Day 2: Dapoli to Ganpatipule

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Wiser from yesterday's experience, I decided to take it slow and chose Ganpatipule, about 130 km from Dapoli, as my next halt. I started early and reached the jetty to catch a ferry to Dhopave. The ferry operates every half an hour from 6.30 am to 10.00 pm. A bridge is under construction nearby, which the Eicher's road atlas already shows on its map. At the Dhopave jetty, if you are heading to Guhagar, the locals will recommend you to take left (esp. if you are riding alone and they need a lift). Even the signboard indicates a left turn to Guhagar. However turn right to take the uphill dirt road to the village of Anjanvel. As you near the monstrous and now defunct Enron project, the road gets unbelievably smooth and wide (or borrowing from Lalu Yadav, "mamta kulkarni ke galon se chikna road hai") all to yourself. Do not miss a small detour to Gopalgarh fort in the Anjanvel village. The fort itself is in ruins, but the breath-taking views of the creek and a peaceful ambiance makes it a must see. There is also a lighthouse (visit hours 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm) and a temple nearby. The small town of Anjanvel is a perfect town to spend your days of retirement. Some 50 homes, a small pond with a school of sea-gulls resting idly, a small rivulet ideal for fishing and ofcourse a beach. On the way back, I passed a couple of ripped-off green-houses, sordid remains of promises of prosperity that was Enron Project. I remember the last time that I visited Enron project with the owner of a local truck service shop in Guhaghar. An expert in all kind of machines, he was regularly called up by Enron engineers in case of construction equipment failures. He talked nostalgically of those golden old days. A number of hotels, machine shops and local car rental shop sprung up in the sleepy town of Guhaghar. A hospital was constructed and equipped with modern amenities. The roads were widened. Today dust gathers on the million dollar equipments and on a Monday morning, you will have the wide, smooth roads all to yourself to race on. I glided to Guhagar and ate a fish thali at Hotel Raigad. A nice place with home cooked food. I asked the owner, who was already down with 2 kingfisher cans, for directions to Hedvi. 1 km to Bazaar, drive for 3 kms and turn right to take a bridge across the creek. Nothing could have been more precise ! Satisfied with his own answer, he opened up another can of a beer. He was celebrating a Monday morning ! The Eicher's road atlas did not show the bridge at all. I got it confirmed from couple more locals. Guess, the Eicher guys misplaced the bridge putting it between Dapoli and Dhopawe instead !
After Hedvi, take a left turn to Bhatgaon. As you drive down the ghat from Bhatgaon, you get a glimpse of the bridge. Its one of the most beautiful bridges I have ever seen built across a creek which is also a confluence of two rivers. The perfectly calm waters reflect the surrounding lush greenery and a small fishing boat with bright blue sails made the scene postcard perfect. From Bhatgaon, the traffic less road to Ganpatipule winds through small densely vegetated hills, a complete bliss for bikers. I reached Ganpatipule in high spirits a complete reversal of what I was yesterday in Dapoli. A lot of hotels over here do not let rooms to solo traveler even if you are ready to pay for a double bed room. A lady owner quipped, 'kya bharosa tum jaise logon ka !" (God knows what you guys will get into). Finally I got a hotel (Hotel Ganesh Krupa, Rs.250 for a double bed with single oocupancy). The room was a glass box with huge bay windows on three walls with no sea nearby to gaze at. In the evening, I made a worthless visit to Jaigarh. Its a fort in complete ruins, a low grade version of Gopalgarh. A huge steel plant near completion by Jindal Steel works destroys any last purpose of visiting this place. And to add to that misery, I took a longer 35 km route. There are no sunset views either. Instead drive for 10 kms on the road to Jaigarh, a beautiful road that runs along the coast. At Jaigarh, I met a police hawaldaar from my hometown Kolhapur, listening songs and gazing out at the horizon. He had quite a laugh on my coming to Jaigarh leaving behind the Ganpatipule beach. "Yahaan pe bas hum jaise dukhi log aate hai", he sighed. Back in Ganpatipule, I had some snacks at MTDC resort and headed back to hotel. As I write this, I can see bed bugs strolling around. I guess its going to be a long night.

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