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Old 13th June 2012, 20:16   #1
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Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

This is my first Travelogue, so mods and fellow BHPians, please forgive any mistakes.

The Plan - "What’s that"?

It was basically a very impulsive decision. One day me and wife decided that due to our recent marriage and petrol hike etc etc, we would spend cautiously and work harder and save lots and lots of money.

Next day we just said - "Naaaaaah. We’ll do it next month. Let’s go out for the weekend!”

The Destination -

Me being the travel "freak" I was given the full charge of deciding the destination and planning the trip. So naturally as in any democracy, all the places that I suggested were voted out! It being the first weekend of June and last weekend in holidays for everyone else, it was terribly hot and all hill stations terribly full. So my incompetence was proved even further. Finally after multiple applications and a bribe of Natural ice cream my point was accepted.

I thought best to visit a beach (less crowd) with a/c room, travelling in the a/c car during the hot afternoons and going to the beach in the evening and early morning. So I decided either Karde (Dapoli) or Nagao or Kashid. The endless calls to the hotels started, which were either ignored or showed utter disinterest and after 90 minutes had the knowledge that each and every hotel was full. So disheartened finally called my usual hotel in Diveagar and he confirmed there was vacancy and Diveagar wasn't all that crowded. Finally an a/c room booked with a hefty discount and I sighed in relief.

The Road -

I hate repeating roads when especially going to a destination I have visited many times. Plus Tamhini ghat road being as smooth as the surface of the moon, I decided to take the Varandha ghat route. It would add 30 - 40 km to the trip but I had never driven on that road and I was told that the condition too is good.

The Car -

The car was mom’s A-star which had done just 9000 km and was its first long trip. Other options were my Alto (dad feels it’s too brittle) and dad's Ford Fusion 1.6 (petrol - Rs. 78/litre. Really??). So the A-star was the obvious choice. And what a decision it proved to be!

The Trip (finally) -

We were supposed to leave by 8 am on 2nd June and as expected we didn't! Surprise surprise! We were ready well before that and left at 7:45 am with a tank full of petrol and tummy full of breakfast. The crisp morning air along with our excitement of it being our first trip together as husband-wife was simply magical.

The NH4 section from Pune to Bhor Phata was the usual affair with long lines at the Khedshivapur Toll and road works. But the moment we turned at the Phata the world simply became a better place! The twisting roads with the breath taking views of the mountains, fields and fragrance of the morning country side simply made my heart sing. Then we took right from Bhor towards Varandha and it kept getting better and better! We then stopped at the Nira-Deoghar dam to soak in the nature and click a few photos.

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Nira-Deoghar Dam
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We crossed many small villages and farms. The simple life there reminds you of the simple pleasures of life and happiness beyond the material things we've made such an integral part of our existence. Owing to light showers last night, even the late morning air was so pleasant and fresh. We started climbing slowly and sometime later stopped at a small tea stall for a break and some tea.

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The descent started and the view took our breath away. The road till now had been pretty good with only a couple of bad patches. But the road going down just was a different experience all together. Till now the views had overcome the pleasure of driving. But now that changed. The twists and turns, the hairpins and the smooth road made for the perfect recipe for A-star's handling and that amazing engine. The driving experience was extraordinary and I didn’t stop even once to click photos till reached the bottom. Even my wife enjoyed that so much she forgave my constant nonsense about racing lines and corner entry and clipping the apex and blah blah!!

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Monkeys!!

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We joined the NH17 at Mahad - where we had a light snack - and drove towards Mandgaon. The NH17 as we know is brilliant and this particular patch is no different. The Savitri River runs alongside the road and it’s just beautiful. Here I got a chance to open up the engine and boy did it respond! We took left at Lonere to go to Mhasala through Goregaon. But the roads being confusing and there being not a single signboard, we lost our way. But the road was really amazing, like the road to Ambey Valley in Lonavala, so it really didn’t matter. Never the less with help from locals we came back to the right road.

The typical snaking roads of Konkan were a real pleasure to drive on but it was pretty hot and humid now, so a/c was turned on and we cruised towards Diveagar.

River Savitri

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TO BE CONTINUED...
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Old 14th June 2012, 10:49   #2
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

Diveagar -

This small coastal village is not what it used to be. Tourism has made it pretty commercialized and it has lost the charm it had. It had just a few home-stays and simple home cooked sea food! Few lights and barely ever had electricity. Sleeping in khaats in the courtyard of the home stay or on an old wooden zopala/zhula (big swing) and having a bath at the well! These are the memories that flash in front of my eyes as I drive through the new hotel buildings and new bungalows taking place of the small simple houses with huge gardens full of coconut and beetle nut trees.

We had a mind blowing lunch of the local king fish fry, curry, chapatti and rice along with the lip-smacking ‘solkadhi!’ We check into our hotel and had a small nap. At about 5 pm drove to the beach. And we are greeted first by the sound of the big angry waves crashing into to beautiful sand stretching for miles beyond the coconut and suru trees (dunno its name in English). The sun was still hours from setting and a few people were on the beach. There was the typical paragliding and some other tourists were playing beach cricket and volleyball. We moved away from the crowds, had a nice dip in the sea and then sat on the beach for the sun set. And guess what we were greeted with...

The thing that greeted us -

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What happens when u drive a car onto a beach and park it a few meters from the water and slowly high tide starts?? Most of us know the answer but these Mumbaikars with a Vento and an Etios were clueless. They were sitting in and around the cars for 3 hours and never even thought that they should move the cars even when the water had moved well beyond the length of the cars. I was told they were requested by the locals 3 times to move the cars but they turned a deaf ear. Finally I went and asked them if they needed help. Their reply was "ya sure the door is not getting locked properly"!!

I told them they will lose their cars if they didn't move it immediately, so reluctantly the Etios managed to move off as it was facing away from the water, but the Vento with its front wheels stuck in pretty deep wouldn't budge. I told them that they should put stones or piece of wood on both sides of the front wheels and try to reverse. Guess what! They sat in the car enjoying the wheel spin, the car digging in further!! After much convincing they agreed to try. We got stones and pieces of wood. We dug around furiously put the stones and wood under the wheels. The owner told me to drive and I tried to reverse with minimum throttle inputs but I just felt the wheels digging in deeper. We adjusted the stones etc again and I tried to shuffle the car front and back, but nothing happened. Then we got a few locals to try and lift the front and push it back without effect.

I told the Etios guy to go and get the Jeep that was doing the paragliding runs. He returned uninterested saying they didn't have a rope. Half of the family wasn't even interested and the other half were simply standing idly. I know I’m being too dramatic about the whole thing, but I was just hurt looking at the attitude these people had towards their car. They didn't even care. The sand had given way under the front wheels, so the wheels actually were just floating in water and the front bumper had dug up and stuck in the sand. The underbody was holding the car. The brakes, drive shaft and the lower part of the engine were completely under water. Salt water that is!! Anyway, the locals got a tractor, a rope and took the car out in 2 minutes. And the owner had a nice laugh about what an adventure it had been as he paid them 2000 bucks.

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This is how deep the car had went.

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Rope being attached

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I was shocked, but my wife just dragged me out of the confusion and said, "They have more money than brains or passion for cars. Don't spoil your mood for somebody else. Just look at that sun. Have u seen anything as brilliant as that". She was right, the sun looked beautiful. I just stood mesmerized, clicked a few pics and we walked the length of the beach looking at the spectacle of nature my heart at utmost peace. As the sun set, we drove back to the hotel using a different route which ran alongside the beach and the river with Suru trees on both sides! The day had just been more than we asked for!

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But our luck was about to change. After a bath we were shocked to know that if we didn’t book dinner by 6 pm we would not get food anywhere! It was 8 pm!! We got the same answer at every eatery we asked! I hurriedly called up our hotel who luckily agreed to cook for us but said it be another 2 hours! I was hungry; I hadn’t had tea ever since we reached Diveagar. The funny thing is Diveagar doesn’t have a single tea Tapri, none of the eateries serve tea and even our hotel simple refused to serve any! I am a tea/coffee addict and this was my idea of hell! So we had some of those sugary Mango drinks to prevent our hypoglycemia and irritation. Finally we ate our dinner at 10 pm. Hogged on the prawns, pomfret and rice; chilled on hammocks at the hotel and then retired as happy as ever!!

The Morning –

Our hotel still refused to serve tea in the early morning, so with me still craving for the magic elixir of gods, went for our final dip in the water. And guess what greeted us this time!! I’m sure you guessed it! The light rain in the morning had made the beach sand quite sticky and an Indica didn’t even make to the beach. Got stuck right at the edge. My wife just gave me “the look” and I obediently walked away!

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A refreshing dip among the white salty waves and the morning sunlight had completely recharged our batteries, our hearts as happy as a little child. We drove back making a pit stop at a very beautiful Shiv Mandir. Finally had tea at our hotel! Had breakfast and prepared for the drive back! It had become extremely hot and uncomfortable so we cancelled our plan to visit Dighi or Shrivardhan and decided to directly head home.

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This is how ferocious the waves were.

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We took the simpler and obvious route through Mandgaon on the return journey which is a much better and scenic road than Goregaon. Ate lunch at Kamat’s on NH17 and drove through the beautiful Varandha ghat towards Pune. I’ll always cherish our first trip, even though we had a little inconvenience and things but gave us the exact peace and happiness we wanted. The perfect escapade!..

Thank you for reading. I hope it wasn’t too long for everybody’s patience! Cheers.

Some more pics of Varandha ghat on the return journey.

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Old 14th June 2012, 12:55   #3
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

hey thumpingheart one thing to admit apart from the beautiful holiday , drive , sceneries , photography , sticky situations is that it doesnt seem you writing a travelogue the first time. Kudos to you and keep it up. Enjoyed every bit of it and of course it was not at all long to read
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Old 14th June 2012, 16:42   #4
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

Thumpingheart, enjoyed the travelouge, can you please share the hotel details.

Really shocking as to how careless people can be with their cars
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Old 14th June 2012, 16:56   #5
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

Looks like you had a wonderful time. nice write up.That is the beginning of a new relationship for this car owner with something called RUST. With this much exposure to the salt water the relationship should start and end pretty fast.
The easiest way to take out a car stuck in sand is to remove the rubber floor mats of the car and place them under the powered wheels.
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Old 14th June 2012, 17:27   #6
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

Great account of your trip, @thumpingheart.

One thing which is sad to see is the water levels at Nira deoghar dam. Hopefully the monsoon will set that right soon.

I remember going to Diveagar a couple of years ago. Then the locals had barricaded the beach off for cars who wished to enter. I am surprised this has changed. Or perhaps the idiots found a way to get through anyway.

Nevertheless, I am glad you didnt spoil your time there by getting worked up about such people. Normally I dont help till I am asked. If they are not bothered, then why do we have to bother? For all that trouble, you might just see a Vento floating away in the sea.

How about your mileage figures for the A*?
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Old 14th June 2012, 17:29   #7
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo View Post
hey thumpingheart one thing to admit apart from the beautiful holiday , drive , sceneries , photography , sticky situations is that it doesnt seem you writing a travelogue the first time. Kudos to you and keep it up. Enjoyed every bit of it and of course it was not at all long to read
Thank you so much Alfa. Much appreciate it.

Quote:
Thumpingheart, enjoyed the travelouge, can you please share the hotel details.

Really shocking as to how careless people can be with their cars
Thank you mm403.

Hotel Pearl - 08605558269. Ask them for discount.

Quote:
Looks like you had a wonderful time. nice write up.That is the beginning of a new relationship for this car owner with something called RUST. With this much exposure to the salt water the relationship should start and end pretty fast.
The easiest way to take out a car stuck in sand is to remove the rubber floor mats of the car and place them under the powered wheels.
Thanks dockap. Great tip about the mats!! Will keep in mind, hopefully wouldn't need to use this knowledge for my or anyone else's car. God bless
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Old 14th June 2012, 17:42   #8
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

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Originally Posted by selfdrive View Post
Great account of your trip, @thumpingheart.

One thing which is sad to see is the water levels at Nira deoghar dam. Hopefully the monsoon will set that right soon.

I remember going to Diveagar a couple of years ago. Then the locals had barricaded the beach off for cars who wished to enter. I am surprised this has changed. Or perhaps the idiots found a way to get through anyway.

Nevertheless, I am glad you didnt spoil your time there by getting worked up about such people. Normally I dont help till I am asked. If they are not bothered, then why do we have to bother? For all that trouble, you might just see a Vento floating away in the sea.

How about your mileage figures for the A*?
Thank you sir. Surely agree about your point of helping people who are not bothered. But it just pains me to see a car going through such torture.

Well i did not do any FE calculations, but I not even needed a full tank to do the whole trip. Which is quite something isn't it
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Old 15th June 2012, 15:04   #9
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

I am laughing after looking at the stuck vento. This reminds me of our family vacation to karde beach in 2009. We were 20 0f us in our force motors mini bus and the idiot driver was very keen to show off his skills and take the bus very near to the beach. I warned him and rest of the family a couple of times but they wanted to walk less to reach the beach. So be it.
The bus driver parks the bus about 50ft from the beach, everybody gets down and tease me of being overcautious.
We all return to the bus fully wet after 3 hours of playing in the sea. The driver starts the bus, wheel spin and our whole bus is stuck and 3/4th of the front wheel is below the ground level.
Next 3 hours spent in digging, placing wooden planks and what not. The bus wouldnt move an inch. A Tractor was called from nearby harnai shore which rescued us 2000 bucks again. No one from my family and the idiot driver were daring to look at me eye to eye that night.
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Old 15th June 2012, 17:32   #10
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

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Originally Posted by heman_369 View Post
I am laughing after looking at the stuck vento. This reminds me of our family vacation to karde beach in 2009. We were 20 0f us in our force motors mini bus and the idiot driver was very keen to show off his skills and take the bus very near to the beach. I warned him and rest of the family a couple of times but they wanted to walk less to reach the beach. So be it.
The bus driver parks the bus about 50ft from the beach, everybody gets down and tease me of being overcautious.
We all return to the bus fully wet after 3 hours of playing in the sea. The driver starts the bus, wheel spin and our whole bus is stuck and 3/4th of the front wheel is below the ground level.
Next 3 hours spent in digging, placing wooden planks and what not. The bus wouldnt move an inch. A Tractor was called from nearby harnai shore which rescued us 2000 bucks again. No one from my family and the idiot driver were daring to look at me eye to eye that night.


Sand/water and cars. Not a good combination.

P.S. - Really wanted to visit Karde man. Hopefully next time
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Old 16th June 2012, 00:43   #11
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

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Originally Posted by dockap View Post
The easiest way to take out a car stuck in sand is to remove the rubber floor mats of the car and place them under the powered wheels.
Yes even i thought the same, untill i tried this when my neighbours OMNI had got stuck in a mud pit.

The rear wheels simply threw the mats , we even tried loading the rear to get traction but nothing worked.

So even though the idea is good, it does not work all the time.
I am not sure mats would have helped in above situation.
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Old 16th June 2012, 01:14   #12
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

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Originally Posted by silverado View Post
Yes even i thought the same, untill i tried this when my neighbours OMNI had got stuck in a mud pit.

The rear wheels simply threw the mats , we even tried loading the rear to get traction but nothing worked.

So even though the idea is good, it does not work all the time.
I am not sure mats would have helped in above situation.
I guess it should, havent had a practical experience though. I'd also try and deflate the tyres considerably, add the rubber mat or similar stuff from the front so it should be pulled-in like sugarcan in the machine.

Very nice write-up and beautiful pictures! It indeed looks like a great place to spend some quality time at beach. Thanks for sharing.

Last edited by Ketan : 16th June 2012 at 01:15.
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Old 16th June 2012, 01:29   #13
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

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Originally Posted by silverado View Post
Yes even i thought the same, untill i tried this when my neighbours OMNI had got stuck in a mud pit.

The rear wheels simply threw the mats , we even tried loading the rear to get traction but nothing worked.

So even though the idea is good, it does not work all the time.
I am not sure mats would have helped in above situation.
I used the rubber mat method on my maruthi 800 in 1988-89 when i took the car on the beach. There were only 2 of us, me and my friend and when the front wheels got stuck we would remove the floor mats and place them under the front wheels and the car would come out with a push from my friend. Had to do this 4 to 5 times till we reached the hard sand at the shore line.
The mats were never thrown out so i guess you kept the mats behind the wheels and the spinning wheel threw them out?
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Old 22nd June 2012, 15:45   #14
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

thumpingheart
Good travelogue indeed, simple yet informative. I'm yet to venture into long trips around Pune, penning a Tlog will follow later! Me being naive with routes, it would be more useful if you provide bit more route information, since you traveled a less traveled route via Varandha. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 22nd June 2012, 17:53   #15
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Re: Diveagar - A Weekend Escapade

I'm sure what these guys must be trying to do!

Inspired by Tata Safari's ad in which Safari emerges from similar looking thickets submerged into water; poor souls might have forgot that they were not riding a Safari!

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