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5 Things To Do In South Goa

Published on February 20, 2018 by Lavanya Pulijala1 Comment

Sun-soaked skin, salty hair, fresh air, breath-taking sunsets, isolated beaches, beach walks, tired bodies, energized souls, tan lines, delicious food, long drives, lush green trees, pretty little alleys, cozy cafes with slow jazz, unexplored paths, interesting people, old memories, deep conversations and refreshed minds.

This sums up my recent trip to South Goa 🙂

It was a 3-day short trip but we managed to explore 4 beaches 😀

Here I go with the details of my trip :

Accommodation

Patrice’s Villa – We booked this place in Airbnb and it is more like a homestay than a regular hotel. Since this trip was mostly like a get-together, we preferred an Airbnb. It is well maintained by a foreigner. The place is close to the beaches – almost like 500 m from Canacona beach and 2 km from Palolem beach. Everything was fine with the villa except the dim light in the house and frequent electricity fluctuation which was a major downside

5 Things To Do In South Goa

1. Visit Galgibag Beach

It is the best beach that I have been to in India, other than the Andaman beaches ( If you haven’t read my Andaman travel story- Here it is ). It’s almost around 10 km from Palolem further down south. It is a perfect place to just sit and let your thoughts flow 🙂

You can hardly find anyone on the beach and there are no beach shacks. It is not yet commercialized and hence, the clear water and unpolluted atmosphere. Would definitely be my go-to place the next time too 🙂

This beach is known for turtles but we couldn’t spot any 😐

Also, there are narrow alleys near the beach which are more than perfect for a peaceful walk 😀

2. A Long Drive To Talpona Beach

Talpona beach is a very small stretch of beach compared to Galgibag and it comes right on the way to Galgibag. The ride to this beach is refreshing with isolated lanes lined up with tall trees and bridges over narrow creeks.

3. Taste the Goan food

If you are a sea food lover, you have to try out Dropadi beach restaurant in Palolem . It also serves good cocktails 🙂

If you want to experience the Goan atmosphere and some good jazz, drop by Jaali Cafe near Patnem Beach or Siyaram’s on Palolem Beach.

4. Attend a Silent Disco Party

I am not quite sure if these parties are held in North Goa but Neptune’s Point on Palolem beach hosts a silent disco party every Saturday.

Wear that wireless headset and move your feet to the tune while the rest would be enjoying the silence 🙂 It would be a completely different experience.

5. Finally, Explore Shopping at Palolem

Unlike the usual shopping experience at Anjuna flea market or any of the North Goa beaches where you mostly find beach clothes, Palolem streets offer a wide variety of handmade knick-knacks for home decor. I stocked upon some cloth lamps, hand woven storage boxes, tassel key-chains and bamboo accessories. There are good dream catchers too 🙂

Don’t forget to bargain 😀

Canacona is also one beach that we have been to. It is more of a rocky beach with a beautiful view and less noise. You can even try Patnem which is close to Palolem. Agonda is also one more popular beaches in South Goa.

Honestly, there are good beaches if you could travel further down towards South from Palolem. We had limited time so we were able to explore only few beaches. If you do have time, explore the place as much as you can.

Always, explore the unexplored paths !!

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Trek to Andharban

Published on August 30, 2017August 30, 2017 by Lavanya Pulijala1 Comment

The quiet rustle of the leaves due to the cool breeze, the slow moving clouds that were surrounding us, the green pastures, the sound of white water cascading down the majestic hills and the muddy forest trail awaited to welcome us.

That’s where our trek started – Pimpri village base camp near Pune.It was a descent trek unlike the usual treks where one treks up to the peak and down back.It started uphill and we need to trek down to finally reach the Bhira river.

Difficulty level : Medium

Best time to visit : Monsoons

Location : Near Pune

We were a group of 20 people in the trek. It was a trek of around 15-20 km. Terrain was flat for first few kilometers. It involved walking through dense forests, crossing rivers and crossing waterfalls. The path got narrower as one moved forward.

One needs to be careful while crossing the waterfalls and rivers as the rocks get too slippery during monsoons. There are around 3 main rivers that one needs to cross before reaching Bhira. The first two rivers can be crossed by helping each other without any ropes.Heavy rains tend to make the trek difficult.

After crossing those two rivers, the terrain was a mix of flat terrains which were filled with lilies all around, and a descent terrain with slippery rocks. The descent became too difficult due to the incessant heavy rain. The difficult part in any trek is the descent and this trek comprised of around 5-6 km of descent. One needs to be really careful as the path gets too slippery during monsoons.

Due to heavy rains, we couldn’t even use ropes to cross the third river.It was a challenge to cross that river.Our trek lead managed to gather some tree branches to form a bridge which was used to cross the river. Just the bridge wouldn’t be safe either, so we crossed the river by using the bridge one after other holding the rope.Usually, this trek doesn’t get this difficult such that even ropes couldn’t help.It’s only 2-3% of the cases where it gets this intense. Better be prepared for the worst and be relaxed while trekking.Trekking in hurry might lead to serious injuries.

The effort one takes to trek Andharban is absolutely worth-while, considering the view of wide expanse of trees and waterfalls that one could witness.It was so heavenly to see clouds moving around, the beautiful view of a continuous range of huge hills covered with lush green trees and waterfalls. I was head over heels in love with that heaven.Such things make me realize how grateful I need to be of myself to be able to visit such amazing places.I wish I could spend an hour just sitting there, watching the view and having a cup of coffee 🙂

I tried to capture the views using my phone but those pictures don’t do justice to what I exactly saw

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Wild In Green

Published on July 1, 2017July 1, 2017 by Lavanya Pulijala1 Comment

It’s all about the greens, cut-outs and head-scarfs. The wildness captured in the background brings the shades of green into focus. Pairing a maxi with different accessories gives unique looks every time.

Head scarf and long shrug are my weapons for this look-book apart from the usual maxi look.The contrast color of the head scarf gave a bohemian vibe while the shrug seemed to add a semi-formal touch to the outfit.Each of these accessories accentuated the look of the maxi.As you know, when I try western wear,I prefer statement jewellery. In this case, I picked statement earrings and kept it simple with no neck-piece.

Here goes the look !! Hope you enjoy it 🙂

Maxi: Ajio | Earrings : HnM | Bracelets : Accessorize and lifestyle | Shrug : Ajio | Heels : Carlton London | Scarf : Street buy

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Oh Boy !! Jolly Buoy

Published on February 18, 2017May 31, 2017 by Lavanya PulijalaLeave a comment

Silence, absolute silence and perfectly gorgeous silence!! If you are wondering how one could witness the gorgeousness manifested in silence, you should get deep into those blue waters which embody a compelling charm of yellows, reds, purples, pinks and what not.

I wish I were a fish which gets to live in such perfect harmony of silence and beauty.You just can’t get enough of the marine life once you start exploring it. Everything that I could describe here is an understatement, one should experience it deep under the sea.

Well, the previous post was definitely not a wrap to my Andaman story.Here goes a continuation to an exhilarating trip.

Kalapathar Beach, Havelock Island

Day 4- Day 5- Day 6

Jolly Buoy

Jolly Buoy island is one of the 14 islands in Andaman which is under the protection of National Marine Reserve Department.This island is open to tourists only for six months-November to April and Red Skin Island would be open to tourists for the remaining six months.

Location : 45-60 min journey from Port Blair to Wandoor and then a 45 min ride to Jolly Buoy on a ferry

Timings: 1st batch is 8:00 -12:00 am and 2nd batch is between 2:00 – 6:00 pm

Ticket price : Rs 750 (complimentary 10 min glass boat ride)

Things to do:

Snorkeling – One should never miss doing snorkeling at Jolly Buoy.You get to see color changing corals, magic flowers (which disappear when touched), star fishes in different colors, nemo fishes and many more. Snorkeling is reasonably priced here as well. Only certain area is accessible for snorkeling legally and hence, we get to explore only that portion of island waters

Glass Boat Ride – There is a boat with a magnifying glass bottom which enables one to clearly see the marine life.It’s worth a try at this place considering that you won’t be exploring a huge area in snorkeling.A guide would be explaining about the fishes and corals

Wandoor Beach – This beach is a 5 min ride on road from the ferry point.One can just sit back and relax for sometime here.

Things to plan:

Marine reserve department allows only 120-200 people to visit this island per day.It happens in two batches.One needs to ensure that the tickets are booked prior a week

Jolly Buoy

Wandoor Beach

Neil Island

It’s a very tiny island covering not more than 3000 acres of land with a couple of important places to visit.

Location : 40km from Port Blair- approximately 2 hr ferry ride from Port Blair

Places to visit:

Laxmanpur Beach – Head to this beach to witness sunset.You also get good local food here.If you can do snorkeling without a guide, then you got to try it out here

Natural Bridge – This is a hub of dead corals which form a very strong bridge.A guide will help explaining the details of the corals and fishes all over the place

Bharathpur Beach -It’s not very famous but do visit this beach which is known for its amazingly clear water. Best time to visit is in the morning

Things to Do:

Sunset stroll in Laxmanpur beach

Dead corals exploration at Natural Bridge

Rent a bike and roam around the village.Unlike Havelock, this place is less-commercialized and hence, one can have a pleasant ride on the streets

Natural Bridge (Made of dead corals)

Laxmanpur Beach

Dead coral

Bharatpur Beach

Ross Island

Way back, Ross Island remained as an administrative capital of Andaman for more than 85 years but was later abandoned and is now open for tourists.

Location : 3 km from Port Blair – 20 min ferry ride

Things to Do:

Light and Sound show describing the tragic history of Andaman is captivating and needs to be there on one’s to-do list.
Ruins of the old buildings which are surrounded by trees, rabbits and deer is an ideal place for some good photography

Ross Island

Munda Pahar

Drive through dense forests to finally end up in Munda Pahar which gives an exhilarating view of sunset.

Location : 20 km from Port Blair by road

Things to do:

Just sit back and relax here, what else do you want to do at such a beautiful place?

Munda Pahar

Outfit details:

All along this trip,I tried to keep it comfortable with midi skirts,shorts and dresses

Orange top, Skirt,Dress – HnM

Crochet top – Lifestyle stores

Denim Short – People

Short – Zara

Accessories – Colaba Causeway

Pointers for the entire trip:

Be ready for a gadget free vacation because mobile internet cannot be accessed in the entire group of islands.However, you have wifi in restaurants and few hotels

Mobile network is better for Vodafone in Port Blair, Havelock and you can expect zero signal in all other islands

That’s a wrap to my entire travel story.Also, video on snorkeling will be out on my Instagram soon.

For more information about the trip, contact / follow me on Instagram.

Do give your feedback as well 🙂

Photos by Rahul Kongala and Durga Pulijala