Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Goa Trip(2).

It was still dark when I got out of the flight. I started making my plans to reach Hotel Seema in Ribandar as I walked inside the airport to get my luggage. After getting my air-bag I walked towards an enquiry counter meant for providing guidelines to tourists. But, when I mentioned that I want to go to Ribandar by bus the lady showed me the door J. Seniors from the college (Goa Institute of Management) I was going to had given me few directions to reach Ribandar. They had told me to take a bus to Panaji from Dabolin (where the airport is located) and then from Panaji bus station take another bus to Ribandar. So I asked how far Dabolin bus station was from the airport to the prepaid Cab provider. But he was in no mood to let me save my money and was giving misguiding answers to me. I tried seeking help from the autowalas standing outside the airport but their answers were equally worse and how could I expect anything better from them. I finally decided to take a direct cab to Ribandar costing 540rs and enjoy the comfortable ride while registering all the places I was going from so that I can save on my return journey. The cab driver was still under his morning torpor and answered reluctantly to my initial questions about Dabolin. But he had no escape as I had decided to make my journey out of Ribandar to Madgaon Railway station as cheap as possible J . After getting all the info about the route I let him take it easy.

The journey by the cab to Ribandar was pretty long but still energizing. I enjoyed the cool breeze and the panoramic view of the Mandovi river along the route. After traveling for about 50mins I reached Hotel Seema, situated along the Mandovi river coast. The extending view of the river from the hotel was simply peaceful. The morning fog over the river obstructed the view of the other coast but after some time I realized that the river is too wide to have a clear view of the other coast. The water from the river touched the wall compound bordering the lawn outside the hotel.

The clock had struck around 8am when I was all geared up for my exploits of the day. I decided to catch up with the headlines of the day and took out from my hand bag the newspapers that I had collected at the airport. I went through it for about 40mins and soon got bored.

My GD/PI was scheduled on the next day (27th Feb) so I had a complete day with me (26th Feb). The time was sufficient enough to roam around and get to know about the place and especially the college (GIM). As GIM was first on my list, I went straight to the college from the hotel. GIM is just a on a 5mins walk from hotel Seema. When I entered GIM, I met with two more aspirants like me who also had come to have a look around the college and know about the reporting time for their GD/PI. After talking to the Madam in charge of the admissions procedure we had our breakfast in the canteen. I read the notice boards near the canteen informing about the various events about to take place at the college, all of them written in innovative ways to stimulate the students into action. After that I had a peep inside the hostel rooms and met with few seniors who updated me on the final and summer placements in the college, various profiles offered their course structures and many other things.

It was around 10.30am when I left the college and took a bus to Panji. I reached Panji in 20mins. Then I enquired at the bus station about the route to Madgaon railway station and approximate time required to reach there. That gave me the assurance of being able to catch the train comfortably. From the bus station I found my way to a bike renting agency and hired a Hero Honda Splendor for rest of the day and thus broke off my dependency on the public transport. Now I was free to exercise my own will. I knew that a beach named Maramar is nearby and river Mandovi was always within sight. So I just followed the river till I reached the beach. It was an eventful ride , following the river till it met its destination. Thus I got to see the so called Sangam. I parked my bike there and sat on the beach sand for some time till I started sweating from within J . From there I went to the famous church where JOSH films’s shooting was done.

After so much of riding I started looking for a good place to have my lunch. But before satisfying my hunger I had to put down my curiosity of crossing the bridge over the Mandovi river which seemed really huge and hence interesting. I traveled over the bridge to and fro. The view of the river from the bridge was splendid. From the bridge I was able to see the meeting point of the river with the sea from a different angle. The width of the river was just jaw drooling. After the feast for the eyes I rewarded my stomach.

The length of this post compels me to cut it over here. Goa Trip(3) soon to be published.

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