The Hindu Business Line : Road to Goa

It's a canopy of palms most of the way, areca tall and thin with its spray of fruit jutting out of the tree, stately coconut swaying in the wind, roads that peak to a point and plunge through the Western Ghats, the occasional waterfall... these are the sights that meet your eyes as you travel to Goa through Karnataka.

On a driving trip from Chennai, Goa arrives the third morning, hilly roads and beaches all at once, the scent of cashew trees filling the air, gleaming white churches springing into sight now and then, the hot sun putting some stupor into the surroundings.

Our first stop, not counting a temple mistaken for an ancient one, was the Cabo de Rama fort in Canacona, on Goa's south coast. Wend your way through the twisty roads, through orchards of cashew apple with fruit hanging low and ripe, and come to this relic of the Portuguese rule surrounded by the sea on three sides. Occasionally a tourist vehicle heaves itself up the road, but otherwise it seems to be a serene place that contains a chapel, some grazing cattle and the occasional ice-cream cart that cycles inside looking for customers.

Then there's the blue, blue sea, a fin that bobs up now and then, a boat that makes it way and several more further away, but it's the absolute peace and quiet you can absorb that makes this place special.

Fortified beauties

Equally special are the many other forts in this small State. Fort Aguada is the most famous but there's Reis Magos in Bardez district. Atop a hill and beside the Mandovi River, it's probably the vegetation growing wild and unkempt that people find spooky. There's Fort Chapora, famed now for the shooting of Dil Chahta Hai, Terekhol fort and a few others. There is much more to Goa than its beaches, as one discovered on the trip.

Goa with the flow: Mapusa beach - PAUL NORONHA

Of course, the dazzling churches and cathedrals of Bom Jesus, Se and St Cajetan are well known but there are several more that are not. One such church is the Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount, which opens for mass only once a month. Drive up a leafy, wooded road off Old Goa where all the big churches are, and you will find yourself at this church which overlooks a sea of coconut palms. See the spires and domes of the other churches rise from amidst the green; in the far distance the majestic tower of the 16th-century St Augustine's Church, once the largest in India but now entirely in ruins. Walk around the building, take in the whitewashed walls, peer through a hole cut into the door to see the details on the walls, and sit on the floor and take in the stillness of the afternoon. Visit the Christian Art Museum, take in the several statues and articles fashioned by Portuguese and Indian craftsmen since the 15th century, see the infant Jesus carved in marble, strung with tiny, slender chains of gold, ruby and emerald, resting in a silver crib.

There are several ancient temples in Goa. Only, most of them have been modernised and maintained well in spacious premises. Serene on normal days, there are no crowds, no noise, no smells, just some devotees sitting silently in front of the deity and the occasional ringing of a bell. Leave the temple and eat at a shack-like hotel nearby — this is authentic Goan food but not of the sorpotel-bebinca kind that most often finds mention in Goan menus inside and outside Goa — there's a fragrant and mild fish curry spiced with the rare tirphal, fish fried with rice flour, cabbage and some spongy, boiled rice. There's a kokum infusion, tempered with chilli and coriander, to round off the meal. There is also some Goan pao in dingy and ancient glass almirahs to complement the authentic look!

Shandy for the senses

Need some colour, noise and excitement but don't want to experience it through the beaches? Go then, to Mapusa's Friday market. A weekly shandy, it not only has sights and sounds, but smells as well. From the black and red strings of churisso (Goan sausages) to fish fresh and dry, from long and wrinkly Goan chillies to masalas that would put any chaat shop to shame, it's a riot of colour. Shirts come for as cheap as Rs 50, gypsies sell mirrored and sequined bags in confident English, baubles in a zillion hues wink enchantingly in the sun, fresh vegetables and fruits lie ripening, salt stares dully at you in heaps that are more brown than white, probably straight from the salt pans, dried beans and balls of tamarind scream for your attention out of woven baskets.

For a different experience, visit Arvalem waterfalls, the site of a Rudreshwar temple and Arvalem rock-cut caves, 29 km away, near Sanquelim in Valpoi taluq. In Carambolim village in Sattari taluq is a Brahma temple, said to date back to the 6th century. These are destinations deep in rural Goa, isolated places set amidst areca plantations and rising, narrow, winding roads.

In Sanguem taluq is the Doodhsagar waterfall, part of the Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary. You can approach it from Kulem, hire a jeep and rattle through the rough terrain of the forest to reach the lower level of the falls. The falls gather into a pool which is a great hit with foreigners who come there prepared to swim despite a board warning against it. The park is closed for four months during the monsoon and reopens in October, says our jeep driver-cum-guide.

If you're in the mood for more sightseeing, go on to the 13th-century Mahadev temple at Tambdi Surla, a short distance away. It's yet another opportunity to savour some delicious calm. This stone temple, with its carvings, sits in solitary splendour in a large clearing at the foothills of the Anmod Ghats. Here too, there's birdsong, greenery, the blue-and-green haze from the hills and the clear sky.

Another interesting option is plantation tourism. There are a few plantations in and around Ponda which offer package tours priced at Rs 300 or so. This includes a walk around the plantation and an authentic Goan lunch, featuring cuisine more Saraswat and less Portuguese. At one plantation, you can even ride on an elephant or bathe it, for a price, of course. You can see nutmeg and cinnamon trees, pepper vines, vanilla, clove and allspice, lemongrass and of course, cashew trees and feni distillation units.

There is more: houses built in Portuguese style in South Goa, some of which allow tourists in for a visit, the Anjuna flea market, several churches, heritage walks in the villages conducted by residents, more temples and a stroll through quaint Fontainhas, Panaji's Latin Quarter with its bright and beautiful old villas...

The advantage of a small State is that you can make one major city your base and travel to the other places of interest. Panaji is a good choice. Maps and guidebooks prove invaluable too.

Along the way...

There's Kemmanagundi and Kallahatti waterfall on the way to Shimoga, in Shimoga an old palace and a museum, and Jog Falls some distance away. Karwar being the night halt, one passes through Gokarn, another beach-and-temple tourist attraction, the Mahamaya temple at Ankola with its beautifully decorated interiors and, in the morning, the Sadashivgadh hill fort and temple a few kilometres outside Karwar.

One chose to leave Goa through the Belgaum route, past Ponda. The Ghat roads are terrible once you enter Karnataka. There is no road in the mountains in these parts, just what seems like an unending stretch of dusty red earth that even a four-wheel drive won't have an easy time of. Make sure you don't carry any feni with you or if you must, take the trouble to get the right information — at the check post in Karnataka, the rulebook is thrown at you to show that no feni should be taken out of Goa — you either have to turn it over to the authorities or find ways to make them understand.

Hampi was the destination for the night halt. Once the capital of the Vijayanagar empire, the place has several attractions. One would need at least two days to see them all. There are several shacks in this rocky expanse of the Deccan that pass for cafes, which claim to have been mentioned in the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide books — as incongruous as it looks, they promise world cuisine such as banana and honey pancakes, fruit salad, momos and such. Many of the ruins near the grand Virupaksha temple now are homes/small business establishments and it's astonishing to see a tiny, curtained enclosure in one such stretch of ruins advertise itself as a guesthouse with clean interiors!

The lack of time ensured one came straight back to Chennai in the next two days without any pleasant digressions, but you are sure to carry the memories with you for a long time to come.