Finally this trip came after long. A long waited time. It was mid-October, one of my best friend got engaged. And soon enough he was getting married. There was no much time left. With things going in this fast pace, we really dint have much time for a trip. Finally after struggling, we found one time slot , ideal for all of us, Karnataka Rajyotsava, Nov 1, was a holiday and finally we all had some time for some trek.
Finally after going through places, we finally finalized on Goa-Belgaum Border. Even though I had been to Goa plenty of times, this time the trip was gonna be different. I was sure we would be exploring that side of Goa, which is never talked about. Also, the very famous Dudhsagar falls,which I have already written here, also lies in this stretch, attracting so many visitors. So, no doubt there are innumerable places in this stretch of western ghat.
And hence, in next 2 days everything was set. We would all meet at Belgaum, a day prior to Rajyotsava. From there we would head towards Amboli, then enter Goa. Then slowly move towards South Goa, trek few falls, and then return back.
Day 1:
All of us met in Belagavi. One of our friend was actually based in Belagavi and this helped us a lot. So quickly that day we started off from Belagavi. The first thing we decided to visit was the Amboli waterfalls. It was around 70kms from Belagavi, but we had our transport, and hence it was fine. After a heavy breakfast at friend's place, we started off from Belagavi by around 9 in the morning. On the way to Amboli, we thought of exploring few more places.
The first pit stop came almost 50kms away from belagavi, Nangartaswadi Mandir. The temple was a small temple, but besides it was a beautiful waterfalls, just close by the road.
After this we next headed towards Ghatkarwadi Dam. It was around another 5kms in direction opposite to the Amboli waterfalls. This was a beautiful picturesque place, with a very huge water body, and green vegetation around. It was more of a perfect place for picnic. There were hardly any people around, making it both quite and calm, in midst of nature.
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| Huge lake by the banks of Ghatkarwadi Dam |
From here, we headed to Kavalesaad, aka Kavalshet. Its a beautiful mountain range, with amazing views & numerous waterfalls to spot by. After spending some time in this beautiful Kavalshet, we finally headed towards Amboli falls.
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| Amazing view from Kavalaset |
On the way to Amboli, just before the falls, there's one more view point. But since it was quite sunny already we decided to skip it. Amboli was quite crowded, with so much people around, even though it was a week day. We were just wondering how would it be, especially on a long weekend like weekend tomorrow. The water wasnt full, it was in its reclining levels. Anyhow since we werent gonna get down to water due to the rush around, it was fine for us. We were already hungry by now, but there was nothing great to eat around. We just had some quick snacks in the small shops just opposite to the falls.
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| Very famous Amboli waterfalls |
From here, we were to head to Goa. But now that it was almost around 2 and we hadnt had a proper lunch, we decided to stop for lunch in Sawantwadi. Sawantwadi, is a border town in Maharashtra, but its very famous for the Khanavali's. After searching for sometime we found one amazing home made place, Sadhale Mess. Even at around 3, the place was full, and we had to wait for around 30 mins to get in. But it was a very delicious veg lunch, worth the half an hour wait.
After our good lunch,we headed towards Goa. We were looking for Hostels for our stay as it had good entertainment along. We found one near Anjuna beach, very very close to beach, but the rooms were almost full there. Hence we headed towards Baga, and finally found one, Cohostel Backpackers Hostel, to call off for the day.
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| A good place to relax - CoHostel Goa |
Day 2:
The next day we all woke up quite lately. After having the complementary breakfast at the hostel, we started off to our next destination. We were to go towards East , Netravali wildlife sanctuary. Since it was around 2+ hours from here, we decided to give pit stops on our way. Our first pit stop came at a roadside dhaba, somewhere in outskirts of Panaji. From here we next headed to Salaulim Dam. Salaulim Dam is located on the Salaulim River, and has a dam, quite different from the regular dams. Though the dams operational through out the year, water falls only in the months of Monsoon, and couple of months post monsoon. The dam has a small entrance fee to be paid, but is worth it. Apart from dam, it also has beautiful garden, play area, medicinal garden too.
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| Some fun activity near Salaulim Dam |
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| A very different Dam- Salaulim Dam |
From here, we headed next to Netravali willife sanctuary. By the time we reached it was around 4pm. The gaurds at the entrance, dint allow visiting the falls, as we had to trek and it usually takes time. Moreover the entrance to falls, close by around 5pm. Hence we thought we will explore some other falls. Just on our way to wildlife sanctuary, we spotted a board saying Palli waterfalls. Since we dint have any other major tasks for the day we thought of heading to it.
We parked our car at a point, and started walking. Upon inquiring localities, we got to know that it takes around 1+ hours to the falls. Initially the roads were all wide, with few trees fallen along the road. But walking around it wasnt a problem. Finally after walking for hour, we came upon a board showing directions for the Pali waterfalls. But when we headed in that direction, we couldnt spot the actual waterfalls. It was all confusing with no one to guide us. We roamed around the place for around 1 hour, finally found something similar to falls. We also had some snake encountering experience of Viper snake. Lucky enough, none of us stamped it, though it was just cms away from the pathway. It was already getting dark, and since neither of us had seen the actual Pali waterfalls we consoled over-selves with it, and headed back to car.
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| View post sunset - enroute Palli waterfalls |
By the time we reached car, it was already night, hence we set off searching for stay. Luckily we found one, around 3-4kms from Netravali wildlife sanctuary. This place, Netra Tourist Guest House as the only hotel/homestay around. We called off for the day.
Day 3:
It was a big day today. Morning we checked out of the room, had some local breakfast and headed to sanctuary. After paying entrance charges, we first visited Savri waterfalls. This was around 1km walk from the main road. The waterfalls was amazing and we were the first visitors of the day.
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| Beautiful Savri Waterfalls |
After spending some time here, we set off to see the local villages inside sanctuary. To our dismay we found one more board of Mainapi waterfalls. We were supposed to visit this too. Since we already had this in the list, we started off. It was more like a back side entrance to the falls. We almost trekked more than half way, when we lost the way. There was no way further, and more than the way, all of us were concerned more about the blood sucking leaches around. Hence we thought of calling off, and were returning back towards our car, when we spotted one more waterfalls, Udengi Watefalls.
Udengi watefalls had literally nobody around. It was more like a view from the top, and due to lack of visitors the path was fully filled with bushes. We had to make the pathway to reach the falls. After a free fish pedicure here, we headed back. We were already hungry, and thought we will just go back.
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| Not so explored Udengi Waterfalls |
It was on our way that we spotted the actual way of Mainapi waterfalls. This one was a very well spread road, preferably for a jeep or two wheeler. Finally after having to walk like around 5kms from the car, we found the falls. This was a majestic one, water falling from quite high. Even this was so empty, we were the only ones there. We got into water, and after spending some time here, we headed back to car.
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| Gigantic Mainapi Waterfalls |
After having some food at roadside eatery, we were thinking where to go next. We dint want any more trekking for the trip, we were already tired. Hence we decided to go back to Goa, and just chill. Since south Goa was close by, we decided to visit Palolem.
We reached Palolem by around 6 in the evening. Searched for room, since we dint have any pre-bookings. Finally we found one, just by the side of the beach, within our budget. We called off for the day.
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| A common sight in Goa Beaches - Palolem |
Day 4:
This was the last day of us here. Tonight all 4 of us would be heading in different directions. Hence, we though to spend some time here rather than wasting time travelling. Since we were already in Palolem we decided to do some beach activity. Palolem has a range of beach activity, including kayaking. But since it was already around noon, we dint want to Kayak in the hot sun. Hence we thought of going for the island ride. Finally after bargaining, we found one guy, who would take us to Islands. We set off from Palolem, visiting Butterfly beach, Honeymoon beach, also spotting few dolphins.
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| En-route to island visits |
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| Some hands to get the boat off shore |
Post the beach ride, we had lunch at shacks. Now it was time for us to depart, until our next trip. One of our friend took a train from here, while we three headed back to Belagavi to catch bus from here.
Overall the trip was quite joyful, covering all different types of places. Most of the places mentioned are definitely worth the visit, but more importantly in the right season. And there's definitely a lot in Goa than just the usual beaches. One should just have an eye for it.
