[mm403]

SDP, Love your snaps and travelogues. Really a treat to watch and read

[sameervg]

Superb !!!
This reminded my home town Gaonkhadi. I am planning to visit there in Ganpati Festival.

Cheers!

[heman_369]

Super Pics SDP. Looks like you came back by the route suggested by me. Looking forward for your update on that.

[SDP]

I had never really explored clicking water-drops. When the rain stopped and I looked at the drenched plants and the hundreds of glowing drops, tried capturing them. Struggled with getting the light just right and focussing. Sharing the outcome of a few of the better attempts.













Moved on to flowers.










This is the downward slope from the street level to our house. Its not too steep, but quite narrow at some places. So avoided getting the XUV all the way down to the house.


Our "fresh"-coloured house peeking out from the trees.




Some more water-drop shooting experiments.


I liked this one!

[swapszone]

Reading this gave me so much joy... I feel I should have experienced it myself.
You got to take us along with you on such beautiful locations.

Thanks for the joy.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by karan561

Hey Sanjay,

Brilliant set of pictures there & also apt captions with it

PS- Gotta say that the XUV looks lean & mean when its dirty

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

Konkan is beautiful. And it is more beautiful in monsoons. And it is extremely beautiful just post monsoons .

Very well narrated SDP and as usual excellent pictures. I wish I could shift my native from Satara to Konkan.

Originally Posted by automachine

Beautiful photos. Konkan really catches my imagination. The ghat section photos are really good.

Originally Posted by dZired

Great pics and narration as always SDP. Some of the pics are wallpaper material. The Konkan region indeed looks mesmerizing in monsoons. As many have already suggested, don't clean the Duma when it is dirty like this the next time.

Hooked up to this thread.

Originally Posted by voyageur

Hi SDP,

The one thing I like about reading travelogues are that they are really refreshing. Your travelogue was too good. It's very similar to my Village in Kerala. Sometimes I thought it really was Kerala. Plush Greenery and water bodies. Someday when I get back to my village I will post up a photologue.

I really loved the greenery of your place and hope it stays so forever. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Baddychat

Great pictures and narration SDP. Especially loved the pictures of the XUV in post# 3.
The green reminded me so much of the green that you get to see in Bengal during the monsoons. Lovely.

Originally Posted by mm403

SDP, Love your snaps and travelogues. Really a treat to watch and read

Originally Posted by sameervg

Superb !!!
This reminded my home town Gaonkhadi. I am planning to visit there in Ganpati Festival.

Cheers!

Thank you so much for the kind words!

Originally Posted by parsh

Ah...not that. Let me explain. When you stopped for this waterfall, a little ahead is a kachcha rasta on the right side of the road, a small hotel at the side, that road goes upto waterfront where you can park right on the bank and enjoy. ....

Got it now. I saw the small hotel, and wondered it would be great place to just relax in their garden restaurent enjoying the rivew view. Seem to have missed the kachcha road completely. I have done this stretch mostly in summer and winter. The water-level is siginificantly different in those seasons.
Let me explore the kachcha road next time I am there.

Originally Posted by laluks

Wow. These leaves smell heavenly. We use to make some evening snacks with coconut and jaggery grated baked in rice flour covered by these leaves. Absolute delight it was. I was so attached to this snack that this tree has found its way into my orchard at Bangy too

Hornbills - man you are a lucky guy to have them on your backyard!

Thanks for the tip on the leaves. If I remember correctly that's the Dalchini tree - a popular spice, used mostly in the form of the skin from the bark. Let me share that tip with my mother!

From birds perspective, we have been really blessed. If I spend around 2-3 hours in the morning, I can easily spot around 25-30 species.

Originally Posted by Sabareesh

Hi SDP, Amazing pictures !

Just a small correction, what you'd mentioned as Parashuram ghat is actually Kashedi ghat. It starts just after Poladpur. In fact, you can see the Swami Samarth Math which is between Raigad and Ratnagiri district borders in your photographs. The one which you are calling Khed ghat is Parashuram ghat. It ends just before Chiplun.

I must admit, Konkan looks amazingly beautiful in monsoons. If you don't mind, I am adding a pic that I clicked at Kumbharli ghat. This is between Chiplun and Satara. Mesmerizing beauty all around.
...

You are right! I am bad with names of places. I have a whole bunch of snaps from my small stint in US and besides the obvious Niagara Falls, NY, DC, Chicago; I am not able to remember the name of the many other places that I visited.

Would request the mods to correct the references to those ghats in my posts.

Originally Posted by heman_369

Super Pics SDP. Looks like you came back by the route suggested by me. Looking forward for your update on that.

Yes, the same route that you suggested. Although longer, the average speeds are much higher in that route. Loved it. Thanks.

Originally Posted by swapszone

Reading this gave me so much joy... I feel I should have experienced it myself.
You got to take us along with you on such beautiful locations.

Thanks for the joy.

Yes, 'Joy' indeed!

There is a multi-state TBHP Meet in Goa on the 15th Aug long weekend.

[swapszone]

Goa might not be possible as I would be working. But yes Planing for the Malshej Drive on that Sunday. Lets see how it goes

[shreyan_k10]

Wonderful pics and a great travelogue. Just loved you XUV all dirty.

[SDP]

After an early dinner with a bowl of aamras as desert, I hit the bed early. The rain lashed the windows throughout the night. There was mild chill in the wind, it was just soothingly comfortable for a peaceful sleep.

23 Jun 2013: Sunday. Got up around 7am. After the morning tea, went to the terrace to take in the fresh air all over again.


Fresh leaves of the Dalchini tree. (Wife told me those leaves are called as tejpatta in the dried form - another common spice.


Water-heater for a bath!


While waiting for my turn for the bath, I started roaming around again - my usual morning stroll. Saw an interesting bird in the distance.


A closer look from below the tree.


Saw another one.


Closer look. Sorry for the crappy closeups. Was not carrying the telephoto lens and the kit-lens is quite soft at the end of the zoom-range.


Walked down to the edge again. The waterbody looks glorious in morning light.






Mango trees.


Another water drop.










Parents wanted us to carry all those back to Mumbai! Space was not a problem, so we eventually did.


Went to check on Duma and found him standing exactly at the place where I had left him yesterday. Good Boy!


Spent next 45 minutes cleaning the car. Got water from the temple next to the field.


Clean XUV, ready to get dirty all over again as we were about to start the return journey by 11am.

[laluks]

SDP, that interesting bird is a wood pecker
Jack fruits - I am going green with envy

[abirnale]

You made me envy this trip @SDP.

Literally the pictures are speaking thousand words and this photo-log is making us virtually take the trip with you. So thank you for sharing this experience. The memories of my childhood and that typical village "geyser" arrangement rushed through my mind!

Green is the color of season and there is no better place than entire Konkan stretch in Maharashtra. Its the best getaway from hustle and bustle of mumbapuri!

Eagerly waiting for your next part to appear on this thread. Keep it coming sir

[thecdkfactor]

@SDP,

Beautiful pictures Sir. Mother nature at her best. Really Enjoyed the greenery, it made my day.

I envy you guys for the abundant greenery you get to see during the monsoons. Coming from a place where it hardly rains (Read Chennai) we can only drool at the pics.

Expecting the rest of the travelogue to unfold

[nidhin0816]

Excellent travelogue with stellar pictures.

India is indeed really beautiful when it rains

[Saint_Kabir]

WOW! What a lovely narration of your travel.

India has so much to see and offer, people have to just open up their minds and explore this lovely country.

[Desmosedici]

Awesome Pics. This is much more greener than any other place i have seen. Just Wow. And please dont clean the wheels, looks better this way

Too Good. Waiting for all the other pics of the return journey and also the other trips.