My Trip to Goa, India - a Place of Beaches, Temples and Much More

I had been to Goa. A place which is just heaven on earth. The views could be different from person to person. I mention below my experience and would like to share with you all. I took a Mandovi express from Mumbai CST Station and got down at Karmali station. Since it was day journey the scene outside was just beyond my capacity to express it. The month was September and rains had almost finished. The weather was cool. I stayed in Ponda, a small city in between Panjim and Madgaon. My taxi driver, Mr.Vinod suggested me a good hotel in Ponda called Sungrace. I liked the hotel and decided to stay there. The rate was just Rs.500/- per day inclusive of all taxes which was good for me. By this time I had decided to cover entire Goa with his Maruti Van. He was very nice and humble. In the evening he took me to Betal Batim beach. It was very nice beach with hardly any visitors there. We both walked for an hour or so. I could see lot of migrated birds. By sunset we decided to move back. I had some very good snaps of the Sun melting in sea at the sunset time. My main interest was to see temples which he promised me to show on the next day.

The next day he took me to temples. First we started from Mangeshi. The Lord Mangesh. The temple is so beautiful. You feel that mental peace once you are inside the temple. From there we had been to Mahalasa temple at Mhardol. Then to Ramnath, Nagesh, Shantadurga and Mahalaxmi temple. All the temples have their own beauty. There is lamp called as " Nandadeep" in each temple and they light it by night on the auspicious day. I could see many foreigners visiting temples and making notes on their note pads about the information which were provided by the guides. Every temple here has it's own lake and the devotees take God or Godess idol to lake and take round which is called as "Nauka Vihar " in local language. The whole temple is illuminated at that time. This happens at night and on particular day. After that we moved to another temples. We went to Sanquelim near Bicholim and visited Lord Dattatreya temple. It has a " Audumber " tree at the back side. It's very nice temple. Near that temple is place called Harvalem. This is very beautiful place. There is temple of Lord Mahesh and a waterfall too. You need to step down few steps to reach to temple. It's very remote place and you get an ultimate peace of mind here. Near to that some caves are there but since it was evening we could not visit those.

Next day he took me to Miramar beach at Panjim and then to Daun Paula. Here you have lot of water sport activity. From there we moved to famous beach called Calangute at Mhapsa and then to Anjuna beach. The beaches are so nice and clean. The sand is soft and white. From there we moved to very interior parts of villages. The big farming areas where Rice, Coconut, Cashew Nuts, Mangoes etc crops are taken. I liked these places very much and hence I requested him to take me to such places for remaining days. We came across a herb farm where lot of herbs were planted. It was an unique experience for me.

All in all, I liked Goa very much. It's very colorful. People are very simple and friendly. The food is very good especially if you are a fish eater. The nature is at its best. A tourist delight. A real place called heaven on earth. Thanks to Goa and many thnaks to Vinod who showed me all those places.