Roni
Member
Hi,
The previous trip report part:
India 2012 - 21: Goa - Diesel in Paradise IV: Railway Dream Beach (50 p.)
http://railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40523
The accompanying video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9ntoVBVts&hd=1
February 19 2012
We return to sunday evening at the beach in front of my hotel:
The little Goans ventured out of the shade to play on the beach.
Waiting for sunset.
Again football was played.
View towards Sankval.
My tiger claw style beats your monkey style!
A leftover coconut half.
The life guards called it a day.
Fishing vessel shortly before sunset.
This time the sun set lower than the previous evenings at 6:33 p.m. due to less haze.
Subsequently I visited the taxi stand in front of the resort to book a driver for the upcoming morning session. I succeeded and concluded the evening with a mixed seafood platter at the restaurant.
February 20 2012
My driver waited punctually at 6 a.m. on the hotel parking lot for me. It would only be a short 20 km drive north, to the estuary of Zuari River, which was crossed by two bridges - one Konkan Railway - and a ferry at Cortalim. At dawn we reached the destination and I climbed the bridge of National Highway 17 along the coast first. It was a beautiful place, wide open water skirted by palm trees and mangroves, plus the typical Goan mixture of Portuguese and Indian - I could imagine the Amazon to be similar if it would be traversed by a railway line!
My driver had parked in front of a café at the start of the bridge, a small sanctuary next to it.
We were right below the final approach path of Goa's airport, Dabolim near Vasco.
I stood an a high pavement, so relatively out of harm's way, even if a motorised Rooney rushed past me once.
Well-guarded bridges.
Spot on at 7:03 a.m. the sun showed itself again.
Soon you could hear ALCO-chugging and whistling from the southern direction, and Erode WDM-3D 11186 already appeared pulling the first express. The ferry was also just docking at Cortalim.
The sunrise-panorama.
Konkan Railway Zuari bridge with two steel arches - the line was elevated for a much longer distance than just the river crossing. The swampy surroundings called for some major engineering feats, one of the reasons why this railway only had been built so recently. However, the project was also highly criticised, on one hand due to environmental damage to the sensitive mangrove forests and other ecosystems, on the other hand because of possible harm to historic buildings of nearby Old Goa.
The flickering fireball rose.
The ferry cast off again.
View at the docks of Cortalim.
A lonely angler used the elevated point above the river.
Morning traffic increased, commuters as well as long-distance traffic like "Paolo" to Bijapur in Karnataka state about 200 kms away were travelling on the north-south connection.
In the village below local traffic was operated by older bus models.
What I was waiting for: At 7:15 a.m. Vatva WDM-3D 11131 pulled 19260 Bhavnagar - Kochuveli Express towards Madgaon across the tree crowns. Starting point as well as loco shed were situated near Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Two trains within fifteen minutes at the best moment, what more could you want?
270° panorama, behind me Zuari River estuary into Mormugao Bay (see map from the 2nd Goa travelogue part: http://raildata.info/india12/ir121901.jpg ).
The sanctuary with view at the bay, on the neighbouring peninsula you could spot a church.
Shortly before someone had brought fresh fish as sacrifice, once more an example of the mixture of religions...
Subsequently I woke up my driver and we drove the short way down into Cortalim, parking between the two bridges.
The ferry dock to Madkai located on a branch of the river. Two boats were operating with the first journey at six in the morning and the last at ten past nine in the evening.
Lovely ground haze was still staying in the village, the houses definitely reminded me rather of Cuba than India seen until now.
The crocodile station - no crocodile, money back - but I had my own "crocos" to catch...
I discovered a magnificently rustic fishing dock where I was immediately welcomed by a group of tooth brushing fishermen and two very playful dogs. As you can see, mornings felt cold for Goans.
The fishing dock in the foreground, larger freight vessels in the back.
Right away there was some chugging coming from the south, and at 7:32 a.m. I could already capture the next express hauled by typically green Golden Rock WDM-2 18878.
The panorama showing morning mood at the fishing dock, to the right inside the wall you could exclusively find wrecks, partly under water up to the deck.
Two playful fishing dogs, the ferry was on its way again.
Colourful nets and warehouses.
Masts of the active fishing fleet.
Freight ships in the hazy morning atmosphere.
Ferry heading for the Amazon... errrrrrm Zuari branch.
Next time we continue on this splendid morning with more impressions from the fishing village!
The previous trip report part:
India 2012 - 21: Goa - Diesel in Paradise IV: Railway Dream Beach (50 p.)
http://railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40523
The accompanying video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9ntoVBVts&hd=1
February 19 2012
We return to sunday evening at the beach in front of my hotel:
The little Goans ventured out of the shade to play on the beach.
Waiting for sunset.
Again football was played.
View towards Sankval.
My tiger claw style beats your monkey style!
A leftover coconut half.
The life guards called it a day.
Fishing vessel shortly before sunset.
This time the sun set lower than the previous evenings at 6:33 p.m. due to less haze.
Subsequently I visited the taxi stand in front of the resort to book a driver for the upcoming morning session. I succeeded and concluded the evening with a mixed seafood platter at the restaurant.
February 20 2012
My driver waited punctually at 6 a.m. on the hotel parking lot for me. It would only be a short 20 km drive north, to the estuary of Zuari River, which was crossed by two bridges - one Konkan Railway - and a ferry at Cortalim. At dawn we reached the destination and I climbed the bridge of National Highway 17 along the coast first. It was a beautiful place, wide open water skirted by palm trees and mangroves, plus the typical Goan mixture of Portuguese and Indian - I could imagine the Amazon to be similar if it would be traversed by a railway line!
My driver had parked in front of a café at the start of the bridge, a small sanctuary next to it.
We were right below the final approach path of Goa's airport, Dabolim near Vasco.
I stood an a high pavement, so relatively out of harm's way, even if a motorised Rooney rushed past me once.
Well-guarded bridges.
Spot on at 7:03 a.m. the sun showed itself again.
Soon you could hear ALCO-chugging and whistling from the southern direction, and Erode WDM-3D 11186 already appeared pulling the first express. The ferry was also just docking at Cortalim.
The sunrise-panorama.
Konkan Railway Zuari bridge with two steel arches - the line was elevated for a much longer distance than just the river crossing. The swampy surroundings called for some major engineering feats, one of the reasons why this railway only had been built so recently. However, the project was also highly criticised, on one hand due to environmental damage to the sensitive mangrove forests and other ecosystems, on the other hand because of possible harm to historic buildings of nearby Old Goa.
The flickering fireball rose.
The ferry cast off again.
View at the docks of Cortalim.
A lonely angler used the elevated point above the river.
Morning traffic increased, commuters as well as long-distance traffic like "Paolo" to Bijapur in Karnataka state about 200 kms away were travelling on the north-south connection.
In the village below local traffic was operated by older bus models.
What I was waiting for: At 7:15 a.m. Vatva WDM-3D 11131 pulled 19260 Bhavnagar - Kochuveli Express towards Madgaon across the tree crowns. Starting point as well as loco shed were situated near Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Two trains within fifteen minutes at the best moment, what more could you want?
270° panorama, behind me Zuari River estuary into Mormugao Bay (see map from the 2nd Goa travelogue part: http://raildata.info/india12/ir121901.jpg ).
The sanctuary with view at the bay, on the neighbouring peninsula you could spot a church.
Shortly before someone had brought fresh fish as sacrifice, once more an example of the mixture of religions...
Subsequently I woke up my driver and we drove the short way down into Cortalim, parking between the two bridges.
The ferry dock to Madkai located on a branch of the river. Two boats were operating with the first journey at six in the morning and the last at ten past nine in the evening.
Lovely ground haze was still staying in the village, the houses definitely reminded me rather of Cuba than India seen until now.
The crocodile station - no crocodile, money back - but I had my own "crocos" to catch...
I discovered a magnificently rustic fishing dock where I was immediately welcomed by a group of tooth brushing fishermen and two very playful dogs. As you can see, mornings felt cold for Goans.
The fishing dock in the foreground, larger freight vessels in the back.
Right away there was some chugging coming from the south, and at 7:32 a.m. I could already capture the next express hauled by typically green Golden Rock WDM-2 18878.
The panorama showing morning mood at the fishing dock, to the right inside the wall you could exclusively find wrecks, partly under water up to the deck.
Two playful fishing dogs, the ferry was on its way again.
Colourful nets and warehouses.
Masts of the active fishing fleet.
Freight ships in the hazy morning atmosphere.
Ferry heading for the Amazon... errrrrrm Zuari branch.
Next time we continue on this splendid morning with more impressions from the fishing village!