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Serenity of Ratnagiri – A truly Serene experience

Every ride brings out a new rider in you. It makes you learn something. It helps you conquer your fears. It makes you challenge your abilities. And if you are a good learner, you will come out as evolved rider after each successful ride.

Konkan Moto Tour’s Tour of Serenity of Ratnagiri was one of such enduring ride, where our skills and patience were tested to its best. It was 2 days of pleasRoyal-Enfield-Bulleture mixed with some of the challenging routes and difficult riding conditions. We encountered almost all sorts of roads and situations during this ride. We drove through smooth tarmac roads, curvy ghats, difficult off-roads and some of dusty patches too. Riding conditions were equally challenging. Swinging mood of weather also played its game throughout day by swinging temperature from pleasant low to humidly high. But overall, it was a pleasure ride where each rider enjoyed every bit of it!

It was around 4:30 of Saturday morning and my alarm started ringing. I got up from my bed and immediately called Abhishek to wake him up. Quickly, I put on my riding gear and went downstairs to kickstart my bike. By approx. 5:30, I was with Abhishek and we headed to pick up Ramesh – Mechanic for this ride. As decided earlier, we were to reach Kalanagar Bus stop where Aditya, Sandeep and Pratish would join us along with Service vehicle. It was 6 AM when we all got together at Bandra, to head towards Panvel.

Sun was rising and we could feel the heat early in morning. It was pretty clear that this wriders-getting-ready-bike-rideould be a hot, sunny ride and we were mentally prepared to take the challenge ahead. We reached Vitthal Kamath’s at approx. 7:30, where all other riders were waiting for us for breakfast. After heavy breakfast and some good chat with old rider buddies, everyone was now ready for ride. Passionate riders kick started bikes in full spirit to embark on another memorable journey of life. It was approx. 9 AM when we started on NH 17.

We reached Tol Phata in less than 2 hours. A quick break for chai and we started again towards Dapoli.  So far ride was smooth and everyone was enjoying. Sun was playing its role and we were enjoying bright and sunny sight around Western ghats. Dapoli is a beautiful place with Sahyadri range near Khed District and Arabian sea on other side. We had awesome Konkoni lunch at Dapoli and we moved towards Dabhol to take ferry boat for Dhopve Jetty. Road from Dapoli to Dabhol was full of curves and climbs.  While we were waiting for ferry boat at Dabhol, we got news about Karan, one of very close friend and joyful rider. His bike got punctured on the way and our support staff had to stop and fix the problem. Meanwhile, we took Jetty to cross the backwaters and reached Dhopve. We drove for another 15kms and we reached Gopalgad fort. I must say, it was one of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever seen in my life. Infinite Arabian sea covering fort walls from three sides and we could see sunset from cliff standing high besides fort.  It was one more reason for me to fall in love with beautiful Konkan.

It was getting dark and we still tol-phata-ride-towards-dapolihad to reach back to Karde where we were to stay overnight. We quickly drove towards Dhopve where Karan and Abhishek were waiting for us. Karan’s bike was fixed by now and we were ready to move towards Karde. I and Abhishek decided to ride at end of trail to make sure everyone reaches Dapoli safely. We drove through same route.  I experienced innate calmness of Sahyadri Range while driving through those quite ghats in moonlight. What a peaceful experience it was. We reached back to Dapoli at approx. 8 PM where all riders had reached before us, safely. Pratish led the troupe to Karde and we reached our Sea-facing hotel at approx 9 PM. That was probably end of ride for day 1, but definitely not the end of day. We had arranged bonfire meet-up on sea face. Everyone quickly had dinner and got together at place to share their experiences of day. Some good, some spicy experiences and we spent good time gelling up with each other. As the night went on, we were getting waiting-for-ferry-boat-at-dabholhigh on alcohol. While everyone went to sleep in some time, Me, Ketan, Abhishek and Raj went on talking about everything under sun. Ketanbaba enlightened us with some of awesomest ‘Ketan-isms’ and we thoroughly enjoyed each and every word. Finally, we went to sleep at 3 AM. What a perfect end of perfect riding day!

Getting up was really difficult next day. We got up really late and got together for briefing session at 10 AM. It was really late and so we decided to skip lunch break today. We moved towards Khed, where smooth tarmac curves welcomed us to enjoy curvy ride on ‘em. From Khed, we took left turn to move towards Kashedi Ghat on NH17. Road condition was really nice and we were cruising at 80-90 on perfectly made Maharashtra Highways. Kashedi Ghat is must-do destination for all ride lovers. Beautifully carved curves on Ghats and scenic greenery on each side of Ghat makes it worth visiting. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride on curves. Taking curves on such ghats is completely different experience. It makes you learn a lot about riding and balance. After that we took right turn to move towards Bhor Ghat. Bhor Ghat is a mountain passage within Sahyadri Range that connects NH 17 to NH 4. Roads were extremely bad while climbing the Ghats, however it was equally smooth and joyful when we moved towards NH 4. We stopped on top of Ghats to have some snacks as all of us were starving without food. A small road side vendor kept on serving Vada pao and Bhujiyas to us for almost an hour. We started from Bhor Ghat approx. at 3 PM to move towards Rajewadi.

bhor-ghatAt approx. 4:30 we reached NH 4, and stopped for Chai. So far, everyone was happy with today’s ride and thrilled to complete the last leg of ride before it was dark. We quickly started on NH 4 towards Pune. There was bad traffic and we had to control our speeds until we reached Lonavala. We halted at Lonavala at 7:30 to make sure everyone starts ride together. Driving in night in itself is a challenge. You have to have riding guts to ride in dark on mountain roads. I was leading the pack, cruising at 80-90 to reach Mumbai. Within an hour or so, I reached Lonavala where other riders too followed in next 30 minutes.  After having last Chai of the day, we officially announced end of Serenity of Ratnagiri. In my words, it was truly an amazing experience. It helped me learn a lot about riding. I definitely came out as more experienced and matured rider. Not to mention, I also made few good friends and experienced serenity of Ratnagiri district. Truly, the name of ride made justice to it.

Konkan-Moto-Tours-Serenity-of-Ratnagiri-Riders

About Author:

Tanmay Shanishchara, is part of Team Konkan Moto Tours and also a passionate rider. He believes in riding hard and enjoys telling stories about his bike rides. He owns Royal Enfield Bullet, Standard 350 and proudly calls it ‘Ironhide’.

Exploring beautiful Dabhol beach on Konkan Coast

Dabhol-ratnagiri-mapDabhol town is located on the south-west border of Dapoli in Ratnagiri district of  Maharashtra in Konkan. Vashishthi River flowing from Chiplun merges into the sea at Dabhol and is called as Dabhol creek. Major attractions of Dabhol are Chandikadevi Mandir (temple of Goddess Chandika) and a fishing jetty has made it increasingly popular as a tourist destination in Konkan.

The idol of Godess Chandika here, believed to be have formed naturally on its own (Swayambhu) and the temple is underground in a natural cave. To reach the deity, you have to pass through a low darkened passage. No light is allowed inside except that of oil lamp. There is a live spring of fresh water nearby which water all around the year has. Every year pilgrims throng here during Navaratri. This temple is very ancient and used to be frequently visited by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Panoramic view of Dabhol Power Project (Enron), creek and town is one of beauty of Dabhol. An ideal place to enjoy serenity is a small but amazingly hidden beach of black sand and thick plantation of sheoak (Suruche Ban) along the Dabhol backwaters and the beautiful port in Dabhol Harbor. Dabhol has something to give whether fishing from the jetty, boating, or just scroll along village street. Over the last few years, dolphin watching has come of age as an exciting, inspiring activity of growing popularity in this area. There are some ferry boats also which take you into Dabhol Backwaters as well as into the deep sea for a ride and dolphin watching.

creekside-dabhol

The Dabhol port boasts of centuries old history. Dabhol was of great importance in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It used to be the principal port of South Konkan region, carrying on trade with ports in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. During 13th to 15th centuries this port was ruled by the Bahamani dynasty and was known as Mustafabad. Later on it was Hamjabad and then it was Dabhol. You can find many religious places of Hindus and Muslims. There is a fine mosque called Shahi Masjid with dome and minarets standing close to the port which was built in Adilshah’s Regime. It is said that Adilshah’s Begum spent around 1.5 million rupees in Indian currency for the construction of this mosque. Shahi Masjid is an excellent example of Muslim architecture. Dabhol was previously very famous, but of late much ruined by the Wars, and decreased in trade.

Dabhol-creekview

Gopalgad is another historical fort can be witnessed half an hour’s walk through the wood from the fishing village Anjanvel. Beautiful lighthouse and two ancient temples are located at the end of sea side of the fort.

There are ferry services to take you with your vehicles even cars and jeeps across creek from Dabhol to Dhopave.

Dabhol to Dopave ferry

enron-project-dabhol

Dabhol is one the place to eat fish and is definitely treat for non-vegetarian lovers to enjoy local fishes in local recipe to end up spicing up routine life.

Travel Details

From Mumbai

275kms, approximately 5 hours by road

Panvel – NH17 – Right@Goregaon – Ambet – Mandangad – Kadivali – Dapoli – Dabhol

From Pune

225km, approximately 4hours by road

Pune – NH4 – Right onto Bhor ghat – Birwadi – cross NH17@Rajewadi – Dapoli – Dabhol