The Plan to visit Goa was still a dream for the past several years due to the time at work and non-formation of the correct group to plan for.. Finally, the trip was confirmed by my office team and that every itenary is set. Yes, i was happy that this long awaited dream has come TRUE!!!
In our Initial discussion,the idea was to take a Flight from chennai and maybe take a 2 wheeler or rent a car in Goa for roaming around in local but later we thought that a car drive through the western coast drive would be more beautiful and would give us a different experience.Hence, we planned the below route,
Chennai ->Bangalore->Mangalore-> Goa
You know what,we where a group of 8 people in 2 Cars and we started from Chennai on 27th JAN Noon around 2pm. We didn't expect that its going to be a mere 28 hour travel but you could never complain about this except for a few points which you need to be very clear and aware upon to avoid over expectations.
Initially searching on the internet, many blogs stated that the western coast ride(Mangalore to Goa) would be a 6 hour along-side beaches but if this is what you expected, its WRONG. Its only the last 2 hour drive (out of the 28 hour)you will be able to see water besides you, either in form of a beach or a Mangrove backwaters.
During this trip,you definitely need to get a 3 to 4 hours break/rest/sleep in-between to avoid tiredness on continous travel (Eventhough you have other friends who can drive). Its essential for this break so you can enjoy more once you reach Goa.
In this trip, you will also come across a hill before Mangalore and this ride was definitely thrilling and memorable. Want to know why?
- You will have only 20% visibilty of the road (For nearly 60-80kms covered with dense mist)
- You can only travel at a speed of 20-30kms.
- No Help,No Shops,No Lights and Not Even another Vechicle you will come across atleast once in 30 mins.
- Most of all, the Curves/turns you need to be very careful as those are not like our usual mountains over here.
My assumption on this route and what i actually saw was totally different but nevertheless i didn't miss this part as it was a complete enjoying experience with just 4 of us in our car and after 30 mins in that misty road, we came across another vechicle in the back of us which gave us some extra light and vision on the misty road. We didn't want to give way for them as their light was helping us to pass through as well.
The Funny part is that, we didn't know that the car's light which we used for extra visibility was our other car and they didn't know that we where the ones right in front of them (Like i said, with that amount of mist circling around you will never know what is happening). Kudos to the brave driver of our Vechicle coz without him its definitely not possible for my other friend or me to drive on these conditions.
After all these, we reached Mangalore at 28th JAN at 4am and stayed(Just a short stay)for 4 hours and continued our travel again from 10am throughout and reached Goa at 6.30pm.
On way from Mangalore to Goa, nearly after 4-5 hours from your start you will come across the view which you where waiting for in this trip, ie., the beach coastal view for about 2 kms(only) and be sure to drop by and take your snaps if you want too.. and after this you will see many mangroves and narrow bridges until your reach Goa which can give you a feel of what you were expecting.
During this travel, we Started at chennai at about 2.00pm had Lunch at 3.30pm in Chennai Highway, Dinner at 8.30pm in Bangalore and then it was just a few pitstops until we reached Mangalore. Then Stay and Morning Breakfast in Mangalore, Lunch on the Goa Highway and then finally Reached Goa at 6.30pm.
If you are not comfortable or ready for the above experience, i would recommend you to take the shorter route which is,
Chennai->Bangalore->Hubli->Goa
The other most important thanks should be to Google Maps GPS and Without which it would definitely have taken us many more days for us to reach Goa. This Made our trip very simple and help us navigate and travel in the best possible way.Definitely be sure to carry one along with you during your travel.
At Last, the entry check-post comes and here you are finally at GOA!!! Enjoy!!!
In our Initial discussion,the idea was to take a Flight from chennai and maybe take a 2 wheeler or rent a car in Goa for roaming around in local but later we thought that a car drive through the western coast drive would be more beautiful and would give us a different experience.Hence, we planned the below route,
Chennai ->Bangalore->Mangalore-> Goa
You know what,we where a group of 8 people in 2 Cars and we started from Chennai on 27th JAN Noon around 2pm. We didn't expect that its going to be a mere 28 hour travel but you could never complain about this except for a few points which you need to be very clear and aware upon to avoid over expectations.
Initially searching on the internet, many blogs stated that the western coast ride(Mangalore to Goa) would be a 6 hour along-side beaches but if this is what you expected, its WRONG. Its only the last 2 hour drive (out of the 28 hour)you will be able to see water besides you, either in form of a beach or a Mangrove backwaters.
During this trip,you definitely need to get a 3 to 4 hours break/rest/sleep in-between to avoid tiredness on continous travel (Eventhough you have other friends who can drive). Its essential for this break so you can enjoy more once you reach Goa.
In this trip, you will also come across a hill before Mangalore and this ride was definitely thrilling and memorable. Want to know why?
- You will have only 20% visibilty of the road (For nearly 60-80kms covered with dense mist)
- You can only travel at a speed of 20-30kms.
- No Help,No Shops,No Lights and Not Even another Vechicle you will come across atleast once in 30 mins.
- Most of all, the Curves/turns you need to be very careful as those are not like our usual mountains over here.
My assumption on this route and what i actually saw was totally different but nevertheless i didn't miss this part as it was a complete enjoying experience with just 4 of us in our car and after 30 mins in that misty road, we came across another vechicle in the back of us which gave us some extra light and vision on the misty road. We didn't want to give way for them as their light was helping us to pass through as well.
The Funny part is that, we didn't know that the car's light which we used for extra visibility was our other car and they didn't know that we where the ones right in front of them (Like i said, with that amount of mist circling around you will never know what is happening). Kudos to the brave driver of our Vechicle coz without him its definitely not possible for my other friend or me to drive on these conditions.
After all these, we reached Mangalore at 28th JAN at 4am and stayed(Just a short stay)for 4 hours and continued our travel again from 10am throughout and reached Goa at 6.30pm.
On way from Mangalore to Goa, nearly after 4-5 hours from your start you will come across the view which you where waiting for in this trip, ie., the beach coastal view for about 2 kms(only) and be sure to drop by and take your snaps if you want too.. and after this you will see many mangroves and narrow bridges until your reach Goa which can give you a feel of what you were expecting.
During this travel, we Started at chennai at about 2.00pm had Lunch at 3.30pm in Chennai Highway, Dinner at 8.30pm in Bangalore and then it was just a few pitstops until we reached Mangalore. Then Stay and Morning Breakfast in Mangalore, Lunch on the Goa Highway and then finally Reached Goa at 6.30pm.
If you are not comfortable or ready for the above experience, i would recommend you to take the shorter route which is,
Chennai->Bangalore->Hubli->Goa
The other most important thanks should be to Google Maps GPS and Without which it would definitely have taken us many more days for us to reach Goa. This Made our trip very simple and help us navigate and travel in the best possible way.Definitely be sure to carry one along with you during your travel.
At Last, the entry check-post comes and here you are finally at GOA!!! Enjoy!!!
The Return travel didn't have much of a different experience as it was straight forward and quick,
Goa->Hubli->Bangalore->Chennai
Started in Goa at FEB 1st @ 11.15am and reached Chennai at FEB 2nd @4.15am with a Lunch/Dinner and 2 Pitstops.
Its a Perfect Highway with just 30-50Km patch roads in-between (which i think should be ready in a few months ) and a 80km Hill which should be easy one.
Overall, it was definitely the worth for this Road Trip and since i have come across this car travel,my next plans to Goa would be via Train or Flight to save time :-)
