Fort Aguada - The Fresh Water Repository (Goan Odyssey Part 4)

Continued from Part 3 - Vagator & Chapora Fort

Day 2 : North Goa Trail Continues - Anjuna Beach and Fort Aguada.

Having experienced the most beautiful beach of Goa - "The Baga beach" and further south the multifaceted Vagathore, where the Chapora Fort was a sort of revelation, we were travelling southwards towards Fort Aguada. The trek up the Chapora Fort had made us somewhat exhausted and water levels of our body were down. So the immediate aim was to do some refuelling and our cab driver found one of the best places to have a coffee or sip that cool drink on offer. The place was a beach side shack near the Anjuna beach.

The Anjuna beach is not at all beautiful when compared with the Baga beach, but sitting here in the beach side shack, the field of vision covered the Anjuna beach with those rocks extending to the sea meeting the lashing waves, the beautiful sea given vivid colors by the sky and the green topped hills of Vagathore completing the frame in the background.

There were two or three such shacks and all of them were filled to the brim by the wandering souls aiming to catch a glimpse of the beautiful scenery around and to enjoy the sea breeze, sipping up their drinks.

The cool orange juice strategically positioned, overlooking the sea was something which quenched our thirst by its looks itself, eventhough when we tasted it, was not up to the mark.

Neverthless we had a pretty relaxing thirty minutes, rekindling the experiences at the Baga Beach and the Vagatore Chapora fort. Our cab driver told us that eventhough the north goa trail package by a cab ends by about 6, he is willing to overstay since we didn't do much travel on the day and he was eager to take us to one more place before calling it a day. The way this fellow behaved made us truly mesmerized. What we heard about the peace loving and friendly Goan people was proving to be true.

The Anjuna beach also had a small market towards its side, where we did a little bit of window shopping.

After the short stint at Anjuna, we were again moving further southwards, and our destination was Fort Aguada, the name itself giving a feeling that there is a relation with water. The name Aguada means fresh water and this Fort's primary aim was to store the fresh water coming out of a spring, in a big tank. This place is more famous now because of the 5 star hotel Taj Vivanta.

On the way the cab driver was busy showing us some important landmarks and houses of some eminent personalities. But nothing seemed to remain in memory than the Kingfisher villa, owned by the brewery King, the man behind King of Good times, Vijay Mallya. I always have a feeling that he is someone very well known to me may be because of the way he markets himself and the way he makes his presence felt to the common people, an example being his address to passengers in Kingfisher flight.

The gate to Taj vivanta, a comparitively budget property from the Taj Group was seen on the way. The hotel's property is too vast that no buildings could be seen from this point.

Soon the road wore a deserted look and we felt like travelling through a dense forest.

The cab came to a halt at a miniature junction near a wide open area filled with tall grass and many vehicles parked around. Got inside a pathway leading to the Fort Aguada. This place seemed to be on top a hill as we could see Panjim at a distance and the cab driver was telling us that we can see the Bungalow of Governor of Goa.

Amidst the tall grass and the cloudy sky, Fort Aguada made its first appearance. We could see a light house kind of a thing inside walls of the fort.

As we reached near the entrance there was a board which spelt out the history of Fort Aguada which provided a glimpse of what lay inside and why it was constructed.

The fort Aguada was built in 1612 and it comprises a lower fort with bastions all around and an upper fort. It skirts the seashore and ascends the summit of the bare rocky, uplands called Aguada point. The upper fort was built as a vantage point to serve as a Fort and a Watering sation to the ships while the lower fort offers a safe berth to Portuguese ships.

As we ascend the steps to the upper fort there is a Moat, which is a trench lying across the length of the fort wall serving as a primary line of defence.

There is a small bridge to cross the moat.

More steps were awaiting us at the entry point which comprised of a tall door, where a board read that entry permitted upto 6pm only, which meant we have only around 30 minutes left.

Climbed up the steps, passed through a dark narrow passage, and after some more steps we were out in the open on what seemed like a big terrace.

Towards one side of this terrace stood a majestic light house.

The terrace kind of structure had lot of small rectangular protrusions, looking through which we could see a deep hollow room kind of thing. Actually we were standing on top of the water tank which is used to store the huge fresh water supply from the water spring near by.

The tank inside was very huge, capable enough to hold more than 20 lakh gallons of water. Kids were happy to find some open space to run around. Another interesting activity was to howl through the openings towards the tank, the echo of which will come back through other openings.

We walked towards the sea facing side of the fort and stood at the Western tip from where we could see Panjim on the southern side.

But just a look at the northern side made us truly amazed. The setting sun was completely engulfed by the clouds, but the narrow openings in between the clouds was providing sun's rays to be focussed on the ships sailing on the sea, with the redness making it even more interesting.

We stood there gazing at this sight and enjoying the pretty heavy breeze flowing across. The upper fort seems to be very vast when viewedins point, with the light house wearing a deserted look.

Infact the light house is not operational after 1916. This light house was a mechanical marvel of yester years since it was designed in such a way as to emit light once in seven minutes, something which might be achieved by way of mechanical design in the 16th century. Later in 18th century it was redesigned to emit light once every 30 seconds. Was eager to know how it was achieved, but there was no one to answer. I will find out and update the design here at a later point of time.
The walls of the fort were made out of bricks carved out of solidified soil, something which is quite common in Kerala too.

Infact this construction resembled very closely to the Fort at Kannur. (See the beautiful Kannur Fort here)

Meanwhile my kid enjoyed climbing up a small room with sloping roof, which seemed to have an opening with stairs to go down the water tank.

This fort is also having an emergency escape tunnel, but could not find out where it is, coz by this time the security was blowing his whistle signifying the end of visiting time for the day.

We bid good bye to this historic fort and had leisurely walk through the vast green grass filled path way outside the fort towards the main road where our cab was parked.

It was interesting to the note that this fort extends a pretty good distance through the coastline and also comprises of a prison in the lower deck facing the sea. Earlier it was used by the Portuguese to house prisoners. Even now it is used as a prison by the Police.

Fort Aguada trip was not finished yet, the cab driver took us to the southern end of the fort by road, where the Taj Vivanta has an opening towards the sea.
Once we reached this point, the setting sun was visible more since the clouds had moved away a bit.

There was a small beach nearby flanked by the fort on one side.

Even though the beach was not that big, lots of activities were happening, probably because of the proximity to the Taj Vivanta. There was a view point on top of the fort wall extending to the sea where lot of people had gathered to catch a glimpse of the setting sun.

We too moved towards the tip of the fort. Once we were walking ahead through this extension, it seemed as if the sea is behind us.

The beautiful Taj Vivanta property was visible behind us.

This seem to be one of the best options to stay in Goa, if one can afford it, due to the plush lawns, the resort like facilities, proximity to beach and above all the relatively high altitude facing the sea ensuring cool winds right throughout the day.

The parasailing activity going around was adding real color to other wise dull looking sea because of the clouds around.

We enjoyed watching the banana ride too, where the banana shaped boat being pulled by a motor boat, with passengers tied on to the body of the boat are taken by surprise when the banana boat is overturned leaving the passengers float in the wide open sea. They then manage to climb up the banana boat again.



The barge seen from top of the Chapora fort was visible from here too.

We stood here until the Sun went below the horizon and the sky color changed to a more darker tone. On the way back to the cab one of the local guides approached us with an offer for Dolphin ride, which is a boat ride through the seas to show some diving dolphins. The ride happens only in the morning and he wants us to book our seat immediately. But since our plans were lucid we did not commit anything.

The cab slowly rolled out from its resting place quietly rolling out through the darkness outside lurching towards our dwelling plae at Calangute.

Of all the places visited on thise day, undoubtedely Chaport fort takes the crown.

Click here to read Part 5 - Panjim : A scooter Expedition

The Goan Odyssey -The story so far...

Part 1. The Konkan Experience - Watch the beautiful pictures of Konkan rail route 
Part 2. Baga Beach - A beautiful beach
Part 3. Vagathore Beach and Chapora Fort - A place with diversified ambiance.
Part 4. Anjuna Beach & Fort Aguada
Part 5. Panjim - A scooter expedition
Part 6. Calangute 
Part 7. The Dolphin Trip

Vagathore Beach & Chapora Fort - Very Very Special (Goan Odyssey Part 3)

 Click here to read Goan Odyssey Part 1 - The Konkan Experience 

   Click here to read Part 2 - Baga Beach : The North Goa Trail Starts

Day 2 - The North Goa Trail continues..  

It seems God has bestowed many boons to the place Vagathore. A beautiful beach, a cliff, rocks, boulders, green veiled hills, an estuary all form part this small beach town. The beautiful hill right near the beach also has made it a strategically important location, which resulted in making this place a battleground, when yesteryear rulers tried to get control over this place for positioning their army. May be because of all these it seems like the nature is silently telling a story if we listen closely.

After spending nearly half a day in the Baga beach, we had lunch on our way to Vagathore. From the cab driver we got to know that Vagathore has got a beach and a small fort on top of a hill nearby christened Chapora fort owing to the Chapora river and according him most of the tourists spend atleast 1 hour sight seeing here. But the moment he told that this is the place where the Aamir Khan flick "Dil Chahta Hai" was shot, we got lot more excited and we knew that it is not a one hour place. Most probably we will be spending the rest of the day here.

When the vehicle came to halt in an open parking lot towards the dead end of a road, it seemed as if there is nothing special. Stepped out of the vehicle and we could see that there is a hill with the walls of a fort on top of it.

We were swarmed by a group of road side vendors trying to sell some fancy jewellery rekindling the Baga beach experience. 

This time instead of telling a blank no, my wife quoted a price of Rs.20 for something which the vendor's asking price was Rs.200. Surprisingly he went away and here unlike the baga beach the number of guides and road side vendors were less.

Meanwhile I took a closer shot of the hill which can be seen at a distance.

Instantly I felt like we need to get on top of that rather than being at the beach coz the morning was completely spent in the beach. But we decided to first take a rest near the cliff enjoying the surroundings before starting the trek up, which will also allow our tummies to complete the digestion process.

The parking space is on top of a cliff. As we approached the end of a cliff the view was spectacular with strong wind blowing across making us feel lot more comfortable even though sun was out.

Towards the northern side of the cliff lay the beautiful Vagathore beach. The height at which we were standing, has dwarfed the homosapeins taking a bath at the beach. The hill which stations the Chapora fort also can be seen in the backdrop. The estuary formed by the Chapora river flowing into the Arabian sea is just behind the hill.

To be frank this beach is not so beautiful like the Baga beach, mainly owing to the color of the sand. If the Baga beach sand was golden and was radiating a shine around, this was a mix of black and golden and the shine was missing. This beach is not as long as Baga beach. But then we cannot have everything together. What makes up for the long beachline and golden sand is the diverse landscape around. The cabbie had told that there is a resort right behind this beach (Sterling resorts) , but I could not see it from here, may be coz of the abundant coconut trees.

Right in front of us, ie towards the Western side the cliff goes down to a series of beautiful rock formations positioned to kiss the lashing waves creating a beautiful sound and sight.

Towards the southern side also there were only rocks forming the coastline, the jet black colour of the rocks forming a contrast with milky white colour created by the lashing waves. There was another hill in the backdrop.

So a 180 degree scan starting from north to south through west reveals a beautiful hill, the estuary, a beach, the sea extending to the horizon, the cliff with rocks protruding to the sea, the rocky coastline and ends up with another hill.

As my wife and younger daughter lied down on the grass topped cliff to get some rest, me and my son decided to just be active.

I tried to climb down the cliff through the rocks, at the southern side which is not so steep.

My son was happy climbing up on small rocks on top of the cliff, the balancing act was really fun when there is a strong wind which was strong enough to disturb our balance.

I made him to taste a rock too and he was exited to see the photo.

I had a difficult time is making him understand that lack of third dimension in photography, gives us this perspective and hence a photo should not be completely believed eventhough there is a saying that seeing is believing.

We enjoyed the activities going on in the beach and here also like the baga beach there were all kinds of fun rides in the beach. The scooter boat ride seem to be the most interesting one.

It was almost after one hour that we decided to move out to next place - the trek up the Chapora fort. We all had a good rest and our body was refueled and ready for another trail.

The foot of the hill was around 800meters away from this point. The cabbie took us towards the foot of the hill through narrow roads with thick dense vegetation on both sides, a la Kerala effect.

Within no time we reached the foot of the hill and found that the trek up is moderately steep, but what is more menancing is the small round stones which are slippery.

The cab driver was cautioning us that it will be difficult for our kids to go up and we were amazed at how concerned he was.

Slowly but steadily we began to trek up. As we gained more and more altitude, the field of vision increased and this itself was pumping more and more energy for us to climb up.

Surprisingly my son and daughter too enjoyed the trek up. Wonder what they were thinking while climbing up. The rolling slippery stones was challenging them to move up as we heard them talking in those lines.

Now the altitude levels have increased so much that all the tree tops around seemed to form like a green bed.

We took a breather here enjoying the scenery around.

There was barge like thing in the sea which is visible towards the right end of the above picture. A zoomed up snap was taken just to satisfy my kids curiosity.

The parking lot on top of the cliff where we initially had parked our vehicle was visible from here. Initially I had taken a photo of the hill from that point. So now it is the inverse.

As we were approaching the top and could see the top of the wall of the fort, the steepness became too much and we were wondering as to stop or proceed up.

But by now my son was fully thrilled by this trek up and was in no mood to return without reaching the top and he started to walk ahead.


At times it seemed that he was stopping to decide on which way to proceed ahead.

In between I noticed two crickets whose color scheme matched exactly with the colour of the stone. Watch the face and the eyes of these creatures. It looks like an alien featured in some of the movies.

A little more trek up and the Vagathore beach is clearly visible. It seems that the beach is looking more beautiful from this point.

The top of the other hill on the southern side also can be seen from here and it seemed as if trees are shaven off from the top of the hill.

Finally we were within touching distance with the walls of the fort and the joy is quite visible by the reaction of the kids.

We were also feeling happy to be on top and proudly posed for a photo

We were near to the wall of the fort, but there were no entrance in sight and there was no one around to ask too. So I decided to take a stroll around to find out the entrance while my wife and kids will wait here. After a little walk towards the eastern side saw a small entrance. Wonder why the entrance to the vast fort was so small.

Might be a security strategy, so that attackers will not be able to swarm inside the fort all at once thereby allowing people inside to defend. Before I started to walk back to call my wife and kids I saw some water a little ahead. Walked ahead and saw the beautiful Chapora river.

This hill is surrounded by Arabian sea on two sides and the Chapora river on the other side. Soon all of us got inside the fort through the small entrance. Once inside it was a real vast compound. Immediately could relate this scenary to the song in the movie Dil Chahta Hai.

One perplexing fact that, eventhough the place is called Chapora fort, there were not a single building in sight. I wonder whether this fort only served as a place for attacking the approaching enemies who came through the sea. In any case this place might have seen lot of blood shed. But as of now it is a synonym of calmness. There were not a single moving soul around. It was a vast area, with overgrown grass and nice cool breeze. For a moment we all became kids and we ran around, our legs completely immersed in the grass, occassionally jumping high over the rocks. My son was soon seen jumping around and captured his lovely moments in my camera.

The only sign of construction was a small monument right in the centre of the vast area. Even close observation did not reveal any inscriptions on it rather than some random jottings by the name of some lovers who might have had a good time in this area.

The ambiance was perfectly nurtured for the romantic souls. There are no constructions around, but the geography was well architectured, there was no soothing music around, but the wind was creating the most soothing of the music, there are no dancers around, but the overgrown grass dressed in green attire was dancing to the tune of wind. No wonder why it tickled the romantic spirits of a couple who were celebrating there ninth wedding anniversary.

My kids floating around the greenery like lovely little birds enjoying the vastness was a sight to watch and we kept enjoying them play with the nature breathing some fresh air and this picture will remain in our minds for so many years to come.

Meanwhile we walked up to the northern side and there was an small entrance there too. I made an exit through this gate. The estuary formed by the meeting point of Chapora river to the Arabian sea was clearly visible here and what a sight it was. This panoramic shot is not able to completely reliven its true beauty

The hill was extending to the sea at this point. There is a trekking path over this hill too and one can trek towards the Vagathore beach through this route too.

When I looked back towards the fort, I could see my too little ones happily perched on top of the wall of the fort akin to the jungle kids lost in a big vast world.

Three hours had passed once we reached Vagathore. Undoubtedly each one of us found this place true to our liking and the reasons might be varied. The diversity of this absolute gem of place is sure to satisfy any soul. The trek up the hill is really worth and one needs to spend atleast half a day just to enjoy the fort itself leave aside the beach and the cliff. All in all this place has all the bells and whistles to keep one engaged for one full day.

While we were carefully trekking down the hill through the rolling stones we were discussing on trekking up the other hill on the southern side. When we reached our back to our cab driver he was wondering what we were doing for this long, but he was proud and happy when we told that this is one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited.

By this time it was clear that we will not be able to cover all the locations included in the standard North Goa Trail package, but we are not complaining as we don't intend to just watch and go. Still we have time to take a visit to one more location before calling it a day. The Vagathore for sure has raised the expectation benchmark too high. The cab rolled out to the next destination and our spirits were high. 

Click here to read Part 4 - Fort Aguada

The Goan Odyssey -The story so far...

Part 1. The Konkan Experience - Watch the beautiful pictures of Konkan rail route 
Part 2. Baga Beach - A beautiful beach
Part 3. Vagathore Beach and Chapora Fort - A place with diversified ambiance.
Part 4. Fort Aguada & Anjuna Beach
Part 5. Panjim - A scooter expedition
Part 6. Calangute 
Part 7. The Dolphin Trip