Goa - Chapel of Mount Mary in Old Goa

Thursday, April 9, 2015

When I was in school, I had visited this church up in the hills. Alan my cousin was our guide to the churches in Old Goa. 

Sign board

 Most of the churches and chapels are located on ground level, except this one.

I remember Alan had taken us up hill to visit this chapel, called Chapel of Mount Mary. that's why the name Mount Mary.

 Chapel of Mount Mary

Though not many people know that this Chapel exists, we asked a vendor who guided us to this Chapel.

We were the only one here. a series of steps lead the the white colored Chapel.

 Closer view of  Chapel of Mount Mary

The Chapel was closed, there was no care taker either, so there was no way we could see it from the inside.

Not much is known about the history of this Chapel. 

Konkan Railway in a distance

The Chapel offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Old Goa, the other churches in Old Goa, the coconut trees, river Mandovi twisting and turning itself and off course the Konkan Railway. 

View of  River Mandovi from Chapel top

We sat here for a couple of minutes, to view the greenery all around us. we could even hear the chirping of the birds, something that I miss in the city. I didn't feel like leaving but had too as we had more places on our itinerary too. 

Panaromic View of churches and chapels in Old Goa

Namrata also told me that a couple of movies are also shot here, including GolMaal 2. 

Goa - Train to Goa

Thursday, August 21, 2014

I decided just a week in advance that I wanted to visit Goa in the rains.

Now as you all know that I don't travel alone, so I decided to ask my friends as to who can join me on such a short notice.

Finally Namrata who had accompanied me to Aurangabad, managed to get herself leaves to join me.

We booked the tickets six days in advance, though we were confident that we won't get tickets. 

We had two budget travel options, Konkan Railway and Bus.

Our first choice was the Mumbai CST Mangalore Junction Super Fast Express (12133) which departs from CST at 22:10 PM to arrive at Madgaon at 7:10 AM the next morning. We got Wait List tickets 67 and 68. We were confident that these tickets wouldn't get confirmed so we had to look for options. 

Our next choice was Dadar Madgaon Jan Shatabdi (12051). To our surprise tickets were available for this train. We wasted no time in booking the tickets. We booked the tickets on the IRCTC website. We booked a window and a middle seat at the train had chair car seats. The train departs at 5:25 AM from Dadar on the Central Line to reach Madgaon at 14:10 PM.

I boarded the train at Dadar. We had confirmed tickets in coach D7 seats 48 and 49. We didn't get the window seat but we got middle and aisle seats. First thoughts on this coach is, that the seats don't move backwards like in the buses going to Goa, and to top it the seats are very uncomfortable. I couldn't sit on them for for then 2 hours at a stretch. But this train reaches Goa in the shortest possible time. Namrata was to board the train at Thane. 

Kuch pane ke liye kuch khona padta hai. :( 

As it as the peak season the train was packed with passengers who had Wait List tickets too. These people accommodated themselves near the Entry points of the train and outside the Loos. Making life difficult for the commuters to commute between the compartments.   

The view around was truly awesome. Sadly we couldn't click any photos due to our seats. 

But we still managed to get beautiful glimpses all around. The Konkan Railway passes through the Konkan belt of Maharashtra, which is truly beautiful. It had rained here so it was green all around. 

The skies were blue, the rivers green, the hills a combo of green and brown. coconut and mango trees all around and tiny houses among st them. I don't mind living here. Totally disconnected from the city life.

Not sure if the train has a good pantry. But they serve cold drinks and eatables. Cost being above MRP. But hurry, as stocks don't last long. But good quality vada pav is served at Chiplun and Ratnagiri at Rs. 10 each. Do pack food articles to eat on the way along with water supplies.

I like the life in the village, a hard life though, which I find difficult to live. Get up early in the morning around 5 AM which the rooster as the alarm, to do homely chores and then go to the farm. Eat simple but nutritious products of their farm, then come home in the evening. But 8 PM call it a day and head to bed.  

I don't mind having a house near the riverbed. Fishing for food daily, nice na. Hope to do something like it when I retire from work.

This train journey has loads of bridges and tunnels on the way. One of the tunnel took us around 25 minutes to cross. Not sure as to what speed the train was running on. 

The train was delayed b 20 minutes and at 2:30 PM we were at Madgaon station.

The journey was tiring but as I said above Kuch pane ke liye kuch khona padta hai.

Next, we had to look out for a accommodation near Madgaon and I know of a place here, as I had stayed there when I had come for the Carnival in 2012 which happens somewhere in the months of February and March.