Re: Chennai - Goa : Route Queries Goa Vacation Amidst Covid-19
Completed a Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore road trip in my Honda Jazz VMT (and a vacation in Goa) a few minutes ago. No incidents, no traffic violations, no scratches in the car, 1500+ km. I’m ready for the next long-haul drive after a sleep tonight.
Sat-24-Oct-2020
Left Bangalore at around 06:15. Had breakfast at Kamat, Sira (they don’t take credit card). The place was about 10% occupied while many road travelers were seen having taken parcel and eating next to their cars in paper plates! And the bathrooms were reasonably clean. We had purchased disposable toilet seat cover for my daughter to minimize exposure to any infection. Numerous construction zones and detours between Chitradurga and Hubli. Had snacks and rest stop at CCD, IOC Gollarahatti. Had lunch at McDonalds, Hubli (since family was snacking throughout, I could stretch it to Hubli for lunch). Checked into Fairfield Marriott at around 17:00.
Upon arrival, the hotel disinfected all our bags and let us in after us applying hanitizer and doing a temperature check. They had upgraded us to a higher category room. Upon reaching the room, I did my own session of disinfecting the pillows and mattress as well as wiped commonly touched surfaces with sanitizer wipe. It appeared less than 50% of the rooms were occupied. They had intentionally kept the mini bar empty and there were just a couple of bottles of mineral water – and a card with a QR code to scan and order in-room dining.
We opted for buffet for dinner. They were serving our portions at the buffet table instead of the usual practice of guests doing self-service.
Sun-25-Oct-2020
After a buffet breakfast, we set out at around 09:00 to Taj Exotica, Benaulim via Khanapur, Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, Anmod, Mollem, and Ponda. There were some bad patches of NH-748 in the beginning but the scenery which followed was very nice. As someone mentioned, one has to be careful on the Karnataka side of the Anmod ghat since there is no shoulder between the concrete pavement and the drainage on the sides (however, the road is wide enough for two wide vehicles); at one point, despite driving at a conservative speed, I had to apply brakes suddenly since some rental car drove recklessly onto my side.
Checked into Taj at around 13:30. They disinfected all our bags and we had the usual temperature check and application of hanitizer. They had given a complementary upgrade from Premium Sea View room to Executive Suite (which is rack-rated 3 times the price of our originally booked room and is at the end of the main building and well isolated). The head of the guest services gave her mobile phone / Whatsapp number and asserted that since we are traveling with a child (11-year-old), she would do whatever it takes to make this trip a memorable one. After lunch (vegetable xacuti and Goa poi bread), we entered our suite which felt as safe as our own home. Every inch of the suite was impeccably clean and sanitized. There were 4 liters of mineral water, a couple of packed surgical masks, and the usual toiletry kit. They had a filled minibar as well as a card with QR code to browse and place order for in-room dining.
My daughter and I hit the beach in the evening and cycled around. The 60-acre resort was full with about 300 guests in 140 of their rooms / suites but did not feel crowded at all. They were also encouraging their guests to come early for breakfast by marketing breakfast rush hour as follows in Sala da Pranzo 24/7 multi-cuisine restaurant. They had placed non-contact hanitizer dispensers at various places in the resort as well as provided separate trash cans for dispensing masks.
My daughter had a lavish bath in the super-sized bathtub with bath bomb (which we had carried from Bangalore). She did that and enjoyed it every day we stayed at Taj.
We had a vegetable biryani with an option of “low spicy” and it couldn’t have been any better.
Mon-26-Oct-2020
A day to chill out at the resort. Started the day on a weird note stepping on “liquid bird dropping” at the balcony in the suite – a wake-up call to slow down in life and enjoy the vacation. The most fulfilling activity of the day was to collect hundreds of shells from the beach. We had a Penne Arabbiata pasta for lunch and burger / poori for dinner. Everything was perfectly done.
Tue-27-Oct-2020
This was the day we had planned to see Goa – Fort Aguada and Fontainhas – and a bit of shopping (Confeitaria 31 De Janeiro and Saukyam Porvorim). It took some time to make the family realize that Goa is a state and not a city (and for me to get convinced as well) – we were staying in South Goa peacefully and driving to North Goa amidst all construction and detours.
Fort Aguada ticketing was completely online and non-contact – one has to scan a QR code, make the payment online (VISA / Mastercard credit or debit card), generate a QR coded ticket to be produced at the entry gate as well as the entrance to the fort area. The staff was wearing mask and there was hanitizer kept at the entrance to the fort area.
We had lunch at Davide’s Pizzeria – authentic Italian pizzas and desserts. The dinner was room service – yet another dose of vegetable biryani (we forgot to instruct “low spicy” and it was still great albeit a bit uncomfortable).
Wed-28-Oct-2020
Yet another day planned to be at the resort. We played a lot of our own indoor games and had all the meals served as room service. My daughter asked for marshmallow and Taj gave some chocolates. Every food item was perfect – pasta, pizza, burger, and Bebinca (some of these items were out of “syllabus” and never mentioned in their menu). In the evening, we visited the beach and cycled around once again – this day was primarily to re-condition the family that we need to go back to Bangalore and that we can always come back.
Thu-29-Oct-2020
Left Taj at around 09:00 with mixed feelings (reluctant to relinquish the suite while eager to get out of the Goa humidity). After entering Karnataka, we were stopped briefly by the Karnataka police asking if we are carrying any Goa liquor and looking at my wife and daughter, they didn’t bother to check anything. Before the journey, I had conditioned my wife and daughter a fundamental rule of sustainable tourism: leave no trails, take nothing. We tried to visit INS Warship Museum at Karwar but it was not open (or we felt so). The first stop was a snack and rest stop at CCD, Ankola (since the family was munching, nobody was hungry). Our next stop was CCD, Trasi / Kundapura for a light lunch (burger) for me. We reached Taj Gateway, Mangalore at around 17:00.
Taj Gateway, Mangalore is undergoing some renovation since Jan-2020 and is expected to be completed by Mar-2021. The waiter there was concerned that they are reducing staff. In fact, the hotel had just one front office person, one waiter (perhaps for dine-in as well as room service). The hotel was run down and somehow renovating to get re-certified to be a 4-star hotel by Dec-2021. The waiter was saying only about 15 out of the total 90 rooms (of which 60 are undergoing renovation) are being occupied. They had a humble menu (we ordered ala carte for room service – tomato soup and vegetable noodles) and had buffet breakfast.
Despite low occupancy, there was no compromise on the quality of offerings (customer service, food, room, bathroom amenities, plumbing, electric supply etc.).
Fri-30-Oct-2020
We left Taj, Mangalore at around 08:30. Having read some reviews from team-bhp, I decided to take the route via Madikeri, Channarayapattana, Kunigal, and Nelamangala. Had a very late lunch at Kamat, Kunigal (since the family was continuously snacking). We reached our Bangalore home at around 19:00 (of course, the last leg of the drive toward Bangalore is the most demanding (in terms of re-acclimatizing to the traffic), feeling back “home” with the best possible broadband Internet at dirt cheap price, and weirdly depressing as well as happy).
Some Take-Aways
• India is resilient (no matter who the government or opposition is) and has moved on beyond Covid-19 albeit some adjustments. The primary economy of this country is probably never documented or tracked in our GDP – it is the rural and informal economy. That part of the economy is intrinsically resilient and refuses to fall sick – in spite of demonetization, GST, and Covid-19. No government can improve or demolish this resilient economy.
• Technology (particularly mobile technology) is the future. Google map is the savior even in seemingly difficult direction-seeking situations while driving. When my wife can vouch for it while navigating successfully through Goa, I must listen to her. Fastag worked in most toll booths in national highways (whenever it didn’t work on a couple of occasions, the guy had a scanner which opened the turnpike and deducted the toll digitally – it is an amazing system).
• Overall, it was a meaningful and fulfilling vacation. Nobody can force one to enjoy or stop enjoying a vacation. Nowadays, city kids and many need to learn to relate to their own inner selves and understand that the absolutely reliable trump card for one’s own happiness and fulfillment in life resides completely in one’s own self-defined attitude in the now moment – and one’s own willingness to manage uncertainties in life. All plans are subject to change with no prior notice. Nothing is certain in life except one’s own self-defined attitude. Sometimes, the most peaceful moments in life are achieved while managing life’s uncertainties seeking meaning for self and others – that is, being true and there no matter what (seeking perfect end user experience in every life situation may be the key to our own success and fulfillment). In driving situation, it could be as simple as manually over-riding the perfect direction suggested by Google map.
Last edited by Aditya : 31st October 2020 at 04:49.
Reason: Spacing added for better readability, non-forum smileys deleted
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