A view to your right at the Agonda Beach

This is a view to your right on the Agonda beach. You can view either ends, the beach is between 3 to 4 km long and is a beautiful crescent shape.
Posted by Picasa

Beach Huts on the Agonda Beach


This is another view of beach huts on the Agona beach. There are plenty of beach huts both on the Agonda beach and Palolem beach. The rates vary depending upon the season.
Posted by Picasa

Beach Huts on the Agonda Beach

Beach huts are a common site on the Agonda and Palolem beach. Its a wonderful experience staying right on the beach.
Posted by Picasa

A view to your left at the Agonda Beach

Agonda Beach is a bay beach with headlands on eitherside. Its pretty long and is approximately between 3 to 4 km long.
Posted by Picasa

St. Annes Church at Agonda Beach

This is At. Annes Church, behind is the famous Agonda Beach. Besides the world famous beaches, Goa also boasts of beautiful churches and temples.
Posted by Picasa

On the way to Agonda Beach


This is a view on the way to the beautiful Agonda beach. This scene is typical of the Goan environment. In monsoon the Goan fields are lush green.
Posted by Picasa

Train Travel Tips- Mumbai to Goa and other places

If you are coming to Goa from Mumbai, there is no network of trains involved. However if you are coming from elsewhere in India a lot of train network is involved and you need to make sure your train booking and reservation is perfect.
1) Check and make sure the details on your ticket are correct.
2) You need to understand that CNF stands for confirmed ticket, RAC is Reserved Against Cancellation and WL is Wait List. If your ticket is of WL status you do not have a right to enter the compartment. With RAC status atleast you will have a seat.
3) Carry some sort of personal identification document.
4) Avoid second class travel.
5) Carry a lock and a chain normally available at the railway stations to secure your baggage to the seat.
6) Never pay any agents no matter what promises they make. Indian railways has come out with a service called as 'Tatkal' to avoid any middleman, agents or touts.
7) Under the Tatkal service you can purchase tickets at the normal ticket counters by paying an extra charge. This service starts 5 days before the journey date. This service is useful incase you need to purchase tickets at a short notice or unplanned visits.
8) Following are some useful Indian Railways websites;
9) For the sole purpose of reservation;
1A- is first AC
2A- 2 tier AC
3A-3 tier AC
CC-AC Chair Car
SL-Sleeper Class
10) Train Coaches are designated as follows;
H1, H2 etc- first AC
A1, A2 etc - 2 tier AC
B1, B2 etc - 3 tier AC
S1, S2 etc - Sleeper Class
We hope the above information is useful, have a safe and hassle free journey.

Mumbai to Goa by Konkan Railway

After having viewed some beautiful beaches in South Goa and before we move to other beaches we will now tell you how you can come to Goa from Mumbai formerly Bombay by train.
Konkan Railway is in service for the last 10 years. The Konkan Railway project is a masterpiece. It has reduced train journey travel duration by over 50%.
The Konkan Railway journey from Mumbai to Goa is very exciting and comfortable. As the name suggests the train travels through the lush green Konkan region. This region is famous for its delicious Ratnagiri Alfonso Mangoes.
The Konkan Railway website Konkanrailway.com provides a lot of information which includes the train timetable, fares, online booking, seat availability. Besides this passenger information, the Konkan Raiway website provides other information such as the total number of stations, the station names, the current position of the train, the number of tunnels, the tunnel lengths, the number of bridges, the longest bridge, the number of viaducts, the tallest viaduct and more.
The journey from Mumbai to Goa is around 11 hours and there is a pantry in the train, lunch and dinner is not a problem.
We are providing below for ready reference the train names, departure and arrival times;
All times are in IST.
1) Train Number 0103 Mandovi Express departsfrom Mumabi CST (Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus) at 6.55 am and arrives Goa Margao station at 6.45 pm.
2) Train Number 0104 Mandovi Express departs from Goa Margao station at 9.40 am and arrives Mumbai CST at 11.45 pm
3) Train Number 0111 Konkan Kanya departs from Mumbai CST at 11.05 pm and arrives Goa Margao station at 10.45 am.
4) Train Number 011 Konkan Kanya departs from Goa Margao station at 6.00 pm and arrives Mumbai CST at 5.50 am.
5) Train Number 6345 Netravati Express departs from Mumbai LTT (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) at 11.40 am and arrives Goa Margao station at 12.40 pm
6) Train Number 6346 Netravati Express departs from Goa Margao station at 5.45 am and arrives Mumbai LTT at 4.40 pm.
7) Train Number 2051 Jan Shatabdi departs from Mumbai CST at 5.10 am and arrives Goa Margao station at 2.10 pm.
8) Train Number 2052 Jan Shatabdi departs from Goa Margao station at 2.30 pm and arrives Mumbai CST at 11.20 pm
9) Train Number 2619 Matsyagandha departs from Mumbai LTT at 2.05 pm and arrives Goa Margao station at 12.10 am.
10) Train Number 2620 Matsyagandha departs from Goa Margao station at 8.45 pm and arrives Mumbai LTT at 6.35 am.
We have provided details of all the trains available from Mumbai to Goa and Goa to Mumbai. Depending on your travel plans you can make the required bookings. So go ahead and have a safe and pleasant journey.
We will provide a separate post on some travel tips regarding ticket bookings and other tips.

How to go to Palolem Beach

Palolem Beach is in south Goa. One has to go to Canacona to reach their. Canacona is one of Goa's taluka. To be able to go to Canacona you have to come to the Kadamba bus stand at Fatorda which is very close to Margao city. Some buses go directly to Palolem via Canacona from the Fatorda bus stand but the frequency is not good. Hence it is better to take the bus going to Canacona and alight at the last stop which is called the Canacona bus stand this is also called as Chaudi. The journey is roughly 1 hr and 20 min covering a distance of around 45 km. The fare is Rs.19. From the bus stand at Canacona you can get buses going directly to Palolem beach which is around 20 min away and the fare is Rs.7, the frequency is not good. In case you are impatient to wait for the direct bus, you can take the bus going to Agonda if available. You will need to tell the bus driver that you are going to Palolem Beach and he will drop you at the Agonda-Palolem junction. From the junction it is 2 km distance and you can walk it out. The fare would be in the range of Rs.5.
Alternatively you can hire an autorickshaw from the Canacona bus stand. The fare is Rs.50 not per person but per ride. It is recommended to fix the rate before you hire the autorickshaw. If you have decided to hit the beach straight from the airport you could do that as well that will be around 60 km journey. At the Dabolim airport you can hire a prepaid taxi, the taxi counter is run by the government and is outside the airport. In this way you will be satisfied that you have been charged the correct fare and not more. So why wait, get to the Palolem Beach and have a great time.