A seaside drive
Renu Manish Sinha

AS the Air Deccan flight descends down the Bajpe airport in Mangalore, the eye registers a vast lush expanse dotted with clusters of buildings. In the parking lot of the airport are eight brand new Elantras, launched recently by Hyundai Motors. The company has organised a test drive from Mangalore to Goa for journalists and automobile experts to judge the roadworthiness of the vehicle.

As we zip out of the airport on to National Highway-17, which will take us to Goa, the narrow road is full of curves and bends. On our left, the Mangalore Refineries loom large with their fire-spitting chimneys.

Soon we come to NH-17, which is not very wide. As we drive toward Udipi, the road is dotted with bridges across estuaries, bays, backwaters and mangroves. From Udipi to Kundapur, the narrow highway gets noisy with overloaded trucks, lorries and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses.

At Kundapur, we stop for lunch and get to savour the best of Karavalli cuisine. There is kane fry (whole lady fish seasoned with finely-ground Mangalorean spices and deep fried), pomfret pollichathu (black pomfret marinated in Malabar masala, wrapped in banana leaves and pan fried) with rich payasam (a concoction of coconut milk, jaggery and roasted, powdered chana dal powder) to end the meal on a sweet note.

The next stop is Maravanthe beach. At this point I get behind the wheels. The car is smooth to handle even for a novice like me. The 15-km distance to the beach is covered without any hitch despite my apprehensions.

Maravanthe is a seaside town where NH-17 cruises along with Arabian Sea on one side and the Sauparnika river on the other against a mountainous background. The Maravanthe beach is a picturesque virgin beach with no tourists to spoil miles and miles of white sand.

After Maravanthe, the next major stop is another seaside town, Karwar, 70 km from Panaji. The drive to Goa is interspersed with stopovers at small unspoiled beaches, bays and other water bodies with gentle undulating hills forming the backdrop.

We reach Goa just around sunset. It is another one-hour drive to the hotel through the narrow bylanes of south Goa. It is full of roadside pubs and restaurants with their soft flickering lights beckoning you to surrender to their warm hospitality.

Goa — the land of sea and sand. The visit would not be complete without a feel of the sea and sand. So, a few of us go for a post-dinner stroll at the Arossim beach near our hotel. As the waves crash on the beach in the darkness, the quiet stretch of sand makes for a calm retreat away from the noise and the crowds. It turns out to be a truly rejuvenating break.

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