A weekend getaway

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Murud, maharashtra

For The Lord Ganesh holiday ( long weekend) of September 6-8 a group of teachers decided to rent a bus and head out to Murud off the western coast of India about four hours outside of Mumbai.

We left Saturday morning at around 7 AM after several pickup locations ( first satellite towers then Oberoi woods and finally Elanza, my building!)

The morning was chilly and wet as it had rained the night before. We rode on the highway towards South West Mumbai. The bus ride was smooth and uneventful some people slept while others were goofing around and listening to music.
We stop for breakfast at McDonalds (yuk) I guess working with American teachers I have to accept their choice of food:-( they ate there while I drank coffee and took some photos of the surroundings ( not much). after breakfast we continued on the bus for about 4.5 hours.

The ride and scenery was mostly mountains and a few small fields of rice and other crops and small villages with shops that sold from junk food to vegetables and fruits to clothes and other appliances

Finally at about 1 hour before arriving we started to a see the ocean and beach and palm trees. I took some shots with my small camera which has an action photo setting.

We reached The Golden Swan resort ( 3*** hotel which Melissa and I got a room for $29 cheapest room but had to wait until a few days before the trip for it to be cheap, it was $150 if you booked in advanced).

We settled in our rooms and chilled until lunch which was an Indian buffet quite good actually and it was all included ( except alcohol so we brought our own booze). A few of us decided to go for a walk on the beach. We walked on the sand which was kind of muddy and brownish with some interesting colours and textures, but we found out after that it was very hard to clean and wipe off. As we walked we saw on the right an old Brittish palace ( which Darren told the history of it I guess being a Brittish and an English teacher made him interested. It could. Have been
Cool to go in, but it was now private property and visitors were not allowed. That said we continued to the other side which was more crowded and on the way to the main town. I took some photos of the group, the sand, ocean and some cool shells and then we saw a backbone fossil of a whale. Aidan and Crystal and Jaison took it home as a souvenir. ( Aidan is 8 years old boy) on the way back some people rode a horse carriage, I walked and we all ate lunch.


After lunch we headed to the Jaisera or Jenjira fort which is about 4 km and located on a small island. We got to the main town and walked through alleys and dirt roads which seemed to have put a stop on the clock and it looked like an old 60s town. There were a few shops for food and water and a coconut water vendor from where I got one and drank it as we waited for our "ferry" to the fort.

The "ferry" was more like a Barka ( Phillippines) or a peñero ( Venezuelan) fisherman's boat only a bit bigger and with a sail. It looked very unstable and rustic. We were about 10 and decided to buy the whole boat cause we were afraid the boat would drown as the local men put in more people than what it could hold the ride was not smooth and very windy and the men had to wiggle and jiggle the sail between sides to get the ferry to sail to the ialand. We reached the island after 30 minutes and the current was very high and lots of wind and waves, to get off we literally had to walk on some rocks and get on the water that reached almost up to my thighs. Then went up some slippery steps and we were in the fort.

( Add explanation of Jenjira fort)

We hired a guide for 200 rupees each and he told us a little of the history of the fort. Most of the fort was in ruins with fallen stone walls and grass and weeds grown into the walls. There was a lake in the center of the fort which was all covered in algae and plastic water bottles ( so sad to see how Indians treat their own country) we hiked for about 1 hour in the sun ( I started to get sunburn so is put sunblock) and wore my safari hat.

We saw some cool cannons and the gate of the emergency escape from the fort. It was very cool and considering I saw Jodhpur , Jaipur, Agra and Udaipur fort I thought this one was among the coolest.

We headed back to catch out "ferry" and head back to the resort. This time the ride on the ferry was more relaxing and we took some group photos and chatted it actually took less time ( it helped
To have the wind in our favor)

We walked around some tombs where I hurt my head badly ( had a large goosebump) and then headed back to the hotel.

It was really hot so some people went to beach others napped and played games. I decided to read and chill for a bit in the room. About 5 o clock Melissa and I took a walk into town and and back by the beach. When we returned it was time for dinner. We ate dinner and then played some games, poker and chat. I called it a night around 9 cause the next morning some of us ( me included were going rafting at 6 AM)

Day 2

Melissa, Dave, Crystal, George, Ann, Brunell and I headed on the bus to go rafting. It took about 3 hours to get to the rafting point and we got lost had to use gps and call for directions several times. finally at 9:30 we reached the place and got our rafting equipment heard the rules and procedures and started the rafting. It was a partly cloudy day so the sun wasn't too bad and the river was calm and not too wild. It was a pleasant raft with some exciting and fast rapids , but for the most parts it was relaxing and fun. We saw many bees and large beehives and monkeys on trees and other fellow rafters passing by. Along the banks of the river indian women would be doing house chores: washing clothes, drying long and beautiful saris, washing dishes, etc. Little kids would be running and splashing water and playing in the water.

We got to a point which was the fastest rapid and we all had to lean in the raft or else would have fallen in the river then right after we hit a rock and had to turn the raft backwards to backed up from it. It was exciting!At the end of the rapid we stop at some sightseeing point with other rafters and enjoyed the cool breeze, sunshine and took some nice photos. We headed back and got to a swimming area were we all jumped in the river and swam for about 30 minutes. Me having the underwater camera made it fun to take pictures of everyone goofing, and relaxing. We got in the raft again and paddled to the end point.

When we got to the shore we had to carry the raft on our shoulders to the top of the road. Me being so short literally was doing or carrying no weight. ( I felt bad for the rest but what could I have done? Really nothing!)

The road was filled with food vendors and locals and a bunch of rickshaws carrying on the roof about 3-5 rafts.

We got on the bus and left going towards the hotel.
We got back around 3 o'clock and chilled for the rest of the afternoon and evening in the beach and hotel.

Day 3 We woke up at 9 and got ready to leave by 10 AM in order to beat traffic. I got stuck with the last seat of the bus and that was no fun as it we as a very bumpy ride.

After a great weekend a few of the Elanza people. ( Darren, George, Val and me went to grab a beer at a 5***** hotel and chat.

It was a great weekend of new friends and exploring India.

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