Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Log Approved

Love the way the focus is set on the first picture. Keep it coming.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

The 3rd pic is awesome! Waiting for the rest!

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Thanks for the approval B7ACKTHORN

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Thanks krishna77

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Hi friends starting with the travelogue hope you will like it


Rider:Niraj Yadav Pillion: Vishwanath Dalvi


How it started..


Some 20 days before the tour, as usual I was going through forums and my eyes stucked on this word 'Sagari Mahamarg'.


To me, it sounded like an amazing fiction word.
And this word made me restless. It was in my dreams !


Next day went through office holiday list and got my leaves approved for the long weekend in October.


Initially the Konkan Darshan was solo later my friend joined me.


Planning the route:
This becomes quite difficult when you struggle between the time you have and locations to explore.


I started several times but left the job hanging as things didnt balanced out well.

As the route was through Sagari Maharmag or Coastal sea route I saw multiple creeks lying the route.
And we had to take ferry to cross the creeks.


Generally Ferry in this route takes around 10-15 minutes max from this side to the opposite one. But I was concerned with the availability and waiting time.

So the little clue I had about their availability and timings was worrying me.

But I didn't wanted to escape them either


Luckily this was the most beautiful part of the tour. None of the Jetty made us wait.

Just as we used to do during Engg days, figured out the routes and halting stops in the last week loosely.

Planned route:


Day 1 has to end at Ganpatipule [We could reach Guhagar on Day 1] [300 KM]

Day 2 has to end at Vengurla [We could reach Malvan city] [250 KM]

Days 3 has to end at Vagator, Goa after visiting Dudhsagar falls [We were late and could not visit the falls, so stayed at Calangute ] [200 KM]

Day 4 we had planned to reach Thane via Sawantwadi->Kolhapur [Again we were late and managed to reach Pune] [560 KM]



Preparing the bike:
Fixed my expired insurance and PUC
I had lost my visor for the open face helmet.

Struggled getting a visor for it. Finally a road seller fixed the helmet for Rs.250.
Got the bike serviced.


Asamanjas:


For me, the week before the tour gets filled up with multiple feelings. First three days in the last week excitement goes on rising. From the fourth day feeling to avoid the trip starts building up. It takes good amount of struggle to start the tour.
Hope I am not the alone but some of you may surely had experienced this !!



DAY 1 :


Vishwanath was to reach Bhayandar station at 5:30 AM. We started at the right time. Filled 10 liter Petrol and continued.


After riding the cold winds and dark blue sky at Ghodbunder hills took
Thane -> Mumbra -> Kalamboli -> JNPT Road -> Pen -> Vadhkal Naka -> Kolad -> Mangaon route



Day started heating and we could feel the heat after Panvel and it was just around 9 AM.



A regular traffic of heavy vehicles was thee till Vadhkal Naka.
Naka is small enough to be misled. Straight road goes to Alibag and the take left takes you on Bombay Goa Highway.


Took our first halt at Mangaon for quick breakfast.


From Mangaon rode another 10KM on the Bombay Goa highway before taking left for Mandangad.


Mangaon to Mandangad route:
Mangaon -> Lonere -> Goregaon -> Nandvi -> Lokarvan -> Bhingaloli -> Mandangad





Route is scenic with beautiful Savitri river flowing in between.



There is an Indian Oil petrol pump just before Hingaloli if you are low on fuel.


Continued towards Dapoli via Dattanagar -> Kadivali route.


Starting from Lonere to Dabhol the whole section is Ghat road with plenty of curves. Wonderful road to ride on.


From Dapoli continued towards Dabhol. This stretch of the road was worst in the whole tour.


Just as we reached Dabhol bandar a ferry was about to leave.

Quickly took tickets and parked bike in the ferry.
Ferry tickets are were cheap than we imagined. It was Rs.20/person and Rs.30 for two wheeler.

The ferry takes you to the other side of the Vasistha river on Dabhol jetty.


Dabhol jetty:


Some photos from and near Dabhol jetty


Will continue with rest of the travelogue soon.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Mind-blowing pictures. Keep them coming.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Thanks krishna77 !

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Towards Anjanvel lightouse:

From Dabhol jetty we rode towards Anjanvel gaon. And from there a road goes to the left towards a small village.



En route lies the controversial ENRON power plant.




After the village a kuttcha road on the left takes you to Anjanvel lighthouse.


Anjanvel lighthouse.:


Light house is at the end of the plateau. Gates leading towards the lighthouse was closed.


I waited outside with bike and luggage and Vishwanath went inside and returned with the good news.


For the information almost all the Lighthouses remains open only from 3PM - 5PM. And we were there around 4:15 PM.


Took my bike inside and parked it there. The place seemed deserted and but it was nicely maintained.
Compound had beautiful flowers blooming. But keeper was nowhere there.
I was wondering whom did Vishwanath talked to.




A man came out from inside a small cottage where I was busy with my camera. And he started yelling 'Maine sirf tum dono ko andar aane bola tha, bike kisne bola andar laane ke liye. jao bahar park karo bike'


Now I found this completely illogical and I didn't gave him a look and continued with my camera.


He repeated again in a more harsh tone.


Giving a hard look for his arrogance, pushed my bike on the man built small interlock pathway running towards the gate. And parked outside.
For this I had to untie all the luggage and carry with me.


An old man came out from another cottage dressed in ganji and took some sort of Fireman like shirt from the hanger and asked how many were we.


We said 'Two'. 'Ok' he said 'Rs.20/each'. Handed him the money and walked behind him upwards in the lighthouse.


Small narrow stairs lead you to a small round closed room with a machinery painted green in the middle and lots of prism glass at the height of eyes.
Multiple batteries and other electrical gadgets were lying in the left corner.


He started explaining the working of lighthouse and that every lighthouse has a fixed frequency at which prism rotates. 3 bulb in the center emits light surrounded by 3 set of big prism glass. At the same time it keeps on rotating thus emitting 3 beam of light in one minute.


Now this is the code that fisherman uses to locate Dabhol. Lighthouse in the night can be spotted from 30KM in the sea.



From that small room through a mini door came out to see the amazing sea-view.



It was good learning session for us.
Packed our stuffs and continued towards Guhagar our last spot for the day.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Amazing. Carry on.

Sent from my Xperia L.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Thanks krishna77

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Day 1 - part 3 (Guhagar beach)

From Dabhol lighthouse we moved ahead to Guhagar.

Guhagar is around 15 km from Anjanvel.
Guhagar is a pretty small and straight town with awesome beach and windy surrounding.


Search for accommodation :
We decided to get into a basic accommodation first place our stuffs there and then move out to enjoy Sunset at Guhagar beach.


We had around 1 hour to settle.


Soon search for night stay started to be frustrating. Every hotel, lodge we visited turned us down. They didn't even listen to us. Just kept reiterating that there is no room for singles only family allowed.


In half an hour our search ended and we were still on the road.
Then my eyes went on a wall where we were standing 'rahnyachi uttam vyavastha aani gharguti khana milel'. Called that person he said 'ye meri hi dukan ki deewar hai piche aa jao'


We settled the deal for Rs.500, cheap in that area if compared with other hotels there. That man opened the mystery why we were rejected from all places.


He said 'aap jaise hi do aadmi kal aaye the. unme se ek ka khoon ho gaya'. We got a nice shock but why to worry proceeded to his house some 300 metres from his shop on a small hill in the outer perimeter of the village.


On the ground floor their family lived while the 1st floor was for renting. In the 5 rooms only our room was occupied. It was a big 2 room house with 4 cots and separate toilet and bathroom. Although the fan made scary cranking noise but we were happy !


Settled there and proceeded to Guhagar beach. Beach is beautiful with white sand and pathway in between.


Enjoyed shooting there. We also received an old guest on the beach who was keen to share how they used to manage lighting conditions in the old film days.




Guhagar has options for Veg and Non-Veg restaurant both. Vishwanath enjoyed gaavti chicken and I filmed him crying while sipping the chicken rassa




Being a vegetarian I went to Suruchi hotel in the market itself and finished thali.


While returning to the lodge we missed the road leading to lodge almost 4 times. Sitting in the room I was searching Google news for the murder news yesterday and found it true.
Vishwanath went inside the other room which had a palang lying in the corner.


Just to check he lifted the gaadi from the cot, came out and asked me to come inside. Gaadi was having blood spots all over it. And it seemed fresh !!
We both gulped together and came out thinking we were thugged.




Its easy to say you don't believe in ghost, but when you are in such a situation its hard to keep fear away.


On top of that I was experiencing that my cot was shaking slowly but later realised it was an internal feeling due to the ride we had on ghat That night was difficult.


We started early morning packed up things and proceeded to Ganpatipule !


Hope you liked Day 1 events.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Superb clicks! Bring on the rest.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

finding place for night stay in small budget and single person is the most difficult I found ..Though most of the time I found something , but you got really creepy experience there ..all the best , keep riding .. Waiting for next part of your t.log ..

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Thanks krishna77

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Spellbound by your work, some crazy captures there, mesmerizing vistas!
So the bloody 'gaddha' was because of the khooni mamla, right? BTW continuous time on saddle does make you feel 'moving' while sleeping.

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Amazing snaps.
Cheers
Mathews

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Thanks chaosaddict
Yes we were lucky to get some good photos. I think October is the best time to visit Konkan. You have both green and yellow crops in the field and clear sky.
Dont know if murder happened in that lodge, but Sherlock in me was saying yes this is the room

Re: Incredible Konkan via Sagari Mahamarg and Guhagar mystery !!

Day 2:

Route:

Following morning we started early from Guhagar towards Ganpatipule. Mountains were misty and winds were chilly.
Silent hills and curved ghats made the ride more interesting.
















We were targeting Vengurla for today but didn't want to compromise with nice spots enroute spend time decisively.

Tavsal jetty:




Reached Tavsal jetty and had our hot chai and spicy kanda pohe. Frequency of Ferry is good on this route, ferry takes around 10 minutes from this side to that side. Loaded our bike on the Ferry and were on the other side towards Ganpatipule jetty.


Ganpatipule jetty or Jaigadh:

Soft sun was up there and people at the jetty were busy with their daily chores.
We had to fuel up the tank, petrol pump is very close to the jetty. We went there but they didnt had card machines so went backward around half a kilometer at the ATM.






Ganpatipule Temple:

As it was an extended weekend we were expecting good amount of devotees and tourist near the beach and temple. Luckily got a parking spot and it was free
Took darshan and some photos. We were there around 2 PM.






Went in the small hotel inside the Ganpatipule temple. They serve good food. This time I was very happy since the served only Veg food and Vishwanath had no option

Left the temple and started towards Ratnagiri but instead of going towards Ratnagiri we went in the opposite direction.
Not far from the temple we saw a concept tourism from Konkan Tourism Development board.
They had named it Prachin Konkan.

Prachin Konkan Ganpatipule:

Prachin Konkan is a concept tourism designed to make the tourist aware of the Konkan history and early lives of the Konkanis.

It was a treat for people like me who travel to learn. Although it was not in the plan but we decided to take the tour. They charged around 50/person.
A guide gave us a nice walk-through through the human made forest. Prachin Konkan gives a glimpse of the old Bharatiya social structure where each Village had groups of people organized in specific jobs.

There I found one of the traditional fishing instrument used by Kolis very interesting. It was like a big Dumroo with one end open very similar to sand hourglass. It was designed in such a fashion that the fishes can come inside easily but cannot escape.

Paakshala was the other thing which caught my eyes and brain. Simple and handy instruments employing nice amount of scientific principles. I would try to write a separate article on this.




Will soon post the ride to Malvan city.