Hi
i just ended a fantastic week (oct 6-12) during which me and my bike travelled mumbai-goa-mumbai. Have done this route many times in the past and this time was as awesome as any.
work commitments meant that i could give time to only one : a road trip, or wandering around goa. i chose the former. i needed to spend a day in pune, so my down trip was on the NH4 and the return trip was done riding on the NH17. having returned yesterday, i can give a good estimate of the road conditions.
having ridden down to goa on many previous occasions, and via all the routes, choosing the route was not a problem.
TO trip-
the mumbai to goa trip was done on the NH4, Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur-nipani-sankeshwar-gadinglaj-ajara-amboli-sawantwadi-panjim. the road till sankeshwar (part of the GQ project) is flawless and feels like a glide. it could get a tad boring due to the endless straights, but good music and random thoughts can keep you occupied on the way. the road however, is fantastic. a safe and speedy four-laner which gives you full freedom to open up. once you go off the NH4 at sankeshwar, the road to gadinglaj is a typical village road, with a good serving of potholes. the road is not very bad, but you are prejudiced by the high standards the NH4 has set by then. after ajara, the road improves as you travel over smooth curves and through lush fields towards the picturesque amboli ghat. a small patch of the amboli ghat is in a bad shape due to a landslide, but that hardly takes more than a few minutes. the road then is decent upto sawantwadi, where you join the NH17. a small patch near banda can give you a few shakes, but order is restored immediately and you can have an undisturbed 50 kms to panaji after that.
my time log
left from mumbai 5 am - reached pune 8 am
stayed the day in pune
left from pune - 4.30 am
kolhapur - 8 am
breakfast in kolhapur
sankeshwar - 10.05 am
ajara - 11.15 am
sawantwadi - 1pm
panaji - 2pm
total distance
mumbai - pune 179 kms.
pune-panaji 472.3 kms
FRO trip - (note, fill up your tank in panaji, the fuel there is around 4 bucks cheaper than maharashtra/mumbai
Followed the legendary mumbai-goa NH17 highway on my way back. the ride to sawantwadi was the same as on my down journey, with that bad patch at banda making me frown, but otherwise a chilled ride. after sawantwadi, you will encounter a very uncomfortable two hours till kankavli with the roads still suffering from the hangover of the rainy season. frequent braking and ubiquitous potholes will make you cringe every 5 minutes or so. (i did catch a glimpse of pavers and roadrollers working on a few of those ugly patches, so you might give out a few lesser ouches me.) you wait impatiently for the potholes to end, and you also sort of end up negotiating with the road and settle for a few small holes and cracks.
but after kankavli, the road atones for all its sins. the flat out two laner tarmac makes you thank everything that made you take this trip. the road is a pure biker's (or driver's) delight. the soft curves, the gentle ascents and descents and the sparse traffic which provides the right food for your overtaking hungry brain, it all fits perfectly to give you a complete road experience. you do frown again, but this time for not having a better bike (or car) under you. the curves keep your speed under check, but you dont miss it at all. the only downside is that its a divider-less two laner, so you have to keep a watch for those mischievious truck/bus drivers on the opposite lane.
the awesomeness continues till wadkhal naka where heavy traffic (especially in the evening) and bad roads make you miss the NH 17. the drive till pen and then panvel is then decent, after which i encountered the mumbai peak hour traffic, which is best not talked about
time log
departed from panaji - 6 am
sawantwadi 7.15 am
kankavli 9.30 am
mahad 2pm
vadkhal naka 4 pm
panvel 5.30 pm
mumbai 7.15 pm
(with a food halt and a couple of water in-water out stops)
total distance 582.7 kms |