Temple run & Goa: My family new year road trip in my Mahindra Thar

Important thing to note while visiting Shani Shingnapur is that lot of people on bikes will approach you by driving next to your car and asking you to stop for taking their services

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Happy New Year to Everyone, this is my first Travelogue on the forum so please excuse me for any mistakes made.
Also as I have clicked very less photos of my trip I will upload the best ones that I have which mostly are of Sunset's only

Background :

Every year during New year we just celebrate at home due to every place being overcrowded but this year decided to welcome New Year by seeking blessings of our Kuldev and Kuldevi with Parents and then relaxing at Goa after the New year celebration and the crowd had left from Goa.

Plan was to visit Shirdi - Jejuri - Akkalkot - Tuljapur and Mahalaxmi temple ( Kolhapur ) with parents and then parents will return Vadodara, me and wifey will continue our road trip to Goa.

The vehicle decided was our Thar 3 door, luggage had to be packed and planned properly due to limited availability of space but with 4 duffle bags we managed the luggage for 4 people.
As my parents had to attend a family emergency at Pune at the last minute they decided to travel till Pune by train and then reach Shirdi where we will be meeting them directly.

So with the plan ready and bookings done in advance, we commenced our New Year road trip on 30th December.

Day 1 ( 30th Dec 2024 ) : Vadodara to Shirdi, Distance - 433 kms.

As parents were already in Shirdi, myself and wifey started from Vadodara at 6.30 am via NE4 till Bharuch and joined NH48 from Ankleshwar till Navsari, from Navsari took the road via Saputara to Shirdi.
Took a brunch stop for us and a refuelling stop for Thar at Saputara. The road to Saputara was excellent with some diversions on NH48.
From Saputara took the road via Pimplegaon to Shirdi.
Saputara to Pimplegaon road is very well laid and smooth but from Pimplegaon till Shirdi roads are a mix of good to bad.
Reached Shirdi at 3.30pm, met parents at the hotel and checked-in, the rest of the day was just for relaxing.

Hotel : Sai Miracle - Good hotel very near to the temple, also has amazing food.

Day 2 ( 31st Dec 2024 ): Shirdi to Jejuri via Shani Shingnapur, Distance - 243 kms.

As we had already taken darshan pass online for 8am at Shirdi Sai Baba temple, we reached Gate No.6 as mentioned on our pass at 7.30am and were glad to see not much of the rush for Paid pass darshan.

Reached the main temple complex within 10 mins and completed the darshan of Sai Baba by 8.15am.
Checked out from our hotel and reached Shani Shingnapur by 11am, roads from Shirdi to Shani Shingnapur are decent.
After completing darshan we proceeded towards Jejuri which is our Kuldev for starting our New Year with the blessings of Lord Khandoba.
Reached Jejuri by 4pm, roads till Jejuri were in good condition.

Hotel : Belsare yatri niwas, clean and comfortable accommodation near the temple.

Important thing to note while visiting Shani Shingnapur is that lot of people on bikes will approach you by driving next to your car and asking you to stop for taking their services, do not stop for them just tell them politely that you are a frequent visitor and you will manage darshan yourself. For parking do not follow anyone who stops you on the road, there is a parking lot just near the main temple entrance, park your vehicle only in that parking area. People will block your way and they will not let you reach the parking area run by the government they will ask you to park in their own private parking after which they will ask you to buy things from the shops just tell them you know the parking area and you will park only there.

Day 3 ( 1st Jan 2025 ) : Jejuri to Akkalkot and Tuljapur, Distance - 347 kms

As our pooja was booked for 5am at Jejuri, we all got ready by 4.30am and started our climb to Lord Khandoba's temple, we reached the temple by 5.15am and our pooja was completed by 7.30am due to lot of rush as people were lining up from 5am for darshan being New Year.

We checked out of our accommodation at 9am and proceeded towards Akkalkot Swami Samarth temple, on reaching Akkalkot at 1.30pm we were surprised to see the temple crowded as it was a weekday and we had expected darshan to be completed within 1 hour but on asking around we were told it will take about 4-5 hours, we already had our pooja booked at Tuljapur temple for 7pm for which we had to reach Tuljapur at 5.30pm so we had to take darshan at Akkalkot only from outside as it was impossible to reach inside the temple complex and than make it to Tuljapur on time.

Reached Tuljapur at 3.30pm, check-in to the hotel and just went for a nap as we all were up since 4am and very tired.
We freshened up and reached our Guruji's place by 5.30pm from where he took us to the pooja line and we performed the pooja by 8pm after which we came to the hotel room and went for an early night's sleep.

Hotel : Darshan executive, neat and clean hotel near the temple.

Day 4 ( 2nd Jan 2025 ) : Tuljapur to Kolhapur, Distance - 283 kms

As my parents were to return back to Vadodara from Miraj we decided to book a night stay at Kolhapur and also take darshan at Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur. Checked-out from Tuljapur at 9am and reached Kolhapur at 2pm.

Checked-in to our Airbnb at Kolhapur and decided to go for darshan straightaway as it was noon time and we expected less crowd at Mahalaxmi temple.

Reached the temple by 3pm and got in the queue which took about 1 hour, completed darshan by 4pm. Mother and wifey wanted to do some shopping at Kolhapur so after completing the shopping came back to our Airbnb and rested for a few hours.

My parents had booked tickets for the train from Kolhapur to Miraj and then Miraj to Vadodara.

Went to drop them off at Kolhapur railway station for their train, returned back to Airbnb and just went to sleep as the next day had to leave for Goa.

Airbnb : Lakeview apartment, Great place to stay with view of Rankala lake and just 10 mins drive from Mahalaxmi temple.

Day 5 ( 3rd Jan 2025 ) : Kolhapur to Anjuna beach, Goa, Distance - 195 kms

We had divided our Goa plan in two parts, North Goa for Sundowner and Club and South Goa just to laze and chill.

As it was going to be a relaxed trip to Goa we decided to leave our Airbnb in Kolhapur at leisure so check-out around 9.30am from Kolhapur and reached our hotel near Anjuna beach at 2.30pm

Route taken : Kolhapur - Nipani - Ajra - Amboli - Banda - Anjuna.

I took Amboli ghat while going to Goa and Anuskura ghat while returning back from Goa and from my experience I found the Amboli ghat route much better for driving as well as road conditions compared to Anuskura Ghat.

After resting for a few hours in our hotel we decided to head towards Anjuna beach and enjoy the sunset from a beach shack called Cafe Antonio, a good shack to see the sunset but as with all other beach shacks prices are very high.

Some photos of Sunset from Anjuna beach:

Hotel at Anjuna : Granpa's Inn Bougainville hotel, Beautiful hotel with spacious room and lot of greenery along with a well maintained swimming pool, staff is courteous and serves with smile.

Day 6 ( 4th Jan 2025 ) : Anjuna and Vagator beach

After relaxing and taking a rest on the previous day, today we decided to go for a Sundowner after which we planned to go for a beach Nightclub.

For morning brunch we went to a place called Artjuna in Anjuna , the place has amazing vibes and aesthetics and if you prefer Vegan and Gluten free meals which my wife follows as a part of her treatment diet you will get a lot of great options to choose from.

For Sundowner we went to Olive Bar and Kitchen near Vagator beach as we wanted to enjoy sunset from a cliff and the place has one of the best Views from Vagator along with great service and food.

After Sundowner we came back to our hotel, changed clothes and went to a beach club at Anjuna called Gypsea. It is a good beach club with amazing lights setting, DJ is very good, fire and aerial performances are spectacular but due to less crowds even on a weekend we could not enjoy dancing as very few people went to the dance floor.

Some photos of Sundowner:

Day 7 ( 5th Jan 2025 ) : Anjuna to Varca

We checked-out from our hotel in Anjuna at around 10.30am and reached the hotel in Varca by 12.30am, we faced traffic congestion on the highway due to ongoing flyover work between North and South Goa.

Today was a leisure day and as our hotel in Varca was a beach hotel having a backdoor of the property opening directly on the serene and peaceful Varca beach we just decided to spend the entire day at the beach.

After coming from the beaches of North Goa, Varca beach felt so calming, I went to take a dip in the Sea and just sat on the white sand beach watching a beautiful sunset.
For dinner we decided to go to Roger's on Benaulim beach, the food was very good and special mention to their desserts they were amazing.

Hotel at Varca : Majestic Beach Comforts, Very Good hotel with private access door leading to Varca beach, they have options of rooms as well as wooden cottages.

Day 8 ( 6th Jan 2025 ) : Varca to Cabo De Rama.

While searching for things to do in Goa on a YouTube channel I came across this place called Cabo De Rama, even after visiting Goa for 4 times previously, this was first time I got to know about this place near Agonda beach so decided to check it out as the videos and photos of sunset from the cliff looked amazing.

We also came across a vegan and vegetarian restaurant at Agonda called Zest and my wife was happy to again get a variety of options to choose from so had our lunch at Zest and then went to Cabo De Rama.

Cabo De Rama is a fort which is now in ruins but the fort offers some of the most spectacular views we have ever seen in Goa, there is a pebble beach as well after a climb down from fort but as it was already sunset time and we wanted to be at the sunset view point to enjoy the sunset se decided to give pebble beach a skip and headed towards the sunset point.

I would like to mention that the photos and videos you will see on social media don't really do justice to the experience which you will get watching a sunset from Cabo De Rama viewpoint, only frustrating thing we came across at the viewpoint is people do not care a bit about preserving nature with plastic and garbage being thrown everywhere it really saddens to see such a beautiful location being litter by garbage but do not let that hamper the surreal sunset you will get to experience.

Some points to note if you are visiting Cabo De Rama:

• At the entrance to the fort you have to register with security and closing time is 6pm so you have to come out from the fort before 6pm.
• Access to pebble beach is steep and not recommended with small kids.
• Cabo De Rama fort and Cabo De Rama viewpoint are at different places, you can't see the sunset from the fort as you have to come out before sunset.
• Reach Cabo De Rama sunset viewpoint by 5.30pm to get the best spot before it gets crowded and all good spots are taken, the earlier the better.

Some pictures from Cabo De Rama sunset viewpoint and from fort :

Day 9 ( 7th Jan 2025 ) : Varca to Vadodara via Nashik with night stop at Jejuri, Distance till Jejuri - 451 kms.

This route via Nashik was decided to avoid the traffic at Pune and to bypass Chakan.

Today was the start of our return journey to Vadodara and as I was driving everyday, keeping in mind fatigue, we decided to drive only till mid-way and take a night halt at Jejuri as we already know a good accommodation at Jejuri.
We had a relaxed start at 10.30 from Varca and took the Varca - Kharepatan - Anuskura Ghat - Satara - Jejuri route and reached Jejuri at 9.30pm with accomodation booked in advance had dinner and just went to sleep as next day had a long drive again.
Roads till Satara were good but from Satara to Jejuri being a single lane road and oncoming traffic with a high beam made driving a bit challenging.

Hotel : Belsare Yatri Niwas, Jejuri

Day 10 ( 8th Jan 2025 ) : Jejuri to Vadodara via Nashik and Saputara, Distance - 629 kms.

We were up by 7am and well rested so decided to start our remaining journey as the earliest, checked-out at 8am and took Jejuri - Ranjhangaon - Nashik - Saputara - Vadodara route.

Roads are in good condition except entering and exiting Nashik we faced a lot of traffic and some broken roads.

We could have bypassed Nashik but we wanted to have Misal pav at famous Grape embassy and zatka misal due to which we took the decision of entering Nashik which set us back by almost 3 hours including the lunch stop at Grape embassy, we felt the delay and stop was worth it as the Misal pav was delicious and Jalebi was mouthwatering.
With lunch done we left Nashik at 3pm and only stopped at Saputara around 5pm for refuelling and buying some strawberries as well as onions near Saputara.
It was a non stop drive from Saputara to Vadodara and reached home by 10.30pm and called it a day after 10 days of amazing road trip the excitement of the journey was over and tiredness was catching up.

I have tried to mention everything in as much details as possible, if anyone has any questions or queries feel free to comment and I will be happy to guide in whatever way I can.

Hope you all enjoy the Travelogue

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