The last day of the Mumbai-Goa coastal circuit. The plan was to drive to Terekhol, see the fort, take the ferry to cross the creek and then drive south to Goa. A Dad's friend called me in Sawantwadi and insisted that I should visit his home in Shiroda. He and his wife took some time out from his morning rush to the office to have a little chat over the tea. I dropped him at the Vengurla branch of Syndicate bank. Everyone seemed to remember my Dad even though it was about 15 years back. My bike was definitely a center of attraction as it had been all over the trip. I came back to Shiroda and headed to Terekhol fort which is now a heritage hotel. I remember staying in their premium suite 15 years ... read more

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 ... read more

Itinerary * Day 1 : Mumbai (Bhaucha Dhakka) --- Ferry --- Rewas - Kihim - Alibag - Murud - Rajapuri --- Ferry --- Dighi -Srivardhan - Bagmandla (Jungle Jetty) --- Ferry --- Bankot - Mandangarh - Dapoli * Day 2 : Dapoli - Dabhol --- Ferry --- Dhopave - Anjanvel - Guhaghar - Velneshwar - Hedvi - Bhatgaon - Jakadevi - Ganpatipule. * Day 3 : Ganpatipule - Nevare - Ratnagiri - Pavas - Adivre - Tarbandar --- Boat ---- Jaitapur - Hathivale - Kankavali - Kudal - Sawantwadi * Day 4 - Sawantwadi - Shiroda - Vengurla - Shiroda - Terekhol - Arambol - Vagator - Calangute - Panaji Distance - 821 km Cost : Rs. 3200 Photos : here Ferries Enroute *Bhaucha Dhakka - Rewas : every hour from 6.00 am to 6 ... read more

Today was the big day to trek to Takstang Monastery, also called Tiger's nest, arguably the most famous monastery of Bhutan. But a Friday night out literally wasted out our plans. Paro is a small town with nothing much to do. So at 6.30 pm yesterday we were in our hotel room watching the movie Dostana. Watching a hindi movie on a gay couple with two other guys on a laptop was certainly not our idea of explore Bhutan trip. So we just shut it down and got out of our hotel to check out the 'night scene' of Paro. There are a lot of bars in Paro that boast of 'bar, live music and snooker'. Our first stop was a bar named Khamsaa. It was 7 pm and and bar was almost empty except for ... read more

Today we planned to trek to the monasteries of Thangu and Cherry. A taxi costs you around Rs. 700 for a return trip. A bus leaves at 7.00 am from the city bus stand to Begana (ticket: Rs 20), 3 km from Dodeyna the base for the trek. No prizes for what option we took. We reached Begana at about 7.30 and walked to Dodeyna. We had our breakfast, Maggi and tea, at the shop right at the trail head. That was probably the most pathetic tea I have ever tasted. Thangu and Cherry are located on two adjacent hills and is a half hour trek from the base. We chose Cherry first, located midway on the hill with another monastery,Thangery, nestled right on the top. We decided to do both. Its an easy 30 min ... read more