[sms255]

Dear BHPians,

I had been to Ganpatipule on Sunday 19th Jan, stayed there at MTDC resort for 3 days. This was my first visit to Bappa’s place and I must say it turned out to be one of the great trips with my wife.

We started from Pune on Sunday morning at 5.45am.
Route taken: Katraj Pune -> Satara -> Karad -> Kokrud -> Malkapur -> Sakharpa -> Pali -> GanpatiPule
Trip Meter: 330 Kms
Total Duration: 7 Hours.

With only one break in between for breakfast, we reached MTDC at 1pm. Road conditions are very good.

MTDC resort is simply awesome. It’s huge plus nice restaurant with good food, right next to temple and adding to the list, you get sea view right from your room. You can’t ask for more.







After lunch, we had some rest and then visited temple at 4 pm. After darshan, we spent rest of the evening on the beach; there is a direct entry to MTDC resort from the beach.






Next day, Monday, after spending half of the day on the beach, we went to Prachin Konkan Museum, situated at just 1km from resort. You get to know about history of Konkan. They have one store where they sell wooden items from famous Sawantwadi at a very reasonable price. I bought 2 souvenirs from this place.




On the way back, we saw Durvankur hotel and decided to have dinner there. They had nice veg thali for Rs. 80 and food was really good.



Tuesday morning, after breakfast, we went to Jaigad fort. I must say this was most memorable moment from the trip. Road from Ganpatipule to fort is only 20km but it can take more than hour, not because road is bad, but because it’s so scenic









We spotted lot of birds there, they were in huge numbers.






On the way, you see Shri Jai Vinayak temple on the right side. Please visit this temple to see nice garden, Panchdhatu idol of Ganpati Bappa and Hanumana.





From the fort, you get nice view of the sea.




While returning, we stopped at aquarium in Malgund village. It’s not big but has good collection of different types of fishes.



In the evening, we visited temple again and spent rest of the evening on the beach.

On Wednesday, we checked out from resort at 6.30 am.



Route taken: Ganpatipule -> Nivali Fata -> Chiplun -> Patan -> Umbraj -> Satara -> Katraj Pune.
Trip Meter: 315 Km
Duration: 7.5 hours. (With half hour break for Lunch at Rajpurohit Rajsthani Dhaba 30 kms before Satara).

Overall a nice peaceful break!

[qqplus]

fantastic photos....really very nice...
especially the sunset pics.

and also the writeup. its a great stretch of road i believe.

[deepakkher]

am planning a trip next week, any updates on this route?

is there another route for the return journey

[mallumowgli]

Great trip you had there and nice snaps. Good that you stayed in those rooms. We had stayed at those Konkan huts when we were there in Jan - a big mistake

[ani_meher]

Thanks for sharing I did not know about the surrounding areas of Ganpati Pule. The Shri Jai Vinayak temple looks beautiful. Will try to see next time I visit.

I would add few things for interested people:

1. Go to Ganesh Gule - Some 45kms from the scenic Aare Ware beach road, passing through Ratnagiri and Pawas. You can visit Pawas temple also. Some people visit this Ganesh Gule temple first and then Ganpati Pule. Excellent beach as well.

You can read about Ganesh Gule in my thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post3425917

2. In Malgund village, there is a nice memorial of Marathi Poet Keshavsut. Worth a visit.

3. Visit Karneshwar at Sangameshwar, just when you junction of the Mumbai - Goa highway to Ganpati Pule road. (info in the above mentioned thread)

4. Near Chiplun, if you have time, take the detour of some 5 odd kms from Sawarde to Dervan for King Shivaji murals. (info in the above mentioned thread)

5. If you pass Kolhapur on way, then visit the Siddhagiri museum at Kaneri mathh, 10 kms after Kolhapur while going away from Pune. It has the best life looking depiction of many Saints and Gods of Hindu Mythology. It also has a outdoor section of village scene, where you pass through houses of people of many professions/cast, and see the real life models of villages. Absolutely wonderful stuff.

Originally Posted by deepakkher

am planning a trip next week, any updates on this route?

All the roads are in wonderful state, thanks to the elections. Go bindhaast! I have done the route 10 days ago on motorcycle.

How many days trip are you planning? Preference to stay at one place or flexible on changing hotels? I can suggest a suitable route.

[deepakkher]

i am staying at the MTDC. already booked. will be there for 2 nights. will still welcome a different route for return journey, if it is good