Scotland to Goa
If you suddenly feel you are travelling through Scotland, don't blame the drink.
It is the paradise-like Konkan terrain, and it's so close to a polluted city called Mumbai.
You suddenly realise that Mumbai is just blot on a land filled with pristine beauty.
If the city were magically depopulated, it would take Nature just a single monsoon season to claim Mumbai back for itself.
Even the National Highway next to the track looks like a country road. There aren't many people around, though you will see lots of agricultural land.
The Konkan region is either sparsely populated or the people are well hidden beneath the greenery.
Share your travel experiences!Look at any of the passing hills and you will catch a shining waterfall. Strange colourful birds sitting on the telephone lines next to the track will remind you there are birds other than crows and pigeons in this world.
Thousands of rapidly flowing streams hug the track, they probably reach the sea sooner than you would reach the next station.
Perhaps the most refreshing of all the wonderful things on this train is the way the fresh air blowing through your hair washes away the last trace of the city you carried along with you.
Warning: You are not too drunk if you see a goods train next to you carrying fully loaded trucks, complete with drivers sleeping on the wheel or ogling at the women in your train.
They are just using Konkan Railway's Ro-Ro, Roll-On/Roll-Off Service, which helps the trucks avoid the torturous NH17 between Panvel and Honavar, south of Goa.
Instead of driving this way, the lorries can just hitch a ride on the train. It is cheaper and safer, especially during the monsoons.
