Blast from Past 2 : Murud Alibagh
The times have remained crazy ... So here is one more from the attic --- This was published in year 2006 on the 60kph (group I ride with) website:
Earlier Published as : "Sun and Sand - Murud Alibagh With 60kph"
This is the story of my trip to Murud and Alibag with 8 others in year 2006. The narrative may not have captured everything of the trip. Just like that lot of pictures that the camera's lenses cannot capture, for the mind's eye sees more than it can narrate. Also, the story barely tells you what a terribly good time we had. But it is more or less in totality the impressions of my bike ride. It is about the ride where my bike clocked 10,000km. It is also about the ride which made me change my clutch plate the third time ...
It is now more than two weeks that I got my 500cc bike from Noida to Mumbai. I am dying to take her out on a long ride. One ride for half a day to Lonavala is exciting and fun, but not enough. So when Gaurav calls me on a Friday and says that they plan to leave on the next day i.e Saturday 24th evening to Murud Janjira, I am very happy. I am a little worried about the lecture I have promised to take for Santosh till 6:00pm. But I some how got it pre-poned, so that it ended by 5:00.
I rush home, pick up my bag, and head towards Bandra, only to find no one. Slowly, the gang starts showing up. Zenosh is the first. Then comes Rohit Bal. Kyle comes along with an old Standard 350. Gaurav Jani, running late as always (as told by other crew ;)), appears with his red beauty, with two large carriers attached at the rear end.
Before we begin, I am a little sceptical to go along with this gang, since I don't know any of them. Even the person who invited me to this trip, Gaurav, is a stranger for me. Of course, my doubts are needless. Few revolutions of the wheels together, and it does not matter anymore.
I am glad to see Rohit Bal and his 500cc. So I have company, huh? I am even more satisfied to know that the gang pulls his leg (the proverbial 'Wolfpack' and all that) for this machine. For someone to make fun of 500cc, one needs to know the difference between 350 and 500. It also means that one knows how to take care of the bike in case something goes wrong in the ride. This is vital for someone like me, who's a dodo in such matters. So by 7:00pm, the last expected members of the group, Histasp and his wife Naazneen, appear on their newly bought 500cc and we start rolling.
The first half hour or so is maddening and every 2 minutes I wish I had stayed at home. The traffic in Sion and Chembur is crazy. I have a small skirmish with a Santro. And so we move on, at snail's pace, reach Chembur and pick Kuldeep. By this time, one member Vaibhav, seems to have lost contact with the pack. We find that he has gone very far ahead and so tell him to go ahead and wait for us at Wadkhal Naka, near Pen (100km from Mumbai).
Once we reach Vashi, which is around 8:30pm, the traffic gives way to some road. We stop following the next bumper and start actually riding. The weather is good, though humid. But there is cool breeze and that keeps you fresh. Ride till Panvel is pleasant. We go through Panvel, where we again meet some bad traffic. Once Panvel is done, though, the road winds up into the forest of Karnala and the road is simply super. Zenosh and I cross Karnala in the top gear and climb down into Pen. A few kilometers ahead of Pen is Wadkhal, where Vaibhav is waiting for us for the last half hour.
The rest of the crew appears one by one, exhausted by the dirty traffic but rejuvinated by the ride into Karnala woods. It is 10:30pm by now and Vaibhav tells us that Murud is another 70km from Wadkhal. It would take us another two hours at the minimum to reach Murud. So we change the plans and decide to go to Alibag instead, which is 25-odd km from Wadkhal.
To go to Alibag, one needs to break off from Mumbai-Goa highway, which takes a left turn south ways at Wadkhal. Instead, you head straight, follow the Vikram Ispat facility, and head westwards. The gang moves along this road. Zen and I pick up a quick chai and the legendary Vada-pav (the one single thing I missed in all my stay in Delhi) at the much-famed restaurant at the corner of Wadkhal.
By the time we hit the road again, the rest of the gang is out of site. The two of us pick up speed on the Alibag road, glad finally to get rid of the trucks and buses heading to Goa. The road starts straight, with small villages and fields on two sides, then winds up into a beautiful ghat, and climbs down some 10km before Alibag. It is chilly and pleasant in the hills. We ride at a constant 80kph. By the time we reach the Alibag entrance, we see taillights of the other 6 bulls, stopping at some pan shops to find a way to the beach. Some shops are still open, so we stock ourselves for the night and head towards the beach.
There are two beaches, Alibag and Rasoli. We decide to take the less-known Rasoli. Some locals tell us to go ahead and some tell us to go left. After much pontification, we push ourselves into one of the by-lanes to the left. Now this one goes through some backyards, and then suddenly opens into a large barran ground. The road is funny, with dry marshy sand, and our bikes jig a little on the way. After a while, we suddenly come to a halt. There is a wall of stones piled across. We can hear the sea.
The ground seems to be next to the beach. It is pleasant, breezy and hospitable. The sky is lit up with the summer constellations of Scorpion, Sagittarius and the likes. I am too glad to be near the sea, with its salty winds flowing across my face. The ground is solid, with some grass, so we can sleep here. It seems like a perfect place for camping.
Once the first problem (that of 'where to sleep') is tackled, a second comes up gurgling from the stomach and we head back again into the town to find a gastronomical solution. There is one restaurant, in front of Alibag MIDC, entertaining a small family at 1:00am in the night. They first refuse to feed us, since it is too late. But I guess somehow the opportunity that 9 hungry souls presented to the owner makes him take us in against his will.
Once inside, though, we are well fed and taken care of. After a good meal, we head towards the camping spot for some rest. We sit around the bikes, chatting and generally having a good time. The flashlight I tucked in the saddlebags at the last moment comes handy. Most of the discussion centers on the upcoming trip to Leh and Ladhak, for which 4 of us plan to join. I feel sad that I can't join them, even though I had made plans for the same some months ago, and had started putting add-ons to my bike for the proverbial trip. Anyway, some other time, I tell myself.
We have some visitors in the night. Daman and three others from Inddiethumppers call Histasp and inform that they have left Mumbai to join us. Gaurav and I ride back out of Alibag towards Wadkhal to pick them up. We meet them on the way, when they are speeding towards Alibag. There are 4 of them, on 3 bikes. We take them to the camping site. By this time, half the crew is fast asleep and beyond the limits of human intervention. Sleeping bags, mattresses and plastics are arranged in the space between the bikes. It is 3:30 in the morning. I am exhausted too. So I take Gaurav's sleeping bag, and without giving a single thought to what he will do and where he will sleep, join the sleeping fraternity. Poor guy, it seems he had to sleep on the tarpolin plastic.
The Night Interlude
I wake up by 6:00am, with the first rays of sun, to find Kyle and Vaibhav also getting out of their sleeps. We comment on the other people sleeping, and take funny pictures of their sleeping postures. One especially interesting posture is that of Zenosh, with his bala-glove (monkey cap), hand-gloves and two shirts one above the other (he is feeling feverish since the evening). I say that he looks like Spiderman and the name sticks to him for the rest of the trip.
Now in the sunlight is the first time we can see where we actually are. It is a large barren round, the size of two football grounds, with woods on one side and beach on the other. There is a pile of stones lined like a wall along the side of the seashore. On the other side are sand and then the sea.
We see the waves we have been hearing all-night, gentle and soothing. We also see a lot of activity on the sea front. There are half a dozen trawlers, and a number of locals are into the water to fetch the fish. What amazes me is that there are bullock-carts midway in the sea, with water reaching the animals' bellies. The bullocks don't seem to mind though, and are keeping good balance even in the soft sand and with waves hitting them 'below the belt'. Vaibhav crosses the pile of stones and goes towards the fishermen, for what I believe is a friendly neighborhood morning chat. His adventure however has a not-so-friendly end, as he cuts his right foot while crossing back the stonewall.
It is 7:00am by this time and people start getting up one by one. We pack our stuff and head towards the town again, only to find our food joint closed. We pursue the only fellow awake there to make us some tea, and then come to the main market in front of Alibag ST Stand. The area is buzzing with activity. We enter a small eating-place, have a horrible breakfast, and then start for Murud.
I have always found the road from Alibag to Murud most fascinating. This time I am covering it on a bike, and so it is even more pleasurable. Most of the road is covered with shade from trees on both sides, so the morning sun does not trouble us much. It is still very humid, though. Seashore accompanies you for most of the time. You see broken walls, pillers, barren houses with old-fashioned windows, and remains of the Maratha rule in the region. I see what I believe is the Khanderi fort to my right. The road winds in and out of small villages, where people are looking at us as if we are part of some circus promotion. I stop every now and then to take pictures.
Kashid Arrives
We reach Kashid. By this time, the urge to get into the water is only too over-powering. So we abandon the road for a while and dash our bikes into the sand. Of course, our bikes get stuck in the soft sand, which then leads to an exercise of pushing them one by one towards the seafront. An exercise worth carrying out, I must say, for Kashid beach is extremely beautiful and getting the bikes so close to the water that the waves reach the tyres is some experience.
It is low tide. There is very strong current in the water. Zenosh, Gaurav and Kuldeep brave the waves and do a full monty. I refrain from jumping into the sea, since I know I am over-enthusiastic and sea makes me go wild. Also the fact that I know swimming well always makes me over-confident. I have promised at home that I will stay away this one time. So I wet my legs, take pictures (as Histasp says, 'nude shots' ;)) and fool around on the sand.
After a lot of sun, sand, waves, and wind, we start back, again with the same exercise of pushing the machines one by one out of the sand. It is 12:30pm in the afternoon by now. The road from Kashid to Murud is completely coastal, winding along the seashore, and also going up and the hills. Perhaps the best road I have been near Mumbai. We see the Murud sea fort from a distance marooned in the water, basking in the sun, like a sadhu having bath in the river.
We move in a group, climbing down into Murud, only to find some barrels blocking the road. Two people flash some tickets to us, saying that there is a toll of 5 bucks for tourists in Murud. We find nothing of that effect written on the boards. Although there is a tax written for taxis, buses and tourist vehicles, there is nothing for individuals, certainly nothing for individuals on bikes. We find the entire thing fishy and ask the two guys to go play a fiddle somewhere else. So we enter the town with the warm welcome of the toll-men shouting and blowing whistles behind us.
Patil's Resturant in Murud - A Must-Visit
Zenosh knows a place in Murud, which is supposed to serve excellent fish. We search for the place, find it, also find that it really is famous, and so park our bikes in front of it. It turns out to be excellent fish fry, prawn fry, rice bhakris (thick rotis) and sol-kadhi (a local appetizer drink), although slightly expensive. While we are having our meal, Gaurav goes to a nearby hotel and talks to the manager to let us use his terrace for couple of hours of rest. This turns out to be a very wise decision, since all of us are tired and the Sun is really in her prime.
The terrace is well kept and has good breeze from the seafront. We take rest till 3:30pm, wait for the Sun to go down and then start for Janjira, the invincible sea fort. We don't have plans to go to Janjira, since it takes a ferry to reach the fort. We would have had to worry about parking the bikes and also the entire thing is very time-consuming. Anyway, most of us have already seen the fort from inside, and know that there is hardly anything there to see other than the superb Karal-bangdi canon, India's second biggest canon after Jaipur's Jai-vaan.
The entire area still carries with it an aura of the Siddis, the invincible rulers of Janjira. Siddis were, as I remember from my history books, part of a short dark African race called Habshi. It is a mystery how these people landed from Africa to this tiny island near Murud, but history has it that the Marathas tried umpteen number of times to win this fort, in vain. The dark Africans retained the fort, ruling the Murud area, till treachery gave an upper hand to the British, who finally demolished the Siddi empire.
The road sweeps out of Murud and heads toward Roha. The further we go, the more enjoyable the road becomes, with the signs of civilization and commercialization left further and further behind.
There are small villages on both sides of the road, but the distance between the village goes on becoming increasingly larger, and one spends most of the time riding in wilderness. All ride at a comfortable speed, slipping slowly into what can be termed as 'mature' riding. There is no hurry. We have nowhere in particular to go, no particular places to see, no particular limits of time. The road itself becomes the destination. I ride on my own, sometimes ahead of the group, sometimes behind. My ride into the Western Ghats (Sahyadri) is like meeting a long-lost friend, and I enjoy every moment of the re-union.
Back on the road
The group comes together again at a small village Bhalgaon. We rest for a while in a shack. The shop has a local soda pop with a funny name - "sanskaar", and equally funny flavors - orange, lemon and jal-jeera. We try all of them. Orange is too sweet for anyone's taste, lemon is bland (tastes like only soda), and jal-jeera is .. Well, jal-jeera. We resume our climb into the Ghats towards Roha.
There comes a 'Y' where one road shows 'Roha - 10km', while the other shows 'Roha - 5km'. We think that this is a no-brainer and decide to save time and petrol. The road is awesome. It goes steep up and then runs down wild. We see a couple of scooters climbing it the other way. It is sincerely hoped that they reached wherever they wanted to, without much trouble. The road takes speed flowing down like a waterfall, and then suddenly lands into some residential complex. Kids playing cricket have a hard time holding onto their excitement seeing 8 motorbikes suddenly appearing out of nowhere on their playfield. We are in Roha.
Roha to Kolad is a good 8km ride. It is a state highway, just like Murud to Roha, but there the comparison ends. It is flat, wide and has a lot of traffic. The Murud - Roha road looks as if it is made of a dinosaur's ribs. The Roha - Kolad road is as smooth as peanut butter. I guess this is mainly due to the Pepsi production plant in Roha. Like everywhere else, the country is run not by politicians, but by industrialists.
Kolad is where we join again to Mumbai - Goa highway. Mumbai is now 120-odd km from here. The road is busy, but familiar to me. So I take the lead. It is now 7:00pm, the evening is dusky and I want to reach Karnala before it is too dark. The weather is better than yesterday, less humid and hot. I reach Wadkhal, find my way out of the traffic, and head towards Karnala. I can see the silhouette of Karnala's famous 'thumb hill' on the ink blue background of the evening sky. Some 40 km more bring me to Panvel. The roads are less busy as compared to yesterday and I easily cross Panvel to reach McDonalds on the other side of the town. I wait for the gang, with a Filet-o-fish and coke in hand.
Once all have arrived, we start our journey into civilization. The rest of the ride is uneventful, with each finding his own way through the busy roads filled with smockey trucks and buses, finally to meet in front of Vile Parle Centaur Hotel, only to bid each other farewell till the next weekend.
This is the long and short of my first ride with 60kph in Mumbai. I have written most of this on the same evening I got back. So I am sure there is a lot that is wobbly and shacky. The sun has made my brains swim and the sand is still ticking in my ears. And yes, don't tell anyone, I have this lovely pain running down my spine, characteristic of a long and satisfying bike ride.
Best
- Shreekant
21 March 2009
Earlier Published on 9 July 2006
Earlier Published as : "Sun and Sand - Murud Alibagh With 60kph"
This is the story of my trip to Murud and Alibag with 8 others in year 2006. The narrative may not have captured everything of the trip. Just like that lot of pictures that the camera's lenses cannot capture, for the mind's eye sees more than it can narrate. Also, the story barely tells you what a terribly good time we had. But it is more or less in totality the impressions of my bike ride. It is about the ride where my bike clocked 10,000km. It is also about the ride which made me change my clutch plate the third time ...
It is now more than two weeks that I got my 500cc bike from Noida to Mumbai. I am dying to take her out on a long ride. One ride for half a day to Lonavala is exciting and fun, but not enough. So when Gaurav calls me on a Friday and says that they plan to leave on the next day i.e Saturday 24th evening to Murud Janjira, I am very happy. I am a little worried about the lecture I have promised to take for Santosh till 6:00pm. But I some how got it pre-poned, so that it ended by 5:00.
I rush home, pick up my bag, and head towards Bandra, only to find no one. Slowly, the gang starts showing up. Zenosh is the first. Then comes Rohit Bal. Kyle comes along with an old Standard 350. Gaurav Jani, running late as always (as told by other crew ;)), appears with his red beauty, with two large carriers attached at the rear end.
Before we begin, I am a little sceptical to go along with this gang, since I don't know any of them. Even the person who invited me to this trip, Gaurav, is a stranger for me. Of course, my doubts are needless. Few revolutions of the wheels together, and it does not matter anymore.
I am glad to see Rohit Bal and his 500cc. So I have company, huh? I am even more satisfied to know that the gang pulls his leg (the proverbial 'Wolfpack' and all that) for this machine. For someone to make fun of 500cc, one needs to know the difference between 350 and 500. It also means that one knows how to take care of the bike in case something goes wrong in the ride. This is vital for someone like me, who's a dodo in such matters. So by 7:00pm, the last expected members of the group, Histasp and his wife Naazneen, appear on their newly bought 500cc and we start rolling.
The first half hour or so is maddening and every 2 minutes I wish I had stayed at home. The traffic in Sion and Chembur is crazy. I have a small skirmish with a Santro. And so we move on, at snail's pace, reach Chembur and pick Kuldeep. By this time, one member Vaibhav, seems to have lost contact with the pack. We find that he has gone very far ahead and so tell him to go ahead and wait for us at Wadkhal Naka, near Pen (100km from Mumbai).
Once we reach Vashi, which is around 8:30pm, the traffic gives way to some road. We stop following the next bumper and start actually riding. The weather is good, though humid. But there is cool breeze and that keeps you fresh. Ride till Panvel is pleasant. We go through Panvel, where we again meet some bad traffic. Once Panvel is done, though, the road winds up into the forest of Karnala and the road is simply super. Zenosh and I cross Karnala in the top gear and climb down into Pen. A few kilometers ahead of Pen is Wadkhal, where Vaibhav is waiting for us for the last half hour.
The rest of the crew appears one by one, exhausted by the dirty traffic but rejuvinated by the ride into Karnala woods. It is 10:30pm by now and Vaibhav tells us that Murud is another 70km from Wadkhal. It would take us another two hours at the minimum to reach Murud. So we change the plans and decide to go to Alibag instead, which is 25-odd km from Wadkhal.
To go to Alibag, one needs to break off from Mumbai-Goa highway, which takes a left turn south ways at Wadkhal. Instead, you head straight, follow the Vikram Ispat facility, and head westwards. The gang moves along this road. Zen and I pick up a quick chai and the legendary Vada-pav (the one single thing I missed in all my stay in Delhi) at the much-famed restaurant at the corner of Wadkhal.
By the time we hit the road again, the rest of the gang is out of site. The two of us pick up speed on the Alibag road, glad finally to get rid of the trucks and buses heading to Goa. The road starts straight, with small villages and fields on two sides, then winds up into a beautiful ghat, and climbs down some 10km before Alibag. It is chilly and pleasant in the hills. We ride at a constant 80kph. By the time we reach the Alibag entrance, we see taillights of the other 6 bulls, stopping at some pan shops to find a way to the beach. Some shops are still open, so we stock ourselves for the night and head towards the beach.
There are two beaches, Alibag and Rasoli. We decide to take the less-known Rasoli. Some locals tell us to go ahead and some tell us to go left. After much pontification, we push ourselves into one of the by-lanes to the left. Now this one goes through some backyards, and then suddenly opens into a large barran ground. The road is funny, with dry marshy sand, and our bikes jig a little on the way. After a while, we suddenly come to a halt. There is a wall of stones piled across. We can hear the sea.
The ground seems to be next to the beach. It is pleasant, breezy and hospitable. The sky is lit up with the summer constellations of Scorpion, Sagittarius and the likes. I am too glad to be near the sea, with its salty winds flowing across my face. The ground is solid, with some grass, so we can sleep here. It seems like a perfect place for camping.
Once the first problem (that of 'where to sleep') is tackled, a second comes up gurgling from the stomach and we head back again into the town to find a gastronomical solution. There is one restaurant, in front of Alibag MIDC, entertaining a small family at 1:00am in the night. They first refuse to feed us, since it is too late. But I guess somehow the opportunity that 9 hungry souls presented to the owner makes him take us in against his will.
Once inside, though, we are well fed and taken care of. After a good meal, we head towards the camping spot for some rest. We sit around the bikes, chatting and generally having a good time. The flashlight I tucked in the saddlebags at the last moment comes handy. Most of the discussion centers on the upcoming trip to Leh and Ladhak, for which 4 of us plan to join. I feel sad that I can't join them, even though I had made plans for the same some months ago, and had started putting add-ons to my bike for the proverbial trip. Anyway, some other time, I tell myself.
We have some visitors in the night. Daman and three others from Inddiethumppers call Histasp and inform that they have left Mumbai to join us. Gaurav and I ride back out of Alibag towards Wadkhal to pick them up. We meet them on the way, when they are speeding towards Alibag. There are 4 of them, on 3 bikes. We take them to the camping site. By this time, half the crew is fast asleep and beyond the limits of human intervention. Sleeping bags, mattresses and plastics are arranged in the space between the bikes. It is 3:30 in the morning. I am exhausted too. So I take Gaurav's sleeping bag, and without giving a single thought to what he will do and where he will sleep, join the sleeping fraternity. Poor guy, it seems he had to sleep on the tarpolin plastic.
The Night Interlude
I wake up by 6:00am, with the first rays of sun, to find Kyle and Vaibhav also getting out of their sleeps. We comment on the other people sleeping, and take funny pictures of their sleeping postures. One especially interesting posture is that of Zenosh, with his bala-glove (monkey cap), hand-gloves and two shirts one above the other (he is feeling feverish since the evening). I say that he looks like Spiderman and the name sticks to him for the rest of the trip.
Now in the sunlight is the first time we can see where we actually are. It is a large barren round, the size of two football grounds, with woods on one side and beach on the other. There is a pile of stones lined like a wall along the side of the seashore. On the other side are sand and then the sea.
We see the waves we have been hearing all-night, gentle and soothing. We also see a lot of activity on the sea front. There are half a dozen trawlers, and a number of locals are into the water to fetch the fish. What amazes me is that there are bullock-carts midway in the sea, with water reaching the animals' bellies. The bullocks don't seem to mind though, and are keeping good balance even in the soft sand and with waves hitting them 'below the belt'. Vaibhav crosses the pile of stones and goes towards the fishermen, for what I believe is a friendly neighborhood morning chat. His adventure however has a not-so-friendly end, as he cuts his right foot while crossing back the stonewall.
It is 7:00am by this time and people start getting up one by one. We pack our stuff and head towards the town again, only to find our food joint closed. We pursue the only fellow awake there to make us some tea, and then come to the main market in front of Alibag ST Stand. The area is buzzing with activity. We enter a small eating-place, have a horrible breakfast, and then start for Murud.
I have always found the road from Alibag to Murud most fascinating. This time I am covering it on a bike, and so it is even more pleasurable. Most of the road is covered with shade from trees on both sides, so the morning sun does not trouble us much. It is still very humid, though. Seashore accompanies you for most of the time. You see broken walls, pillers, barren houses with old-fashioned windows, and remains of the Maratha rule in the region. I see what I believe is the Khanderi fort to my right. The road winds in and out of small villages, where people are looking at us as if we are part of some circus promotion. I stop every now and then to take pictures.
Kashid Arrives
We reach Kashid. By this time, the urge to get into the water is only too over-powering. So we abandon the road for a while and dash our bikes into the sand. Of course, our bikes get stuck in the soft sand, which then leads to an exercise of pushing them one by one towards the seafront. An exercise worth carrying out, I must say, for Kashid beach is extremely beautiful and getting the bikes so close to the water that the waves reach the tyres is some experience.
It is low tide. There is very strong current in the water. Zenosh, Gaurav and Kuldeep brave the waves and do a full monty. I refrain from jumping into the sea, since I know I am over-enthusiastic and sea makes me go wild. Also the fact that I know swimming well always makes me over-confident. I have promised at home that I will stay away this one time. So I wet my legs, take pictures (as Histasp says, 'nude shots' ;)) and fool around on the sand.
After a lot of sun, sand, waves, and wind, we start back, again with the same exercise of pushing the machines one by one out of the sand. It is 12:30pm in the afternoon by now. The road from Kashid to Murud is completely coastal, winding along the seashore, and also going up and the hills. Perhaps the best road I have been near Mumbai. We see the Murud sea fort from a distance marooned in the water, basking in the sun, like a sadhu having bath in the river.
We move in a group, climbing down into Murud, only to find some barrels blocking the road. Two people flash some tickets to us, saying that there is a toll of 5 bucks for tourists in Murud. We find nothing of that effect written on the boards. Although there is a tax written for taxis, buses and tourist vehicles, there is nothing for individuals, certainly nothing for individuals on bikes. We find the entire thing fishy and ask the two guys to go play a fiddle somewhere else. So we enter the town with the warm welcome of the toll-men shouting and blowing whistles behind us.
Patil's Resturant in Murud - A Must-Visit
Zenosh knows a place in Murud, which is supposed to serve excellent fish. We search for the place, find it, also find that it really is famous, and so park our bikes in front of it. It turns out to be excellent fish fry, prawn fry, rice bhakris (thick rotis) and sol-kadhi (a local appetizer drink), although slightly expensive. While we are having our meal, Gaurav goes to a nearby hotel and talks to the manager to let us use his terrace for couple of hours of rest. This turns out to be a very wise decision, since all of us are tired and the Sun is really in her prime.
The terrace is well kept and has good breeze from the seafront. We take rest till 3:30pm, wait for the Sun to go down and then start for Janjira, the invincible sea fort. We don't have plans to go to Janjira, since it takes a ferry to reach the fort. We would have had to worry about parking the bikes and also the entire thing is very time-consuming. Anyway, most of us have already seen the fort from inside, and know that there is hardly anything there to see other than the superb Karal-bangdi canon, India's second biggest canon after Jaipur's Jai-vaan.
The entire area still carries with it an aura of the Siddis, the invincible rulers of Janjira. Siddis were, as I remember from my history books, part of a short dark African race called Habshi. It is a mystery how these people landed from Africa to this tiny island near Murud, but history has it that the Marathas tried umpteen number of times to win this fort, in vain. The dark Africans retained the fort, ruling the Murud area, till treachery gave an upper hand to the British, who finally demolished the Siddi empire.
The road sweeps out of Murud and heads toward Roha. The further we go, the more enjoyable the road becomes, with the signs of civilization and commercialization left further and further behind.
There are small villages on both sides of the road, but the distance between the village goes on becoming increasingly larger, and one spends most of the time riding in wilderness. All ride at a comfortable speed, slipping slowly into what can be termed as 'mature' riding. There is no hurry. We have nowhere in particular to go, no particular places to see, no particular limits of time. The road itself becomes the destination. I ride on my own, sometimes ahead of the group, sometimes behind. My ride into the Western Ghats (Sahyadri) is like meeting a long-lost friend, and I enjoy every moment of the re-union.
Back on the road
The group comes together again at a small village Bhalgaon. We rest for a while in a shack. The shop has a local soda pop with a funny name - "sanskaar", and equally funny flavors - orange, lemon and jal-jeera. We try all of them. Orange is too sweet for anyone's taste, lemon is bland (tastes like only soda), and jal-jeera is .. Well, jal-jeera. We resume our climb into the Ghats towards Roha.
There comes a 'Y' where one road shows 'Roha - 10km', while the other shows 'Roha - 5km'. We think that this is a no-brainer and decide to save time and petrol. The road is awesome. It goes steep up and then runs down wild. We see a couple of scooters climbing it the other way. It is sincerely hoped that they reached wherever they wanted to, without much trouble. The road takes speed flowing down like a waterfall, and then suddenly lands into some residential complex. Kids playing cricket have a hard time holding onto their excitement seeing 8 motorbikes suddenly appearing out of nowhere on their playfield. We are in Roha.
Roha to Kolad is a good 8km ride. It is a state highway, just like Murud to Roha, but there the comparison ends. It is flat, wide and has a lot of traffic. The Murud - Roha road looks as if it is made of a dinosaur's ribs. The Roha - Kolad road is as smooth as peanut butter. I guess this is mainly due to the Pepsi production plant in Roha. Like everywhere else, the country is run not by politicians, but by industrialists.
Kolad is where we join again to Mumbai - Goa highway. Mumbai is now 120-odd km from here. The road is busy, but familiar to me. So I take the lead. It is now 7:00pm, the evening is dusky and I want to reach Karnala before it is too dark. The weather is better than yesterday, less humid and hot. I reach Wadkhal, find my way out of the traffic, and head towards Karnala. I can see the silhouette of Karnala's famous 'thumb hill' on the ink blue background of the evening sky. Some 40 km more bring me to Panvel. The roads are less busy as compared to yesterday and I easily cross Panvel to reach McDonalds on the other side of the town. I wait for the gang, with a Filet-o-fish and coke in hand.
Once all have arrived, we start our journey into civilization. The rest of the ride is uneventful, with each finding his own way through the busy roads filled with smockey trucks and buses, finally to meet in front of Vile Parle Centaur Hotel, only to bid each other farewell till the next weekend.
This is the long and short of my first ride with 60kph in Mumbai. I have written most of this on the same evening I got back. So I am sure there is a lot that is wobbly and shacky. The sun has made my brains swim and the sand is still ticking in my ears. And yes, don't tell anyone, I have this lovely pain running down my spine, characteristic of a long and satisfying bike ride.
Best
- Shreekant
21 March 2009
Earlier Published on 9 July 2006
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