A road trip to Konkan! Oh yes, without a blink we said yes and we set our eyes on . A couple of our friends also were going to join us from Goa. We had a good long way to go from Pune, but had done half of the route while going to Goa last year, via Chorla, so were confident of having a good drive down.

We booked a night’s stay at Fantasea and we set our google maps route from Pune to Tarkarli. Here are the route options, of course 8 hours 6 minutes was the best way to go about. That is NH-48/NH-66 route.

Pune-Tarkarli 

We started our journey at 6.00 am from Pune, hit the chandani chowk exit on to Mumbai-Bangalore Highway at around 6.15am. We caught up with some of our friends who have Sunday Bike rides at Chandani Chowk and got back on route. The road until Wai phata is full of diversions due to road work. This was expected since the road has been in the same state since June 2016 ( on the last road trip to Goa).

As a co-pilot I noticed some changes on the road as well as fare increase at the toll nakas. First up, Khed-Shivapur (Toll alert) plaza which is right after Katraj ghat at 6.45am, paid Rs. 85 

Since we left at 6.15, we had less traffic on the road and this was until our destination, so the drive was very comfortable and enjoyable. We stopped at right before Wai phata, before a beautiful Ghat called Khambatki Ghat. There are a couple of eateries right before the ghat, and very surprising the toilets were clean![TIP]

Another visual that caught me by surprise is the water in the rivers. Before touching Khambatki Ghat, the water in the River Nira was full and clean. We were extremely happy to see that as the situation before the rains last year was worse.

After getting off the ghat, we had our next Toll (Toll Alert) at Anewadi, before Wai phata- Rs. 60.

Soon, we crossed Limb phata (which is my grandfather’s hometown) and entered Satara. Satara has expanded, and it gives a pretty picture when you see the town from a distance- Not many high-rises, smaller bungalows/ two storied buildings and some greenery.

Toll Alert: around 12 km before Karad – Rs70.

Karad is another town that is growing rapidly. It also has an airport because of the Koyna Dam project. I dont think it is a functional airport at the moment. We also crossed Krishna river through Karad.

Toll Alert: Kini Rs.70

Its 9.45 and we halt at one of the Vitthal Kamat’s right after Kini Toll Plaza. I thought we would opt for Kolhapuri Misal, but sigh! the heat does not allow neither me, nor my other half to eat spicy food. And Kolhapuri misal would have killed us internally. So we stuck to my half-bloodline native and also his 7 year ‘home’ food- South Indian Idli and Sambhar and of course- Filter Coffee!

After that awesome breakfast and listening to some bickering parents and kids heading to Goa, we got back on track and moved towards Kolhapur. Now, we had to take the exit before Kolhapur- Shiye Phata and continue on Chauk-Karjat-Murbad Road. We crossed Panchaganga river and entered the heart of Kolhapur. One part of the heart wanted to wait and buy Kolhapuri Chappals on the Chappal Aali, one part of the heart said- ‘What about the two Kolhapuris I already have at home’ *Sigh* The Rankala Lake still has the same beauty, and so does the charm of the hustle and bustle in Kolhapur market.

Exit Kolhapur, enter SH 277. After crossing many diversions on the NH48, SH277 with diversions felt like a no road highway. There are lots of patches where in they are putting tar/concrete on the road. Have to ‘off-road’ many times until we hit the beautiful ‘Gaganbavda Ghat’ 

We climbed down Gaganbawda and we crossed many small villages, one of them being Vaibhavwadi- a college time camp site that will never be forgotten 🙂 At Vaibhavwadi, we were stopped at a railway crossing because the train was delayed. Yes we saw the Konkan railway run pass by us, which was quite a sight for the eyes (along with the dust).

We crossed Vaibhavwadi to get on the SH115 towards Talere where we join NH66. Here, we took a left to go towards Kankavli. Kankavli is one of the important railway stations especially if you are travelling by Konkan Railway.

We exited NH66 at Kasal, where the road direction clearly tells you to go towards Malvan- Sindhudurg Fort. As soon as we entered Malvan, we could see hotels and small shops selling Mangoes as well as the famous Malvani Cuisine. We being vegetarians, I was not too keen on having the food except the SolKadhi. Do you’ll know what Solkadhi is? Have a look:

The blending of the taste of Kokam and coconut milk in this beautiful drink is heavenly. Its even better when had with rice and for the Fish-eaters- Some good sea-food at the sea side. How cool is that? Check out some of the best eateries at Malvan: https://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurants-g1227937-Malvan_Maharashtra.html

After crossing Malvan, we hit the Devbag road towards our Hotel. The hotel Fantasea is on Devbag beach and not on Tarkarli beach, which is a little more touristy. Devabag is a peninsula 

So as we entered the strip of the land, we could see the backwaters/ karli river to our left and the beach to our right. Its the first time I saw a peninsula, though I missed going to the end of the strip of land.

We reached our destination, met our friends and looked how pleasant the view was from the resort. It was right along the beach and at a distance, we could spot the Sindhudurg fort. The beach was empty except for some fishermen and trawlers around. 

Towards the evening, once the sun was down, we stepped out on the the beach and walked towards the end of the land strip. The water was pristine and calm.

Whoever said sunset is a sad sight is wrong. The sunset on the beach is the most relaxed feeling ever. Especially when you see the sun glittering in the sea, when it sets 🙂

We did have a relaxing spa time on the beach with:

1. Sun setting in the sea
2. Walking on the warm but still cold sand
3. Water coming and touching your feet time to time
4. And some crabs giving you a tingling sensation while you were walking over their homes.

We headed back to our resort for dinner. What I loved about The food at Fantasea: 

1. They take your order and prepare only that much of food, which means no wastage.
2. Home cooked food with minimal oil
3. Local food
4. Tasty local food.

We had some awesome dinner and ended our day by the beach with a bon-fire 🙂

 

Next day we planned to do some yoga by the beach. We were in for a surprise!

Trust me, it is the most difficult yoga to perform especially if the sand is wet. You cannot stand still. You cannot even do  Tadasana for 10 seconds, leave the one minute routine! If you can see, our feet are on the ground 😀 

Anyway, as soon as we finished out Breakfast- Pohe and coffee, we stepped out to go and see the Sindhudurg fort. Unfortunately, we did not have time for water sports (which we were excited for because he had heard so much about it!) at Tsunami Island.

Sindhudurg Fort 

To go the the fort, we had to take a ferry from Malvancha Ferry point. There is parking at this point called ‘Safe Parking’ 😉 Its a paid parking spot provided by the government (not too sure about this but it is safe)

We had to buy tickets for the ferry- return 50 Per head. They also gave us a bag to put all the waste in, and not throw it around on the fort 🙂 The boat ride was decent. They start the boat only when there are 25 people occupying it. The boat stops at the fort for an hour and we had that time to go around the fort. The fort has residents. About 15 families stay on the fort , they also have a school inside and lots of nimbu pani (Lemon water) stalls 🙂

Mango Shopping

On our way back, we knew we had to take back mangoes because we were at Malvan, Near Devgad, which means the capital of Alphonso Mangoes  the creamiest of them all! We had lunch, another delicious round of local malvani food. At the end of the trip I was convinced even the vegetarian food in Konkan is a total funfair 🙂

When we contacted our hotel to recommend a place to buy mangoes, he sent his guy to help us locate the ‘house’ that sold their homegrown mangoes. In this season, it is a flourishing business in Malvan to export the boxes of mangoes even to other countries. We bought 6 dozens 😛 (Husband is a fan, I have recently become one!) and this sealed our trip. It was literally worth coming down 400Kms and going back the same distance the next day.

We said bye to the place, and promised to come back for a longer duration to enjoy the beaches, solkadi and of course, mangoes 🙂

Tips while going back on the same route:

1. If you’ll are heading back in the afternoon, make sure you finish Gaganbavda in the daylight because that Ghat is not meant for night driving. So, aim to hit Kolhapur before 6pm, then it is a straight drive back.
2. We see so many Vitthal Kamats around Karad, Satara, but never stop because there are hardly any visible boards (in the night light) to notify you.
3. Right after Kini, we halted at Hotel Maniknandan, huge hotel on your side of the road (towards Pune). Food- decent enough to suffice your hunger. You get everything from Roti Sabzi to Chocolates. Good toilets.

All is all, a good small road trip with most of the time on road. It can get tiring so we have promised ourselves to extend the weekend for at least two more days when we go to Konkan next time!

Until the next trip,

V