HImalayas se seedhe Alibaug!

Yes as the title specifies; from the high hills trek, my next crazy drive is to coastal Alibaug in Maharashtra nearer to mumbai. The place is famous for it’s scenic beaches, forts, sahyadri mountain ranges covering most of our roads. For as such my company in the car was no less then crazy; my old friend’s like Ganesh who earns the title of JOKER with his good and bad nonstop jokes; Amrish who was along with me from Himalayan Rupin pass trek- for his first drive this time; Kunal Desai an equally fun spiritted new entrant into my world of travels.

Drive started early morning 6,(pure luck that drive started or as fate knows the whole plan would have been cancelled due to late wake ups)as my friend and our ride member Rohit nayak, had predecided the earlier night that he shall not let me break bed till late on weekend, and hence the whole group will start by 7 from panvels perennial meeting point Dutta snacks. This place is like a lovers point-as all couples looking for privacy assemble at such points; so do most riders have this overcrowded point for their rendezvousing.

Meet and greet my other old time rider gang over at dutta’s. Kailash is there to welcome me with warm embrace right on middle of road, then there’s Rajani, Rohit Kasal an equal good buddy and travel enthusiast. All of us share breakfast’s and tea’s, whole group is de-briefed about further conquests and move on towards the goa highway.

Long drives/rides in monsoons are always a pleasure into interiors of Maharashtra, as the whole sahyadri mountain ranges in lush with greenery. And so are the friends lush with Chutzpah. Which helps me keep awake(pun intended) on the drive. Highways over here are still pretty much in bad condition like in my previous rides on the same tarmac, god knows when will the long unfinished 4 laning of mumbai-goa be completed- hopefully my kids might get to travel (if i have) on buttery smooth roads on this stretch! If not for the trusted sturdiness of my SUV then I’m sure the drive can be 10 times more tiring and slow on this maniac potholed, nonsignaged 2 laned highways! What man dosent make is manyfold times compensated by what nature has in store for us all along. Just before our climb towards coastal town of Alibaug is to begin, we have our pit stop to refresh the whole group of 16.

Newest members are elaborately introduced to all and one here, detailing everyone’s passions and reasons to travel. One most interesting intro was of new friend Sagar Gawde; who was invested heavily with Rohit nayaks rides for to find an interesting soul mate in opposite sex:) All the best to him, for iv travelled many coasts, valleys, ravines, jungles, mountains, borders but luckily or unluckily am still only single:) Meghana was very much earnestly interested in knowing the real story of ‘my Himalayan tyrst with the doe-eyed girl’ about whom iv already poured my heart out in my previous blogs, Amrish being my witness:) Pit stops like this on side roads in small dhaba kind hotels are fun ways to loosen up and mingle with the newer unknown traveller lot, share life’s stories, know each other to start a rapport- as the saying goes ‘small talks lead to big things’.

Our first destination is the beautiful desolate ruins of fort- Revdanda. Its an abandoned old skeletal ruin of a once high and mighty fort and a chapel too; as with most places in India sadly in neglected state of affairs. Why is it that we only want to keep creating new and neglect our old pristine or ruined past, however it maybe; it can always be preserved in remembrance?  We roam around its precincts, and then sneak into the magnificent clean and clear beach adjoining it, which is the most fun part. Having panaromic views from the beach, having the cool misty air on our faces, solace and peace are to be found on many such pristine Maharashtra beaches. Its high tide time or else as in with my previous rides, where we walked for long miles with Kailash,Rajani,Rohit, and no other souls on there; climbed the fort walls for fun; and just sat and pondered within ourselves:) but for today we didn’t want to get wet in its waters, and hence we just hang by its shore’s on its huge boulders. Chutzpah sets into us again:) and the man of the moment is whom I love to address as ‘mukhyamantri'(cm) devendra; another old enthusiastic rider traveller:) He is brave enough to entertain us all with all his elements at his disposal:)

Its noon time and having clicked tons of beautiful photos of nature, and ourselves of course at revadanda fort we bid adieu to it and move on for to partake lunch. More of one hour ride from the fort towards murud-janjira end, we all sit-in at a hotel serving only thalis-konkani style(patilwadi-beach resort). The non-vegetetarian friends I am told have enjoyed their meals, but the veggi ones including me found it below OK, average at best. If food misses on spices then it misses on taste, and after almost more then half day of drive and not much eating, I was imagining for a hard hitting stomach full of pallate! After stuffing just enough for energy purpose, we continued back towards the same route as we were to go via Phanshad route towards Mumbai. On the way we cross the murud-janjira fort, where we stop for a glance from a distance. Will try to go inside the fort sometime in near future for sure; as its accesible only by boat and being situated bang in middle of the choppy sea, it arouses my adventurous side for me to come towards it! 

Me, Amrish,Kunal, Ganesh all feel like we should settle down at some quite vantage point, or desolate beach area for to drive so long at such wondrous place and not have contemplative moments is like missing out big time to connect with nature:(; but its already late noon time and group continues its onwards journey via phanshad road as neways before nighttime we wont make it back home. Matching the drive speed with other riders is also a altogether diff game, as I never intended from start to drive alone from the group and so slowed to be in sync accordingly with other group riders. This was my first long drive after the Himalayan trek, hadn’t had even 5 hrs of sleep the previous night, my SUV too needed some minor prep-ups on it; hence from time to time I did feel exhausted and sleepy, but the innate passion keeps the force goin on without any hiccups.

On the return trail we get very strong beautiful rains, which makes the drive more hard but adventourous too. One final pit stop at riders-lovers point in panvel again, for everyone to hug and bid farewell to each other. Promises made here to meet up again soon for such crazy fun rides, and stay in regular touch inspite of everyday busy lives. Final bye from me to Rohit Nayak too, here with promise to catch up in coming days for other boy’s activities:) Still 3 hrs drive remaining as now from panvel, city traffic starts to be encountered; which is the shittiest thing to happen after whole day of driving! Almost by 11 and totally exhausted me and Amrish still manage on our reserved energy to have a royal dinner, and share anecdotes about our travels from ‘Himalayan to now alibaug’………….

throwback from previous rides: