5th February 2018, 01:04
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| Newbie Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Hyderabad
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Thanked: 41 Times
| From a Plateau to a Coast and the Hills: Ganpatipule & Mahabaleshwar The Introduction  En route Ganapatipule  Arre Warrey Beach  En route Panchagani The thirst for a long road trip was pending for my red stallion. By the grace to Dusshera and Gandhi Jayanthi, a long weekend has embraced with love. The idea was to stay away from everything touristy, since a long weekend means long traffic queues outside the city. But, eventually visited one of them as a memory recall. The mandatory research was made and it was decided we head to Ganapatipule, since it was less known and away from the crowd. I also wanted to visit Mahabaleshwar with my wife and recall some of my childhood visit memories and hence that was also included in the plan as a quick getaway. Day 1 The distance from our home to our home stay, Samarth ATC at Ganapatipule came to around 688 Km/14 hours. An early start is a necessary requirement shouted common sense. We started at 4:40 in the morning and the ride was all well composed till Zaheerabad when just after crossing Telangana your car suspension setup is given some extra work for some good 30 min in Karnataka.  Bad Roads. Good Landscape. The route till a few kilometers from Solapur was a mix between very bad patches and one way smooth tarmacs. The road after Solapur continues to deteriorate by kilometer passing through villages and varying landscapes.  Wild Horses are sight to behold The ghat section starts after the Kolaphur bypass where one has to take a right turn to head towards Ratnagiri. This area receives a good amount of rain fall and that is evident in the road erosion. Nevertheless the drive in the rain was a bliss and the curves made up for the bad roads. This particular place in the ghat section is always filled with fog.  Hills and clouds are best friends Moving forward the light decreased and the rain increased in intensity. Being on my first long distance road trip that too on a ghat section with minimum light and maximum rain was one fun drive. Finally at around 7:30 in the night, after being duped by Google maps, we reached our home stay Samrath ATC. It is a beautiful beach facing resort with a couple of rooms. This is run by Mr. Samrath and was very friendly. We had a really delicious veg thali with 2 extra cups of aam rhas and called it a day.  Our Home Stay  The dining place Day 2 The day started at 6 AM with a beautiful walk on the Virgin Kalbadevi Beach. The word virgin stands true for this beach as there were no one except us. Although after some time we could see the sand mafia come in bullock carts and collect sand.  The pathway to the beach  The virgin beach  Fishing time  Chill time The walk on the beach followed by self-indulging photo session was welcomed with a hot Poha. Next stop, Jaigad Fort.  The best Poha I have ever had The route to Jaigad fort is one of the most beautiful nature’s eye candy. You just glide on the curvy roads facing the sea on your left side waving you with frothy energy. The roads on the other hand are not suspension friendly but better than the one’s on the Hyderabad-Mumbai highway.  The area is abundant with coconuts  The View Jaigad fort is just another ruined and neglected sea side fort that has some awesome views of the Arabian Sea. It is a pity that it is not maintained the way it should be. While coming back we had a gala time at Arrey Warrey beach which was secluded and the best part was vehicles were allowed. My stallion had a drifting time on the flat sands.  Inside Jaigad Fort Next Stop, Ratnadurg Fort. After a sweet lunch, we head to the Ratnadurg fort. This fort is bigger in size with a beautiful coast line adjoining it. That day, being a holiday the fort was filled, so we didn’t bother entering it.  View from top  Long Shot  He kept us company Day 3 Today we planned to drive all the way to Panchgani, this a mistake as we thought there was nothing else to see. Anyways, the ride to Panchgani was less tiresome as the roads were well laid and I got to experience the real fun of Punto dynamics on the curves leading to Panchgani. Our stay here was L Maison in a remote place close to Panchgani called Bhilar. The host is a French-Parsi couple with an adorable 1 year old daughter. A great home in a secluded place with a great breakfast. Sad that I get to spend only one night there. We visited the usual Sydney Point, Table Land, Mapro and finished it off with a really underrated wax museum.  Home stay at Panchgani  Sydney Point  Table Land  Pizza  I tried, but failed Day 4 Today is back to Hyderabad, a long journey of 600 odd Km back. The roads were way better this time. We started at 9 in the morning and reached Hyderabad at around 9:30 in the night. This was after some anti-climax at Hyderabad with more than heavy torrential rain fall creating a major traffic chaos. A dramatic end to my first long ride.  Breakfast is always the best  Total miles |
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5th February 2018, 13:00
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: bangalore
Posts: 199
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5th February 2018, 15:17
| #3 | |
| Newbie Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 15
Thanked: 41 Times
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