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So Goa finally happened after a lot of reluctance on my part. I had always wanted to do this trip since a long time and probably that sense of excitement made this trip even more remarkable. I have jotted down the complete detailed travelogue over here, hoping that it would be helpful to someone doing this trip in the future and also because it gives me a sense of completion.
Total Distance Covered :
507km (Onward)
498km (Return)
I was staying in Margao, which is like 33km ahead of Panaji, towards South Goa! This distance is straight till my house at S. B. Road, Pune!
Bike used : Pulsar 200
Route Followed [Mostly NH4]:
Onward Journey = Pune - Warje Vadduct - Mahabaleswar Phata - Satara - Kolhapur - Sankeshwar Phata - Ajra - Amboli Ghats - Sawantwadi - Panaji - Margao
Return Journey = Margao - Panaji - Sawantwadi - Ajra - Uttur - Kolhapur - Satara - Mahabaleswar Phata - Warje Vadduct - Pune
Onward Journey (507km) :
We started off at 6AM from Pune on Friday (8th Jan 2010). Initially headed off to the Karve Road Poha Joint at 530AM and had Chai/Poha/Samosa. I love this combo a lot and comes at around a reasonable cost. After this we rode along the Nal Stop Road under the flyover towards the Bangalore Highway. Hit the Warje Vadduct and kept following the road and it was still dark. It was damn cold at that time and I was wearing another jacket under my DSG one. We stopped at some tea joint in between for some smokes. Headed straight towards Mahabaleswar Phata, which we crossed at around 730AM. We were keeping a constant speed of around 80kph, not much since the Truck Traffic was heavy at that hour of the morning. Then we kept going straight, no turning until Satara. Reached Satara at 8AM and stopped for tea. Started Off at 830 and kept with that same medium speed of 80kph. Finally reached Kolhapur at 10AM, after a 4 hour ride. We had to search for a decent lunch joint here. I dont know the reason, but finding a decent food joint here was some work. This dhaba was around 2km ahead of the Flyover from that Kolhapur City Intersection. We talked with some Truck guys about the road ahead to Panaji. They asked us to avoid the Belgaum Road because of the horrible road conditions before it enters South Goa! We headed towards the Sankeshwar Phata at 1045AM. Now this patch of road is something, its completely straight and a 4 lane. This is the kind of Road we should have everywhere. Its an out of the world riding experience, riding on this. We were now averaging at 100kph uptil Sankeshwar Phata. Sankeshwar Phata is around 45-50km from Kolhapur. Took the right and stopped for Tea. Asked a local about the route to Sawantwadi. Followed this road. This road is a narrow one, rural kinds. Ill maintained at certain points. Once you reach Amboli Ghats, the roads are good. Amboli Ghat is beautiful. Next stop was Sawantwadi which is like an hour from Sankeshwar Phata, dont remember how long this route was. But all in all it was a good ride with patches of forest in between, beautiful! The landscape changes to a very coastal kinds over here and then we head straight to Panaji. Panaji is like 45 minutes from Sawantwadi, maybe 1 hour, depending on the traffic and hovering around 80-90kph. Reached there and then rest was history!!
Return Journey (498km):
The return journey started at 9AM on Sunday, 10th Jan, 2010!! My bike was low on patrol and the nearest petrol station from the place I was staying in Margao was 4km away. Somehow made it just at the right moment. So yeah, we started at 9AM from Margao town and headed towards Panaji. This time our intention was to take a rather picturesque route. The previous night a few locals came upto us and was checking out my 200 lol. So we got a chance to ask these guys about the best route to Pune from Goa. From the discussion we had, we came to know that our previous route was indeed filled with potholes and ill maintained roads. So they asked us to take a detour. We headed straight to Sawantwadi. Stopped for breakfast and then headed straight towards Amboli Ghats. We confused ourselves at a detour and headed straight into a wrong direction (towards Mumbai) for like 8km. One of us figured out this was actually the wrong route. Luckily there was a local roaming around the rather very very deserted roads in Konkan. So we took our road back and then were on the correct way towards Amboli Ghats. After Amboli Ghats we had to take a detour towards Uttur at Ajra. Here again we missed a detour and went into the wrong direction. Missed half an hour here, again. Anyways back on the right track we were crusing through the road to Uttur. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN KONKAN. The roads are good and the view is so splendid you will be left awestruck. Kept crusing through the beautiful roads and hit NH4 at like 50km from Kolhapur. This is a four lane road and seriously again, this is one of the most beautiful highway in Maharashtra. The ride here was awesome and we kept at constant speeds of 95-100kph. Kept going and then stopped at this McD about 10km ahead of Kolhapur City. From there on we kept going straight on NH4 towards Satara. This was a rather fast route and we just stopped for tea at one place near Mahabaleswar Phata. We were out of cash and did not find a single ATM on the highway (Its about time the Banks make enough ATMs on the highway). After a fast paced ride after Satara we reached Pune at 5PM.
PS : Due to time constraints I could not wait much for clicking pics. So most of the pics were clicked either from a moving bike, while riding pillion or the 1 minute stops. Clicked with a Canon Point and Shoot (Couldnt use my DSLR much on the road). Pardon my obsession with Black and White!
Thats all for now folks!! More Pics to be uploaded soon!
Total Distance Covered :
507km (Onward)
498km (Return)
I was staying in Margao, which is like 33km ahead of Panaji, towards South Goa! This distance is straight till my house at S. B. Road, Pune!
Bike used : Pulsar 200
Route Followed [Mostly NH4]:
Onward Journey = Pune - Warje Vadduct - Mahabaleswar Phata - Satara - Kolhapur - Sankeshwar Phata - Ajra - Amboli Ghats - Sawantwadi - Panaji - Margao
Return Journey = Margao - Panaji - Sawantwadi - Ajra - Uttur - Kolhapur - Satara - Mahabaleswar Phata - Warje Vadduct - Pune
Onward Journey (507km) :
We started off at 6AM from Pune on Friday (8th Jan 2010). Initially headed off to the Karve Road Poha Joint at 530AM and had Chai/Poha/Samosa. I love this combo a lot and comes at around a reasonable cost. After this we rode along the Nal Stop Road under the flyover towards the Bangalore Highway. Hit the Warje Vadduct and kept following the road and it was still dark. It was damn cold at that time and I was wearing another jacket under my DSG one. We stopped at some tea joint in between for some smokes. Headed straight towards Mahabaleswar Phata, which we crossed at around 730AM. We were keeping a constant speed of around 80kph, not much since the Truck Traffic was heavy at that hour of the morning. Then we kept going straight, no turning until Satara. Reached Satara at 8AM and stopped for tea. Started Off at 830 and kept with that same medium speed of 80kph. Finally reached Kolhapur at 10AM, after a 4 hour ride. We had to search for a decent lunch joint here. I dont know the reason, but finding a decent food joint here was some work. This dhaba was around 2km ahead of the Flyover from that Kolhapur City Intersection. We talked with some Truck guys about the road ahead to Panaji. They asked us to avoid the Belgaum Road because of the horrible road conditions before it enters South Goa! We headed towards the Sankeshwar Phata at 1045AM. Now this patch of road is something, its completely straight and a 4 lane. This is the kind of Road we should have everywhere. Its an out of the world riding experience, riding on this. We were now averaging at 100kph uptil Sankeshwar Phata. Sankeshwar Phata is around 45-50km from Kolhapur. Took the right and stopped for Tea. Asked a local about the route to Sawantwadi. Followed this road. This road is a narrow one, rural kinds. Ill maintained at certain points. Once you reach Amboli Ghats, the roads are good. Amboli Ghat is beautiful. Next stop was Sawantwadi which is like an hour from Sankeshwar Phata, dont remember how long this route was. But all in all it was a good ride with patches of forest in between, beautiful! The landscape changes to a very coastal kinds over here and then we head straight to Panaji. Panaji is like 45 minutes from Sawantwadi, maybe 1 hour, depending on the traffic and hovering around 80-90kph. Reached there and then rest was history!!
Return Journey (498km):
The return journey started at 9AM on Sunday, 10th Jan, 2010!! My bike was low on patrol and the nearest petrol station from the place I was staying in Margao was 4km away. Somehow made it just at the right moment. So yeah, we started at 9AM from Margao town and headed towards Panaji. This time our intention was to take a rather picturesque route. The previous night a few locals came upto us and was checking out my 200 lol. So we got a chance to ask these guys about the best route to Pune from Goa. From the discussion we had, we came to know that our previous route was indeed filled with potholes and ill maintained roads. So they asked us to take a detour. We headed straight to Sawantwadi. Stopped for breakfast and then headed straight towards Amboli Ghats. We confused ourselves at a detour and headed straight into a wrong direction (towards Mumbai) for like 8km. One of us figured out this was actually the wrong route. Luckily there was a local roaming around the rather very very deserted roads in Konkan. So we took our road back and then were on the correct way towards Amboli Ghats. After Amboli Ghats we had to take a detour towards Uttur at Ajra. Here again we missed a detour and went into the wrong direction. Missed half an hour here, again. Anyways back on the right track we were crusing through the road to Uttur. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN KONKAN. The roads are good and the view is so splendid you will be left awestruck. Kept crusing through the beautiful roads and hit NH4 at like 50km from Kolhapur. This is a four lane road and seriously again, this is one of the most beautiful highway in Maharashtra. The ride here was awesome and we kept at constant speeds of 95-100kph. Kept going and then stopped at this McD about 10km ahead of Kolhapur City. From there on we kept going straight on NH4 towards Satara. This was a rather fast route and we just stopped for tea at one place near Mahabaleswar Phata. We were out of cash and did not find a single ATM on the highway (Its about time the Banks make enough ATMs on the highway). After a fast paced ride after Satara we reached Pune at 5PM.
PS : Due to time constraints I could not wait much for clicking pics. So most of the pics were clicked either from a moving bike, while riding pillion or the 1 minute stops. Clicked with a Canon Point and Shoot (Couldnt use my DSLR much on the road). Pardon my obsession with Black and White!
Thats all for now folks!! More Pics to be uploaded soon!
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