Goa on a Bike: Part Deux: Corjeum Fort, Mayem Lake, Aravelam Caves and Harvalem Waterfall!

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” – Ernest Hemingway

Continuing with my journey to discover Goa on the saddle of a bicycle, I headed further inland, away from the maddening tourist crowd. On this occasion, I planned to visit places where the locals go to chill. Where one can walk without someone trying to sell something.

The initial part of my route would be the same as the previous ride, before I cut a much larger arc into the land and literally went around the smaller arc I had done previously. It was a bit like studying geometry again. Possibly my least favourite among all the mathematics genres.

The first point of interest was the suspension bridge connecting Aldona to the island village of Corjeum. The bridge was built a few years back, before that one had to wait for the ferry to cross over. Now this bridge has also become a hangout point. In the evening you would see the local lads and lasses sitting around enjoying their first taste of romance. Unfortunately for some, they have to come there to get better phone connectivity! Phone network is a big problem in Goa, with a lot of places where your phone just won’t work. So if you live in such a telephonic blind spot, you need to get out of the house to have a chat with your friends. These phones make you truly mobile!

Once I crossed into Corjeum, I headed to the small fort there. Being a weekday, the place was deserted. Well almost! I walked into a couple who were spending some ‘quality time’ there. Being the anti-thesis of cupid is normal for me, but this time I couldn’t help but snigger loudly. While they were getting to know each other (in the biblical sense of the phrase), they continued to wear raincoats. I am sure it would have been an extremely hot and steamy session of lovemaking while wearing rain gear! Getting wet was a bigger worry than getting pregnant!

Moving on from the lovebirds, I explored the remnants of the small fort. The Corjeum Fort had initially been used by various Indian rulers before it went into the control of the Portuguese. Though it is supposedly looked after by state government bodies, it is in quite a shabby shape. Nonetheless, it gives you a good view of the surroundings and if you close your eyes you can even imagine cannon fire!

From the fort I rode towards Mayem Lake. This is one of the few fresh water bodies of interest to tourists. You can go boating here with small paddle boats, which feels quite stupid, when you are used to riding a bicycle! In the monsoons, the place is beautifully green and with little or no crowd. There is a Goa Tourism hotel on the lakefront which is perfect if you plan to spend a night or two there. The lake isn’t very big, but it is pretty and worth a visit.

After Mayem Lake, I had to get onto the state highway. Which isn’t a perfect place to ride a bicycle, because of the faster and heavier traffic. If you are not used to riding on Indian highways, it is better to avoid this. I am quite used to having buses whizzing past me with inches to spare, so I don’t have a problem! The downside of riding on an arterial road is that there is nothing to see around the place. Instead of absorbing the scenery around me like a traveller, I put my head down and pedalled hard like a sportsman!

I got off the highway and towards the Aravelam Caves and Harvelam Waterfall. The two are just a 5 minute ride from each other. I wouldn’t recommend going all the way to visit these two places, but if you are in the vicinity, then it makes for a good quick visit. There is still some confusion whether the Aravelam Caves are of Buddhist or Hindu origin, since currently there is Shivlinga in there, but a Gautam Buddha statue was excavated with a notably older vintage. The waterfall is nice, with a big temple by the side and in the monsoons there was a guy selling roasted corn on the cob. Absolutely perfect for the weather!

From the caves and waterfall, my plan had been to ride to Old Goa and visit the churches there. But torrential rainfall brought my plan and bicycle to a standstill. The rain wouldn’t slow down and to add to the misery the gusts of wind was throwing me around like a rag doll. Within seconds I was soaked to the bone and fatigue was creeping in as well. So I rode past Old Goa, without going to visit there. Old Goa is still on my list and hopefully I should do it another day.

I continued towards the capital city of Panjim. Again I deviated from my original plan and took the national highway home, rather than taking the scenic inside roads. The highway was quicker and at that point of time, the priority was getting back into dry clothes.

Riding on the highway was fun as I zipped through traffic, showing all those people in a car, why bikes are not just more fun, but faster in an urban environment as well! Though it wasn’t all fun and games, because I had to breathe in all the toxic gases that vehicles emit.

Finally a lovely day of riding and travelling came to an end with the local beer ‘King’s’ acting as rehydration agent and fish curry and rice being the perfect ‘recovery food’!

Now for some pictures which unfortunately were clicked with my phone, since the rain didn't allow me to take my camera along!

The Aldona-Corjeum suspension bridge

Outside the Corjeum Fort

A small altar inside the fort

The view from the fort

The entrance to the fort

A different section of the same railway line i had crossed on the previous occasion

Mayem Lake

One side of the Mayem Lake

The other side of the Mayem Lake

The Aravelam Cave. Apologies for the bad picture quality, but due to excessive cloud cover, the light reduced drastically

If anyone would like to read a bit about the caves

The 70ft high Harvalem Waterfall

The waterfall from close quarters

The bridge connecting the Amona and Candola over the Mandovi River

Traffic jam on the bridge connecting Panjim and Mapusa. This is the national highway. And yes i am riding on the footpath!

The Mandovi River as seen from the bridge

For the bikoholics out there:

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You can read my previous travel tales from Goa and beyond below:

Life is a beach

Chorao Island in the rain

Cycling in the Himalayas. Part 1

You can read my experience of bicycle racing below:

Shooting at a Cycle MTB Race!

Road race in Delhi: The ATH KMP 100

Racing on India's first bicycle highway

My first hill climb race