Chandor Church
In the morning of 23rd August at 8:0 am we gathered at the Chandor Church and put everybody’s bags in the car as most of them were traveling on bikes. We were all together 22 of us, including my 5-year-old brother and me. There were two cars and eight bikes. After we finished loading our bags in the car, our first stop was at Almakhuris where we all gathered and said a small prayer for our safe journey.
We traveled to Canacona where we stopped at Chapoli dam, where we had a beautiful sight of the river and the mountains. Uncle Julio also took a dip in the water. Further down South we entered Gaondongrim village and en route to Neturlim, we saw a small waterfall where many of the boys had a bath. It was here that a leech crawled up me and after I screamed to bring the roof down, my mother flicked it away.
On the way to Neturlim we saw some big mountains with different shades of green and clouds like cotton floating in air. We also spotted a monkey sitting on a tree. We saw different types of trees.
We went to a lake at Neturlim, which was the bubble lake or what is called the budbudeanchem tollem in Konkani. This is the lake where if you clap hands or make a loud sound, bubbles start coming up from the bottom. After this bubble lake, we went to Sanguem town where we had our lunch and the food was good.
After lunch, we were on the way to Tambdi Surla. To go to Tambdi Surla we went through a jungle. At Tambdi Surla was a beautiful temple, which looked magnificent in its blackish gray colour. This temple is right in the middle of the jungle with a stream flowing in front of it.
From Tambdi Surla we headed to Valpoi and stopped for the night at Anjunem Dam. We had a lot of difficulty in arranging for dinner since it was Ganesh festival, as most of the people in this area are Hindus. But somehow we managed and arranged food for the night. Although my brother and I, along with some of the other grown up men went to visit the Anjunem dam, we could not see much since it was dark.
The Inspection Bungalow where we stayed that night was a nice and peaceful place where you could view the river in the middle of the mountains. Early the next morning, we were all up to start the next day’s journey.
The first stop we made was at the Aravalem caves and then we visited the Aravalem waterfall. We also visited a Hindu house and saw the deity of Lord Ganesh. Next we went over the swing bridge in Mayem and then visited the Corjuvem fort. In this fort there is a small chapel of St. Anthony. After visiting the fort we passed over the cable stayed bridge in Aldona.
We also visited a village called Ibrampur at the border of Goa and Maharashtra. After the visit to this village, we stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants along the highway since we had to head to the Terekol Fort. While traveling from Ibrampur, we experienced heavy showers.
We passed through Malpem and Pernem and headed straight for the ferry to visit the Terekol Fort. After crossing the ferry, it was a five-minute drive to the fort. As we entered the fort, it was the most amazing sight I have seen in my life. We could see the sea for hundreds of meters across. We got on the ferry back to head back to Chandor. We were nearing the end of our journey.
We passed through Mandrem, which is the most beautiful side of Goa – that is the coastal side – and entered Siolim and then Mapusa. From here we hit the highway to Margao and from there to my village of Chandor.
This was a lovely and exciting journey. I am looking forward for another journey like this one that I had on 23rd and 24th August 2009.
Barbara Chelsea Mascarenhas
Age: 12 years
VII Standard
