Bike trip from Delhi to Cochin

[Jacob Puli]

Day 2

Pune to sangli Ahe...

Left pune before sunrise to avoid the city traffic. At this time of the day u get to pay more attention to the old buildings of pune with verandas and sloping roofs.

What u miss out in the peak rush hour. Thanks to the rains, the weather was really pleasant and the roads clean yet dry, vegetation so green. As we left the city behind and hit the open roads the scenery became even more beautiful. Clouds of mist still hung on the valley slopes, a felling of driving above the clouds. 100 km ahead we stopped for breakfast.

After that slowly the winding sections started. For some reason the bike was feeling a little under powered at the uphill sections. Saw a couple of guys heading towards pune from the Goa rider mania. There are a couple of tunnels in this route. The thump of the goldstar resonated sweetly in the tunnel. Reminded me of my yezdis exhaust note in the university underpass at trivandrum. This was pure bass. We felt as if the rain was trying to catch up with us. The rods we drove on were dry, but the clouds drizzled over us. Speed up and u leave the rain behind, u slog and the rain catches up to you.

Saw a new car all covered up, seemed like a Tata. Pranit called up in between to inform us that there is some problem happening in sangli, some hartal and to be careful. We din exactly understand what the situation was. The roads were smooth concrete and thick fully blossomed bougainvilleas in the median. Now thats a beautiful highway. Once u cross over into the south the effect of the tropics definitely reflects on the flora and fauna. the landscape becomes greener and u see a lot more of cultivated land or forests.

We crossed Satara and stopped for a break at Karad. Here when we spoke to Pranit we came to know that the problem in sangli was a little serious. The rioters had burnt some trucks because of the sugarcane prices. We carried on with caution, and by Gods grace saw no signs of trouble. We were greeted by Sethji at sangli by around 2 pm. After Lunch we had a quick guided tour of sangli and headed over to setjis residence at Miraj. Slept for a couple of hours.

Miraj is a Quiter and smaller town compared to Sangli. Sangli and its surrounding areas are known as the grape capital of India. there are large spances of sugarcane cultivation also. We went to visit Grover wines at miraj. To our luck we reached the factory half an hour after all the employees left!!

Headed off to Setjis own vineyards. Beautiful place it was. The skies were filling up with dark rain clouds, putting my next days trip on the balance.

I spoke to my friend Ravi from sangli. He is taking care of their family vineyard by himself. His farmhouse was under construction, so we decided to meet up at Miraj. Rahamathulla is the best non veg restaurant in Miraj. We tested it, and i certify it. Setji boarded the train and left for his cousins wedding. Ravi picked up his dad from the station and went home while we went back to Setjis house. Sandy left to pune by the 11 pm bus. By this time the rains had started pouring heavily. The local panchayath building was very nice and cute. Took a hot shower and went to sleep, was feeling a lil feverish.

 

[Jacob Puli]

Trying to put in one day at a time.. he he..

 

[Jacob Puli]

Day 3

Sangli to ratnagiri

Woke up at sunrise, feeling a lot better than last night. Even the rain had stopped. Had a small breakfast and bid farewell to pranits friends. Followed Miraj road which bypasses sangli and headed towards kholapur which was about 60 kms. The Miraj road passes Jaisingpur, Attigre and reaches Shiroli, from here u head left towards Kholapur. Kholapur is a huge town. As soon as i entered the town i saw an enfield service station. There was a long que of customers, i explained my situation and they after almost an hours wait, they tightened my disc break nuts and adjusted my rear breaks. Next time, carry a set of Allen keys. During the wait, i met an uncle who had also drove down from miraj to service his brand new Bullet. He and a couple of friendly locals gave me a quick class about Kholapur.

Kholapuri Chappls are available on Mahadwar Road. The two food items i had in mind was Misal Paav, nadf Kholapuri chicken. Misal paav was the best in udhyam nagar, which i had no idea where it was. So for lunch i thought of checking Opel restaurant. Opel and Padma were the two recommended to me by friends and locals. Opal seemed like an old clubhouse. But I would hav to wait for an hour for the lunch to start. So i headed off in search of Padma, on way i stopped at the New palace which is next to a lake. U have to collect the tickets from the gate before going to the top. Once u reach the top the security will ask u to go all the way down to buy tickets!! so i jus saw it from outside and left in search of Padma laxmi.

The waiter at Padma had no idea what i was talkin and i couldn understand a word of his marathi. I got irritated and left. I had been doing rounds around the city in vain, the heat and hunger was getting onto my nerves. A young chap came up to me and started asking about my exhaust pipe. I told him that i got it from delhi and asked him about where i can eat proper kholapuri chicken. As i was exiting the city he suggested that i try out the dabba on the outskirts. Once u cross the bridge on the ratnagiri highway, opposite to the BPCl pump there is a dabba. The food was really good, so was the hospitality. Finally i had my Kholapuri chicken. Misalpaav .. next time i come to buy chappals. Satisfied, i sat down with the owner and talked for a while. After some rest i headed onto the ratnagiri highway.

I am pretty shure u guys must have not noticed the turtle in the first picture. Its a temple, quite massive. I don know if its because of the heavy food or residue of last nights fever, I was feeling quiet tired. The scenery was dull and the roads were uneven. There was no joy in riding and suddenly the plain roads open into a spectacular valley. This is Ambha ghat, and they way it raises ur spirits is amazing. I have never seen such drastic change of scenery. Spent some time watching the scenery. The joy of riding came back and Ratnagiri was hardly 80 kms. The Ghat roads end near Sakharpa which is home to Sakharpa dam. U also pass Pali on the route which i have heard is famous for its trekking on the table top mountains.

I reached Ratnagiri by 5 in the evening. Took a room in Safari Asia at 800 rs per day. The room was pretty good for the nights halt. Had a Hot cofee took a bath and slept for a While. It was too late and i was too tired to make a trip to the Thibaw palace and the beach. Rather it would be better to go have dinner near the beach. It was then that i realised that i was put up quiet far away from the beach. Settled down in a corner of a sea facing bar/restaurant at Mandvi beach. A very small but cute restaurant with hardly a dozen folks including the staff. ordered Rum and coke and dinner. Being a coastal area, sea food seeed safe. Prawns roast.. one plate please. I called up my friends who were also heading to Goa. Sonam and Chirag were travelling by flight. Mayor Bizwa was travelling by train and would pass ratnagiri by 7 am. So i asked her to get down and join me till Goa. I soon became the center of discussion. People giving me tips of how to go to Goa all the way to how to live life. Everyone was in good spirits, he he.

People, to me, dont look down on travelers. They see u with respect, somehow envy you for they think ur more fortunate. People cribbing about stress of life and work tend to forget them for a moment, for maybe u give hope like a Bollywood film. Some relive and share their past experiences. When u go to new places where u meet people welcoming you with a warm heart, one just wont feel like stopping. But the truth is one day u have to sit on the other side of the table cribbing to another traveller, but when i got the chance.. i did it and shall not regret it. Cheers. Old Monk got into me tonight. time to head back and sleeep.

 

[sanuroxz]

Awesome Update

 

[hiambuj]

Jacob, nice updates.
Some pics in post 31 didn't attach. Please edit & upload again.

 

[Jacob Puli]

how do i give links to my other travelogs in the bottom of my post..?

... it worked...

 

[sanuroxz]

Go To Edit signature..

 

[Jacob Puli]

Day4

Woke up at 6.30 and went to the railway station. During my endless train travels to ahmedabad, i have always got down at the Ratnagiri station. As the train was late by half an hour , i decided to walk around and see the station. No Indian station will be inactive at any point of the day. There will be people living in the premises, some making their livelyhood, mad rush of commuters with red colored collies adding more confusion. And yes, the dreamy lot who just sit there, lost, staring at all this commotion without a clue.

The Plan was to reach Goa by 4 pm, before the rest of the gang reaches. It took another half an hour for the train to reach. Picked up wishwa and headed back to the hotel. Packed up and left Ratnagiri by 8.30. From Hatkamba we got onto NH 17. The weather was great and so were the roads. Passed Pali and Lanja before stopping somewhere near Vaked at a small tea shop for chai. It was the residence of the caretaker of the farm. Small cute place right nest to the fields and a small waterfall. Couple of firnags went past in their bullets. The amount of luggage the carry on the bike made my saddle bag look like a handbag.

The Roads in these sections have very little traffic and smooth tarmac. With endless winding roads cutting trough the natural beauty is great fun to drive. The plain lands have straight roads with big canopy tress on both sides. Every one hour we took breaks. By around 2.30 we had almost reached Sawanthwadi. Before sawantwadi u take a straight bypass which takes u right into Goa. Maybe its the distance, or just the eagerness to reach every Indian deam destination, Goa.. that made the ride seems painfully long.

Finally we crossed over to Goa. Yaaay.. Go Goa. Even though we had no intention of drinking, we stopped at the first wine shop and bought a can of chilled beer. We had reached Goa pretty much faster then expected. so we decided to visit..

Water fall. To our disappointment, the waterfall was dry. We had not had a proper meal since morning. The hunger anger was kicking in. Headed to wards baga beach where my friends were putting up. It was peack season and the whole place was bustling with tourist. So we avoided the beach side restaurant and settled in a small peacefully restaurant for lunch.. at 4 pm!! Finally, Goan fish curry and rice with a glass of chilled beer. no other way to treat ur hunger anger. By the time we were done with lunch the rest of the gang had reached the hotel. Its envious that how people are able to recollect the places that they have been to before maybe once. It took me more than three years to Figure out how to drive from vijay char rastha to IIM! After speaking to Chirag, Vishwa guided me trough the confusing, busy street to their hotel. The gang was meetup up after a pretty long time. Lot of screaming, hugging and abusing. Sat for a while, thanked vishwa for paying my bills till Goa and headed off to Panjim.

By the time i reached Panjim, the sun had set. The whole area was lit up for the IFFI. Goa is the permanent host for International Film Festival of India. Deepu was my classmate in architecture. While working in Trivandrum, we used to attend the IFFK. He had taken a two week vacation from his office to attend the IFFI. While planning the trip itself it was decided that ill reach Goa by the time the festival ends an will drive down to kerala with him.

We went inside to see the venue at . They stopped us at eh security check for regular inspection. Its then that i realised that the beer i bought in the morning was still in the bag. The person in charge asked us where we were from and politely explained about the requirements of the checking and let us go without doing the checking. The venue was really nice, and right next to the water. There were small venue put up by the sponsors outside the compound hosting various shows for the public on the street. Checked out a few before moving towards Colva.

Jittu was hosting us at Goa. He works as a manager in Park Hayatt. being peak season, Jittu was stuck with work and asked us to wait at the Colva beach. The drive to Colva was around 45 mins to an hour. While waiting at the parking lot, a bunch of goan dudes came in their pimed up Alto. They parked right in the middles, opened the boot and started paying loud Dj music. The sound system was actually good. Thats goa.. wherever u go, you party all along. And they invite everyone to party along. Soon Jitthu joined us and took us to our room. After dumping our luggage we went to the Shack at Colva for dinner. Ah, Goan life. Sound of the waves, (midnight, so no visuals) the sea breeze, ur feet in the sand, Ur best friends to share good food and chilled beer, and an endless conversation of nonsense. Headed back to our room, freshened up and hit the bed.

 

[sanuroxz]

Nice Update

 

[Jacob Puli]

Day 5

Goa is not a place u have to get up on time. Sleep all u want and then sleep more. The room was very close to the Benaulim beach. The place belonged to Jittus friends dad. There were a couple of firangs and bachelors staying in the nearby rooms. Talked to this German guy who has been staying there for the last 3 months. We headed towards the nearby junction for some breakfast. There was a St. Mary chapel which was the landmark. We had meatpuff, chai and baji pav for breakfast.The junction has Atm,s wineshop, hotels , mobile recharge, etc. all that's required for a traveler. And yes, walk able distance to the beach.

Headed to Johncys, the place to be in benaulim. This place is open troughout the year and bang on the beach. Had a light lunch before heading off to Jittus hotel. Being on a bike and wearing slippers, we din receive a warm welcome at Hayatt. When ur in goa u cant expect ur guest to come wearing formal clothes just because its a star hotel. OR maybe it was the language barrier, anyways with a few words exchanged they finally let me in when i gave Jittus reference. With over 250 rooms spread over 30+ acres of land, this place was huge. The buildings were elegantly done and the scale was not at all imposing.

Started off with a Jagger Bomb and pizza from the pool side bar. Thea a quick visit to the Opus bar which opens after dusk. Finally headed off to The Palms. The beach side bar which open during season. While Jittu served me a Martini, Bond style, Deepu had Blue label on the rocks. Man this is life.

Walked to the beach for sunset. The display of colours were amazing.
Sun path study

Spent some more time at the Palms waiting for Jittu. He had arranged for a golfcart to safely escort us drunkards out of the premises. Thanked him for the splendid time and headed back to the room.

Got back to our room after a quick dinner from the junction. The night was still young, well it was only evening! Decided to join my friends who were partying at palolem beach. Packed a bottle of Baileys in a bag of ice and followed the Google map route. Instead of taking the highway, we took a coastal route which was deserted. Maybe not the best decision when ur travelling so late. Would have been quite scenic if we were to travel en route at dawn or dusk. The gang was staying at Palolem Beach resort, a very nice place right next to the beach. Clean and spacious room at very reasonable prices. Headed off to the first shack where we got seating for dinner. then hopped a few more shacks.

There are a couple of shacks which are open 24 hours. Was not much of a happening crowd so headed back to the resort and set camp on Gandy, a fishing boat.

Spent the whole night on the beach sipping baileys. What better setting to spend time with your friends. Be it in a fancy restaurant, a pub, club or even in the forest, nothing captures the mind quite like a party next to the sea.