The Magnificent 'Dudhsagar Falls' - Goa

Dudhsagar Waterfalls

This is one of the hidden gems in Goa!! A must visit for an unforgettable experience (includes a ride on uneven terrain, some trekking, fresh water, and much more...)

The falls are very popular with the foreign tourists, and recently has been a center of attraction for Indian tourists as well ... all thanks goes to Mr Shah Rukh Khan for shooting a scene here in his movie - "Chennai Express"!




If you're interested: This is a video of the making of Chennai Express (the scene @ the falls)

Some Info...

• In English, the name means - "Sea of Milk"
• It's a 4 tier waterfall located on the Mandovi River
• 60 kms from Panaji City, Goa
• India's 5th tallest fall (227th in the world) at 310 meters

 

Coming to 'The Experience'

Reaching There
We were advised to get there early in the morning. The first tour to the falls starts at around 8AM. We started from our hotel at 6:30AM. It's around 90 minutes drive (considering minimal early morning traffic). If you don't have your own ride, get in touch with any Taxi driver in Goa and book a ride. We reached 'Colem' at 7:30AM. This is where the tour starts from. All the locals in this town provide parking facility in their personal premises for a nominal charge.

The Tour
The ride to the falls is all through uneven terrains. There are 4x4's which will take you to the falls, book yours as soon as you reach the spot. They take 6 persons in a car (If you are a group of less then 6, they will club you with someone else). Charge is INR 600 per head. You can book the whole car to yourself by paying 6*600 = INR 3,600.
We got lucky there, as there was a group of 4 Russian tourists already waiting and we were clubbed with them. Were the first car of the day to leave for falls.
Note: You will not get anything to eat up there, make sure to carry some snacks & water along with.

 

IMP: It's actually worth to reach there early, as you will get less crowd and cool morning breeze will be a delight. As the day progresses, the rising run (heat) and increasing tourists might spoil the fun.    

 

The Ride
We started for the falls @ around 8AM. It's a very bumpy ride with absolutely no roads. Many a times we crossed water streams and... it will take approx 1 hour to reach there (if you have back pain condition, avoid...!).  The waterfalls are located inside "BHAGWAN MAHAVEER WILDLIFE SANCTUARY & NATIONAL PARK". Reached their gates in 30 min and stopped for tickets. Took another 30 min to reach the falls. 

This is the road ahead!

These kind of even patches are very rare...!

Yes... Still in the car ;-)

Our Ride...

@The Gates... while we were waiting for out Tickets

Note in the below mentioned pic ... "Professional Camera - Rs. 7500"! Even we were surprised by this pricing... but nobody cares (We were carrying a SLR) 

Note the price for 'Professional Camera'

The Falls
We trekked the remaining patch. It was a good experience and once we started getting a glimpse of the falls, the level of excitement started rising. The scenic beauty along the whole path was really enjoyable.
The car will halt there for about and hour and a half. We spent our most of the time in and around the fresh water pond on the base of the falls. (Take great care while swimming there as there have been many cases of people drowning recently... You will be provided life jackets BUT there will be no lifeguards... you will be at your own risk!!)

Fresh and Chilled water from the falls...

Just the beginning ...

Get.. Set...Go!

Awesome Experience!

There's a reason it's called 'Sea of Milk'

The Monkeys
As soon as the first batch of the tourists arrived there,  a lot of monkeys started climbing down the trees. They won't hurt you... but will go after anything they can get hold of, specially the food!.

Searching for something to eat...

The Cute little one!

These shorts ain't coming back!

Overall, a day well spent!

It was a 4-5 hour tour. After coming back, we started for "Sahyadri Spice Farms" for Lunch and another great experience! (Spice Walk & Elephants Shower @ Sahyadri Spice Farms)

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Calangute ... 'Queen of the Beaches' - Goa

This is the most happening beach (alongside with Baga, obviously). It's a must visit for the tourists coming to Goa. Most of the people like to stay @ Calangute / Baga in North Goa, which makes both of these areas full of people, hotels, B&B's, restaurants, pubs, spas, shops ... Also, night life is awesome here!

We came to Calangute @ mid-day. There are a lot of options to eat around here... we did took some considerable time to zero down on a restaurant for Lunch. Post that, the rest of the day was dedicated to the beach!

As you approach the beach, the road is filled with a lot of restaurants and shops having all kinds of stuff that will surely keep one busy. If you have right skills, you can get a good bargain here ... ;-)

The Restaurants/Pubs on the way to Beach

Roadside eateries... (don't look for hygiene here)

Coming to the beach, people mostly come here for two reasons:

1. Water Sports: The best place for water sports in Goa. Also, if you are visiting during off-season, the prices are very low (less than 1000 INR for 3-4 sports) ... They have - Paragliding, Speed Boats, Jet Ski, Bumper and Banana rides.
   

   

   Most of the crowd can be seen enjoying the sports...

2. The Shacks: This beach has the most options for shacks. And all of them are free to sit (till you are buying food/drinks from them). Best place to relax, have some beers and enjoy the sunset. Also, do enjoy the local food, it's worth it!
   
   
   

   

   Awesome view of Sunset from our shack

   
   
   

   

   The candle(s) lit by the owners on every table... lovely!

All that definitely makes this beach very crowded (and obviously, as a side effect of that - DIRTY). But as long as you are having fun, these things can be ignored.

There are also many artists seen here, we met a sand artist (from Germany) who had made a beautiful sand castle right in front of the beach entrance!

Also, this is a good place to get yourself inked (temp tattoos, don't rely on the locals for a perm) for a good price.

It was a fun day @ Calangute ... especially the evening at the Shack followed by awesome dinner!

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