road trip to goa in monsoon

8/8/2019 road trip to goa in monsoon

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My Corner:

Road trip to Goa: dr anand naregal

Lots of eye brows were raised when we decided to head for Goa by road in

monsoon. “Do you know how bad the roads are beyond Bombay. “You will reach

Goa on check out date.” But having been to Goa 5 times before and thrice in

Monsoon, I thought Monsoon it had to be.

To prepare ourselves for the trip I got my car serviced, got tyres, wipers and

breaks checked. Got a GPS installed, downloaded few Google maps and 7 days

weather report from BBC. Umbrella, Meglite torch, my camera and I shuffle were

other things which were packed a few days in advance, not to forget car papers as

we were travelling thru three different states.

As the D day was

approaching we had one

confusion yet to be sorted

out and that was, which

highway to take beyond

Bombay? NH 17 via

Chiplun which is more scenic, curvy and full of adventures, but slow, Or NH 4 via

Pune and Kolhapur, 6 lane fast highway with runway like quality but could be

sometimes boring for driving enthusiast. Finally we left that decision for the day

and decided that we shall take the shot as we near Mumbai.

22nd

July. 3 30 AM. – Kitchen activity is on full swing, Puri Bhaji is being prepared.

Luggage is being loaded and last minute checks are being made. Finally after all

the double checks and customary prayer we are in the Captiva and start our 1100

km long journey at 4 am. We are on the newly laid Bharuch highway and doing it

Pune –Kolhapur NH

4 is one of the best in

this country



quite fast and past the Narmada bridge in no time, Crossing Narmada can be a big

hurdle during day time, It is ironic that people still rely on 120 years old British

build golden bridge while our own so called ‘new’ bridge is always under repairs.

As we near Surat in just less than two hrs it has started raining very heavily. But

this doesn’t hamper our progress thanks to good quality of roads and flyovers

which are made at every town thru which NH 8 passes. After Surat we realize that

it was too early to praise NHAI and we hit lots of diversions and road blocks.

Heavy downpour doesn’t really help.

8 30 am. Its 250 kms on the tripmeter

and we reach Dairy land (at Talasari)

very much in time for morning breakfast.

This is our favorite place for a breakwhile going to Mumbai and it is run by

famous Parsi dairy farm from Mumbai.

Set among the vast green lands with

trees, there is a roofed pathway leading

to old colonial bungalow which houses

this eatery. Services is quick, we order

mixed pakoras, sabudana wada and hot tea. Food is really tasty and I feel really

fresh and ready for next leg of our trip. (Do not forget to buy box of milk drop

sweets for your friends from here).

9 am. Time to change drivers and I am in navigator seat. Roads from here on,

though not very wide, but are smooth. This winding road passes thru and around

many mountains but practically run parallel to coast line. One can visit places like

Bordi, Dandi, and Manor if you have time for slight detour.

10 30 am we are at Ghodbunder road, the place from where one takes left turn if

you want to bypass the maximum city. In 5 and ½ hour we are in touching

Amboli DhabDhaba In its full

monsoon glory



distances of Mumbai, advantage of leaving early you see! But in ten minutes our

dream run ends as soon as we reach Mumbra by pass. We find ourselves among

the sea of stationary trucks all around us. After 10 minutes of being immobile we

start getting restless. Scene around is quite calm. Most have stalled their engines.

Many do not have anyone in

driver’s seat. Some of them are

having snacks on roadside stall.

I get the shock of life when I

find a helper taking bath in rear

of his truck. Everyone is

behaving as if they are at home rather than stuck on a highway. Ultimately

patience of my friend runs out, he gets down to enquire and response is “Hum to

idhar kal raat se hai”!. Somehow something clicks for us (May be morning prayer)

and jam cleared over next 1 hour. This is our worst timing 3 hrs to cover 100 km

to bypass Mumbai.

3 PM. It is decided that to cover as much distance as possible to day only its

imperative that we stick to NH 4 via Pune- Kolhapur and give a skip to costal

beauty. After having Lunch at Panvel, we hit the purple patch, Mumbai Pune -

express way. This is probably country’s best road to drive on. One can easily drive

at 150 -160 km /hr, But lane driving is still something Latin and Greek to Indian

drivers. And unlike in the west, here the slowest vehicles are the one who thinks it

is their birthright to hog the inner most lane, making everyone to overtake fromthe wrong side. Result is, I feel like I am playing a video game, driving on a six lane

highway at insane speed and overtaking vehicles from the right and sometime

from the left and sometime from the centre. Soon we hit the Western Ghats and

we slow down a bit. I remember, some thirty –thirty five years back when I used

to go to south with my dad as a 10 yr old kid, there used to be a small temple on

At Moti talav, savant

wadi- photstop



old Pune-Mumbai highway at the beginning of Ghats and all vehicles had to make

a customary stop here and pray for their safety. We have come a long way since

then. Here we are amidst the full glory of monsoon, cruising at the speed well

over 100 without realizing that you are crossing the section which was dreaded by

most travelers in the past. At the top near Khandala ghat we slow down to

appreciate the natural beauty

all around us. Rain washed

mountains with greenery all

over and the winding dark

tarmac going thru tunnels

and viaducts made a beautiful sites. Persistent rains in past few days is

responsible for lots of small waterfalls cascading by the side of rocky face of the

mountain, at places you can just take out your hand out of window and can

actually touch these falls. To complete the setting we have uninterrupted rainsgiving us company thru out so far. My only regret is on this highway is we cannot

make a tea stop or chiki buying stop at Lonavala, which is what we never failed to

do when we were travelling on old Pune highway. We have crossed Khandala in

no time and now heading towards Pune. The 2.6 liter Captiva is taking on the

Ghats with poise and power. Power is important while driving on the mountains,

our car is cutting thru the ghats and taking on the curves like a knife goes thru the

butter. Higher seating position all round good visibility are other plus points and

seeing those hatchbacks huffing and puffing over those slopes makes you feel

proud to own such a vehicle. Its only when we go outdoors we realize the true

value of these power packed SUVs.

5 PM. We are bypassing Pune. Lately Pune city has outgrown itself and has

engulfed this bypass within it, as a result lots two wheelers on the road. I

Couple trring “ fish

trick” from dil chahta

hai at arrosim beach



remember fondly that this is the city which gave me my first two wheeler, Luna

moped , way back in 1983-84. We feel like going in the city and having a coffee

and a muffin at the German bakery ( Blast or no blast this place serves some real

mouth watering delicacies) but lack of time doesn’t permit this, instead we

continue driving on and feast on our own the puri bhaji.

6 PM. We are on Pune –

Kolhapur road, another

winner, I think we can easily

cover these 200 kms in two

hrs. I am really thanking Mr

Atal Bihari Vajpayee for starting this Golden Quadrilateral project, only irritants

are those Toll plazas which pop out every now and then. And whats more they are

now not satisfied with 10 Rs, they want 40 or 50, Highest we paid was at Pune –

Mumbai expressway, whooping 140 bucks. We decide to halt at Kolhapur. Google

maps from my I phone also lets me know about hotels which are near highway. I

choose one of them and call to book a room when we are 50 kms away from

Kolhapur, what’s more we also talk to chef and ask him to prepare some dinner

with spicy dishes for us (main dish ?? Veg kolhapuri offcourse). We enter Kolhapur

exactly at 8 pm, some 800 kms from Vadodara. That is 16 hrs of driving in day,

enough to call it a day. After the well deserved dinner and pan we straight crash

on our beds.

23rd

8 am. After a healthy breakfast on a terrace restaurant we depart for GOA.

Today we just need to do 210 km and plan to reach hotel by check in time that’s

12 noon. After 35 km drive we reach Nipani, where we say goodbye to this

beautiful Tarmac and take a single lane country road. Day is slightly clearer than

guests v/s resort staff

foot ball match in full

rains- great fun



yesterday but soon becomes dark and cloudy as we take on to cross western

ghats second time in two days. Difference is drastic. Roads are narrow, monsoon

has created enough pot holes and it goes thru lots of villages. As we climb

towards Amboli the mist and cloud completely envelops us reducing visibility to

less than 5 meters. Oncoming traffic is only seen if their headlights are on. Fog

lights do come in handy here. After so many twists and turns we reach Amboli

Dhab Dhaba (waterfall in local language).This water fall is right on the road and

comes suddenly to your view as big surprise.

One must visit this place only in monsoon to

see this fall in its full glory. And when the fog

descends and one cannot see the adjacent

hills, it feels that the entire fall is descending

down towards you from the heaven! We had

a very refreshing ½ hr tea break here, where

we also feasted on Bhuttas and then headed

for Sawantwadi. As we left Amboli we started

our decent from ghats, road is slightly wider

and better. Delphi navigator is of great help

here guiding us thru every junction and small

inner roads. We are in Sawantwadi sharp at

11 am. This is very picture perfect sleepy

little town, and as we take a turn we come

to Moti talav , a large lake with lush green

hills all around. Site is such a pleasing one

that it is impossible not to stop here for few minutes. “Place is also famous for

preserving its heritage and specializes in wooden toys and dolls” – my friend

informs me from lonely planet guide book. I am wondering if one wants to see

real India it has to be by road and not by hopping from one metro to other by air.

12.30 pm Afternoon and we enter Goa state. You don’t need any signboard

though. Cool refreshing breeze from sea, swaying palms and lush green paddy

fields announces loudly that you have reached GOA.

Typical goan fisherman



As we were spending more time in journey, rather than the destination, this time

around we just had two days in Goa. But the whatever time we had was really

well spent in various activities like

playing beach football, swimming in

the pool while it was raining heavily,

having mock tails at Martin’s corner

(Sachin’s favorite restaurant in Goa) or

just gazing at the sea or walking alone

on a vast empty beaches. Really, Goa

never lets me down, It has so much of

everything that I never comeback

without promising Goa to come back

soon. But this time I wanted to talk

about the journey and not the

destination so GOA for some other time. Bye for now.

catch me on face book or at [email protected] with your comments

and views.

Log Book

Total Kms: 1100 (One way)

Journey time: 20 hrs

Diesel : 225 liters(9500 Rs)-both ways

Best section: Mumbai –pune express way

Worst section:Mumbai bypass via Mumbra

Fastest section: Pune- kolhapur

Star attraction: Amboli water falls

mailto:[email protected]



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road trip to goa in monsoon