1st August 2019, 15:57
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| Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive It all happened on a Friday. Friday, the 10th of May 2019. I was busy at work, I have taken a new role since a couple of months. I got a call from a colleague and friend from my earlier team. They missed the get-together we used to have regularly before I moved out. We were 6 members, who regularly met for tea in office. Quick came a question - "Can we go somewhere to catch up over the weekend, its been a while?" I was kind of OK with the idea, since I too wanted a break. I had not driven around much after I took up the new position. I asked him to confirm, who all are joining, and we will decide the next steps by evening. Well the call ended like that. I was not sure what was going to turn up in due course of time. I left office a bit early to fill diesel in Kungfu Panda Jr. and reached home. Kungfu Panda Jr. after his crazy run last year had not had much in his plate till date. Just going about doing city duty. Odo says about 46000 Kms old.  I could not change the tyres which I had purchased earlier. After my crazy runs last year I could feel the JKs are done at 45K, so I got the tyres purchased, but was lazy to get it changed. Since the plan was almost so sudden, could not change it before the trip. So just kept it in the boot, and decided to change en-route somewhere.  By evening I was told it would be four of us, including me, who would be doing the trip. A few youngsters in this group recently got married, got engaged, so for them it looked like hatching a plan the next day and getting out sounded impossible. Anyways four is a crowd. Kungfu Panda Jr. is all set to go   I made a WhatsApp group and added the other three members, and started discussing the plan. Heck! it was evening and we don't know where we are driving the next day. We started discussing going somewhere nearby, chilling out over dinner and catching up. While WhatsApp was continuously beeping with the messages, my elder daughter Sr. PPG looked suspicious and asked me what was going on? I sheepishly told her a weekend drive plan is in the making. She asked me if she could join, since she was also getting bored at home, with no trips planned yet for her vacation. I had to tell her I am going with office friends and it may not be the ideal group for her to join in. Meanwhile the youngsters were also added to WhatsApp group, to make them envious of our trip, and to constantly torment them on what they will be missing out. It was almost 20:00 by then. The youngsters were continuously bombarded with messages to get out and come. We had already 4 confirmed and I was wondering what if the others too confirm, we just had 1 seat left in Kungfu Panda Jr. Meanwhile a proposal was placed to the newly married guy to come as family, and while all these were going on, me and Sr. PPG were chatting about the happenings in the group. She posed me a question, well if there is a family, then why can't she join in too. Well, this has now exploded way beyond my imagination. From 4 we are already looking at becoming 7. I made a suggestion if they want to join as family, I will also have Sr. PPG along with me. Within 2 minutes of me posting that, the young couple confirmed their availability. Now there was another youngster left, who had not checked out the frenzy of messages going around. Possibility of 8 of us getting out for a drive a couple of hours later suddenly seemed like a reality. But no one was talking about where to go, and how do we manage this 8 numbers? 2 cars? If its a convoy, I most likely would step back, since I don't like the concept of convoy driving, and co-ordination, and the whole point of getting together goes for a toss till we reach somewhere. Next, we cannot go anywhere far as it would really depend on the next car and its inmates. I was completely silent, thinking what it will all eventually turn to. Sr. PPG was asking me why don't we just drive to Goa, have fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner and be back? It was almost 21:00 hours by then. Goa?? 650Kms, No bookings, Summer holidays, Weekend, 8 people, already late in the night?? Well this was turning out to be more exciting than I could imagine!! Meanwhile the 8th guy was already in a bus going to his hometown, and that makes it a confirmed 7, and a possibility to Goa  The only way this can be sorted out was to bring in Kungfu Panda Sr, the silent warrior, about whom I have not spoken or written much. Kungfu Panda Sr. had already done 50K to his stride  I immediately went out and filled diesel and came back. The tank was practically empty.  By 22:00 hours, I posted this on WhatsApp Tomorrow, Saturday 11th May 2019, 02:30 hours at Silk Board, Destination Goa, 3 rooms booked, two family rooms, and one room with triple occupancy. Plan for lunch, dinner and breakfast at Goa, Back for dinner at Bangalore on Sunday 12th May 2019. See you guys at Silk Board tomorrow. Good night! Well, Well, Well - Impulsive trips are cool, but this was just too much  !!I have lost count of how many times I have been to Goa. All in my Civic. You can read most of it here (Civved : Goa, Yaana, Jog, Murdeshwar, Maravanthe, Mangalore...). This log is separate for my Kungfu Panda Sr, my silent warrior.  Goa here we come!! Last edited by laluks : 1st August 2019 at 18:15. |
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1st August 2019, 17:37
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa I woke up by 01:00AM, sent a few messages on our group in WhatsApp, and triggered everyone to their morning chores and to meet me at Silk board by 02:30AM. After a quick hot shower, got some clothes on to a bag and came down to the car, by then Sr. PPG was also ready. We drove out by 01:45, and passed the message to the other members. Some have confirmed to reach Silk board by 02:00. Finally by 02:30 all 7 of us were inside the car, none of them had seen or been in Kungfu Panda Sr. yet.Everyone was excited and was all fun getting settled down in the seats. We rolled out from Silk Board by 02:30AM as we planned. Phew, from a message last night at 22:00 hours to the car moving out at 02:30AM next morning as planned was really something. We stopped by 07:00 at Reliance Petrol Pump, Kamadod, a little distance before RaneBennur for bio breaks and some tea. There was a dilapidated Kamath Upachar behind this pump. We asked for some breakfast, but they were just getting ready. Idlis were yet to be taken out of the steamer. By then, our junior most member delights us by bringing us a lot of hot hot vadas  We washed down the vadas with hot chai  With the energy we got from the breakfast we decided to move on. My routing was planned via Bankapur - Mundgod - Yellapur - Karwar - Goa, since no one in the team other than me and Sr. PPG had been to Goa yet. So what better way than to introduce them from one end of the state and coastal line. Entering Goa from it south tip. After the turn off from Bankapur, roads were mostly single lane and devoid of any traffic. It was a peaceful drive. Dotted with trees, but summer makes them look sad, and also covered with dust  By 08:45 we stopped by a water body to stretch our legs  Some pictures of the waterbody     Sr. PPG checking out the bridge  The newly weds join in  Other guys join the fun  Me too  Then we drove on towards Mundgod. A little away from Mundgod we found a lot of Buddhist Monasteries  We continued our drive towards Yellapur and reached by around 09:30AM. continued... Last edited by laluks : 1st August 2019 at 17:41. |
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1st August 2019, 18:48
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa We were doing good times, so instead of a plain jane drive from Yellapur to Karwar Via Ankola, I decided to give the team a little offbeat route. At Idgundi I took the route via Basal and Bagilamudi. You could catch a glimpse of our Kaiga Atomic Power Station via this route. Team a little after the turn off at Idgundi  Kungfu Panda Sr. enjoying so far  We then drove on and stopped by the view point from where we could see Kaiga. Idgundi to Viewpoint The Team  Kaiga Plant at a distance, the over head lines you see where making a lot of arcing noise due to the high voltages it carries.  My Travel Partners, Kungfu Panda Sr. and Sr. PPG   Both the Seniors again  Some pictures of Kungfu Panda Sr.    We then continued onward, so as to keep time in check continued... Last edited by laluks : 1st August 2019 at 18:49. |
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1st August 2019, 19:20
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa Immediately we found a beautiful place for some photo shoot, and stopped by. View Point To Photo Point The team  The team with Kungfu Panda Sr.  Some more pictures of Kungfu Panda Sr.     While the team was busy clicking each other in the photogenic surroundings, I decided to take some rest, and got clicked. Me resting  But it turned out to be an interesting picture, I like it   It was getting late as everyone was busy clicking, so to keep time I requested them to move on. We immediately reached a check post, Bare Cross Check Post, which exists the road from Idgundi this side. We need to write down the vehicle details at this check post. Photo Point to Bare Cross Check Post The junction after the check post.  Kaiga is to the right and Karwar is to the left when we come from Idgundi  Kaiga gate is just about 4Kms from here, but our plan was to go Karwar  It was already 12:00 by then. continued... Last edited by laluks : 1st August 2019 at 19:34. |
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1st August 2019, 19:55
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa After finishing the formalities at the check post we drove towards Karwar. Here again I had two options go to Karwar. Go straight via Katar or cross over Kadra reservoir and go via Bhaire to Join NH17 and then cross Kali river to join Karwar. The second one would give the team some more interesting photo ops. So decided to drive via Kadra Dam. Drive from Check Post to Kadra Dam Some pictures at Kadra Reservoir   Kadra Reservoir Kungfu Panda Sr. at Kadra reservoir    Kadra Dam   Sr. PPG enjoying the breeze at the reservoir  We then drove towards NH17. Drive from Kadra Dam to join NH17 continued... |
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1st August 2019, 20:35
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa Plan was to show the team Tagore Beach in Karwar to start the Beach mania from now, Goa is any minute now  Drive to Karwar Beach crossing Kali River Karwar Beach   Karwar Beach, Quite rough waves The team  Finally the guy missing behind the camera decides, its enough and goes for the groupfie  At a distance you can see a warship  It's a museum  INS Chapal  It was already 13:00 and everyone started to get hungry. So we decided to drive non stop to Palolem in Goa for lunch. continued... Last edited by laluks : 1st August 2019 at 20:39. |
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1st August 2019, 21:29
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa We did a non stop drive from Karwar Beach to Palolem Beach. We were getting hungry and we wanted to get to a lunch table in Goa at the earliest. Drive from Karwar Beach to Goa Entry Check Post Entry Check Post to Goa  That's a very good message at the entry to Goa  Drive From Goa Entry Check Post to Palolem We reached Palolem by 14:30  Palolem beach, it has lost all its charm   The famished team at a restaurant in Palolem. It was 14:30, we were fully famished. We wanted fresh lime soda to replenish the body in that heat. But No fresh lime soda, we get Limca, and they serve cut lemon also in the glass, one would wonder why not fresh lime soda then!!  We ordered all of these Prawns, and asked them to make Goan prawn curry and rice, we were in no mood to elaborately order now.  Someone wanted a steak in Goa!  Since we were too hungry by the time food arrived we just started and finished as if we had not seen food for ages. With a full tummy we sat there in the restaurant enjoying some breeze. By 16:00 we drove out of Palolem to Colva in South Goa, where we had our rooms booked. Why Colva, because Colva officially is the north most beach of South Goa, and the team gets a feel of south Goa fully!! Palolem to Colva! We reached Colva by 17:30 and was assigned our rooms almost immediately. Our Room for the day.  .After getting freshened up we hit the beach at Colva by 18:00. continued... |
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1st August 2019, 21:44
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa Colva Beach   Fun at Colva beach   Sun has set  We had some ice creams to beat the heat!  Seemed like a happening place, but we want our table on the beach!  We decided to get back to our rooms, take some hot shower and be back by 20:30 for finding a good place for dinner for the night. The entry to our place  There was a small aquarium in the hotel where we stayed!  I switched on some TV for a while, caught up with the messages on phone, made and received a few calls, and then took a long shower, and was ready to go in search of fish for dinner, and that table on the beach. continued... |
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1st August 2019, 21:59
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 01 : 11th May 2019 : Saturday Bangalore - Goa Me and Sr. PPG got out of our rooms by 20:30, and we did not see any one else outside. We decided to take a walk on the beach in search of a good place which has some fish and has a peaceful setting of a table at the beach. We asked a few places and the rates the quoted for their fish collection were so exorbitant, a crab at 4500, lobster at 4000 and all. We finally reached a place were we could get some decent rates like 1500ish. By then the team has all joined me on the beach We ordered all of these  While we were chatting and catching up on the last few months topics, the restaurant served all our dishes hot hot. Sr. PPG overwhelmed at all the fish dish  Ladies all smiles  Team so happy with what was in front of them  Newly weds did a wise choice in joining the trip, they say  Tiger Prawns Butter Garlic  Tiger Prawns Tandoori  Red Snapper Tandoori  Lobster Goan Style  Lobster Butter Garlic  King Fish Rawa Fry  King Fish Tawa Fry  By the time we finished dinner it was some 00:30 in the night, that was like 22:00 hours of fun starting from 2:30 in the morning. I decided to call it a day and went to my room, the others spent some more time at the table gazing in to the sky and enjoying the breeze from the sea. Tomorrow is another day! |
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1st August 2019, 22:27
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 02 : 12th May 2019 : Sunday Goa - Bangalore Everybody slept well. We decided to assemble outside our place at 09:00 for breakfast. We found a nice little place next to the beach for breakfast. We could already see people drinking so early in the morning. We were ok with a hot chai  Of-course if you get this, we need one. Puttu with egg roast.  Once breakfast was done we quickly packed our stuff, cleared the hotel bills and started our drive back home. I had decided to show them around Panaji and also Old Goa before the final drive back to Bangalore. Some where we found Hyatt, and stopped by to take a look  They have a great frontage to the sea  The Team  Then we drove to Dona Paula Beach at Dona Paula, once this place was filled with water sports  Dona Paula is now out of bounds  The view point is now very unsafe, you can see the sea has taken away its base   We then drove to Miramar beach Sr. PPG at Miramar beach, the beach in Panaji  continued... |
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1st August 2019, 22:38
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 02 : 12th May 2019 : Sunday Goa - Bangalore From Miramar beach we drove towards Immaculate Conception Church in Panaji En route you See Mandovi river and many casinos Dolphin shaped one  Big Daddy Casino  The new and old Bridge  And we reach the church  Immaculate Conception church  From Immaculate Conception church we drove toward old goa and St. Augustine's Church Ruins Some pictures from Church of St. Augustine's       Some information for you   continued... |
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1st August 2019, 22:42
| #12 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 02 : 12th May 2019 : Sunday Goa - Bangalore Some more pictures of the ruins from St. Augustine's Church                 The team at St. Augustine's  It was already 13:00 hours and we decided to quickly finish with the old goa churches and start back to Bangalore. continued... |
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1st August 2019, 22:56
| #13 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 02 : 12th May 2019 : Sunday Goa - Bangalore Drive from St. Augustines to Old goa church street Old Goa Church Street Some pictures from Old Goa Church      By 13:30 we finished with Goa Sight seeing and started our drive back. By 14:00 we stopped for Lunch  A place called food square  Finally we got our fresh lime soda  A decent lunch  The team wanted to see how to go towards Dudh Sagar, so I thought of taking them via Mollem. But Mollem Belgaum Road was closed  This costed us some hours to trace back our route till Sankahali, but we still kept our spirits high. continued... |
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1st August 2019, 23:11
| #14 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Kungfu Panda (Sr.) Chronicles : Goa - An impulsive weekend drive Day 02 : 12th May 2019 : Sunday Goa - Bangalore It was almost 23:00 hours by the time we reached Ranebennur. Team was famished with the tiring drive of about 8 hours and wanted dinner. We stopped by at the CoCo BP pump. We ordered some rotis and veg curries for the night. Rotis for all of us   We spent some time catching up with world cup  By 23:30 we started our drive back to Bangalore, and after dropping everybody at their places I parked the car at our home by 05:30 in the morning of 13th May, Monday. Google maps welcomed me home with a good morning greeting!  That road closure took some three hours away from us, any ways the drive is done and memories remain forever. Kilometers driven Kungfu Panda Sr. says 1410Kms round trip!  Kungfu Panda Sr. Clocks 51417 on the odo.  Fuel Efficiency Kugfu Panda filled diesel thrice in the drive, onward it gave a fuel efficiency of 8.9Kmpl, and return 9.3kmpl, and a short distance from Tumkur to home 11.2Kmpl, overall a mileage of 9.2Kmpl. The End |
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