Konkan Bike Trail (Day 5 of 5)

Day 5:

The day started as early as 7am or so. We had decided the previous night to finally do what one does in Konkan- get wet in the sea! It was a very cold morning, Nachi and me took a stroll outside, where we noticed all the vehicles parked were soaking wet -they were covered in dew. It was extremely chill, but walking around in shorts in that chill had a different feel to itself. We took a look around the wadi surroundings as we strolled through the garden full of 'supari', coconut trees and various plans. At the far end there was the 'otha' where we were told we could take bath in case we wanted chill water. The water was so cold, there was vapor rising off it. As we spoke our breath condensed to the cold surroundings. It felt refreshing :).

We kept things very slow- since we knew the day would not be packed. Had ample breakfast of amazing kandhe pohe and upith and loads and loads of tea. Roughly by 8:30 or so we departed for the beach. Here we notice some of our old friends - the 'langoors', just that they were bigger- all perched atop another wadi. We took our path to the beach through the pine trees. The beach was not crowded, but people were coming in. We picked a patch away from some guyz playing cricket. Got to our trunks and bang we made a dash for the waters. We just stood in waist high water gazing into infinity, then we got on to all sorts of kid games, pushing and playing around in the chill waters. The water on the surface was warm but at lower levels it was very cold. Splashing mud at each other and also regaining our lost swimming talent- it ws fun. We were playing like little kids. Soon the beach started housing many people, also the typical beach toys made their presence- 'tangas', parasailing, water scooter etc. By about 9:30 or so we reluctantly decided to get back to the the wadi. We wished we could linger around for more time, but we had to go.

The little bazaar now had all its shops open, here we had some routine tea followed by a very weird fruit you get only at coastal areas -"Tadgola". It looks like a little coconut, but once you cut it - inside lie 3 soft pulpy fruits(they look like plasma-ice ). We gave it a try - and it tasted pretty good. Back at the wadi, we decided to have a hot water bath. So Mr. Nandu setup a traditional method to heat water - a huge earthen pot full of water was placed atop a furnace. Then one by one we went on to get fresh -Bandya, me, Nachi in that order. In the free time, Bandya had a wonderful time talking to Mr. Nandu who shared all sorts of things. He showed us around the wadi and also explained what all fruits and flowers grew there. It was fun. His son too had been on a mega cycling expedition once, and he was very happy and probably felt pride in having us -bikers- as his guests. Alas we had to bid farewell and at 11:30am we bid him and Nagaon farewell.

We retraced our path though the mud path, via the road to the 'T' junction and then a left towards Alibaugh. The roads were crowded with vehicles, but being on a bike has its own share of advantages, we could sneak though the jam and get ahead. The road went on to meet Alibaugh. Alibaugh looked like a plain big city- I really felt relieved we did not stay here, since it looked like any other city! We took some directions and were on the road that led to Mandwa.

The road was straight - simply straight. It was wide and was lined with huge trees. This patch simply went straight, we could see various little towns zip by. The kilometer countdown for Mandwa fell to zero and it was to the left off the main road, but Bandya kept riding. Nachi and me got furious, Nachi got on some call with Ankush. I was confused and zipped ahead and got Bandya back to Mandwa phata. There he explained, it makes sense to get to a place called 'Revas' since that was the actual north tip for the konkan coastal path, a quick decision was made and we were on our way to Revas. The road simply went straight on. Soon the tree canopy was lost and the road got thin, to the left we could see the barren marsh land end into the sea and to the right was a another patch of barren land behind a fence.

The road ended, and we were at Revas. There were many vehicles parked here, also a couple of police vans. We were not sure where we were, sine there was nothing more than a building like structure ahead of us that led to a port. Well that's when we learnt- Revas was nothing more than a port- the village, which possibly small, lay somewhere behind (12:30pm , 1034.6kms). Here we sipped on some tea at a local store and made our way to the port, bought some typical konkani stuff like amba barfis and some chikkis. The path ahead was concrete and had a steel divider in between. It went straight ahead a long distance and turned left to a covered waiting area and opened ahead to the actual port. Far on the other side of the sea lay Bombay/ Mumbai.

We took the hike and reached the edge of the port. Many vehicles and people were waiting here to board for Mumbai. There was thick and a very visible grayish-brown dust layer on the other side- POLLUTION. The awful truth of where we live and what we breath could be seen crystal clear from here. Here we discussed a lot on pollution etc, took a last long eyeful of the ocean before making our departure. Had some neera at one of the stalls before getting back on our steeds.(~1pm)

From here we took the road to a point where the fencing ended and then a left to get to Pune via Pen. This section of the road was amazing, as in it went along side various hills and little villages. There was also a cricket match on at one of bigger villages -it was a sight to watch. Much of this section we had varying speeds. There seem to be many factories springing along these stretches, especially a prominent feature is a huge chimney jutting right atop a hill. Soon the little road got onto NH17 and we were on our way to Pen. It was fun riding on this stretch of NH17, especially some of the road bends were amazing - there was a point I took such a lean mean my shoes scrapped the tarmac. The roads were just too good- most of this section it was Bandya way ahead followed by me then Nachi. We passed though Pen(I am just guessing since it was a big town) at ~1:30pm (1072.3kms). There was a point at 1082.7kms when we eyed the sign board "Pune- 100kms" We rode with our thumbs up at this point. The road went on ahead and got ugly after we took a right.

The road was relentless, it simply did not give way- too bad. We were in Khopoli, The huge factories made their presence all around us. Soon the bad roads were a thing of the past as we rode on a well divided road and spotted the much familiar sign "Expressway :Pune right :Mumbai left". Well being bikers we inquired and somehow ended up taking a left and rode straight on though some town. Soon we took a right and turned around, the road eventually zigzagged uphill and took a huge curvature as we entered the Expressway (A section of the expressway near Lonavala is open for all sorts of vehicles). We zipped and zipped really hard. But it was of no avail , as the cars sped comfortably past us :). Riding on concrete sucks! But at traffic jams , it was a breeze to serpent though the maze of trucks. We regrouped near the Lonavala exit where the expressway patch for us bikers came to an end (2:35pm, 1121.9kms).

We descended to Lonavala. There were many hotels around, but none of them seemed to be safe enough to park our bikes. The hill station was crowded as usual, we decided to get off Lonavala and have lunch at some dhaba along NH4. So it was bye-bye Lonavala. The ride got us onto the old Pune-Mumbai highway. The expressway carpeted along side us to the right in a distance. It was a pleasure zipping along this stretch, the old Pune-Mumbai NH4 highway is amazing to say the least. Near around Malavli we spotted one Sheetal dhaba and detoured off for lunch (2:52pm, 1131.6kms). This place was huge and not a dhaba in any sense. The menu was expensive, a simple Veg-Handi was for ~200/- , we could have had 3 amazing konkani thalli for far less, around konkan, for that kinda price tag! None-the-less we ordered our feast- a usual roti daal and subji. Food was ok- nothing great. The best part about this place, the forts of Lohagad,Visapur and the hill of Batyashree made a massive presence on the other side of the highway.

Finally we departed at ~3:50pm and decided on regrouping directly at Sinhagad phata. Bandya and me needed to fuel in, but still we decided not to wait for each other. So from this point we rode on our own- I broke loose. The fuel indicator dipped low, but still I knew in the wost case it could reach Sinhagad phata on a reserve tap. The highway went straight along sections and took amazing wide twists at others, also many ups and downs along the twists. Soon I lost Nachi and Bandya to higher speeds. I was on my own to the road, all the fuel pumps were closed on my side of the highway. Somewhere near Kanhe I decided to take 'U' to the other side to fuel in (4:05pm, 1147.9kms). Took a 'U' back to my side and zipped on, eventually passed though Talegaon. One has to be careful along these stretches, as many locals carelessly cross roads. Nonetheless, soon spotted the massive Ganapati idol alongside the highway and finally took a right at DehuRoad phata.

Here I noticed Bandya riding extremely slow and relaxed chugging along. Well I was on a speed run so simply zipped past him.The roads caught more traffic, and finally I was in a jam and it got frustrating to speed through the mess. Finally at some point past Hinjewadi, trailed Naachi who too was chugging at ~50kmph. So slowly in some time we stopped and finally in about 5 minutes Bandya teamed in. We were at Sinhagad Phata (4:40 pm, 1194 kms). Sipped on some tea at a "Hotel Durga". We recollected some memories of the past few daysbut were pretty tired at the same time. Bid our final goodbyes as Bandya took the highway to get home while Nachi and me took the Sinhagad road. The traffic was heavy and the familiar pollution made its grand presence felt again. At Rajaram bridge Nachi departed off for home, while I rode straight on.

It was 5:09pm when I parked my vehicle and the odo read 1200.2 kms. Yippie we hit the 1200 mark! Had a warm shower and shared the pictures from the ride with Dad and Mom before crashing to bed early. The coastal ride lingered through my dreams as I sped through dreamland taking turns rapping with a langoor seated pillion.. "aHa.. BanKot" :).