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Published: January 3rd 2010
After a 'break' of a week from travelling, I hit the road again on my brand new Bajaj Avenger motorcycle for Goa. I intended to take the coastal road to Goa instead of the drab NH-17 infested by unruly trucks and reckless sedans. Lonely planet is not much of a help over here since it unjustifiably covers the region in 2 pages. I browsed through few blogs and travel forums (Check these out
1 ,
2 and
3 ). Eicher's road atlas seemed to be an unanimous choice of all the travel forums (although not a very good idea in retrospect). After scavenging a number of book shops in Mumbai, I got one in Parle Book depot, Parle(E). The week just flew by. The first two days were wasted in getting the internet connection working thanks to the super pathetic customer support by the service provider MTNL. After hours of consulting, the engineer declared that my laptop was infected and needs to be formatted. Absolutely skeptical and out of alternatives, I formated the laptop and much to my surprise it worked ! The trip was delayed by a day as the Regional Transport Office (RTO) did not yet issue the registration certificate of
my motor-cycle 50 days after the purchase ! My uncle, not a big technology fan, quipped that he got the certificate on the spot and this whole computerization has just delayed the process. Well, it turned out to be a good delay as I enjoyed the immensely entertaining India-SL T-20 cricket match full of dropped catches, missed run-out chances and sky-soaring sixes by Yuvi.
So next day, 13th Dec i.e., I started at 5.00 am from Andheri cruising along the almost desolated roads, and the flyovers, a rarity in Mumbai that can only be experienced in those ungodly hours, towards Bhaucha Dhakka. I opened up my helmet visor to let in the refreshing morning air to have the 'feel like god' feeling a la the avenger commercial (
here ). A 45 min drive took me to Bhaucha Dhakka. The large port was buzzing with activities at 6 am and reeking of the fish stench. I bought a ticket and loaded my bike into the small ferry. The journey is about one and a half hour. The boat has a small kitchen where tasty vada-pav is available along with the steaming hot tea. Watching the beautiful sunrise, sitting in the top-floor deck
of the boat, eating vada-pav and sipping hot tea. What more a life can offer! Definitely the best way to reach Alibaug. The boats do not accommodate four wheelers. Rewas is a beautiful jetty located on the face of the creek and the surroundings carpeted lush green.
I unloaded the bike and started on my first solo motor-cycle trip. Usually solo bikers name their bikes and share a romantic (ofcourse platonic) relationship with them. However being a "definitely male" Bajaj bike, I couldnt get myself to give it a feminine name and was not particularly excited on having flirtatious converstions with a male bike. I took my own time to decide upon a comfortable position to avoid any backlash from an agitated back or an sore ass. It took me almost 3 hours to reach Murud at about 11.00 am around 90 kms from Rewas. A 5 km drive will take you to Rajpuri port where boats leave for Janjira fort as well as Dighi, my destination. The next was scheduled at 12.30 pm. The sea-rock hotel at the port offers some amazing views of the impregnable Janjira fort and pathetic misal pav. The coconut-water vendors nearby have a novel
way of selling. They keep on yelling "5 rupai discount mein pio... 5 rupai... 5 rupai..". The merciless sun on their head, coconut water at throwaway price seems like heaven. The tourist throng the place, drink the water only to be told that its a 5 bucks discount on a 20 bucks coconut ! The ferry took me to Dighi from where I took the road to Srivardhan. The Eicher's road map is a little hazy over here and does not show the Jungle jetty near Srivardhan for a boat to Bankot. As you approach Srivardhan, ask locals for Jungle Jetty. It is about 17 kms from a left turn you will take before Srivardhan town. The jungle jetty is situated in Bagmandla village and ferry is available for (Veshvi) Bankot every hour from 6.30 am to 7.30 pm. At the Veshwi jetty, a left turn will take you to Dapoli and the right turn will take you to well, Dapoli. The right turn is a beautiful road running along the coast through villages like Anjarle and Harnai. Ask the locals and they will definitely recommend you the other one, via Mandangarh, a longer and a boring route. It was
getting darker and started crossing milestones for Mumbai. At one point I was terribly pissed off when it showed Mumbai 104 km, when my trip odometer read 175 km ! And that after taking a boat to Rewas ! Finally I reached Dapoli at 6.30 pm hungry and dusty. My initial plan was to head to Kolthare village for a homestay recommended by Dad's friend. However utterly exhausted, I treated myself to a double bedroom, attached bath with TV at Hotel Usi, Dapoli (Extremely friendly staff and cheap and clean rooms, dorms 100, single rooms 150 and double 300). Moral of the day: Plan better, Travel less and always get a second opinion on local's recommendation. The odometer clocked 215 km.
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Firas
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a lil help
Hi ! i jus found you blog while i was randomly searching for accommodation in dapoli. I'm studyin architecture at SPA,delhi. And we were planning a trip to dapoli and i was looking for accommodation. We have around 100 people and are looking for cheap dorms to stay in. i couldnt find much on the hotel that you have mentioned. could please help me out a bit here ? :)