Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Travelogues (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/)

-   -   A Konkan Sojourn: Pune–Mulshi–Tamhini–Murud–Harne–Anjarle (Beaches and Waterfalls) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/125422-konkan-sojourn-pune-mulshi-tamhini-murud-harne-anjarle-beaches-waterfalls.html)

Konkan Sojourn: Pune – Mulshi – Tamhini (‘Waterfalls A-Plenty’ Route) – Murud – Harne – Anjarle (Beaches n Beacons)


The Mission

Transport two active kids and their two active grandparents (parents of a naughty kid - ME!) to the pristine beaches and back to Pune in three days.


The Route


The options were the following:

1. Pune-NH4-Wai-Mahabaleshwar-Poladpur-Bharne-Khed-Dapoli

This was the most exciting option kidwise. But more ghat-ridden than the others.

2. Pune-Bhor-Mahad–Latwan–Palgad-Dapoli

A close friend who frequently travels to Dapoli had advised the following route. I thanked him because I had earlier planned to go via the Tamhini ghat which he said was so bad that apart from breaking backs I would be subject to verbal beatings from elders and tots alike.
Detailed: Pune – Bangalore Highway - Kapurvol - Turn right just Kapurvol right after Ketkavle (Balaji) phata - Bhor - Varandha Ghat - Cross NH – 17 at "Hotel Sagar" just outside Mahad - Latwan - Palgad - take right to Dapoli.

3. Pune-Chandni Chowk-Pirangut-Paud-Mulshi Dam-Tamhini ghat-Vile-Chhatri Nizampur-Mangaon-Latwan-Palgad - then take right to Dapoli

This one was for the adventure lover in me. A near off-roading experience was guaranteed between Mulshi – Tamhini . There were endless waterfalls en-route; more than any of the other options.



The Twist

Aaikave jaanache karaave manache…. (Marathi saying – listen to the people but do what your mind tells you)


The adventure lover had smelt the right mix of uncertain roads, pouring weather, heavenly waterfalls and similar adjectives galore and thus turned my car at Chandani Chowk and proceeded via tamhini.

Thus after thanking my friend for his wise route advice I immediately proceeded to completely disregard the advice and finally chose option 3. That it was FINALLY chosen inspite of all the advice given by my well-meaning friend, made a certain twist in this tale possible. The curse was on us!



The Feasts

In the purview that Shravan month is behind us - Eat three things most important to us in Konkan – the first most important thing to eat was fish. The second and third things oddly are the same (fish). Also ensure vegetarian food for the grandparents.

So in light of the last point….

The Stay

Pritivardhan Mangal Karyalay, Dapoli – booked by my wife because it is owned by a Brahmin who servers pure vegetarian food devoid even of onion and garlic. If that sounds odd on a fishy trip - the food was amazing, by the way! And there were enough fish joints all around the place.

The Preparations

It was long overdue so the Octy got a fresh set of MICHELIN Primacy LC 195/65 R15 total cost Rs.23,500. Rs.5675/- per tyre from Lokmanya Auto Center The ghosts of tyre bursting accidents were thus put to rest. See Sparky Dies a Brave Death.

The windshield was scratched in many places so got the glass buffed.
Got the disc brakes changed and got them drilled, slotted and grooved from Abhijit.Lonkar of the famed Tune Up Plus Baner garage.
Total cost of above was Rs.20,855/-.

The Tale

What can a travelogue be without a hair-raising tale? With the above preparations done, car loaded and with the sudden turn off Chandni Chowk skidding from Plan A to Plan B here are five excited souls getting fresh air, splashing water, the promise of beaches n the fishes in every heart, we set off….. but heart thumping things happened …. Stay TUNED!

The “Bill of Fare” presented by the PathFinders







I am sure your question must be: "Why did it take so much time?"

Answered in detail below...

The answer is – because the journey is as important as the destination.





Remember, the plan included entertainment for the children as priority number one.

So here is why it took so much time:

- On the road hugging Mulshi Lake we waited and watched a crab cross the road.



- At the lunch break near MIDC, Vile (see plan in excel snap in earlier post) the children played to their heart’s content with a black puppy, and then more time went into suppressing a minor rebellion where they insisted on making him a ’pet’. (Ditto story happened with a white cat during a important fish packed power lunch near Murud beach. That uprising too more time to squash, and solemn promises of getting a kitten had to be made.)

(We ate here)



(On the 'Shortcut' Road through MIDC, Vile)



- Somewhere in the Raigad district we watched a mongoose take on a unidentified being in a hole. I took car snaps after the mongoose disappeared and while the kids searched for it:







- We fed two hungry dogs two parathas out of the huge lot wife had made for us. (Lot of good n expensive fish chunks were about to be thrown to the white cat discussed above, but I hurriedly retrieved them midair and substituted them with other lesser portions. Lucky cat, almost!)

- We watched storks sitting atop buffaloes bathing in water (I mean the storks were sitting atop buffaloes, not us. We were sitting in the Pattogh Tank ‘Octavia’ made by Skoda.)


- En route photo shoots, of course.




- Tea Break post turning off from NH-17



- A really bad patch where the younger one insisted that she wanted to sit on daddy’s lap and she actually wrenched free from her grandparents grip and suddenly squeezed in between me and the steering wheel. I halted the car but she wouldn’t budge so neither would the car, and this continued for around half an hour.

- And the most time it took was navigating potholes at 10 - 20 kmph for a good part of the journey.



By the time we reached it was past 6:00 PM. The beach was still 12 kms away from the room so the first thing we did after dumping the luggage was head towards the beach.

More about that in the next post. And the fish we ate. And the shopping the KIDS did WHILE a cop was reprimanding me for parking in a No Parking zone which was not even marked as a No parking zone. Very clever, that.

The Kids Shopping while taking advantage of the halt I mean, what can be clever in Not Marking a No Parking zone and then catching people for Parking in the Unmarked NO PARKING zone?

The kids of course went wild when they so the beach of Murud.

Ditto the parent.

Ditto the parent of the parent.

Here are some snaps to commemorate the occasion:







Attachment 974670





Some mild attempts at photoshopping by highlighting a object against grayscale:



The day thus concluded.

And yes, we did have fish.

In fact I ate my fish, and then also gobbled my kids fishes. Wicked parent, you say? Not. Because the kids were full beyond their capacity. Courtesy parathas fed while their sandcastle was 'Under Construction' property.

So long! And thanks for all the fish! (borrowed from Doughlas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

But the kids had a whale of a time with a horse ride, a sandbuggy ride, corn cobs, tender coconut water, chips etc. So they had no desire left for the fish. Atleast not as much as their daddy.

(Day 1 concludes. Day 2 in the next post)

The best thing about Konkan in the rains (apart from the fish, which are not a rain-exclusive feature!) are the rains themselves.

The car was muddy from the long drive and we were back from the beach and into the room. As we slept the rains took upon them to wash and polish the car. The next morning when we finished breakfast and ran out – behold, a sparkling new car with fresh dew-drops sprinkled all over for the effect.

The rains that night were so ferocious that the muddiest stains had been washed away.

The beach was the highlight of the day.

We had lunch at a homely place near the Murud beach called Sai Sahavas.

Owner Sudhir Shinde. Great fish. 170 bucks for fish thali. 100 bucks for a plate full of two fried fish (Surmai / Ravas). Mouthwatering. Makes you contemplate the universe all over again.

Except for the cat….

The cat arrived purring and rubbed itself against me.

Soft pressure tactics.

The kids’ hearts melted.

The younger one grabbed one of the fried fish and tried to HURL it at the cat while the elder grabbed the other one and was coaxing the cat to bite it from her hand when I decided to take over.

My precious fish! I cajoled them to keeping the fish back in the plate and then proceeded to gobble them and simultaneously throw small bite sized pieces at the dratted cat who was soon joined my two more.

After this eventful lunch we went to Harne.

Then the elder one cried all the way because she had not been allowed to ‘keep’ the cat as a ‘pet’. So as described earlier out came solemn promises to look for a kitten to adopt on reaching Pune.

Hmm.

Here is the Harne Fort way past its days of glory:






Here is the Harne (Harnai) fort's other side:





The old era bridge leading to land's end where the Harnai Lighthouse still stands:



The sea was dangerous here:





The Harnai Lighthouse:







Near the Jetty:









The Boats of Harnai:






The Car - From the Lighthouse:






We left for Anjarle after this - I planned to return to Harnai at 4:30 PM to get a glimpse of the fish auction process but then later on had to drop the plan because the kids were tired and hungry. It had always been a 'Fish First' trip after all and all fishy tales were lapped up by the young and old alike.

Country Roads, Take Me Home (Safely, PLEEEASE)



I had been warned.

Would get a beating, if I ventured.

And the wise words began to make sense.

Lost amongst the potholes, they rang true.

As warned, the suspension DID get a beating. (Not me in case you were wondering - the parents and the children were very considerate.)

I wonder- would John Denver have been as nostalgic about his 'Country Roads; if they had been similarly potholed?



Rewind <<

But that sad story can wait a bit.

Let's rewind back to yesterday where we are still on pristine beaches, happy, contented (and full of Fish).

Here is the glory of Anjarle from high above the world:









And wait, here are some truly wonderful Country Roads, that will bring out the John Denver in you too:






To leave the journey behind, but to know that the road behind you is the only thing that separates you - to be taken back again when the mundaneness of life becomes unendurable again...



And before taking on some unpleasant parts of the journey, let me reflect on the most beautiful moments we spent by the sea and tiptoe out quietly, leaving you alone in this world for now:

As the owner of the homestay at Dapoli gave me his card and told me to pass on the information to friends, I am giving the address here with an unbiased review (unbiased from a commercial perspective, personal biases may creep in, however, as they do for life in general!)

The Address:

Shree Pritivardhan Mangal Karyalaya
Off Kelaskar Naka, Dapoli, Maharahstra 415712

Phone: (02358) 282541
Mobile: 9420041038

The owner's name is Sudhir Pathak.

He is a strict disciplinarian, strict vegetarian, but a good trustworthy person.

About the place:

It is a Mangal Karyalay i.e. a marriage hall and as such is like any other marriage hall in semi-rural Maharashtra. That should sum it up for those who have experienced such a place earlier.

However for those who haven't:

1. The bathrooms and toilets are outside the main house and far from where the rooms are. The doors of the main house get locked after 10 PM so it becomes inconvenient if the kids are to be taken to the loo at night etc as the operation involves opening a lock, pushing the sliding doors hard and then trekking (or making a mad dash) for a good distance to the toilet.

2. The beds and linen and the rooms are cosy but have a tinge of musty smells.

Here are some mugshots of the verandah, adorned by what else but the rain-washed Octy!







The final reading on the odometer when we reached home and the engine was switched off:





And one photo with the pencil sketch effect for evoking the essence of the memories:

Ketan, you are very lucky you listened to your heart, and stuck with the Mulshi-Tamhini road, and avoided Varandha - nothing personal with your friend's friendly and well-meaning advice, but it was plain wrong! It is a harrowing, narrow road with very bad surface, horrible shoulders, steep unending ghat, and lots of rain and fog (when I took it last night). And between Bhor and Mahad, there are almost NO SERVICES of any kind. Bad idea with the kids!

Also, to get to Dapoli, a better idea is to stick to NH17 till Khed, and then turn right - much better, safer route. The only disadvantage (if you look at it that way) is the Kashedi ghat on the way.

If you take the Khed route, you also open the possibility of taking Poladpur-Mahabaleshar route into and out of Konkan. Again, in my opinion, a much better option to either Tamhini or Varandha (anything is better than that!!) - but only if you going into South Konkan, around Dapoli or Ratnagiri - else it's too much of a roundabout.

Ketan, beautiful travelogue and good set of pics. I have driven an Octy a few times, and its addictive.
Thanks for sharing the experiences, memories and the snaps!

Just nitpicking. Are vegetarianism and trustworthyness mutually exclusive properties? :D

I am just kidding. Please don't mind. I am pretty sure you meant "and" in place of the "but". :thumbs up

Good to see grammarians around - that means my posts are being read carefully... LOL.

I meant 'and' of course. There are a few more places in the narrative where I have made similar small mistakes.


Regards,
Ketan