Trip to Tharangambadi during unlock 4.0

 It is the time where the whole world is facing a challenge against the Covid-19 virus and almost all countries went into the lockdown period from the beginning of 2020 and gradually unlock started. As we all know that unlock is for the economy to boost and not that we are free of Covid-19. As a citizen, we all have followed the lockdown restriction imposed by the government by staying at the home and avoiding any unnecessary travel including travel to a destination, exploration, visiting public places etc., 

 Humans are a social animal and it is very difficult to lock ourselves from the outside world for a very long time without any recreation. At the same time, we should behave responsibly during the unlock period by following the social distancing, wearing a mask, cleaning the hands often etc. With this in mind, we planned for a very short day trip to Tharangambadi as we heard this beach will be less crowded than its counterpart Karaikal beach. 

About Tharangambadi

The history dates back to 17th century when Danish came to India for trading, they built a fort for housing governers, merchants etc. To date, the fort is maintained very well and today it contains lots of old artifacts. It has a good beach with a park, restaurants nearby. 

Reaching Tharandambadi

We started from Kumbakonam and we wanted to enjoy the journey itself and not just the beach in Tharangambadi.  There are multiple different directions to reach the place from Kumbakonam but we chose the direction via Aduthurai - Porayar Rd https://goo.gl/maps/d3pcog4kqX5PxdEw9 . The nice thing about the road is that 45 km out of 58 km will be road next to the riverbank making the journey more pleasant and joyful. To our advantage this year the Cauvery catchment had huge rainfall and all the dams were overflowing and all through our journey we were seeing the full flow of water and kids were playing in the group along the side of steps in the riverbank.

Museum in the fort complex

Behind is the river

Baniyan tree on the river bank

In the beach

Fort

Goa in the Monsoon

We went to Goa, India in the monsoon season. Initially, we thought will it be the right time or we should change but it seems to be a good time to visit as we get good discounts in stay, car rentals and water sports. Yes, water sports are there even in monsoon; I think not all are available but they have a good water sports package for monsoon.

Even we should be a little lucky when visiting in monsoon, if there are unfrequent showers then it will be good but if it is a non-stop rain then we will be forced to stay in the room. 

Car/Bike Rentals:

When it comes to car rentals, I would say in my experience that Goa is one the cheapest. The least it comes for Rs 1000 per day. There are plenty of providers, I went with https://saiyuri-travel-solutions.business.site/. If we want them to deliver the car to our preferred location, for example, like from Airport/RailwayStation then they have a fixed delivery/pick-up charge of Rs 300. You can book over the phone before you arrive but you will be paying only when you take the car.

Stay:

When we talk about Goa actually we refer/imagine to Beaches, shacks, night-life etc., and all these are very far away from the capital Panaji. So it is good if we book a stay near Baga or Calangute, from these places the beaches are walkable and we can come out at any time of the day and chill. Based on the budget and preference they are plenty of lodges, home-stay, serviced apartments are available. We preferred serviced apartment and booked in https://www.eternalwave.in/. They have very well maintained rooms but they do not have a good restaurant inside

Beaches and Shacks:

Beaches are open 24 hours and we can play, take a bath, dip the leg any time of the day. There are very good paid bathrooms and change rooms available at a very nominal cost. Parking is also available on almost all the beaches, but the parking near the Tito club is very expensive and it is Rs100 for 4 hours in other areas it would be just Rs20 for 4 hours. Shacks are the awesome experience in Goa, they just don't provide drinks they serve tasty, yummy, mouth-watering and delicious foods. We went almost every day to Shacks for food and relaxation. 

Baga beach has shallow water where kids can sit and enjoy the waves hitting them.

Water Sports:

We wanted to try something adventurous and not tried before sports and chose "Fly Board", the experience cannot be explained in words. It is a joy when we fly but a pain when we fell in the water. This is not in the sea but in the Chapora river. Definitely difficult for first-timer but we shouldn't give up and try the next time. In India, Goa is the only place where they have "Flyboard" activity.

Souvenirs:

We can buy cashews, dresses etc when we come back as a memory of the visit