>roadtrip Tarkarli-Devbagh

Hurt ur Butt,soak in the voilent winds,all on 2wheels!!

▬ Origination▬

Dat day surprisingly woke up ½ late post the Scheduled time @ 4am,the excitement has never let us sleep on time on d preceding night of the outings…

the morning Conversation>..Mom peeps in n asks “Kiti wajta uthnares?”… ” D only abvious reaction in the semisleepy-awake state Shit*shit*shit.Ata shivya khanar… mazya mule ushir honar…Checked d Cell,as expected miscalls had showed up :l… Mohan was on time,Ambu was running late[slight relief];), sent out msgs n got out of the house @ 05.30 instead of d scheduled 5.00 am.the drive thru the city to reach Chandni Chowk (Pune‘s gateway to the mighty NH4) to get along with Mohan coming via the Highway from Dehu.

▬ by d way ▬

@ around 6.10 Mohan & me on the Zma,Girish n the luggage container @ d t’bird…A fuel topup 2 Khed Shivapur,still dark around,Chilly cold..scarce vehicles on NH4[more specific ‘almost’ no 2wheelers,except for local commuters] Sprinting t’brd @ an avg of 80kmph,n Zma@ 100kmph…the morning loss of time was almost made up…Everything that was less visible due to the fog just seemed to pass by,…Dat was the might of the the ‘Desi’Power byks,speed was effortless…Power Showsup when its der,It really does,in a gud way.We hada long day ahead…:)

Reaching Satara @arnd 9.30 n halting for a bite near Atit(post satara)..The travel of 120kms just zipped by shivering n tweeting abt locations sitting pillion.. Back to the saddles,Zipping past everything[almost evrythin..;Swifts,Scorpios never dissapoint der owners on hiways,dey r damn faster,n d B9R’s]….

Kolhapur came around 11am[Would have come earlier;razz pitstop b4 kolhapur considered:):)] Getting out of the City was  ‘a pain in the as*’ with the road to Radhanagari Closed for work..the alternative route was a bumpy makeshift road;Redid our plan: It was too early for Lunch,continued on the way.. the SH 116 to Radhanagari..A picturesue 2lane road along the sugarcane belt,The Road was intersting[yeah,i say dat coz untravelled raods are hardly tiring;they sure have thier own beauty]

A fuel stop b4 radhanagari to feed the dragons; n next v wer q’d up looking for a nice Eating place….(Radhanagri to me seemed to be a small town blessed to be surrounded by Jungles on its Sides;D Dajipur,n radhanagri..A nice calm little town)Demarking The Western Maharashtra from the Konkan)

It was “Om Sai Hotel” in Radhanagari,a simple nice hotel hidden in the hind of a garage…Served Super tasty Mutton n Solcurry,When on outings,A Tasty-Quality meal is all a roadie expects to cheer its stomach:)… After the filling meals,We contined to tread along the SH 116 through dense forest covered roads[The road is thru Radhanagari,Dajipur n Bison Sanctuaries] the Small town of Kankavali came @ around 5pm…[no risks:Monus contentions..Lets stock up!!postponed after assurances from locals about availablities in Malvan] n we cruise on..the butts had started  to give in by now:)

The route Until now: Pimpri-University-Chandni Chowk-Shirwal-Satara-Karad-Kolhapur-Rankala talav-Radhanagri-Ponda Ghat-Kankavali

The Route ahead:: Kankavali-a small stretch of NH17-Kasal—n den….Nakabandi(Police Checkpost)…

N they made a Signal to make a stop..We Complied..[Just wonderin if we hadnt cared to stop then,they had no means to follow n get us:P]But we had all things in place,Ask Questions,check Doc’s,n lastly list down names in some of their record register..the Cop making  the entries could hardly understand our words,hold his pen right…He was in a true  31st vibe.. all drunk!! 😀

..N into malvan @ 5.30 Malvan had things to offer 😛 put in nice words Malvan could well satisfy us:)…A stopover in malvan,n we started to head devbagh-wards… The road seemed very populated now,all the people out on thier 31st outings had almost culminated to thier places…treading thru the ‘signature’ konkani narrow,singlelane roads…passing through a blanket of green on both side,across the roadside shrubs,just few metres was the Arabian n on the other the back waters of River Karli !!Guesthouses were on offer all over the place along the road enroute devbagh..V had ours done @ the RTNEonline,The Gananyak resort,Devbagh…After luking thru many options,v’d zeroed down to Gananayak’s..N yes,after a long days journey,wen every part of ours seemed to hurt,rationally all we hoped that we get a Quality place as descibed in the brochure,nice setting,relaxed,next to the beach!!!We got to the place,n “WE Were’nt dissapointed”

The place seemed awsum @ first sight…Just nice..wohowoo…it was going to be a long night ahead:);) Got the luggage in place,n here v goooo…The 1st time we sat around the table,n ******….all the pain n ruggedness had gone all in line…Only until now had i felt if i was betrayed,saying beach was just a 2min walk from the place;On enquiry wid Kanchan’ji[owner of gananayak resort]he let along his collegue to show us the road to beach,n yup..it was just/hardly 2 minutes walk from der,@ night on the beach seemed a bit frightening to me with the water making all noise,

n NO ONE other than 3 o’ us on the beach..cud say it was a private beach,more specifically..its the fishermens village,n its their parking bay out der..all boats lined up…All dark,Some light in trawlers flickering over the Horizon…the sound of Waves colliding against the shore….Just the pleasant feel u get just when u stay der,doing nothing… Back to the resort,v had company from Mumbai,dey wer a 9-10 boys just around our age…Just out of conversations u make when u r high…it didnt take much time until v all wer a group..Sitting @ two opposite tables,relaxing in the hammocks, & & the Xylo was our Sound Rack for The Night…It made our 31st!!The 1200wats wer just loud enough for the quiet Seaside for all the Masti n Dance,n Madness:D happen until 2am..Sheer undescribable FUN!! ‘Happy new year 2011’ in Devbagh distym!!

▬2011 set a’sail▬

The 31st concluded with a mention of a call of police patrol nearing the place…v wer playing loud music{courtesy:xylo :P}Hoax or True,we didnt really stay up to find out nor wer v bugged by any interuptions…Into our rooom n off! @ 2am! 1st morning all woke up heavy headed,heading out of the room wer greeted by the Boat-wala guy..[Prologue:V wer looking for a Dolphin ride early morning,n had talked abt it wid the ppl der,n dis guy had come up coz hed had a family n he’d  take us along in d same boat]

Did a part of the morning chores n hurried withe the boatwala..The family was already waiting..Into the small fishermans boat converted into a tourist boat for space to accomodate 10ppl. with a hood n Engine,around 20 minutes ride n we were into the sea moving along the Karli backwaters..to the estuary n into the sea..No sign of the Dolphins thou..roam around @ d places wer dey had shown up recently ..but in Vain..V wer l8,there was no sight of Dolphins in here[The morning sun was shining bright  by now,going by the locals say Dolphins r ‘mostly’ seen in mornings b4 the sun heats up d waters n also the winds should be passive]Both if’s wer in our against,hence Dolphins not showing up was scientifically ruled down…The DOLPHIN boat ride …Changing places all over the boat,snapping pics…On the way back the guy made a stopover @ the Bhogwe beach..Well, to me the beaches here were way unusual…Dis one Is a Strip of sand projecting into the estuary with water on all 3 sides o it..quite unusaul for a beach..Looked something like a landing strip…An nice place to do all the masti ,all quiet,almost private,clear n clean water… a instantanous call by ambu to get swimming.. woohoo…The 1st bath of the Year,beach side fun.. 😛 Next stopover was an equally unusual little island in the River,just nearing the Mouth of the River called the Tsunami Island around here[got formed during the Tsunami happening…Did d Tsunami affext D arabian??watever]To me,it was a sand elevation inthe river middle,looked beautiful with the Sand dunes alike formations allover,no runover by tonees of tourists,the shacks,n flocks of Seagulls lined along the island horizon..[only if i had a slr,cud i have been able to Get d awsum frame in here:)] Out of there,n into the Devbagh backyard dock,400 for a share boat for a 90min ride was a worth of it.. Next tym v sure gona make it early inthe Morning for our Dolphin rides [If the night ‘baithaks’ dont take a toll on us den:D] Back to the resort,Hungry stomached..the staple maharshtrian nashta o Pohe n upma always do der job rite…[esspecially ambu hadnt had his fill last night,n to keep the heavy machine going..Inputs wer a must;)]All full….

▬Snorkeling▬

Headed Malvan’wards;On agenda:Snorkeling n Sindhudurg.The resort owner had already helped with the person for Snorkeling…Instead of we Searching for him,he traced us bang from our Vehicle no.s,dat was sugestive of the competition scene of Snorkeling Providers…@ 250per head n 38 for the trip to Sindhudurga,we set sail first towards Sindhudurg in der boat wid a group o 5 young men n counterparts n a pug..yes a pug..They asked him to get into the boat he tried,n suceeded[Worth mentioning:C’ing the plight of the Doggie,..wher it was in dual minds on being coaxed by the owner to leap into the boat n der was a sizable gap btwen land n the boat n water in middle…An spontaneous reaction by Ambu..”Phatliye tyachi n laughs..only to realize dat the lady owner of the pug was beside us n he’d just said dat ryt in her ear,N then the Scary Stare:D:D”].. The roam around on sindhudurg took around 1hour all inclusive of stroll around the fort,Kaju.Kokam Sherbat,the two-branched Coconut tree has withered off now,1ce was a peculiar spec on Sindhudurg..Sindhudurg for Wat Maharaj Was,…His concieving of the Threat from water route,The Massive construction,the admin setup dat must have been operational from here..*a humble bowdown* sindhudurg seemed the most visited ‘fort’ around,given the easy access n a gigantic structure it is… Back at the Boat halting bay..n wait for arrival of the snorkeling boat…the snorkel is a mask-like fixture which fits on the face covering the eyes n nose in a vacuum…So water doesnt get in d nose…U get to breathe thru the snorkel,which is a pipe you hold into your mouth n the other end o it projects out of water(only of the mouth piece of snorkel would have beendisposable or sterlized:l)The Eyepiece of the Equipment is made up of tempered glass which is meant to enhance the view underwater.. The boat took us to the the destined place with us was a couple to company..the guide was a nice friendly man,helping n guding in all the essetial for a first timer…So with the fitting done right n rehaearsed in open air… into the water with loads of anticipation(it was a windy day,n taking the experts say,the water is turbulent given the ripples created n it by large affects visiblity underwater)the next 25 minutes passed by superquickly with the guide taking us along using his paddle to lessen efforts…n showtime., it fells happy,awsum,3rd world Snorkeling  in INdia is in two places[owing to absence of clear waters,being a prequisite along with presence of diverse sealife],in Lakshwwadeep n here in tarkarli..So When Here…It goes w/o saying..It is a MUST DO

Snorkeling do’s:

→Clean n wash ur Snorkel →Watch your feetin water & maintain a parallel  to water position,to avoid cuts from corals,as such wounds take lonmger time to heal.

→Keep a towel n dry clothes stacked up on the snorkel boat,coz on ur return from water its gonna be hell chilly amoung the breeze to be contd…

All done,n back to Malvan dhakka,@ around 3.30pm…v wer Hungry as hell,The Lunch was to be @ the much heard about on d net :”Athithi Bamboo”,A little search around the town led us to dis basic place crowded wid people having an array of fish dishes on offer,v settled wid the Pomfret,the Service was slow but the wait was worthwhile,With a thali jam packed with ‘tasty’ fish curry,sollcurry,a whole fresh fried pomfret,with rotis n rice was ‘satisfying’ n filled us to the brim;) Worth recomending::If in malvan n out for a signature Malvani Food:Athithi Bamboo is the place to be

The Lunch[@4pm] was followed by a roam around in the narrowest[Such Narrow,dat to let the State transport bus to pass thru the lane,people walking around the street have to retreat to the shops or climb on the entrances] Malvan market for the specialties o Dried Fish[Dont take dem along if ur using public tpt,howsover u pack dem,dey r sure to stink:P]the Ambapoli,some masalas n things…

The drive back to Devbagh to reach Gananayak resort didnt feel tired after a feature packed day..

@ the resort we had company from a Scorpoi full of guys from belgaum dis time,Just some time n the converstions got into flow,with topics from Pune to Belgaum marathi revolt,n things…Getting along wid varied bunch of people across distant places wasnt a task @all,rather id say the company we had @ the table both nights made our time more intersting n fun…sharing things across the table…

Laying in the Hammock was d best passtime @ gananayaks,just swinging der passively n things in mind…a experience dat wud be signature to Beachsides:)

Mohan took to d beed early dat night,The Night continued with chats wid Belgaum guys until 2pm,The next day was going to be a taxing one,Doing a reverse caln:12Hrs were required to get back home,Hence v’d decided to start @ 9am next day…

▬ On the way back▬

2 days seemed to be way less to enjoy tarkarli to the fullest..We wished we could stay a day or two more,but for the given set of factors we decided to head back as was decided..

Ready n packed up by 9 am we headed out to the devbagh beach to feel what was it like in daylight..The fishermen getting der nets right,Boats docked up,water gushing into the sands,Mutilated Crabs,fish,prawns in half alive,dead conditions @ some places..maybe des were spilled in the process of Tranfering the catch by fisherman..

We set on the return by 10 am,after wishing Mr Kanchan n Vinay[man-friday] an  heartfelt thanks for the making us feel nice thru d stay

If heading Tarkarli/Devbagh:

Gananayak resort,

Near Postoffice,Devbagh.

Mr Kanchan Keluskar:9404443417..He’d sure be a happy man to help..

The Journey on return was the standard route to goa from Pune via gaganbawda[most of the Vehicles prefer dis route to Ponda ghat,given its comparatively easy layout]

Starting Wid Mohan to zma,n Girish to t’bird,n me pillion..Morning freshness converted into lots of miles pass by within finger flicking time[Pun intented!]

Devbagh-Tarkarli-Malvan[Market stopover]-Kasal-Kankavali-…

▬ 2photo,Rupees:100▬

dis instance happened on the police checkpost on the way to gaganbawda,V wer stopped by the cops [each of the passing vehicle was stopped for checking der] for checking.They checked the Bike docs,Enquired about our arigins,wer had v been..Had us open our Backpacks,brisked thru..one of then retrievd a Amla pack[brought from Malvan mkt] n began to sniff n ask wat was it,l8r satisfied it was amla,droped it back to the place..n den affirmed to der seniors dat v had nothing[wat did he mean:@] It was a new instance,n mentioned Girish siting pillion to take a running pic of the whole setup in the Jungle road..Girish took it too very seriosly n Started making out most out of the Samsung Star phone feature dat lets u capture a 180 degree view when you click 4 pics in a row…Somehow after feeling like asking ambu to do it l8r just let the feeling go…But the senior sitting @ the Chowki was Interested by Girish’s act…He called him over n asked wat was he doing,n show him n explain why was he clicking…No Specific answer,N he called mohan over who was struggling wid his earphones on the Phone[The cop thot of him to be taking pics too..]

N the after a debate…n the cop asking to make a Fine rcpt for 400 to let us go…Settled @ 100..n deleting the pics

Got the Gravity of the situation den,by reading a news in newspaper where in an press photographer was issued SC notice to explain why action shuld not be taken against him for clicking President Patils pics privately n may be causing potential security threat…

For us it was annoyment…turn into hearty laughs…having paid 100 for just noting,err actually 2 pics dat wer deleted:D

The uphill drive along d Gaganbawda ghat was a nice road through green,didnt feel  fatigued @ 2pm odd even tho the sun shun bright,The breeze was pleasent enuf to suit a hillstation…

I sure envy the Life of people of Radhanagari,Gaganbawda..the weather around here doesnt get better in the Blanket green..

Kolhapur came @ arnd 4pm..The Lunch had to be the famous Kolhapuri Mutton,n so was it @ the Padma Lunch house[had waiting @ >4pm]The food was Awsum..

On the NH4 again @ arnd 5pm..Karad came until sundown..n pune @ 10.30pm..

The journey helped us gauge our ‘butt bearing’ threshold..600kms a day is fun..Stretching beyond would turn into irritablilty..

The destination was Beautiful n was d journey..

Souvenir[Memories from Devbagh,tarkarli]:Snorkeling,Malvani food n the Journey on 2 wheels

faq: Why Bikes: All 3 of us petrolheads;Speed,premuim class bikes,travel ,n after 2 o us had Zma n t’brd,they might had to be tested…Heard,read all about enthu’s doing saddle sores @ 1600km in a day n all…Cud we Sustain 500in a day?? Only 3 o us:Yeah..Bikes was decided to be d mode of tpt,n there were a series of ditches [Chickening out happen];) …the cold,the road,the Butt ache…Girish,Mohan,Rishi:):):)

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what is the place where the river meets the sea called