Monday, December 29, 2014

Bike trip to Konkan - part 6 - Malvan to Goa

11:55 PM






Events from Day 1:

-- Thane to Dapoli

-- Dapoli to Anjanvel Lighthouse

-- Dabhol to Guhagar Beach


Events from Day 2:

- Guhagar to Ganpatipule temple   

- Ganpatipule to Malvan city

Day 3 and Day 4

niraj yadav, bike trip in india, konkan photos
album cover

Morning struggle:

We had to start early from Malvan. Today's plan was to visit Sagar Sangam and via Vengurla reach Goa. Woke up early in order to capture the shared bathroom and toilets. This is what we do when these things are shared. Morning was chilled and so the water. There was no warm water facility for shared bathrooms. With my shivering body and shivering hand lifted the mug and placed down. Repeating this reluctance multiple times gave me the needed warmth which made my bath easy :)

Packed up and left the lodge, took road which goes to Sagar Sangam. Sagar Sangam is at the mouth of Devbag backwaters, a 10 KM peninsula like stretch. Road were misty with fogs. School going children on cycles made the scene interesting.



childrens on cycle, childrens to school
  Off to School

Sagar Sangam:

At Sagar Sangam the silent Karli river meets Arabian sea. Beach is not too long but white sand and water sports are active there.

There are options for Dolphin show, they take you in a small boat some distance away from the shore where dolphins can be spotted. Another point of interest there is Sindhudurg killa. It is fortress build strategically in Sea. It is difficult to spot the entrance of the fort and I had heard there is secret pathway from fort to the mainland. It takes around 15 minutes on boat to reach Sindhudurg killa.

We decided to stay on the beach, sit peacefully and watch the extremely slow water river merging in the vast sea. Spent around one and half hour and had our snacks at the small shop right at the entrance of the Sagar Sangam. They keep nice tea and kanda poha ready.

bike rides, bike trip to konkan
Our ride at Sagar Sangam

places to visit in tarkarli
Jet Ski

malvan photos, tarkarli
Boats parked at Sagar Sangam

niraj yadav
Fishing nets - Malvan

bike trip in india, malvan photos




bike ride photos
Malvan

scenic nature, beautiful india
Malvan scenery

malvan beach
Malvan

tourist at malvan
Tourists

Towards Vengurla:

Back on bike, our next location was Vengurla. There were two routes. One was to go back Malvan city ride some kilometers back and take the state highway. Second that we spotted in the Google maps. It seemed to be good shortcut starting from Devbag and moving along Karli river finally meeting Sagari Mahamarg at Chipli bridge.

We decided to take this route as this would save almost 20 kilometers.
But this was nice piece of mistake. On the Google Maps GPS we passed the right turn but could not spot the road. Took U turn and tried again but again missed the turn. We thought map is misleading so asked a local he pointed the gap between two small houses and warned that it rained yesterday and road will not be good for two wheeler.

He was right, road was muddy and our wheels were getting stuck now and then. To add, both sides of the road had kaanta wala ped which gave nice marks on our face and arms. After few hundred meters we decided to return and take the second route. Came back and took the another route which is the third route.

dirt track at sagar sangam
Dirt track at Sagar Sangam

It was an interior route and roads were Ok. Soon we joined MSH 3

After few kilometers we took right for Vengurla. Vengurla is around 25km from highway and route is quite scenic. Some stretch of roads were good and some poor.

chipli bridge, bridges in konkan
Chipli bridge

karli river
Reflections

house in konkan, coconut plantation, bike ride, konkan photos
Beautiful surrounding enroute Vengurla

scenic nature, red boat
Red boat - enroute Vengurla

vengurla coconut trees
Coconut trees - Vengurla

coconut trees
Reflections - Vengurla

coconut trees
Vengurla river side




Vengurla bandar:

We reached Vengurla bandar around 12 PM. Tried our camera there. Sat for one and half hour and left for Terekhol fort.

customs india
Vengurla customs department

solitary retreat, silence photos, konkan bike ride
Solitude - Vengurla bandar

fishing boat
From Vengurla bandar

vengurla bandar, niraj yadav
Vengurla bandar

Terekhol was around 15km from Vengurla. From Terekhol we had to take a Jetty for Goa. From there Mapusa was around 15km but ride was smooth and enjoyable.
Went insideVrindavan, the restaurant in front of Mapusa garden, for Vegetarians in Goa this is a good option.

It was around 2:30PM. Plan ahead was to visit Dudhsagar falls and come back same day. Called a Goan friend and he suggested not to start at this time as the road goes through dense forest and roads are not proper. Returning may be a problem. So we decided to roam today at nearby beaches and start return journey tomorrow morning.

Went to Calangute beach and secured a room at La Bamba just next to the beach. It was an extended vacation and people were pouring in. Crowd was immense and so the charges. We paid 900 for single room. For the evening we had plans for Vagator beach. Route is around 8km but the traffic stretched it to 1 hour and similar was the returning.

camera shakes
Camera at work - Calangute

calangute beach photo
Lightning - Calangute

moon photo
At Calangute beach

Return Journey:

Left the guest house at 6:30AM next day. Morning was cold with slight fog and empty roads. Quickly we touched National Highway through Mapusa. Went to Petrol Pump but he refused to accept cards. Keep your cash ready for Pumps outside Mumbai, Pune.
Rode towards Sawantwadi and took right for the Sawantwadi city. From here we took Amboli Ghat,Nippani, Gadhinglaj, Kolhapur route. This route of 200km burned our time as some stretch of road were really bad. Once we were on the Mumbai Banglore highway everything seemed so easy. Had our lunch at Kolhapur itself and rode the whole day to get back in our nest.

sawantwadi city, sawantwadi photos
Sawantwadi lake

kolhapur, farms in kolhapur
Farmers - Kolhapur

amboli ghat, amoli ghat photos
Waterfall - Amboli ghat

green grass


lonavala ghats, khandala ghtas
Lonavala


bike trip to konkan, satara, banglore mumbai highway



Thank You for reading the travelogue. Email me (nfniraj@gmail.com) if you have questions regarding planning for this route.




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