India Travel

Trains

Margao to: Chaudi (3 daily; 50min]; Colem (2 weekly; 55min): Delhi (1-2 daily; 26-35hr); Emakulam/Kochi (2 daily; 12—15hr 40mm); Gokam (1 daily; 2hr 10min); Hospel (2 weekly; 8hr 40min); Hubli (2 weekly; 5hr 30min); Mangalore/Kanakadi (5 daily; 4-6hr); Mumbai (2 daily; 12hr); Thiruvanantapuram (2 daily; 16hr 15min); Udupi (4 daily; 3hr 40min); Vasco da Gama (2 weekly; 30min).

Buses

Panjim to.Aramboi (12 daily; 1hr 45min); Aurangabad (1 daily; 16hr); Baga (every 30min; 45min): Bijapur (7 daily: 10hr); Calangute (every 30min; 40min); Candolim (every 30min; 30min); Chaudi (hourly: 2hr 15mm); Gokama (2 daily; 5hr 30min); Hampi (2 daily; 9-IOhr): Hospel (3 daily; 9hr): Hubli (hourly; 6hr); Hyderabad (1 daily. 18hr); Kolhapur (hourly; Shr); Mahabaleshwar (1 daily;12hr); Mangalore (4 daily; 10hr); Mapusa (every 15min; 25min); Margao (every 15min; 55min|; Mumbai (6 daily; 14-1 Shr); Mysore (2 daily; 17hr); Old Goa (every 15min; 20min); Ponda (hourly: 50mm); Pune (7 daily: I2hr); Vasco da Gama (every 15min; 45min-1hr), Mapusa to: Anjuna (hourly; 30min); Arambol (12 daily; 1 hr 45min): Saga (hourly; 30min); Calanguie (hourly; 45mm); Chapora (every 30min; 3CM0min); Mumbai (6 daily; 13-17hr); Panjim (every 15min; 25min); Vagator (every 30min; 25-35min|.

Margao to:Agonda (4 daily; 2hr); Benaulim (every 30mirt; 15min); Chaudi (every 30min; 1 fir 40min); Cavelossim (8 daily; 30min); Chandor (hourly; 45min); Colva (every 15min; 20-30min); Gokama (1 daily; 4hr 30min); Hampi (1 nightly; 10hr); Karwar (every 30min; 2hr): Lutolim (8 daily; 30min); Mangalore (5 daily; 7hr); Mapusa (10 daily; 2hr 30min); Mobor (8 daily; 35min); Mumbai (2 daily 16_i8hr): Panjim (every 30min; 50min)

Gama to: Bangalore (1 daily; 16hr); 30min); Mangalore (2 daily; 11hr); every 5mm: 40min); Panjim, via Sao every 1 Smin; 45min-1hr); Pilar (every 15min. 30min}-lim to: Cavelossim (hourly; Zomin); Colva 30mln: 20min); Margao (every 30min; SminV Mobor (hourly; 25min}.Chaudi to: Panjim (hourly; 2hr 15min); Gokama (1daily 3hr); Kamar (every 30min; 11k); Margao(every 30min; 1hr 40min); Palolem (2 daily; 15min).

Flights

Dabolim airport (Vasco da Gama) to: Bangalore (2 daily; 1 hr 30min-2hr 25min); Chennai (Madras) (2 weekly: 3hr); Cochin (2 weekly; 1hr); Delhi (4 weekly; 2hr 25min|; Hyderabad (4 weekly: 2hr 55minj; Mumbai (3-6 daily; 40min).

The Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, 10km southeast of Chaudi, was established in 1969 to protect a remote and vulnerable area of forest lining the Goa-Karnataka border. Encompassing 86 square kilometres of mixed deciduous woodland, the reserve is certain to inspire tree-lovers, bur less likely to yield many wildlife sightings: its tigers and leopards were hunted out long ago, while the gazelles, sloth bears, porcupines, panthers and hyenas that allegedly lurk in the woods rarely appear. You do, however, stand a good chance of spotting at least two species of monkey, a couple of wild boar and the odd gaur (the primeval-looking Indian bison). Best visited between October and March Cotigao is a peaceful and scenic park that makes a pleasant day-trip from Palolem, 12km northwest. Any of the buses running south on the NH-14 to Karwar via Chaudi will drop you within 2km of the gates. However, to explore the inner reaches of the sanctuary, you really need your own transport. The wardens at the reserve’s small Interpretative Centre will show you how to get to a 25m-high tree-top watchtower, overlooking a waterhole that attracts a handful of animals around dawn and dusk. Written permission for an overnight stay, either in the watchtower or the Forest Department’s small Rest House, must be obtained from the Deputy Conservator of Forests, 3rd Floor, Junta House, Panjim (©0832/45926), as far in advance of your visit as possible. If you get stuck, however, the wardens can arrange a tent, blankets aiid basic food.

The Konkan Railway has also improved train services to Delhi, which can now be reached on the superfast Rajdhani Express #2431 in a little under 26 hours (Tues & Tnurs only), a slower daily service, the Mangala Lakshadweep Express #2617, takes nearly 38 hours to cover the same distance. Alternatively, you can fly to the capital th Indian Airlines or Jet in 2hr 45min from around $245 one-way.

uated at the far (south) end of the beach. The better of the pair is the Dunhill It Beach Resort (0832/647328), which has twelve simple en-suite room with small verandas opening onto a sandy enclosure. It’s a clean and peaceful place, and the family who run it serve spicy Goan-fried mackerel, calamari rice and curry to order on their small terrace If they are full.Caferns ( 0832/647235; 0) down the road is a good fall-back.

From Goa, the fastest and most convenient way to travel down the coast to Gokarn is via the Konkan Railway. At 2.10pm, train #KR001 leaves Margao, passing through Chaudi at 3pm en route to Gokarn Road, the town’s railhead, where it arrives at around 4.20pm. The station lies 9km east of Gokarn itself, but buses and rickshaws are on hand to shuttle passengers the rest of the way. As this is classed as a passenger service, you don’t have to buy tickets in advance; just turn up at the station 30-45min before the departure time and pay at the regular ticket counter. As ever, it is a good idea to check timings in advance, through any tourist office or travel agent.

Buses take as much as two-and-a-half hours longer to cover the same route. A direct service leaves Margao’s interstate stand in the north of town daily at 1pm. You can also get there by catching any of the services that run between Goa and Mangalore, and jumping off either at Ankola, or at the Gokarn junction on the main highway, from where frequent private minibuses and tempos run into town.

The Konkan highway is straightforward by motorcycle, with a better-than-aver-age road surface, and frequent fuel stops along the way. Travelling on a rented bike also gives you the option of heading down sandy side lanes to explore some of the gorgeous beaches glimpsed from the road. Aside from the obvious dangers involved In motorcycling on Indian highways, the main drawback is crossing the border, which can involve a baksheesh transaction.

Two or three clapped-out government buses leave Panjim’s Kadamba stand (plat-rm 9)eacn morn*n9 for Hospet,tne last one at 10.30am. Brace yourself for a long, hard slog; all being well, it should take nine or ten hours, but delays and breakdowns are frustratingly frequent. Tickets for Kadamba and KSRTC (Karnatakan State Road Transport Corporation) services should be booked at least one day in advance at the hatches in the bus stand.

From Margao, you can also travel to Hampi on a swish new night bus, complete with pneumatic suspension and berths. The service, operated by a firm called Paulo Travels, leaves from a lot next to the Nanutel Hotel on Margao’s Rua da Padre Miranda, at 6pm, arriving in Hampi early the next morning. Tickets cost around Bs375 and can be bought from most reputable travel agents around the state. Although the coach is comfortable enough, the coffin-like berths can get very hot and stuffy, making sleep very difficult; moreover, there have been compaints from women of harassment during the night on this service.

A much less stressful option than the bus is the twice-weekly train service, which leaves from Vasco (at 6.50am) and Margao (7.21am) stations on Tuesdays and Saturdays, arriving in Hospet just over eight and a half hours later at 4pm. Tickets can be bought on the day at either point of departure. This is a wonderful rail journey, taking you one of the wildest stretches of the Western Ghats, including the Dudhsagar Falls area. Travelling in the other direction, trains leave Hotspot at 10.45am on Mondays and Fridays, and arrive in Margao at 6.45pm.

If you’re heading north to Mumbai, the quickest and easiest way is by plane. Between three and six planes leave Goa’s Daboiim airport daily. One-way fares for the forty-minute flight range from $53 with Indian Airlines, or $83 with Sahara, to $93 ($72 for under 30s) with swisher Jet. In addition, Air India operate an Airbus service to Mumbai on Mondays and Thursdays. Few people seem to know about this flight, so you can nearly always get a seat on it; the one drawback is that you have to check in three hours before departure as Air India is an international carrier. Wherever possible, try to book tickets directly through the airline (for addresses see Listings on). Private agents charge you the dollar fare at poor rates of exchange, although when you take into account the cost of the taxi and hassle involved in travelling to the airline office, the net saving of booking direct may seem irrelevant.

Since the inauguration of the Konkan Railway in 1996, journey times to Mumbai from Goa have been slashed from twenty-four to twelve hours. Two services run daily, the most convenient of them being the Konkan-Kanya Express (#0112), which departs from Margao at 6.15pm, arriving at CST (still commonly known as “Victoria Terminus", or “VT") at 6.35am the following day. The other fast train from Margao to Mumbai CST is the Madgaon-Mumbai Express (#0104).

The cheapest, though most nightmarish, way to get to Mumbai is by night bus, which takes fourteen to eighteen hours, covering 500km of rough road at often terrifying speeds. Fares vary according to levels of comfort, and luxury buses arrive two or three hours sooner. Book Kadamba bus tickets at their offices in the Panjim and Mapusa bus stands (daily 9-11 am & 2-5pm); private companies sell theirs through the many travel agents immediately outside the bus stand in Panjim, and at the bottom of the square in Mapusa. The most popular private service to Mumbai, and the most expensive, is the 24-seater run by a company called Paulo Travels. A cramped berth on this bus (which bizarrely you may have to share) costs Rs600, and it is worth pointing out that women travellers have complained of harassment during the journey. For tickets, contact Paulo Holiday Makers, near the Kadamba bus stand, Panjim (0832/223736) or at Hotel Nanutel. opposite Club Harmonia, Margao (0834/721516). Information on all departures and fares is available from Goa Tourism’s counter inside Panjim’s bus stand (see Arrival, information and local transport).

Wherever possible, try and book plane tickets directly through the airline as private agents charge the dollar fare at poor rates of exchange; addresses of airline offices in Panjim are listed on p.867. Seats on ail Konkan Railway services can be booked at the KRC reservation office on the first floor of Panjim’s Kadamba bus stand (Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 8am-2pm), or at KRC’s main reservation hail in Margao station (Mon-Sat 8arrM.30pm, Sun 8am-2pm 0834/712780). Make your bookings as far in advance as possible, and try to get to the offices soon after opening time - the queues can be horrendous. Seats on the Konkan Railway from Goa to Mumbai are in notoriously short supply as the lion’s share of the quotas goes to longer-distance travellers from Kerala, with the result that peak periods tend to be reserved up to two months in advance, Book Kadamba bus tickets at their offices in Panjim and Mapusa bus stands (daily 9-11am S 2-5pm); private companies sell theirs through the many travel agents immediately outside the bus stand in Panjim, and at the bottom of the square in Mapusa. Information on all departures and fares is available from Goa Tourism’s counter inside Panjim’s bus stand.

For a full rundown of destinations reachable from Goa by bus, train and plane, see Travel Details at the end of this chapter.

AGONDA, 10km north of Chaudi, can only be reached along the sinuous coast road connecting Cabo da Rama with NH-14 at Chaudi. No signposts mark the turning and few of the tourists that whizz past en route to Palolem PUU off here, but the beach, fringed along its entire length by toddi trees, is superb. Its remote location is not the only reason this three-kilometre spread of white sand has been bypassed by the bulldozers. Villagers here are opposed to arty kind of tourist development. In 1982, when a group of absentee landlords sold offa chunk of the beach to a Delhi-based hotel chain, the locals refused to vacate the plot, insisting the proposed five-star hotel and golf course would ruin heif traditional livelihoods. Faced with threats of violent resistance, and procted legal battles, the developers eventually backed down, and the unfinished concrete hulk they left behind is today the only unsightly structure for miles. his acrimonious episode may in part explain the relative scarcity in Agonda facilities for visitors. At present, there are only two places to stay, both sit.

CHAUDI (aka Chauri, or Canacona), 33km south of Margao, is Canacona district’s charmless headquarters. Packed around a noisy junction on the main Panjim-Mangalore highway, it is primarily a transport hub, of interest to visitors only because of its proximity to Palolem, 2km west. Buses to and from Panjim. Margao, and Karwar in Karnataka ialuka trundle in and out of a scruffy square on the main street, from where taxis and auto-rickshaws ferry passengers to the villages scattered across the surrounding fields. The area’s only pharmacy stands just off the crossroads, handy if you’re staying in Palolem.

If you spend much time in Palolem, you’re sure to nip into Chaudi to shop for provisions, or simply soak up its gritty Indian atmosphere, which comes as a bit of a shock after the dreamy beaches nearby. The small covered market is an essential source of fresh fruit and vegetables; several stalls sell stoves, cooking equipment and other hardware, while the excellent Udipi Hotel, a short way south of the main crossroads, is one of the few places for miles where you can eat pukka South Indian food: try their filling Rsl5 thalis, or spicy fried pakora and samosas - all freshly prepared, and piping hot if you come around jpm.They also do delicious lassis, sweetened with traditional syrups.

Local resistance Co large-scale development explains why - with the exception of the Beach Resort’s tent camp, Bhakti Kutir in nearby Colom (see below) and a handful of small budget guesthouses - most of the village’s accommodation consists of simple palm-leaf huts. Costing anywhere between Rs100 and Rs35(l per night, they vary in size and standards of comfort, but tend to have shared showers and toilets. The other option is to look for a room in a family home. Most, although not all, of these also have limited shared washing facili’ ties and pig toilets. The easiest way to find a place is to walk around the palm groves behind the beach with a rucksack; sooner or later someone will approach you. Rates vary from Rs100 to Rs200 per night, depending on the size of the room, and the time of year.

The cheapest places, however, are to be found in Colom, around the headland south of Palolem village, where Hindu fishing families rent the odd room out to tourists. Further south still, behind Patnem beach, the shack erect rudimentary leaf huts slap on the beach.

Beautifully situated and sensitively designed to blend with the landscape by German-Goan owners.

Bha Kti Kutir, on the headland above Colom fishing Village 0832/643460 or 643472, 643469. Homely, eco friendly that ched village huts equipped with Western amenities (including completely biodegradable chemical toilets], in a secure, leafy compound five minutes’ walk from the south end of Palolem

Ciaran’s Camp, middle of the beach 0832/643477 or 644074. One of Palolem’s longest established hut structures, sharing five toilets,equipped with fans, mozzie nets, mirrors and tables. Free library, laundry, bar. restaurant and safe lockers.

Coco Huts. south end of Palolem beach - 08 3 2/643104. That sty bamboo and palm-thatch huts on stills, lashed to toddi trees around a sandy clearing, slap on the beach. The “rooms” have fans, electric lights and safe lockers, but toilets are shared, and the leaf walls offer little privacy.

Cozy Nook, north end of the beach, near the island T 0832/643550. After Bhakti Kutir. this is the most attractively designed setup in the village, comprising 25 bamboo huts (sharing 7 toilets, but with good mattresses, mozzie nets, safe lockers and fans) opening onto the lagoon on one side and the beach on the other - an unbeatable spot, which explains the higher than average tariffs.

Cupid Castle, on the road to the beach-front 0832/643326. An original name, but these recently built rooms are characterless, and a little too close to the beach-front tor comfort.

Nonetheless, they’re clean, spacious, and have attached bathrooms.

O’Malley. Pundalik Gaitondi Road 0332/643057.A mix of attached and non-attached rooms on three storeys, some in a concrete annexe set back from the main road.

La Alegro, north side of the beach 0832/643498. En-suite rooms slap on the Deach. Very basic and not all that well maintained,but the location’s great. The same owner also has five more (cheaper) identikit rooms around the Dack.

Maria’s. south of the village, near the Classic restaurant 0832/643732 or 643856. Five simple rooms opening onto an orchard of banana, fruit and spice trees. All with attached shower-toilets, and very friendly management. Nice little bar-restaurant, Rn phone and internet access on site. A good deal. Q Norgoa, Gaitondi Road (no phone). Half a dozen basic rooms ot varying size, with shared shower-toilets, on the main road through the village. They also have six budget-priced bamboo “huts’ m trie front garden.

Palolem Beach Resort, on the beach-front 0832/643054, 643054. Twin-bedded canvas tents, each with their own locker, lights and fans, grouped under a shady toddi grove in a walled compound. In addition, there’s a handful of small en-suite rooms. The big drawback here is noise from the busy terrace restaurant. Sea Gull, next door to Cupid Castle. Dark but serviceable rooms with attached shower-toilets behind a bar near the beach-front area.

Unic Resort, Tembi Waddo 0832/643059. A relative newcomer that, strictly speaking, is in Colom, a “10mm walk inland from the beach; you can also get here via the backroad to Chaudi. The rooms are plain but clean, with fans and en-suite bathrooms, and there’s a secluded German-run restaurant on an adjacent terrace.