Like most of us Indians, our family decided to go to Goa during the monsoon (off-season for the usual tourists). The bad part — we decided to drive from Bangalore. The worst part — we drove during the Indian Flood of 2019.
With the news of flood and the weather not getting better, we pretty much gave up and tried to cancel out hotel booking. Unfortunately, cancellation didn’t go through and on the day before the journey, we decided to just brave it through.
As our journey started, the murky sky of August had mixed effects on us — dreamy, romantic punctuated with a series of scary uncertainties. After driving pretty much the whole of Karnataka on National Highways, the trouble began when we try to cross over the border to Goa. We hit roadblocks or rather flood-blocks, and had to turn around 3–4 times, and drove an additional 150+ KM for about 2 hours.
As we finally cross pass the torrential rains, patched roads, and drove through the forest, we realized we were perhaps the only one driving along the long stretch of the winding roads. It was getting darker. The only thing I had in my mind was to get over to Goa before it becomes any darker. The worst part was that if we got blocked anymore, there was no way turning back the way we already drove.
We were lucky that we were able to go through the only route that was opened despite the flood. All routes were closed and were opened to the public on the day we traveled. We did finally saw the Goa border and the signs to Goa’s capital, “Panaji”, was a welcome relief. We took a tad longer router to our hotel, just so we can avoid another forest, even though it was shorter.
We did finally made it to the hotel. The family, after a hurried dinner, slept through the night.
The next two day was, of course, fun, frolic, and food. The kids loved it. We started our day at the hotel pool and drove around. The south of Goa is sparse, good for families which meant we had to drive long distances to get from one place to another.
Food is good and cheap in Goa during the monsoon. We started with our first lunch at Martin’s Corner.
A lovely food castle built by Mrs Carafina Pereira, the driving force behind this great food joint which was once a small cosy place with four tables is now a full-service restaurant & has become a favorite place for the food lovers.
We visited few beaches, only to later realized that Amara left her favorite “rainbow pencil” and had to drive all the way back to Martin’s to get it.
We finished the first day with dinner at the Fishermans Wharf, Morbor, Goa. Another fantastic restaurant.
The Fishermans Wharf is the ultimate culinary destination. Here, they blend great food, impeccable service, and a fantastic atmosphere to create the perfect dining experience for you. The Fishermans Wharf has captured the hearts of individuals as well as families alike, by serving traditional Goan delicacies and a bit of everything your palate desires.
Food on the second day was simpler. We started with a lazy lunch at the Mayfair Hideaway Spa Resort, Goa where stayed our nights. Nothing fancy but cozy and comfortable.
We grabbed drinks, fruits, and local food for the remainder of the day. We finished off with a light dinner at the the Robin’s Ark, Cavelossim, Goa.
We returned home the next day. The return journey wasn’t rosy either. Perhaps it was worse than the one we started. We took a detour on one of the forest routes and had to return to where we started because a bridge got flooded over. The only route that was working also got a bit of a landslide and had to wait for about 45min to be cleared.
The flood raged on and there was no sign of receding by the time we left Goa and much of Karnataka, and on our way to Bangalore.
Our family’s Aug 2019 journey from Bangalore to Goa would be something to remember. As usual, Goa was awesome — be it the season or not.
