Unexplored beaches of Konkan - Raigad District

  When we talk of Konkan beaches, we talk of Alibaug, Harihareshwar, Shriwardhan, Diveagar, Harne, Ratnagiri, Ganpatipule, Malvan, Vengurla etc. Of course these beaches are must visit, but if you have already visited these beaches & want to try some off beat beaches, here are few for you.

 Ashti, Nagav, Kihim, Revdanda, Chaul - 

Kihim Beach

 Near Alibaug there are many beautiful & secluded beaches. If you are travelling in your own vehicle you can cover all of them in a single day. If you visit Alibaug & found the beach too crowded for you, move southwards & you will reach these beaches in few minutes. All these beaches have access to road. In nearby villages you can get delicious, fresh fish varieties. You can enjoy tender coconuts, and except the person behind the wheel all can enjoy Taadi & Maadi. On Kihim beach, you can also enjoy some water sports. There are many forts around these beaches & these forts are worth visiting.

 Kashid and Murud

Janjira Fort

         Situated around 35 kms. southwards from Alibaug this beach is surrounded by Phansad wildlife sanctury. This beach hosts beautiful Kashid Beach resort which provides very good accommodation option. Kashid is a straight and long white sand beach. If you travel 15 kms. southwards from Kashid, you can visit Murud beach. Murud is also very famous fishing town. One can enjoy amazing seafood in small restaurants near Murud. If you are visiting Murud, dont miss the grand sea fort Janjira, home to Siddi kings. Small ferry runs between Murud & Janjira fort.

Walwati Beach - Between Shriwardhan & Diveagar

Walwati (Diveagar - Shriwardhan road)

        If you travel from Shriwardhan to Diveagar, You will pass through this small village. After this village, till Dive agar you will see many amazing unnamed beaches. If you are planning a group picnic or want to spend a day at secluded & pristine beach, just relaxing or reading book or painting landscape, this is a place for you. Dont expect typical tourist amenities like fast food stalls, restaurants, hotels etc. here.. this is a virgin patch with very few number of people halting. but the beaches in this belt are really amazing. If you want to visit these beaches, travel on NH17 till goregaon and take a right turn for Shriwardhan. Just before Shriwardhan take a right turn for Diveagar.

Velas & Kelshi

Turtles on Velas Beach

From Goregaon on NH17, one diversion heads to Mandangad. One has to travel till Mandangad and then can go to both these beaches. Velas beach is smaller comparatively, but it hosts very interesting project of ridley turtles. These turtles are grown here & every year turtle festival is celebrated on Velas Beach. Kelshi is a bigger beach and around 15 kms. from Velas. You can cover Velas & Kelshi with Harihareshwar or with Harne - Anjarle. One can also get Ferry from Bagmandla to Bankot if you are visiting Harihareshwar.

  There are many more beaches in Raigad districts apart from these, but I listed few which came to my mind. I will write few more posts on other districts.. till then, read the blog and give youir valuable feedback to improve it.

  

Rajgad & Torna - A perfect winter trek

  Rains are over & so is October heat.. so my trek lover friends pull out ur sacks.. start forming a group & here is the plan for perfect two days trek...

  Rajgad & Torna, both are very prominent forts of Maratha History, Rajgad was the first capital of Shivaji Maharaj & Torna was the first fort conquered by this great king. Both these hill forts are in Pune Region.

  Here I am giving plan from Mumbai... considering your trek is on saturday & Sunday.. So Start by late night State transport Bus to swargate or by Bijapur passenger / chennai express to Pune station.

  From both the places you will easily get another state transport bus to Velha. But dont go till Velha, get down at village called Sakhar which in 2 Kms away from base of Rajgad. Anybody at Sakhar will guide you to starting point of Rajgad.

  From Sakhar, it is pretty simple trek & you will take 2-3 hours to reach Padmavati Maachi of Rajgad.  There is a padmavati Devi temple & small Dharmashala ( without doors ) where you can put up your base.

Padmavati Devi Temple

After some break you can visit Sanjivani & Suvela Machi and also the Bale Killa. Dont forget to sit in 'Nedha' & click a snap there. The fortified Machi's of Rajgad with dual bastions will take you back to those glorious years of maratha history.

Suvela Machi

  Bale killa of Rajgad is beautiful & its must visit. Enjoy spectacular views of all three machi, main fort & surrouding area, enjoy cool breeze & then descend down to Padmavati, where you have set up your base.

Rajgad Top view - Picture by Mr. Gopal Bidhe

  Next day morning, start as early as possible for Torna, You can see bastion of Torna from Padmavati temple itself, and the ridge that joins Rajgad and Torna. Now go to Sanjivani Machi, and come out of the fort from there.

  There is no confusion point. You will be able to locate a long ridge from Rajgad to Torna. It will take around 6 to 8 hours to reach Buidhla machi of Torna. There are very few water sources enroute, hence carry ample of water.

  After crossing these hills ( around 21 I guess ) you will reach a ruined bastion on Budhla machi of Torna fort. Enter from here & cross all the way till Zunjar machi. After entering from Budhla, Zunjar machi is towards your right. So keep travelling till you reach Zunzar machi. You will see Tornai devi temple here and can rest for a while.

Torna - Bird eye view

  Then start your descend from Zunjar machi. It will take around 2-3 hours to reach base village of Velha. From here you could get MUV or state transport bus etc. for Swargate.

Tips : Carry food, water & sleeping bag ( or at least blanket with you ).
          You need to walk a lot, so wear comfortable cloths & footwear.
          Carry torch with you as you are going to stay overnight at Rajgad.

If you need any further info. You can call me at 9820031162. If you need tent for this or any other trek I can provide it on rent.


   

Chennai - Mahabalipuram - Pondicherry

 Today I am taking you to the road which is driver's or rider's paradise. The entire strip is parallel to bay of bengal. This beautiful road is called ECR - East Coast Road.

ECR - from Chennai to Pondicherry

This is a two lane road but its amazing. While travelling from chennai to pondicherry.. you will be accompanied with sandy beaches on bay of bengal to your left.

You can see huge plantation of palm, coconut, beatlenuts on both sides & the road is so well maintained that you never have to dodge potholes or raw patches.

Chennai to Mahabalipuram distance is around 60 Kms. Further mahabalipuram to Pondicherry is around 100 Kms.

Apart from beautiful road and its surrondings, there are more attractions besides this strip.

First attraction is crocodile park enroute. This is worth visiting site. This park is a home for more than 300 crocodiles of various crocodiles. You will get to see them very closely. There are more than 20 varieties of croc family in this park.

Crocodile Park Chennai

  Enjoy visit to this park & then move forward towards Mahabalipuram temple. It is another amazing place, situated near Mahabalipuram beach, this beautifully carved temple attracts many tourists every year.


Mahabalipuram Temple

    Mahabalipuram hosts many temple, but the famous is the one facing sea. It is rock carved temple believed to be built in 7th century. This is a temple which is devoted to Lord Shiv as well as Lord Vishnu which makes it even more interesting. You can also visit 5 Rathas devoted to Pandawas.

   Mahabalipuram also has a very beautiful beach. Enjoy a dip here, have a delicious and fresh sea food in restaurant near beach. After enjoying Mahabalipuram, you can move ahead on ECR to Pondicherry. The same highway will take you to pondicherry within 2 hours.

  Pondicherry is another beautiful town on the coast of bay of Bengal. This was a French colony pre-independence & French influence on podicherry town is evident even today. Pondicherry has become a center of multiple cultures of Tamilnadu. In a single town, you can see temples, churches & Arbindo ashram.

Pondicherry also has beautiful beaches & you can enjoy beautiful fusion of south indian & French culinary in Pondicherry. Plan at least 2 days in Pondicherry if you really want to explore this town.

After Pondicherry, you can travel on same route and go till Kanyakumari. or if its a small trip travel back to Chennai. So enjoy the road strip, Enjoy temples, sea food and much more..

Malshej and more

  Malshej ghat witnesses huge number of tourists every rainy season. People travel to Malshej mostly in their own/hired vehicle & enjoy waterfalls, greenery & wind at Malshej..Its truely amazing experience to spend some hours in Malshej ghat. Unfortunately, this beautiful strip of road is occupied by drunkerds, which can turn your Malshej trip into nightmare if you are going with family or with ladies in a groups.

  But dont skip fantastic drive of Malshej for these antisocial drunken monkeys. Here I bring you some places which you can combine with Malshej ghat to make your trip interesting, or if you want to make your trip longer after enjoying Malshej.

1> Pimpalgaon Jog Dam -

     After crossing Mashej ghat MTDC resort, you will see this dam to your left while travelling from Mumbai to Otur. One road to the left leads to khireshwar village from where people start their trek for Harishchandra Gad. But even if you are in no mood for trekking, you can enjoy Jog dam surroundings.

2> Manikdoh Dam:

Manikdoh Dam

     If you wont mind driving bit further, take right turn for Lenyadri after traveling 5-6 kms further from Jog dam. Cross Ganesh khind. Take the road which heads to Rajur. Total distance from malshej to Rajur is 40kms. You can also visit Leopard rescue center near Manikdoh dam. 

3> Lenyadri & Ozar Temple

    These two temples are among Ashtavinayaks & hence very popular shrines. Lenyadri & Ozar are just 25 kms from Malshej.

4> Shivneri



Birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj



     Birthplace of great king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This hill fort is near Junnar, One can reach base of the fort in an hour from Malshej Ghat. But if you are planning to visit Shivneri be prepared for climb of 30 minutes.

   

Trekking Options

There are many treks in viscinity of Malshej Ghat, One can opt for Harishchandra Gad, Chavand, Hadsar, Jivdhan or naneghat trek. While Jivdhan & Hadsar are bit hard to climb other treks are smaller & simple.

Accomodation options:

  MTDC resort & some other resorts in Malshej are always there. but you can also stay at Khireshwar village or Bhakt Niwas of Lenyadri & Ozar, or can look for a lodge in Junnar, or near Manikdoh dam.

There is also an interesting place, Kukadi river bank. Riverbed of Kukadi has developed potholes naturally, its very interesting and unique thing, but best time to visit is March to May.

So.. before this rainy season is gone, book your weekend and plan a trip.

Ashtavinayak in 24 Hours

    Here is a plan for those who love to race against time & try something new even on old routes.. this rainy season we took challenge of Ashtavinayak in 24 hours & we completed entire trip starting from kandivali & reaching Kandivali back within 24 hours.
    Usually people plan Ashtavinayak in 2 or 3 days, but here is a plan which can help you achieving it in a single day.But try this only in group. Dont do it alone or with family & I wont recommend it on bike.

    Assuming you are staying in Mumbai, I will refer Thane as a starting point. So Start from Thane at 2:45am and head straight to Kalyan - Murbad - Tokavade - Malshej Ghat - Ganeshkhind - Lenyadri. If you go without break and drive at good speed, you will reach Lenyadri base at 6:00 am. Climbing Lenyadri will take around 20 minutes. So visit the temple spend some time there & descend down Lenyadri base & start for Ozar by 7:00am.

    Ozar is just 12kms from Lenyadri. You should reach Ozar at 7:20am. Visit the temple, you can have breakfast here & start for Ranjangaon at 8:00 am. From Ozar go to Narayangaon - Take right & head to Chakan - On traveling around 30kms you will reach Rajgurunagar - Take left for Shikrapur - On reaching Shikrapur - head to Shirur - you will see Ranjangaon Temple besides highway to your right. It should take around 2:30 hours to reach Ranjangaon, So you will reach Ranjangaon at 10:30am and after visiting the temple start further at 11:00am.

     Next destination is Siddhatek, head to Shirur, just after crossing 5 kms. You will see huge tree to your right and a small road passing by to your right. This is MIDC pipeline road which is a short cut, & will take you via Nirvi - Nimone - Inamgaon to Kashti. (If you ask road to Sidhhatek people will tell you Shirur-Belwandi route but ask specifically for route going through villages mentioned above.Avoid travelling on this route after sunset.) You will Reach Siddhatek before 12:30 pm. via this route.

    You can enjoy Zunaka bhakar lunch at Sidhhatek but dont waste too much of time. Start ASAP, but latest by 1:30pm. Head to Duand - Patas - Chaufula - take left from petrolpump at Chaufula & travel 23 kms to reach Morgaon. This will take you 50 minutes max so, by 2:15pm you will be at Morgaon. Visit the temple & start further journey.

    Start latest by 3:00pm. Head to Chaufula, then take left turn & head to Pune. After travelling 20 kms. Take a right turn which will take you to next temple Theur, just 8 kms away from this junction. You will reach Theur by 4:00pm. Visit a temple, have a tea break and head for further journey.

    Start latest by 4:30pm. Head to Hadapsar - Katraj - take Mumbai -> banglore highway & then Expressway. Travel on Expressway till Khopoli - Take Khopoli exit & travel to mahad which is just 6-7kms from exit. This entire route will take around 3-4 hours depending on traffic from Hadapsar to katraj to Expressway.

    Reach Mahad by 8:00pm visit the temple & then head to Pali. Start latest by 8:30pm to reach Pali which is 38kms away by 9:30pm. visit Pali temple & then come back till Khopoli to take expressway and then head back to your home.

    Please note: if due to some reason you reach Khopoli late, then head for Pali first and then go to Mahad, because Pali temple will shut down at 10:30pm whereas temple at Mahad is open till 12:00 midnight. I have assumed some buffer in every destination considering queue at some temples or any other unanticipated events. So try to be as quick as possible and enjoy your trip.

    I wont recommend Chaturthi / Ganesh Janma etc. to plan this as you will lose so much time in queues that the plan will fail,so plan it in offseason.

    Total distance travelled: 825kms Kandivali - Ashtavinayak - Kandivali.

    Travellers: Karishma Patil, Shruti Joshi, Vikram More, Mayur Patil, Prasad Chavan, Prasad Kargutkar, Nilesh Jadhav & Kaustubh Khare.
    Vehicles: Hyundai Santro & Ford Figo.

   Drive safely, enjoy your trip and you can contact me on 9820031162 or write me to kaustubhkhare@gmail.com if you need any help in planning the trip.

Matheran : Perfect Eco-friendly Hill Station

  This article is not for people from Mumbai, because a person who stays in Mumbai must have already visited Matheran. But if you are among those who r in Mumbai or Pune & not visited Matheran and want to spend a nice weekend, then Matheran is highly recommended.

  Its a beautiful hill station, and most amazing thing about Matheran is, its perfect eco-friendly hill station, where you will not find any tar roads, and motorized vehicles are not allowed within boundaries of Matheran. Matheran is covered with dense green belt which keeps climate very pleasant throughout the year. You can visit Matheran in any season, but it becomes muddy in rainy season, as there are no tar roads.

Mini train from Neral to Matheran

 You can reach Matheran by many ways. You can catch local train from CST to Karjat and get down at Neral junction. From Neral you can take a cab, or take a mini train which runs between Neral & Matheran, or just walk 8 kms till Matheran. Going to Neral by last train and then walking all the way to the top is also amazing option if you are in group.


Matheran is very small hill station which you can cover on horse, or in a cart or just walk around. One can enjoy variety of food in restaurants. You will get restaurant of every budget & same is the case for accommodation.

  One tree hill point, echo point, sunset point, panorama point (sunrise), wilson point, monkey point are few places to visit. Like any other hill station, taking stroll in the market or riding a horse or boating in charlot lake are some other activities you can enjoy.

  For trekking enthusiasts, climbing Matheran from Karjat will take you to one tree hill & from there, you can reach Matheran.

  You can start your trip on friday evening & come back on sunday evening.. So what are u waiting for.. visit Matheran on next weekend.

Myths and Facts about travelling to Bhutan

  When we were planning a bike trip to Bhutan, I was looking out for exact information about permits, office timings, Visa formalities etc. etc. unfortunately, there are very few places where you could get exact information. So here is our complete experience of entering and exiting Bhutan on our own vehicles & we all were carrying Indian passport.

Q1> How, Where & When can we get permits to enter Bhutan.
Our entry point to Bhutan was Phutsoling which is  near Indian village Jaigaon in west bengal. We had heard before starting trip that, entry office at Phutsoling is open only from Monday to Friday, not thats not true. Our neighbors welcome us all days of week.

Entering Bhutan @ Phutsoling

  We reached Jaigaon border on saturday morning at 9 am. With basic checking of baggage, we were allowed to enter Phutsoling. Then we proceeded to permit office where we got our personal permits which took merely half an hour, but if you dont have passport, then you have to get your Indian documents like election card/ pan card attested.

Visa Counter @ Phutsoling

  Next step was to get vehicle permits. For each bike we had to pay rs. 350 as entry permit fees. Apart from that we paid rs. 500 (for 4 bikes) to an agent who arranged permits for us within 2 hours. So within 2 hours, we were in Bhutan. We had to submit all bike documents, passport, & 2 passport size photographs for permits.











Q2> Do we need to have hotel booking before entering Bhutan?
        NO. We had heard that, hotel booking is must. but you can simply write ANY HOTEL on your permit & choose your hotel after reaching Thimphu. You will get ample choice of accommodation and Indian rupee is accepted everywhere. So no worries.
        But remember, at Phutsoling you will get permit for Thimphu & Paro only. for other parts of Bhutan you need to obtain separate permit at Thimphu.

Bhutan Coins

Q3> What are the Language, currency, food & safety issues in Bhutan.
        NONE. Just enter Bhutan and you will more comfortable & safer than in India. people are extremely welcoming, crime rate in Bhutan is extremely low. Most of the people in Bhutan speak Hindi very well so no language problem either. Bhutan has its own currency but Indian rupee is accepted everywhere. You even don't have to worry about food as most of the restaurants serve good Indian & Chinese food.


Q4> Can we travel to Bhutan on our own, without any travel agent?
      I would rather say, you should travel on your own. Its very safe, people are very helpful, formalities are very limited and its very easy to explore Bhutan on your own. So just plan your trip, keep a day or two spare. Talk to people in Bhutan & make your own plan for exploring Bhutan & GOOOOO....