[AbhiBelgaumPune]

Hi Friends,
I am a newly joined member on TeamBhp and This is my first ever travelogue written on an online community platform like TeamBhp. I have been a long-time reader and follower of TeamBhp community. I am an avid traveler since my college days and have done many bike trips on my Honda Unicorn. I have been reading travelogues from TeamBhp since many years. It is from such posts; I got a basic idea that people do undertake such long Road trips and make memorable holidays.

Later, I learned car driving in Oct 2021 and finally we bought TATA Nexon XZ+, (Petrol, Manual ) as our first ever car in Dec 2021. Soon after that, did many short trips to various places near Pune. As I was already encouraged by Long Journey Travelogues by folks on TeamBhp, I also planned and did a 11 day Long Grand South India RoadTrip covering most of TamilNadu and some places in Kerala. (I was the only driver throughout the journey and did some personal achievements like driving 830+ Kms in a single day. )

Introduction about this trip: South Konkan was a place that I was planning to visit since many years. Finally got chance a to plan a long road trip covering main tourist places of south konkan. Viz: Vijaydurg, Kunkeshwar, Sindhudurg, Tarkarli, Malvan, and Goa.

Trip Plan: Pune>Rajapur>Vijaydurg>Kunkeshwar>Sindhudurg>Tarka rli>Malvan>Calangute, Goa>Bondla wildlife sanctuary, Goa. And then return (via same route)
Date : 2,3,4,5,6 February 2024.( Fri half, Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues)

Day 1: Friday 2nd Feb 2024: Pune to Rajapur


The Road from Karad to Oni via kokrud>malkapur>Anuskura is in absolutely fantastic condition. Though Malkapur to Anuskura via Manjare village seems a very small route in google map(road shown by a thin line), But actually it is a very good 2 lane newly built road with proper markings.
Reached Rajapur at around 8 30 pm. Stayed there at a lodge.

Day 2: Friday 3rd Feb 2024: Rajapur to Vijaydurg: Got up early in the morning and headed towards Vijaydurg. The road is nice with beautiful scenic views.




About Vijaydurg Fort:
Vijaydurg Fort was called the “Eastern Gibraltar”, as it was virtually impregnable. Its locational advantages include the 40 km long Waghotan/Kharepatan creek. Large vessels cannot enter the shallow water of this creek. It has a large protective wall built under sea to prevent large ships coming near it. Fort is in good condition. It takes around 2 hours to see it.


Left from the place at around 11:30 AM and headed towards Kunakeshwar.
Route Map:


From Devgad to kunkeshwar, there is a very scenic route right along the beach. If you take it, you directly reach near the Kunakeshwar temple.

Kunkeshwar temple


Kunkeshwar to Sindhudurg: Here, though google map shows a route which includes a ride through a ferry, it is misleading!. Instead it’s better to take the suggested route as shown below.


Reached Sindhudurg town. There had lunch at Rajbhog hotel. It was a one of the few Veg restaurant options available there. Nevertheless, it was good. Then went at the jetty location at around 3:15 PM. Took the boat ride (100 rupees per person, free for kids.) Boat takes around 20-30 mins to reach the fort.

Sindhudurg Fort:

A roaring testament of the Maratha empire's legacy, Sindhudurg Fort narrates a captivating tale of Maharashtra's history. Constructed ages ago, Sindhudurg Fort is an engineering marvel with strategic brilliance. A visionary piece of work, its often referred to as the "Fort of the Sea" and is a haven for history and nature lovers.
The fort looks great from outside. It is built on an Island. However, internally the island is not maintained properly. Fort walls are strong and good. But the internal landscape within the fort is not at all well maintained. Because of lot of snacks, cold drinks shops etc, the place has become dirty. In contrast, Vijaydurg feels much better. It has no food stalls inside the fort. (which is good in my opinion �� )
Completed the Sindhudurg fort visit by 5 pm. Returned to jetty point at around 5:30 pm. Stayed at Ashish resort.

Sunday 4th Feb 2024: Today’s plan was to visit the devbag beach then the Lakshmi Narayan temple in Walawal and then reaching goa at the end of the day.

Started early morning at 6:00 AM. Tarkarli town is a very densely populated town with only 1 major road connecting to the dead end point which is devbag beach. It’s a very narrow road with very tightly packed roadside resorts and hotels. The road is so narrow that only a single bus can pass at any time. There is absolutely no space for even 2 cars to pass. If a big vehicle comes ( tempo traveler/big tourist bus etc. ) then opposite vehicle has to return several hundred meters. Hence it is my suggestion to avoid taking car( own or hired) on this route at any cost. If you get stuck somewhere, then it will waste a lot of your time. Realized this quickly and started looking for a car parking. At one point, found some non-private empty space and decided to park the car there. From there, went to devbag beach and walked all the way towards the end of devbag beach. (~1.5 kms).
Took a boat ride (Rs: 2200 for 2Adults+Kid mainly because of off season). Saw dolphins!

From Devbag, wanted to visit the Lakshmi Narayan temple in walawal. A good route was suggested by the boat ride guy; which is as below



Though google shows the highlighted section as a very thin line (= small, narrow remote road), IT IS NOT actually like that. In-fact road is a regular common 2 lane road and is in good condition.
The temple is a very serene and calm. You can relax for long time here. Such a beautiful and peaceful place!



Walawal temple to Mochemad beach :
From there (walawal), even the continuing road towards Humarmala village is good. From Humarmala, we took below route to reach Mochemad. Google shows a different route to reach the beach. But that is non existent! Hence after asking the locals, we took the below route.




Mochemad Beach: Mochemad is a nice very remote, less crowded beach. Watching evening sunset was a dream come true!


From Mochemad, towards Anjuna, Goa: From Mochemad, we left at around 5 o’clock. And then headed towards Anjuna, Goa.


Reached goa at around 7 PM. We had not booked any hotel thinking it was off season. After 10-15 mins of search and enquiry, finalized Poonam resort for the stay.

Monday 5th Feb: Todays plan was to Visit Calangute beach, then Aguada fort, then visit one of my cousins home. And stay in Ponda Goa.

Calangute Beach: This place needs no introduction! After this Aguada Fort. Finished sightseeing by 11:30 AM

Then we headed towards velage to meet my cousin brother(aka=velguem, near Valpoi)
Left there at around 3:30 PM. Then went to Mangeshi temple. and the Shantadurga temple at Kavale. For the night stay, Finalized a room at: Gaudapadacharya math, Kavale math management( near the shantadurga Temple kawavle math.)

Tuesday 6th Feb 2024: As per plan, reached Bondla Wildlife sanctuary/zoo ( keep in mind that : this sanctuary, is closed on Mondays). It opens at 9 AM. We had already reached there before 9 AM.

Bondla Wildlife sanctuary/zoo: This is comparatively lesser known place in GOA. But it is a good place to visit. They have many wild animals like Leopard, Python, Bison, Snakes, Birds, Emu, Ostrich etc. It takes around 2 hours to complete the zoo sightseeing.

Porcupines in the zoo


Return Journey: Bondla Wildlife sanctuary>> Mapusa>> Oni>>Karad>>Pune.

Left Bondla at around 10:45 AM. Reached the Goa-Mumbai Highway intersection near Mapusa at around 12:20 PM. From there, the 4-lane highway is awesome. Covered the distance at good speed. En-route, had lunch at “Madhurya Bhojanalay”. Pure veg simple home like food. Highly recommended. )


Crossed Anuskura ghat at around 3:30PM. Road is really excellent. (All the way till Karad cross on Belgavi-Pune Highway). Crossed Karad at around 6PM.
Finally reached the home in Pune at around 9 PM.

-Thanks
Hope you like it.

[theGoanGuy]

Nice write up. Could you provide some more details on the car like how it performed, what was the cruising speed, how was the ride quality and lastly what fuel efficiency did you get ?

[AbhiBelgaumPune]

Car performed as usual. This is my first and only car so I cant really compare its performance against other cars.
Cruising Speed : On highways, I usually manage around 80-100 Kmph. On state highways, depends on traffic density and road condition. But still 40-60 was easily possible during the trip.

Fuel Efficiency: I am getting around 16+ on highways. ( without AC, Petrol, Manual transmission). On small highways, I get usually around 18 ( specially because the speed remains in 40 to 70 kmph range)

Overall, comfort in the car is awesome. Internally car has more room and hence long journeys don't feel troublesome.