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:
Sun setting in the sea
Walking on the warm but still cold sand
Water coming and touching your feet time to time
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:
They take your order and prepare only that much of food, which means no wastage.
Home cooked food with minimal oil
Local food
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:
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.
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.
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!
As soon as we set our toes in Switzerland, the word ‘Jungfrau’ echoes. It is like everyone just reminds us- Visit Jungfrau!! So the first ‘to-do’ on our list was ‘Jungfrau’- literally meaning, young woman or a ‘virgin/ maiden’. Thus, our maiden Swiss trip to this fair white maiden mountain kick started our series of trips in Europe. We visited Jungfraujoch in the last weekend of November 2016.
Zurich HB-Bern-Interlaken
We started our journey from Zurich HB/ Hauptbahnof. Now, a good way to spend three days in a month travelling around Switzerland is to take a 3-day Flexi Swiss Pass which entails you to travel within Switzerland by train/bus/tram/boat for any 3 days in a month. It can also be 3 separate days in a month(with a gap in between).
TIP: If you are keeping a gap in between the days for a flexible Swiss Pass, make sure you have a phone reminder to tell you when is the expiry date, otherwise you can miss a day (sigh).
So, we bought the Swiss pass from the SBB office (any of them sell it) to see amazing 3 days of Switzerland. (Download the SBB mobile app, its of great help to see the train timetable before hand)
Coming back to our journey, we got into the train going towards Interlaken, with a train change at Bern. It is a comfortable 1hour 50minute journey from Zurich HB upto Interlaken. We enjoyed the minibar experience on the SBB train. Our morning cuppa was sorted on the train from Bern to Interlaken.
Interlaken onwards
We reached Interlaken Ost station at about 9am and immediately went to the ticket counter to ask for the Jungfraujoch tickets. Now, the travel from Interlaken to Jungfraujoch is on a mountain railway. Mountain railways in Switzerland have a higher cost and are usually not included in any of the SBB discounted ticket/ day pass etc. The cost per head is 210CHF
TIP: If you have a Swiss Pass or a Swiss Half-Fare card, there is discount for the mountain railways. With a Swiss Pass you have a 25% discount and with a half-fare card, 50% on the Interlaken-Junfraujoch route. So, it comes down to around 158CHF for a passenger with Swiss Pass; and 105 CHF for a half-fare pass holder.
This ticket you purchase is for the entire route and return, and includes all the experiences on the main mountain (not the food, or skiing adventures). The one way journey takes about 2hours 15minutes. There are two routes from Interlaken. Unfortunately, we ended up taking the same route both ways.
The route are-Interlaken Ost- Lauterbrunnen- Kleine Scheidegg- Junfraujoch
OR
Interlaken Ost- Grindelwald- Kleine Scheidegg- Junfraujoch
Both ways we crossed Grindelwald, as the trains from the Grindelwald route were frequent at the time of our travels. The trip is a little hectic, when it comes to train change. We changed three trains here- one at Interlaken, then either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen and lastly at Kleine Scheidegg.
Winter onset and travel
The best part about travelling in the month of November or December is the onset of winter and thus, snow. To our surprise, there was hardly any snow on the way to Jungfrau. According to some skiers we met on our way, the snow was not much for them to enjoy skiing. Another unfortunate part about our planning was, the famous Trummelbach falls which is a little off Lauterbrunnen, was closed due to the winter.
In our minds we thought, would it have been better to come during the summers? But, as our train pulled into the Grindelwald station, we had some amazing snow peak mountain views and we did not regret our decision. Before we knew it, our next train to Kleine Scheidegg was already there.
This is the most interesting route of the journey. The train stops at a couple of places that has viewing balconies. We can see some snow covered peaks and glaciers.
TIP: They have toilet facilities at these stops.
On Top of Jungfrau
The weather did not play much of a spoil sport, as we thought it would. I have experienced snow, but this was a maiden experience of snow on a mountain, which is at a height of 4,158 mtrs. The viewing gallery had breathtaking views, sometimes haunting with the depth and the silence you can hear in the wide glaciers and valleys. There is a research centre, which is the top most point of Jungfrau.
As we went back to the main building at the Jungfrau mountain top, we could see many exhibits on differnet floors- we entered the ice cave exhibit. A cave made of, yes, ice. It has some carvings of animals and designs made of ice. For Ice Age movie fans, they have Scrat stuck inside the ice walls. We can take a picture with him 😀 (be careful of skidding on the surface, it is a slippery walk)
One direction said bollywood, but was shut for renovation. Wonder what could have been there (insert DDLJ theme song, not). It made us feel not far from home (not). As if this wasn’t enough, the also have a restaurant named Bollywood. We had coffee counters selling vegetarian sandwiches, which was great, with names of the sandwiches written in Hindi. We were very amazed to see the way Indian tourists were catered to. The flip side was, Bollywood restaurant had Buffet costing about 40 CHF per person. A little on the expensive side for food. Thanks but no thanks.
TIP: The coffee shopserves hot chocolate and special Jungfrau coffee for 8 CHF. A lot for a coffee?, but take it because you can take the Jungfrau mug home as a souvenir 😉
So, this was Jungfrau, Top of Europe. Yes, it does take more time to travel compared to spending time on the mountain, but we thought it was worth the effort. The effort to see the train, they way it is built on top of the mountain. They are an engineering marvel!
The change in the scenery as we come down to Grindelwald is such a complete transformation that we could not believe we were playing in the snow on top of this mountain, sometime back. As we descended to Interlaken, I took a moment to admire the clean trains, with clean windows and the beautiful scenery that we could see through it.
Little did we know then, the next day would also filled with surprising views and breathtaking sceneries too!
Next post: Interlaken and an adventure of a lifetime with pictures clicked in our memories 😉
I am writing from an apartment in Zürich, Switzerland.
It has been a week since I ‘moved’ here to where my ‘One Half’ is. He is here on work and yes, we thought of making this into the best opportunity to travel the beautiful, vintage and unlimited, Europe.
Place and Weather.
Zürich is a beautiful place. The current weather makes is even better. England was home for a year for me, and November just reminded how dark it used to get even at 1pm. But so far, Switzerland hasn’t been that harsh. It is cold wind with sun, which makes it pretty ideal.
Food.
I have realised it takes about a week to settle down to start planning to cook something for us. Until then there was Burger King (Vegi Burger). But two meals of those and I have a motivation to cook at home! We can easily get good vegetables and fruits at Migros (reasonable) or Coop (A little pricey). An Indian food shop is pretty close to where we stay. It is called Art of Food. The owners are a friendly Indian couple. Last two grocery shopping outings, I got frozen Phulkas (wheat rotis) for about 2.90chf and even Methi Theplas for about 3.00 chf.
Talking and local food. I have not tried much. The regular Panini and breads are of course a saviour for us vegetarians. I loved the hot glühwein (Mulled wine) with the cinnamon in the air. Just gives you a reason to love Europe in Christmas! I hope to try some more in the coming days!
City Travel.
The public travel is smooth and easy. Even though the primary language here is Swiss German, there are english boards in most of the public transport places. If you are here for at least a month, you should buy the Zürich Pass, which allows you to travel on trains, buses and trams. I have got the Zurich Pass (After 9am) which allows you to travel anywhere in the city of Zurich after 9am. You will get these at any station offices that says- SBB.
PC: wikimedia upload
Just remember to take your passport and a couple of passport size photograph. They have a very systematic way of going about attending to a customer. Just like your Vodafone stores in India, where you can take a paper token and wait for your turn. But only a bit more efficient and quick. So, you cannot push yourself into the line/ queue. Just wait patiently for your turn and they will attend to you and your queries.
This is also the place where you can get your Swiss pass, your easy passport to travel the entire of Switzerland. I will have a separate post that talks only about the ease of public train and bus travel in Switzerland.
Language.
Do you need to know German? No. Would it be good to know basic German? Yes. Is the language just like German you learn in Germany? No, a little different. I picked up a few phrases that could be useful when greeting someone at a common place, like any shop or train station office.
Hello: Grüezi
Thank you: Merci (yes some french influence)
Bye: Tschüss/ Widerluege
Some more, maybe in my next post. Meanwhile, I am also learning basic German words on Duolingo, that helps a little bit!
Home is where our heart is, and I think our heart lies is exploring and doing fascinating things and travelling and learning more about the culture is definitely more like it.
I am looking forward to exploring this beautiful part of the world!
Two Light Backpacks 