the hotel. The time was around 11 PM, and unfortunately I couldnt find a single mode of transport that would get me back to the hotel which was about 8 Kms away.
I have been good at walking, and when I have no work, I never mind walking any distance provided it is not sunny and Im not sweating and when Im not late for any work. I had dinner at a restaurant that displayed on its sign board that it is open from 6pm to 4 am, had 2 rotis and some chicken mahlai masala, and walked out towards Calangute where a taxi approached me. When I told him that I need to go to Sangolda, he said he wanted Rs 300, and I offered him Rs 150, what it would have cost me for an auto ride back to the hotel, and finally settled for Rs 200, and went back to the hotel.
Total cost of visiting Baga Beach that evening was Rs 350. This is too costly, how am I going to pass 5 days in Goa this way? So I just decided to take a Honda Activa the next day and go around places by myself.
Went back to the hotel, and asked the guy at the reception that I needed a Honda Activa or any other scooter that has got storage under its seat into which I can leave my camera and the wallet if I decide to go for a bath in the sea. He said it would cost Rs 250 per day, while outside when I enquired aournd, they asked me only Rs 150, but that was for 12 hours and these guys offered it to me for 24 hours, meaning I can park the vehicle in the hotel at night, and if I want i can take it around and have some fun at night too. Thats just Rs 100 extra. So I decided to take it from the hotel itself, and the next morning at around 11 am, the scooter came.
