NOTE : This post is a part of “Travel Goa
under Budget” which is a Goa travelogue providing trip advise and travel plan
to keep your expenses to the minimum so that you can enjoy the beauty of Goa in
a cheap and inexpensive manner but at the same time safe and memorable.
10 July 2011
In and around the Capital : Day 2 : Going
back to Margao and hunting accommodation
There are
technically two ways to reach the Margao from the Archaeological Museum.
One way is via Pondha
and the other is via Panaji and the
latter was the way through which I have arrived in.
As it was late in
the evening I didn’t want to risk out the former route and the other reason why
I didn’t want to take this route was that No…………..it wasn’t on the list of
place to accomplish my Goa travel challenge.
But as I previously
told my prime reason for visiting Goa was in order to look out for someone and I
just had a hunch that I may get information at Goa Engineering College which is
located in Farmagudi which I had previously figured out that it was at a
distance of approx. 6 kms from Pondha.
So I decided to
get to Panaji and then I will get a Shuttle Service (the point to point Bus
service provided by the Kadamba transport) to Margao which I was very much
familiar with.
I took a bus to Panaji
and I was once again delighted to enjoy
all the scenic beauty the party capital of India offered along the 10 km drive
from Old Goa to Panaji.
It was getting
darker but still I was trying to grab as much of the scenic vision it provided.
The bus finally arrived
at the location which I was very much accustomed to now the Panaji bus
terminus.
 |
| The place in Margao where the bus drops |
And having
delighted myself with another glass of cold coffee (this time he gave me a bit
extra) I took a ticket to Margao.
I was very much
awake now and wanted to see all those things on the road which I missed in the
morning. Even though it was quarter past six the outside scene was still visible
as it doesn’t get dark even till seven in the evening during July.
As the bus plied
forward I could get a glimpse of Goa Medical College and also the diversion
that would take one to Vasco via Dabolim (the Airport at Goa).
Seeing the
distance written there it doesn’t require much time to figure out that these
three pivotal cities of Goa ( Vasco, Panaji, Margao) are located in the vertices
of a equilateral triangle.
Then the bus
halted at the Margao bus terminus which was the place from where I have boarded
the bus this morning. Therefore I wasn’t wrong if I thought this was the
terminal of the bus and it was time for me to get down.
But I noticed
that there were still many who aren’t getting down and I was informed by the
conductor that the bus would go till the Margao market. This was a welcoming
news for me as it was only a couple of km from the railway station and
importantly this is the region where I was informed that I could get accommodation.
The bus dropped
me at the market place and if I am not wrong the building to my right was the
municipal building.
It had just
stopped raining and the roads were wet and there was freshness in the air and
chillness in the wind that was striking me.
 |
| Magao Municipal Council |
And now the big
task remained still at place : hunting for a accommodation safe and
inexpensive.
It is considered
that Goa is amongst the expensive states in India (whomsoever said this had no
concrete statistics or I wasn’t in that part of Goa that wasn’t expensive)
After having a brief
conversation with few of the localites in the market area I found out that
there are dormitories available for very low cost as low as Rs 30 per night.
I myself was
looking for such a accommodation as I was traveling under budget.
With enough
information in hand I ventured out into the market streets and I could see
various hotels offering both deluxe suites, budget rooms and also dormitory.
 |
| The neat and tidy seats |
Finally I decided
to stay in Vishranti Lodge as this
was suggested to me by 6 out of every 10 people whom I have inquired about accommodation.
And if you are wondering how many people I have asked about it was nearly 30 of
them and at different places along the I km stretch which I had walked towards
the railway station.
Vishranti
appeared to be a lodge in ruins and completely dilapidated from the looks it
offered from outside.
For a second it
appeared to be a vast ancestral home resembling the architecture similar to
those kinds of home in rural villages in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
I entered in and
the receptionist was warm and welcoming he asked the purpose of my visit and I told
him that I had a conference to attend in a particular college in Goa and they
only provided accommodation from the next day .
He asked my Id
for which I showed both my driving license and my student Id.
He showed me the
room first. It was a very small room with no charging point ( I noticed this
because I wanted to charge my phone and laptop) and no window. The room had a
cot with a mattress and a pillow as its only containment and you better don’t want
me to describe the pillow and the bedspread as it would have been probably
washed when the Portugese left Goa.
 |
| Margao market area |
He also showed me
the dormitory which had atleast 20 equally spaced beds lying on either side of
the aisle through which we were walking and to my surprise many of the
occupants belongings were simply lying there with least attention from their
owners.
There were also
hangers in which pants shirts were hanging and I was also informed by the
receptionist who was also the owner of the lodge that there are few people who
have been living with them for past 12 years.
This was a bit
shocking to me as it made me wonder what about their family and personal lives.
This was a kind
of place which I have never dwelled in.It was not so dirty or not so neat and
also the lighting was poor and pale .
Even though the
single room which he showed me costed Rs70 extra I preferred to stay there because
it was my first night out in a room in Goa and I wanted to be a bit cautious as
I have heard from various sources that Goa is a place known for its human
trafficking, man handling and also any time a call girl may pop up into your room
and you may be booked for various charges which I think you all are well aware
of.
 |
| The Vishranti Lodge |
Yes really the
human brain can go wild with imagination without even analyzing on any
statistical records and this would climb up exponentially if your fear
cooperates with what people fill your ears with.
And I would agree
that I too had few apprehensions regarding my safety of staying in an unknown
place, but my instincts somehow indicated me to go with it.
Yeah I forget to
tell you the bathroom and toilets were common but no need to worry as there were
roughly 15 of them.
And I told the
owner to book the room (I checked whether there was network inside that room,
just in case if I badly have to make a call during any emergency before someone
forcefully breaks open into my room) and told him that I would be back in
another half an hour as I had to go to the station to get my baggage.
I went and retrieved
my baggage from the cloak room and in the station itself I transferred data
from my mobile memory to My net book which I was carrying . I did this here
because I didn’t want anyone in the lodge to know that I was carrying a net
book with me.
 |
| The Central Park near Municipal Council |
15 minutes later I
decided to freshen up and changed and was now back to my normal after a hard
but an interesting day out in the capital. Naturally I was feeling hungry and I
went out (after locking my room with the lock I brought along with me) to treat
myself with Vada pav.
After having my
dinner around what was I guess quarter to eight I sat down in the reception and
had my mobile charged.
Meanwhile I had a
chat with the maintenance boy of the
lodge who told me that he ran away from his house somewhere near Lucknow and is
enjoying his stay here.
He told me
stories from various residents of this lodge which was a bit interesting, the
biggest fact which I still couldn’t take in was that some of the guests oops
sorry residents were atleast a decade old.
 |
| The Dormitory at Vishranti Lodge |
I entered my room
and I was still a bit nervous but also excitedly looking forward for tomorrow as
I had dreams of meeting the one whom I was looking for, the eagerness was high especially
if I succeed in finding the one I was
looking for we would be meeting after 8 long years ( this is the duration after
which friends usually meet in Hindi movies like rahul and anjali in “kuch kuch
hota hai”, Katrina and Neil Nitin Mukesh in “New York” )
So to find out
what fate holds me for tomorrow, I had to wait till tomorrow.
Bye Good Night.
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