Arvalam
It was the third adventure of our third day. After a scary encounter at the Lamgao caves here, we were happy to be alive! I still can anticipitate that old man's axe coming over our throats! After that narrow escape, I was apprehensive whether to visit Arvalam or to move onto the next stop. The main attraction of Arvalam were the Arvalam caves and waterfalls and the word cave tingled my spine!!
Hubs sensed my fear and assured that Arvalam caves were situated on a hill beside the main road so there was no need to worry. It neither involved jungles nor trekking and hopefully no scary old man either. So I decided to go ahead with the plan.
Also known as Pandava caves as the Pandavas had stayed their during their exile, these caves were situated a bit farther than the town of Bicholim. These caves are rock cut caves dating back to the 5th or 6th century. These are excavated into the laterite hill and consist of two major chambers. These caves attract both tourists and archeologists alike. Right now its converted into a Shiva temple.
After the caves we proceeded towards Arvalam waterfalls (also known as Harvalam). The falls are picturesque during the rainy season. Like any other waterfall it had dried up during the winters. There was a beautiful Rudreshwar temple in the vicinity.
Our next stop was the Anjuna flea market which was an important weekly tourist spot. held every Wednesday, this market was visited by thousands of tourists. Spread over a vast area, it offered everything from food and beverages to apparels, furnishings and trinkets! The history of this market goes back a long way. Decades ago the foreign tourists used to spend the bitter winter months in the sunshine state of Goa. When they used to leave in spring, they used to sell their belongings. Those things were sold to the local people in the flea market. Today its just a tradition. All the new stuff are sold here.
On the way to the market we met with an unfortunate event. A motorbike jammed our vehicle from the back and I fell. I injured myself considerably; with some serious abrasions, but thanked God that it was not more serious. Had I fallen just a few centimeters farther or even rolled a bit more; I would have fallen into a canal and God knows what would have happened then. Hubs was more shocked than me. He wanted to go back to the hotel but I insisted that since we have come so far, we should pay the market a visit.
The market as anticipated was huge and chaotic. Tourists were swarming and so were the vendors. I was of course not in a good shape; I limped the whole time. We started with a glass of fresh sugarcane juice. Hubs tried to cheer me by agreeing to buy everything that I laid my eyes on!!
We tried to wrap our shopping quickly as we had two more spots to cover and they were quite far. On the way we stopped at a pharmacy and got antiseptics and dressed up the wounds. I really enjoyed the flea market inspite of all the odds!!
Dress : Zara
Chain, bangles: Forever21
Sunnies : Aldo
Hat: from Philippines
Hubs sensed my fear and assured that Arvalam caves were situated on a hill beside the main road so there was no need to worry. It neither involved jungles nor trekking and hopefully no scary old man either. So I decided to go ahead with the plan.
Also known as Pandava caves as the Pandavas had stayed their during their exile, these caves were situated a bit farther than the town of Bicholim. These caves are rock cut caves dating back to the 5th or 6th century. These are excavated into the laterite hill and consist of two major chambers. These caves attract both tourists and archeologists alike. Right now its converted into a Shiva temple.
After the caves we proceeded towards Arvalam waterfalls (also known as Harvalam). The falls are picturesque during the rainy season. Like any other waterfall it had dried up during the winters. There was a beautiful Rudreshwar temple in the vicinity.
Our next stop was the Anjuna flea market which was an important weekly tourist spot. held every Wednesday, this market was visited by thousands of tourists. Spread over a vast area, it offered everything from food and beverages to apparels, furnishings and trinkets! The history of this market goes back a long way. Decades ago the foreign tourists used to spend the bitter winter months in the sunshine state of Goa. When they used to leave in spring, they used to sell their belongings. Those things were sold to the local people in the flea market. Today its just a tradition. All the new stuff are sold here.
On the way to the market we met with an unfortunate event. A motorbike jammed our vehicle from the back and I fell. I injured myself considerably; with some serious abrasions, but thanked God that it was not more serious. Had I fallen just a few centimeters farther or even rolled a bit more; I would have fallen into a canal and God knows what would have happened then. Hubs was more shocked than me. He wanted to go back to the hotel but I insisted that since we have come so far, we should pay the market a visit.
The market as anticipated was huge and chaotic. Tourists were swarming and so were the vendors. I was of course not in a good shape; I limped the whole time. We started with a glass of fresh sugarcane juice. Hubs tried to cheer me by agreeing to buy everything that I laid my eyes on!!
We tried to wrap our shopping quickly as we had two more spots to cover and they were quite far. On the way we stopped at a pharmacy and got antiseptics and dressed up the wounds. I really enjoyed the flea market inspite of all the odds!!
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| the Aravalam caves or the Pandava caves... |
 |
| The caves have been carved out from laterite soil. |
 |
| Shiva Linga inside the cave... |
 |
| the rocky Western ghats.... |
 |
| the Aravalam falls...dried up in the winters.... |
 |
| the crazy Anjuna flea market... |
 |
| Interesting things being sold in the flea market... |
Dress : Zara
Chain, bangles: Forever21
Sunnies : Aldo
Hat: from Philippines
6 comments
You look marvelous Mandira. Love your cute dress. So sorry you got hurt. I hope you're find now. At least you had the best doctor with you :D
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That whaterfall is really beautiful :)
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A place with such history. Lovely shots and you have gorgeous hair.
ReplyDeleteWow This place looks wonderful.
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MaggieD
Fashion Blog - Maggie Dallospedale Fashion diary
As always, I love reading your descriptions of your travels and seeing the gorgeous photos you take. Hope you're feeling better!
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looks very interesting place :)
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