[graaja]

Mutton Thalis, Beaches and Rains - A Monsoon Drive to Coastal Maharashtra

A group of friends went on a drive to coastal Maharashtra to enjoy the drive in monsoon and taste local Maharashtra cuisine, especially mutton and fish thalis. The agenda was to drive on the Konkan coast in monsoon, do lots of photoshoot of cars, and enjoy local cuisine (mutton and fish thalis, poha, modaks and vada pavs). This picture summarises this drive.

Before I start this travelogue, I would like to thank Dr.AD for planning this excellent trip. Every thing he chose - the hotels where we had our thalis, the special modaks we had in Ganapatipule and the places where we stayed, were first class and I had a fantastic experience.

This time I did not drive the 3GT. Instead I took a train to Bangalore and joined Dr.AD in his 320D. We paired up like our Arunachal drive, but this time in Dr.AD's red 320D. Loved driving his sedan through the twisting roads at Amboli ghat and on the 6 lane highways.

This drive was all about food, beaches, cars and rain. Instead of doing a chronological day-to-day description, I will write a post covering the overall itinerary and then write one or two posts each for various highlights of the drive. Below is the table of content with link to various posts. Please skip to the topic of interest

Table of Content:

Overview of the Drive

Places of Stay

The Food

The Food - Contd...

Car Photoshoots

Car Photoshoots - Contd...

Jaigad Fort

The Beaches, Monsoon and Conclusion

[graaja]

Overview of the Drive

In this post, I will give a high level overview of the drive with highlights of each day. I also have created collages that best describe each day. Click on the collage pictures to open in a new window for a more detailed view.

The team and the steeds:
1. Abirnale - XUV700
2. Dr.AD and graaja - BMW 320D
3. Robimahanta and his friend Ronku - BMW M340i
4. RSUDARSANAN - BMW 320D
5. Tilt and Mrs. Tilt - Thar 4x4

Day - 0: Coimbatore to Bangalore

I took a train from Coimbatore to Bangalore and reached Bangalore in the afternoon of 30th June. Stayed the night at Bangalore. A couple of pictures from the train journey.

Vikram theme on the train.


It is mesmerizing to watch the tracks standing on the door.





Day - 1: Bangalore to Sea Horizon Resort

Dr.AD picked me up at the hotel at 5:45 in the morning. From there we proceeded to the meeting point which was Hotel Shree Ratnam on the highway. After a light breakfast of dosas and coffee we started the journey. It was just the usual highway drive till Belgaum and we made quick progress. Got off the highway after Belgaum and had awesome mutton thali lunch at hotel Jatra. Then we drove through some beautiful winding roads in Amboli ghat to cross the western ghats to reach the coast. On the way, we enjoyed piping hot vada pavs and tea in Amboli ghat. Stopped at a couple of spots for some casual photoshoot of the cars and scenery. Reached the Sea Horizon resort in the evening. Spent the evening relaxing in the pool, had tasty dinner at the resort and called it a day.

The route for the day.


A collage that describes the day.


Cars parked at Sea Horizon resort.


Day - 2: Sea Horizon Resort to Magnolia Resort, Ganapatipule

We left the sea Horizon resort and drove through coastal roads to Ganapathipule. All day, we drove along the coast. There were many instances where the road was parallel to the beach and we had the view of the seas as we drove. There were times when we would reach the end of a cliff and a grand view of the ocean below. On the way we stopped at many scenic locations by the beach and did lots of car photo shoot. We also visited Devgad fort and did some car photoshoot. In the evening we reached the Magnolia resort. This resort is right on the beach with the view of the ocean from the rooms. We loved sitting on the beach and spending a few hours in conversation in the evening. The restaurant in the resort was not functional. So, we had dinner at a nearby place called Shri Mahalakshmi hotel. They served us very tasty fish curry meals. The highlight of the dinner were the modaks. They had a filling made of coconut+jaggery but with a nice different flavor and very juicy. They serve these only based on pre-order. Dr.AD had ordered 30 of these for us and I polished off 6 of them

The route for the day.


The highlights for the day were the beaches, car photoshoots, relaxing by the beach and the dinner. A couple of picture collages to describe the day.




Driving along the sea.


Day - 3: Ganapatipule to Kolhapur

We left Magnolia resort and drove to Kolhapur. We first visited the Jaigad fort and spent a couple of hours exploring the fort and taking pictures. After this, we drove through Amba ghat towards Kolhapur. Had a very tasty mutton thali in a restaurant on the way. Reached Sayaji hotel in Kolhapur in the evening. Had a nice dinner at the hotel and called it a day.

Route for the day.


The highlights of the day were the Jaigad fort and the relaxing evening at the Sayaji hotel.



Day - 4: Kolhapur to Bangalore

This was the return trip and was just highway drive from Kolhapur to Bangalore. Robimahanta had to leave early and Abirnaile had some other places to visit. So, we said our byes after an early breakfast. The remaining 3 cars left the hotel around 9:30 and drove to Bangalore. We had to drive through heavy rains and waterlogged highway for more than 2 hours in the beginning. After Hubli, the rains stopped and we got dry roads and could make some speed. Had lunch at a place called District 17 near Davanagere. Then we did a regroup at Cafe Coffee Day, Sira where I hopped onto RSUDARSANAN's 320D and we all said our final byes. RSUDARSANAN then dropped me at Radisson Attria and that concluded the journey with the team.

Route for Day-4


The summary of the day.


Driving through heavy rains and water logged highway.


Day - 5: Bangalore to Coimbatore

For everyone else, Day-4 was the final day of the trip. But for me, there was one more day to go - returning home. I had a nice swim in the super cold pool, a sumptuous breakfast and then whiled away some time resting in the room. Left the hotel at 12, took a flight at 3PM and reached home by 5:30PM to conclude this fantastic journey.



After the food extravaganza got back to my normal life with a 48 hour fast

[graaja]

Places of Stay

During the drive, we experienced hotels and resorts simple to luxurious with various levels of facilities and comfort.

Sea Horizon Resort

This was our stay on the first day. This resort is situated on a slightly elevated location close to the sea and we got the view of the sea from the balcony of the room. They had a small infinity pool with the view to the sea where we spent some time relaxing. They served very tasty dinner and breakfast on the terrace restaurant. A few pictures of our experience at this property.

The building.


The room had very comfortable bed and a view of the sea.




A couple of views of the sea from the room.




Sunset from the room.


Morning coffee with a view.


The infinity pool.




Magnolia by the Beach

This was our stay on the second day. This resort is exactly on the beach. Come out of the room and walk 50 meters to hit the water. The rooms are basic but very clean. Their restaurant is not functional (expected to be functional by September) and we had to go out for dinner and breakfast. However, we had a great time in the evening sitting outside with the view to the beach and spending a few hours in conversation. A few pictures from this resort.

The resort right on the beach.


The cottages.


Beautiful sunset view from the resort.


Basic yet clean room.


A nice place to relax over conversation.


Sayaji Hotel

This was our stay on the third day. This is a 4-star hotel in Kohlapur. The rooms were luxurious and we had some comfort food like pizzas and brownies for a change. As this is more of a business hotel, there wasn't any special type of experience here. It was chosen more for a relaxing comfortable stay before the long drive the next day and for the convenience of access to the highway and safe parking space.

Very comfortable and luxurious room.


The 320D at the parking just before departure on the last day.

[graaja]

The Food

This drive was about food. From crispy rava dosa on the first day to mutton thalis, vada pavs, poha and modaks to pizzas and brownie with ice cream, we enjoyed a variety of food.

Hotel Shree Rathnam
We started the journey with crispy rava masala dosa, ghee dosa and coffee at Hotel Shree Rathnam.

The hotel.


Crisply rava masala dosa.


Ghee dosa.


Strong filter coffee.


Hotel Jatra - Mutton thali
This hotel is situated just after Belgaum. We had mutton chops and mutton thalis and veg thalis. The mutton thali had unlimited jowar rotis, with mutton gravy, goat intestine gravy and egg gravy. The jowar rotis are prepared fresh and served hot. They start the meal with traditional peanuts and jaggery. Dessert is a cup of Shrikhand, one of my favorites.

The hotel


Mutton chops and peanut + jaggery.


Mutton thali with jowar roti. They serve rice later when done with the rotis.


Veg thali for the vegetarians.


The menu.


Jowar rotis being prepared fresh and hot.


Vada pav at Amboli Ghat
We had hot vada pavs and tea at Amboli ghat near Amboli waterfalls. There is a very good view of the valley from this spot, but as it was raining and foggy, we could not see anything. But that did not stop us from enjoying the vada pavs.

[graaja]

The Food - Contd...

Breakfast at Sea Horizon Resort
We had traditional Maharashtra breakfast at the Sea Horizon Resort. They served poha, sabudana kichdi, vada pavs and tea for breakfast.

The breakfast.


Poha


Sabudana kichdi


Vada pav


Shree Mahalakshmi Hotel, Ganapatipule
We had dinner on Day-2 and breakfast on Day-3 in this place. Dr.AD had called them in advance and had ordered the thalis and modaks. This is a very simple hotel, but with very tasty food. They served freshly made hot food. The modaks were also served hot. The filling was very rich and juicy and they served the modaks with ghee. It was heaven.

The location.




Fish curry thali for dinner.


Veg thali


Juicy modaks for dessert.


Breakfast was poha and a Maharashtra version of neer dosa.





Pre-order the modaks and meals if you visit this place.


Nisarg Nivas Hotel

On Day-3 while driving from Ganapatipule to Kohlapur, we had lunch at a hotel called Nisarg Nivas. The mutton thali was simply superb! We also had kokam sharbat with the thali.

The hotel.


The mutton thali.




The veg thali.


Kokam sharbat.


Sayaji Hotel
On day-3 for dinner, we had some comfort food at Sayaji hotel.

Pizza


Bread omlette


Some chicken dish


Sizzling brownie with ice cream

[graaja]

Car Photoshoots

And the drive was about cars! We did lots of car photoshoots at various locations.

Somewhere on the road after Belgaum.


On Day-2, as we were driving to Ganapatipule through country roads, we found a section of road with a small puddle. It was a very shallow puddle maybe an inch, but was a good opportunity to take some water splashing pictures. A few pictures of the kids having fun.











After this, we crossed a long bridge across a wide river. We stopped here to take some pictures.

The river.


A few pictures of the cars on this bridge.














As we were approaching the Devgad fort, there was a section of road where the road was climbing uphill and we could see the turbulent sea on the left. This gave us an opportunity to click a few pictures of the convoy.







RSUDARSANAN (we affectionately call him Chief) found a small path leading to a grassy ledge by the sea. The path was accessible to the sedans as well. So we drove all the cars on to this ledge and clicked some pictures.

The blue 320D.


Abirnale's red XUV700.


The Mahindra siblings.


Robimahanta's beast, the orange 340i




Dr.AD's red 320D


All the cars.

[graaja]

Car Photoshoots - Contd...

We drove to Devgad fort for some photoshoot. The fort in itself is nothing much other than a single broken wall and a couple of watch towers. But the sea below the cliff and the flat ground provided a good opportunity to take some good car pictures. A few pictures from this spot.

All the cars parked near a watch tower.


The BMW brothers.


The Mahindra brothers.


The Thar on the ledge.


The two 320D's


The beast.




The red 320D


The red XUV700


A few pictures of the mighty Thar.






On Day-3 while driving to Kolhapur from Jaigad fort, we found a beautiful Ganapathi temple maintained by JSW. Took a few pictures near this temple.

[graaja]

Jaigad Fort

On Day-3 we visited the Jaigad fort in the morning before driving to Kolhapur.

Jaigad Fort is a coastal fortification that is located at the tip of a peninsula in Ratnagiri District at a distance of 14 km from the temple town of Ganpatipule. Nestled on a cliff, it overlooks a bay formed where the Shastri river enters the Arabian Sea. It has a commanding view of the bay, the nearby JSW coal power plant and the open sea. Although in ruins, most of the fort's outer wall and ramparts still stand. A deep moat surrounds the fort side not facing the cliff edge. In the middle of the 13 acre fort lies the palace of Kanhoji Angre, a Ganpati temple and wells to store water. It is a protected monument.

Jaigad fort is said to have been built by Bijapur Kings in the 16th century. Later it passed into the hands of Naiks of Sangameshwar. He had 7-8 villages and 600 troops under his command. He defeated combined forces of Bijapur and Portuguese in 1583 and 1585. In 1713 Jaigad was one of the ten forts which was ceded by Balaji Vishwanath Peshwa to Kanhoji Angre. In June 1818 this fort was captured by British without any struggle.

The first thing that strikes when entering the fort is the thick green cover all over the fort with moss and short grass. The green of the grass and the brown walls provide a strong contrast. A few pictures from the fort.

























The JSW powerplant in the background of the fort.




The view of the peninsula.


The temple inside the fort.

[graaja]

The Beaches, Monsoon and Conclusion

Beaches:

As we spent two days near the coast, we had lots of views of beaches and sea. Below are some pictures of the beaches, seas and sunsets.























Monsoon:

As expected we drove through some heavy rains almost every day during the drive. Though we enjoyed driving in the rains, we were also lucky that we did not face any landslides or road blockage in the areas where we drove.

A few pictures of the monsoon scenery. Add hot vada pav and tea to this scenery and that is heaven!





Some broken waterlogged roads.


Cars soaking in rain.


Rain lashing at the Sea Horizon resort.


Here is a video compilation of some of the stretches we drove in rains.

https://youtu.be/hUsjtYxMX1o

Conclusion:

I had a wonderful time during the monsoon drive, where I got to experience great company, awesome food, and monsoon experience in the coastal Maharashtra. I made lot of memories this trip. I once again thank Dr.AD for planning this excellent trip and all my friends for the great time together. I hope I have captured the major experiences of this trip in this travelogue and that you all enjoyed this. That's all folks, I have for now! Untill the next drive...

[Vid6639]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[comfortablynumb]

Loved the travelogue! These pics are a sight for sore eyes. Just the trigger I needed to plan a 1 day excursion in the drenched ghats.

Next time try these 2 places for Mutton delicacies too:

1. Hotel Shree Datta Bhuvan, Nerle. A very basic, no frills eatery. But the Mutton dishes are absolutely out of this world. Location is just before Peth Naka, approx. 25 kms from Karad.

2. Niyaaz Restaurant, Belgaum. One of the best Mutton Biryanis I have ever eaten. The other Mutton dishes are tasty too. Location is opposite the Belgaum ST Bus Stand.

[Dr.AD]

Fantastic travelogue @graaja! You have documented this whole trip very well and done justice to the variety of experiences we had. And some great photos too. Thank you very much for your efforts to document and share this report.

This was indeed a great trip. It was an amazing fun to do this drive in the company of my close friends - all of whom are car enthusiasts and travel lovers. This was the perfect group to do such a trip. Thank you everyone for your company and cooperation. It is this group that made the drive so special.

For me the drive was about revisiting my monsoon memories. This coastal part of Maharashtra is forever etched in my memory for the wonderful monsoon experiences, and for me it is sort of synonymous with monsoon drives, getting drenched in the rain, letting the car get drenched in the rain, watching rain from car windows and hotel balconies, eating hot vada pav and bhutta, and sipping the hot tea. And I am glad we did all of the above (except getting drenched in the rain) in this drive, and I loved every moment of this.

Now such a drive does not come without its fair share of adventures. The roads were sometimes great, but sometimes terrible. There was always the fear of imminent water logging. There was also a chance of roads getting suddenly blocked due to floods (something that I have faced on more than one occasion in my past monsoon drives in this region). And to make the matters more interesting, we were driving relatively low slung sedans that hate water. And our plan was to drive exactly these sedans exactly to the shores of lovely waters and enjoy that ambiance. This was not a simple plan. The inherent risks and the element of uncertainties made this plan a 100 times more exciting and 100 times more memorable. The exact same route in the peaceful months of winter and the dry months of summer would be a simple drive. But where is the fun in that? The fun in this drive was all about embracing the monsoon in its full fury and tackling the associated challenges.

And I am glad all of us and our cars came out without a scratch (but with plenty of mud for sure). We were lucky that we got tons of rains, but never excessive enough to cause any problems. We did some water splashing on the road and enjoyed that, but never faced serious water logging. We drove for hours through a heavy downpour where even the maximum wiper speed felt like a slow motion, but never so bad that we had to stop driving. The rain gods were very kind to us and showered their grace on us through some perfectly timed rain that made us enjoy this drive!

@graaja and @abirnale took some fantastic photos in this trip (just wait till you see the breathtaking drone shots by abirnale). And thanks to their excellent photography, I have nothing more to add here. But just for the sake of records, please allow me to add a few pictures I took.


At Amboli ghat, enjoying the rains, the mist, and of course, freshly fried vada pav. My car next to a vada pav stall is what I dream about the most in any monsoon drive :



Watching rain from the hotel balcony, overlooking the sea, is another iconic moment of a Konkan monsoon drive:



Our cars parked below our hotel room (they did a lot of hard work in this drive, and deserved a spa treatment after returning home)



A very disciplined and well-behaved convoy () traversing the lovely green plateaus on the Konkan landscape:



After tackling some bad roads, some rain, some tea breaks, and lo and behold, we were here, on the coastal drive:



I never get bored of taking solo car photos:



One more:



RSUDARSANAN's 320d:



@robimahanta's mighty M340i, the six-cylinder beast among the pack of four-cylinder mere mortals:



@abirnale's Sabertooth, having fun and showing them all who is the boss:



And now @tilt's Thar standing there and thinking about how deep in the sea it can drive with its water wading capabilities (we suggested several "short cuts" to him but he was polite enough to refuse them):



With such lovely roads ahead, we had to take "photo breaks" every km:



Another lovely location that the group found, and to the surprise of the poor sedan owners, even managed to drive down via a mild off-roading exercise (the Thar and the XUV700 had a hearty laugh when the sedan owners said this was their definition of off-roading):



This is off-roading enough, by BMW standards:



Yes, finally we all made it there, without even a scratch or a hit anywhere:



A bit later, at Devgad Fort:



The convoy at Devgad Fort:



Another moment that summarizes the weather and the location. The rough monsoon seas hitting the rugged rocky coastline of Konkan:



A parting shot on the coastal highway before we hit the hills again:



At home at sea, at home in the hills. My car in Amba ghat:



The lovely landscapes at Amba ghat:



Finally, to wrap this up, a customary photo at "Suvarna Vidhana Soudha" at Belagavi , while on our return leg from Kolhapur to Bangalore:



Once again, thanks to everyone and their lovely cars for making this drive possible and memorable. The monsoon has just started and this was only the first of the many monsoon drives this season (I hope so). So with that hope, and with thanks to my buddies, let me stop here and start searching maps again for the next drive idea!

[abirnale]

Thanks, @graaja for such a detailed and mesmerizing write-up and even more beautiful framing of us and our cars. We had fun while you were hard at work:



@Dr.AD, you are an amazing friend who is very direct, fun as well as extremely logical. When you tell us to do something, we don't ask a question, because we know AD said it. You are a veteran on these solo trips of yours on the monsoon drives. Many times, I have just retraced your path, at the wrong time. This one was the right time, right place, and right company! Thanks for taking the pain of herding the naughty kids (that is us), and keeping us on track - also making this beautiful memoir T:



And obviously choosing the right places of stay where Car and safety is a priority:



When was the last time you saw a devil in your IRVM or ORVM? I did once:



It is actually a treat to see two beasts in motion or setting the roads on fire in one frame. Unfortunately, our roads are full of congestion:



Often when we meet in the town, we take public transport. Rarely I get to experience the august company:



I am still working on processing and short-listing the pictures for our readers, but here are a few that will give you an idea of what a perspective we get when we look from a different angle - a theory of relativity























Such beautiful roads, the great food, and these special moments - gives me the energy to survive and sometimes thrive in the otherwise ordinary life.

While everyone on the trip returned on Monday with a regular route, I wasn't in the mood to return. So I decided to take a detour: Kolhapur - Chandgad - Tilari - Shinoli - Belgaum. This route had severe rains in all the areas we crossed. To double it up, narrow and bad roads were almost everywhere. As they say - the road to heaven is through some hard trails, I got to experience the western ghat in its glory in the Tilari forest. Extremely bad roads, water/ creeks flowing on the road, and the best views all around. The lush green meadows, dense vegetation, multiple waterfalls, and misty roads! I ended up visiting the Swpanvel Viewpoint where you see multiple waterfalls falling from the cliff and you are at the top of the waterfalls! Words can't describe this view and since it was raining and I was alone in my car, not many pictures from this section of the trip except below and a go-pro timelapse.









End of the day, when I returned to Bengaluru home, the fulfillment of this trip was evident on my face and on my Red Sparkle's (a.k.a The Red Sabertooth) exterior:



Oh and thanks @Graaja for these two special pictures which sum up the food and drive:





And some other random pictures from the drive until I process and stitch together the aerial perspective:







Thanks for reading!

[abirnale]

You know the chief right? he is the one who brought us all together through this forum, many many years ago when he started overnighters!



AD doing his stuff - love for cars is evident here!



You know why the god loves us all? He sees a best picture of earth from top! Few more aerial pictures, in no particular order:

























Stay tuned for more dose of pictures and videos coming up!

[ajayc123]

You guys look like having some really good time.

And a lot of rich food too. Looks like Mr Cholesterol is scared to venture anywhere near you.