KONKAN-A ROLLER ‘COASTAL’ RIDE!
We’ve got a new safari, we must go for a long trip, Dilip had quipped…”But where?” was the million dollar question….plenty of stoppers in the way.
Above all... Dilip’s joining date, Kartik’s exams…uff!! Finally it was decided that after Kartik’s exams, we would go for a trip thru Maharashtra, mainly Ahmednagar, Aurangabad and then maybe cut across to Kolhapur and then to Konkan.. geez…how overtly ambitious!! Well, eventually Kartik realized he would have to miss his German classes which were going to start the day before his exams finished…so?? He dropped out!!!
Ab baki bachey? Hum dono..:) Then it was only Konkan for us, as the number of days available for a trip were just about 8…or so we thought. Our plan was, no advance booking, just drive through and plan to arrive at a decent place in decent time. Our net-search had found us some good places where we had confirmed that there were rooms available..that’s all!
As earlier decided, we were to just drive thru Konkan without really doing any fixed boarding bookings, since we didn’t want to restrict ourselves with deadlines or fixed time to reach ‘a’ particular destination.
Come 8th Nov and we were headed for Alibag. Our big mistake? We decided to take the Khopoli-Pen road.....A BIG NO-NO….
Well, by lunch time we found our way to the hotel we were planning to stay in. Sunglow resort, just on Alibag sea-face.
A decent place and a great sea-facing room and we were more than happy!
The view and the ambience was just right...
After lunch and a brief siesta, we found out that the fort we saw from our window, was actually the Kolaba fort, dating back to the 18th century, built by Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior.
During ebb-tide you can walk across through the sea (Moses...heh??) and see the fort. It was a great experience! And what’s more the fort was in a good clean condition…ruins and other things not withstanding! (Unlike the Janjira fort which is truly a mess!)...this fort is looked after by the ASI which charges a nominal entry fee of Rs 5/..we however didnt have to pay, cos by the time we reached the fort the ASI office had downed their shutters...:)
The Kolaba fort is 900 ft long, 300ft wide and has walls 25 ft tall…there are 17 ‘buruj’ or bastions in it…ofcourse not all of this can be seen actually as some parts are totally inaccessible.
The next morning, breakfast done and we were headed for Dapoli, where we had been told by our cousins that there was a very beautiful resort called Aryavarta, atop a little hillock where rooms/bungalows were available…well, why not? we said…..and winding our way from Alibag, via Nagothane, enjoying the picturesque Konkan countryside, we joined the Bombay-Goa road, stopping at different places just to enjoy and savour the beauty!
It took us more than the required time, but it was worth every moment…..a nice little snug, way-side restaurant called ‘Jay-Bhavani hotel’ beckoned us by its simple rustic beauty and we dared to taste the coffee and buy some Konkan specialties like Amla serbet etc….refreshed and rested, (and change at the steering…
.....I took over!)we once again hit the road…..had lunch(special Konkan thali) at another small restaurant in Bharne(Khed)….from there to Dapoli was another 35 kms and very soon we were witness to breath taking beauty at Aryavarta…truly a paradise…also called ‘Mahabaleshwar’ of Konkan.
Staying a Dapoli we toured/visited places like Anjarle, Murud Harnai,(seeing the Harnai dock/jetty…fish being offloaded and the general pandemonium!) and a drive through Dapoli town ......
The next day it was an eastward journey, towards Harihareshwar, Shrivardhan and Diveagar…..
Harihareshwar was astounding, but Srivardhan disappointed and imagine how ticklish it was that we went in search of the ‘bunder’ where the RDX was landed!!! LOL!! Ofcourse we didn’t ask anyone point-blank but discreetly looked for Shrivardhan ‘bunder’…sadly we didn’t find it.
At Harihareshwar, though, we were spell bound by the sea and its awe-inspiring beauty…behind the temple is a climb of around 100 steps leading toa cliff from where there is a drop of about 150 mtrs. Legend has it that Shanmukh swami had narrated the myths attached to the hills here…to Agasti rishi. Here we find 4 hills named Brahmagiri, Vishnugiri, Shivagiri and Parvati. These are represented in a miniature form in the temple sanctum sanctorum. The cliff I just mentioned is a start point for a mini-parikrama or a round of the brahmagiri hill which is supposed to be holy. One has to climb down a steep stairway that has about 150 steps, to reach the sea. During ebb-tide, one can take this mini-parikrama, “but only with a guide,” warned the priest.
We climbed down nevertheless and took a half-round since the rest of the land was under water and inaccessible. What an experience!! After this, we had lunch in a small homely joint, down the lane leading away from the temple(In Konkan you’ll find plenty of such places that offer fresh home-cooked Malvani/Konkani food) where a nice meal and rest later we headed for Shrivardhan and later Diveagar.
Diveagar was not much except for the ‘Suvarna Ganpati’….story goes that the gold Ganpati idol was found locked in copper trunk(on exhibit in a glass case in the temple) in a garden not far away, and the inscription on it suggests the name of one Maval Bhatt. The Ganpati is not a solid idol but just a mask/façade to be put on a solid idol.
By the time we were done, we were acutely aware of the fact that we were lagging behind time and began our rushed journey back to Aryavarta….a brief coffee halt at Vithal Kamat’s at Mahad(its wonderful…especially the loos!!) and anxiously driving, avoiding speeding up, we tried to cover as many miles before twilight; but well……eventually we reached, tired but happy, only at around 8 PM….the weather was to kill for and the place a paradise. The previous day we were only two guests but tonight we found 20 others with kids bawling and adults talking gregariously in the dining hall…all in all a great holiday mood!
Mr Sahsrabuddhe in Aryavarta was God-sent as he provided us with all the useful tips to reach Ganpatipule and sights to be seen en route. Our drive from Dapoli to Dabhol was a beautiful one often finding a sharp drop sea-wards on one side and dense forests on the other(even the previous day the drive to Harihareshwar etc was similar)….all through Konkan this is the way the road goes!
Just a few kilometres after Dapoli is this little resort snuggled next to the sea called ‘Sagar-Savali’…..its a perfect get-away..owned by a benign old man called Bapu More. Bapu’s bungalow in Daploi is to be seen to believe. Can put many of our city houses to shame! Bapu personally supervises this little tourist haven and is very courteous…even as his staff showed us around, Bapu suggested we could take a walk down to the beach and see the property if we wished…..The . guy at the reception gave us a lowdown on the accommodation and other facilities there…it has 6 rooms and 4 cottages and are always booked much much in advance. So if you want to visit Sagar Savli, make sure you have your bookings in place, he added!
We had only just begun our journey and were thrilled with the roads and the flora and fauna which reminded us much of our frequent drives from Mettupalayam to Ooty. The roads however were much better here than there…All along we found, the Konkani man is very helpful, courteous and mild-mannered. Different communities live in total peace and camaraderie and almost all of Konkan is clean.
A little before Dabhol there is this Chandika Devi temple, which was found( supposedly by the Pandavas) in the caves and the present temple is built nestled in the rocks…an awesome site and an awesome experience since you have to literally struggle to walk into a dark tunnel before your eyes adjust to the darkness and you get ‘darshan’…..the ‘pundit’s wife then offered us cold ‘kokam serbet’ at a small price though, and once again we hit the road….
At Dabhol we had to cross the sea via the ferry and our car was loaded on board….a different experience for sure…..the other side was Dhopave from where we drove to Guhagar.
Aaahh!! Guhagar…what a pretty town! Small neat roads, roofed houses in neat rows and the beach simply picturesque. We had our lunch halt there, again at a homely ‘khanawal’ and we visited the Wadeshwar temple… a Shiva temple.
Velneshwar, is also a temple of Lord Shiva…Konkan is full of temples and beaches, really…mainly Shiva, Ganpati and Chandika Devi…..followed by Hedvi where there’s a beautiful, quiet, serene Ganpati temple atop a little hillock…both these temples were awe-inspiring. Velneshwar beach too was a surprise as it was a quiet virgin beach, white sands and cool breeze…but the hot sun breaking through the ‘suru’ trees were a deterrent and stopped us from venturing onto the sands…
From Hedvi we were on our way to Ganpatipule and wondering how long it would be before we reached; just then a passing rickshaw driver told us there was a ferry station just a few kilometers down the road at Katale and that there was ferry leaving at 4 PM…it was about 3:40 PM then…could it get any better??? There we were at the ferry jetty just within 10 mins and had to wait almost 15 minutes before the ferry finally pulled up…there was another family on scooter with us, that’s all! Within 10 minutes we were on the other side at Saitavle, and headed for Ganpatipule via Khandala(no, not apna Khandala!!)…and, in just over an hour we were at the MTDC reception counter asking if we could get accommodation…”No,”nodded the lady at the front desk, “We’re all booked…and there’s no chance up until tomorrow morning.”….we turned around and were almost on our way to find another place recommended by Mr Sahasrabuddhe, when the peon came running…”Captain Saab, wait, we just received a cancellation by phone and you’re lucky!...only it’s a non-AC room, will it do?”……”Neki aur pooch pooch??”…looking heavenwards, we blessed this guy and soon found ourselves checking in to a cool, sea-facing room in a pretty neat condition; We had asked the front desk lady to keep our name on the AC waiting list and decided to move there the next day!
That done, tea/coffee looked after and we took to the beach and atour of the entire property..going back in time to 1995, when we had gone there with the boys…then we had stayed in the Konkan huts.
This sprawling MTDC property is a gold mine and is fairly well-maintained. Cannot get any better! People are courteous and helpful and facilities/amenities are good. The restaurant is opened all day long and you have to go there for meals. No room service except for tea/coffee…a good thing since it ensures cleanliness.
The next day, gorging on poha and omlettes and washed down with cups of filter coffee(the Maharashtrian variety), we took off, bitten by the curiosity bug, to check out what this place “Pracheen Konkan” was….we had seen hoardings everywhere, which said it was a museum of sorts…just about 1km from where we were…never hurt to see something different, huh?
To our surprise, this was one well planned and laid out ‘museum’ that took you down memory lane to the Konkan around 500 years ago…a great concept spread over 3 and half acres on a small hilly area….you have to go through a tunnel which serves as a time-cross over back to 5 centuries ago! Our guide Sangeeta took us through the whole journey detailing us on the legend of Parshuram, what the life-styles, customs and traditions were then….an extremely educational and eye-opening tour, for sure! We came away much richer and informed about this land of ours.
She also told us about the Marleshwar cave temple, of which a prototype was created here..
The Ganpatipule temple too is beautiful. It was renovated from 1999-2003 and that’s when the Shankaracharya inaugurated this renovated temple. Clean and serene, there wasn’t much rush, though the road leading to it and to the beach was choc-a-block with vehicles and tourists!!
In the morning, we had already shifted to our AC room as promised by Ms receptionist and spent the rest of the day (after the museum visit) resting and beach combing! Our trip was coming to an end and the heart was so caught up in Konkan…sigh!! We didn’t want to leave. Finally we did check out and hit the raod, homeward bound…well, were going to our home in New Bomaby, though not Pune, yet.
The Bombay-Goa road is a driver’s pleasure…the Savitri river and the Shastri river criss-cross the way and there are plenty of ghats to conquer!! Like the Nivali Ghat, after which the Shastri river runs parallel to the NH 17...then is the Kamthe ghat. the Parshuram ghat after Chiplun, the Bhoste ghat and the Kashedi ghat.....
The best of them all is the Kashedi ghat. About 18-19 kms before you touch Poladpur......Picturesque and not so difficult to drive. Konkan railway is a right there with all through suddenly cropping up on bridges and weaving its way through the hills and dales…. You’ve just got down a ghat and before you know, you’re climbing up again…that’s the beauty of Konkan all through. State highways 96, 98 and 100 are all well-maintained and it was surprising to see rural people following road rules better than our urban educated lot.
On our way back from Ganpatipule we had decided to haul off at Karbude village, to visit dear old Gangaram…our man Friday who had been with us for as long as I can remember! He was thrilled to bits. His quaint, clean, and tidy home could put many a city people to shame….an hour there and excusing ourselves from accepting his lunch invitation I left with a very heavy heart…will I meet him again?
Lunch for us was already decided…at Vithal Kamath’s. After lunch it wa my turn at the wheel and we were yet again on the NH17… pleasure driving while Dilip took his siesta/snooze….we crossed Karnala and promised ourselves that our next weekend getaway would be here and not Lonavla!!! Once we were at Kharghar, we knew our vacation had come to an end and that we needed to rest a while after all that hectic, (over 1500 kms) driving and touring!!
