It was a new found freedom for me…I had quit my job after six years of being in one magazine. And, the first thing I did after quitting was to take off on a bicycle adventure trip the very next day. Accompanying me was my Friend Deepak Kasthwal and our mean machines ‘our beloved bicycles’. Destination was unplanned all we knew was we shall ride along the Konkan Coast via Alibaug.
December 21, 2012 was the day. We took off from Bandra (West) at 6 am in the morning. Headed straight to the train station from where we were to take a local train to Charni Road and then bike from there to Baucha Dhaka-the Mazagaon Ferry Point. We got the ticket and waited at the platform for the train heading to Churchgate.
While at the station I realized how Mumbai is so not a Bicycle friendly city. We had to literally carry our Bicycles on or shoulders up those uneven stairs from platform no.1 to platform no.4 to get a fast train. As the train arrived, the luggage compartment was crowded. Somehow we managed to get ourselves and our cycles inside the compartment only to realize we had got into a Dadar train. But, we were glad we did that so we decided we would ride from Dadar to Baucha Dhaka- Mazagaon Ferry Wharf.
At Dadar, once again we had to battle our way through the platform, carry our bikes and walk up the stairs to get to Dadar east.
Before we started off on our ride, we had a nice cup of hot tea right outside Dadar station east. Standing with our mean machines and dressed in our biking gear we were obviously the Centre of attraction early in the morning. One thing I like about India and its cities is that people do not wait to make small talks if they see something unusual. In this case we did come across as unusual as we had our backpacks stashed away at the back of our cycles and we were dressed in our cycle gears.
People were keen to know if we were participating in some race, how costly were our bikes and where were we off to and for how long? We battled all these questions till the time we finished our tea and once we were done we took off. It was a nice pleasant ride. We took the port road which was fairly empty that early in the morning. We went via Parel, Kala Chowky, Cotton Green to Mazagaon.
We got the 8.30 am ferry to Rewas. It was a beautiful sail watching the Seagulls eat anything and everything thrown at it including ‘Vada Pav’ and ‘Kurkure’. Once at Rewas, Alibaug is another 23 kms flat pedal. As we rode on the busy streets along the way we managed to stop by and explored. We came across a new factory outlet of clocks-clocks that were got from the Mediterranean and sole real cheap here. So folks when on the road to Alibaug from Rewas look out for this antique clock store on your left……
We reached Alibaug and a bit further down stopped for lunch. Our next destination was Korlai enroute through Revdanda. The route from Alibaug to Revdanda is again through beautiful country side. Since we were only the two of us we rode at own convenience and pace. All along the route we had people and kids screaming out to us in English ‘hi’ , ‘hello’..
After an hour’s hiatus, it was time to go full steam and hit Revdanda. A pretty village with a seaside fort, it also has the Shree Rameshwar mandir and the Revdanda fort. Shree Rameshwar mandir has an ancient shrine of Shiva and it is said it was built in 'Hemadpant' style of Architecture, though, when it was built is not known. Angre history references say that it was renovated many times. The structure comprises of prayer hall (sabhamandap), sanctum sanctorum and 7.62 meter high summit shaped dome. In front of the prayer hall, there are three tanks (kund) namely Parjanya Kund, Agni kund and Vayoo kund. We stopped by this temple and soaked in the cool breeze and the serene and calm atmosphere.
Further down is the Revdanda fort. 17 kms from Alibag Revdanda is an important port. The Salav bridge at Revdanda which joins Murud and Alibag gives a cool view of the surroundings, You can see a beautiful sight of Revdanda port and beach. The fort was built by a Portuguese Captain by the name of Soj in 1558.
Since both of us had been here before we decided to carry along straight to Korlai. It was past 4.30 pm and we had about 90 min of daylight before halting for the day. Being the first day, we had no intention to push our limits & do a night sojourn. We were sure we would make it to Korlai by 6.
The day’s proceedings evolved into a nicety, with us reaching Korlai by 6.30 pm as the radiance of dusk cast its shadows on the sandy beach. Korlai is a beautiful quaint and lesser known Portugese enclave on the slopes of Konkan range between Arabian Sea on the west and Revdanda back-waters on its east.
One of the most interesting things about Korlai, is its name. This small island was once called ‘Morro de Chaul’. Morro, in Portuguese, implies ‘a small, rounded hill. The present name – Korlai fort, comes from the village of Korlai on the foothills. This name also comes from the Portuguese – the residents of this fishing village speak a dialect of the Portuguese Creole called ‘kristi’. The word Creole eventually was distorted to Korlai.
The fort is open to one and all to take a walk. There is also a light house which is open to all. The lighthouse is open for visitors between 4 PM and 6 PM, and someone is always present there to help visitors who arrive at the wrong time. One can walk up the winding stairs of the lighthouse and learn all about how the light house functions. It’s fascinating. The guides are very good and knowledgeable.
Once at Korlai village, we were lucky to find a homestay at Yogesh’s place. A good family man with a wife and two kids, he was trying to supplement his income with offering homestay along with breakfast and food. He had recently done up two rooms on the first floor which he was letting out on rent for blokes like us. Extremely, hospitable his wife made excellent dinner that comprised of Rice Bhakri, Gaoti (Village) chicken, some salad, fried fish for Deepak and plain rice. The food especially after a 90 km cycling was just yummmm!!
We crashed soon after dinner as we had an early start in the morning. We were heading to Murud which was a pedal of 32 kms and from there to Rajapur jetty (3kms) and from Rajapur we had to get on a ferry to Digi and from Digi to Diveagar. Digi to Diveagr was another 23 odd kms. So it was going to be another long day of a beautiful ride along the coastline.
After a good night’s sleep we headed out of Korlai around 8 am. The ride along the long stretch of coast line to Murud was scenic and breathtaking. On the one side was mountains and the other side the Arabian sea. We savoured every moment of it. We passed through the crowded Kashid beach, then Nandgaon where Dr Salim Ali (India’s best ornithologist) has his beautiful and palatial beach house. The sand on the Nandgaon beah is white and this particular stretch was a virgin beach with the crowd staying at Kashid. I am not a beach person so I don’t really enjoy spending time on the beach.
We did not halt and headed straight to Murud. We wanted to be at Murud right on time for Luch. We lunched at a local hotel by the beach. After lunch we immediately headed to Rajapur jetty from where we took a launch to Digi jetty. From Rajapur there are regular boats that also take you to the Janjira fort which is majestically located in the middle of the Arabian Sea. As history goes- Janjira was a fort which the great Maratha warrior king Shivaji could never capture. That's why his son built the Kasa fort on an island close to Janjira in order to capture Janjira, but that never happened. Janjira fort has stood there for 950 years.
And amazing piece of info for you dear reader is that the fort is built in such a way that till you get about 100 or 200 meters from it, you just can't see the huge entrance.
But first some trivia on Janjira: It's huge and you can easily get lost. There is 20 acres fully fortified. I have never seen a complete fort ever on all my earlier treks in the Sahayadris. Inside the fort there were amazingly two huge sweet water lakes. One can drink water from a deep well. It is crystal clear. What a miracle! Salty water all around and sweet water on the island! I have explored the fort in the past. The stones used to build the fort have taken a battering over the centuries but the joints used to connect these stones are still as they were. The Nizam of this area also built an underwater tunnel right to his palace on the shore. One can even venture into the dark tunnel but you require a powerful torch
Once at the jetty we got a launch to Digi. The sail was good but unfortunately women are not allowed to sit on the open top area as it’s against rules we were told and the boat man can be fined by customs or coast guard authorities. So I had to sit along with the crowd inside.
Once at Dighi, we had to pedal fast to get to Diveagarh before it got too dark. Diveagarh was approximately 23 kms from Dighi jetty. It’s a strenuous ride with some uphill rides. We reached Diveagarh around 7 pm. Since we hadn’t booked a place we went hunting for a stay. And we were lucky to find a place. It was an okay place and we paid 750 for a night which we thought was a little too much. But as they say Beggars can’t be choosers …. Next morning we were heading out to Shrivardhan. We had dinner at a local place which served good fish and chicken and sol kadhi ( a traditional Konkan drink).
After a decent night sleep, early morning the two of us decided to take a walk along the beach. Little did we know that at that hour it was going to be so crowded, noisy and dirty? I was thoroughly disappointed at the state of that beach. It was no more a virgin beach and it was full of litter. Apart from the beach, Diveagarh is famous for its famous Golden Ganpati temple. Sadly eight months before we were there, the golden ganpati idol was stolen, melted and sold in the market.
We had breakfast at the same local hotel where we had dinner the previous night and headed out to Shrivardhan at around 9.10 am. It was a ride of another 25km to get to our destination. Srivardhan is again a nice, sleepy town like Diveagarh. It was a fantastic ride with lots of uphill as well as downhills. Downhills are great fun you can feel the breeze as you ride.
At our last stretch of downhill towards Shrivardhan, the first village you encounter is Kondivili, a beautiful quaint village just by the vast sea. We reached here at around 11.30 am. The view from the top as we were riding down was so beautiful that as we got closer to the village we decided why not stay here and then we could just do some riding around. Right at the beginning of the village we found this beautiful homestay where the owner lady was also kind of tell us that she can prepare good lunch and dinner and offer us as well. It was an invitation we could not have rejected. So we deiced let’s stay put here. The beach across her house was clean and not a soul.
Towards the evening we headed for some adventurous ride on the beach. As the sun was setting we rode along on the white sands. It was an amazing feeling which one seldom gets in the city of Mumbai.
Towards the night we decided against going all the way to Shrivardhan. So Kondivili was our last halt and next morning we headed back to Dighi jetty and once again pedaled back on the same route to Mumbai. On our way back we halted at a friend’s place at Nandgaon and also went again to Korlai and explored the fort and the light house all over again with some other friends. And next morning headed straight to Alibaug-Madwa-Gateway of India.
We had done close to 450 kms to and fro over 5 days. It was a pleasurable and great ride along the Konkan Coast with lots of learning as well.
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