Ganpatipule – Serenity of Ratnagiri 2 – A ride to remember

Serenity of Ratnagiri 2 was supposed to be longest ride of Konkan Moto Tours so far. We had done 550 kms during Ecstasy of Raigad, 500 kms during Tranquility of Tapola and highest 650 kms during Serenity of Ratnagiri 1. However, this time target was more than 700. Moreover, I was supposed to handle this ride single handedly. Abhishek was busy with some business work in Mumbai and Tanmay was busy finding a new place to stay in Mumbai, a real pain in ass!

I had done the recce earlier and was well aware of route. I decided to take Sagar along with me on ride, to manage logistics from service vehicle. This was probably first time, when I got up at time and reached Panvel at bang 7:00 AM. See, sense of duty changes your behavior. As instructed, everyone had arrived to Datta Vada pao by 7:15 and we quickly started riding towards Balaji restaurant, our location for breakfast. Balaji restaurant is situated at Poladpur, on NH 17. Its approx. 140 kms from Mumbai and we decided to make it our first re-group point. These 140 kms were probably the most exotic riding experience I ever had. Early morning breeze, chilling weather and shivering bodies, roaring engines and that cold air passing through your helmet… the whole thing was worth experiencing. There were some foggy patches on NH 17, adding thrill to whole experience. We reached Balaji restaurant at 9:30, pretty fast considering a group of 15 riders were riding together. Everyone was thrilled by this first phase of riding and enjoyed a lot. We had some breakfast while Sagar distributed T-shirts and maps to everyone. I briefed everyone about day’s ride plan and we were to ride again at 10:15.

Though it was a beautiful start, destiny had some different plan for today. We smoothly crossed Kashedi ghat and reached Khed. We took right turn towards western coast to reach Dabhol. We were supposed to take ferryboat from Dabhol to reach Dhopve. Just before Dabhol, Aparajita’s (aka Apa) bike slipped and she fell from bike. Bike’s footrest got damaged and Apa too had some minor injuries. This was first serious fall on any KMT ride. We waited for backup vehicle and gave her first-aid & painkillers.  After some relief and rest, Apa showed her riding spirit and got on her bike again to complete the trip. We were just about to start riding again, when a local guy came to us and told us, if someone is missing from our group. We all looked at each other and found Karan was missing. Then he said, there is guy lying on road and people are helping him get up. I was shocked! This was something!! I quickly asked Sagar to go and control the situation. Karan was safe, he went off-road while negotiating with a local bus and fell on side. He broke his headlights in this minor accident, but came out safe and un-injured. I thanked god and re-briefed everyone to ride with each other. Clear instruction was, ride within ‘Line of Sight’. Meaning, everyone should be able to see trailing rider in their rear view mirror. This helped us get momentum and ensure safety of everyone.

Finally, we reached Dabhol and few of us got on to ferryboat to reach Dhopve. Few of us waited at Dabhol for next round of ferry. It was 1 pm and ferryboat stopped for lunch break in between. We wasted approx. 1 hour waiting for ferry and reached Dhopve at 2. We decided to have our lunch (which we carried in packs from Balaji hotel) there only. I approached a local person, and asked if we could use his verandah to sit and have lunch. He happily allowed us. Not only that, he also arranged for chattai and water for all of us. I must say, local people in Konkan are very emotional and helpful. After nice lunch, we moved on. It was dusty, patchy and stoney road, that took us to Tawsal where we took another ferry to reach jaigad. From there, it was few minutes run towards malgund, where we were supposed to stay over night. We reached Tranquility resort, but our service vehicle was far behind us. It took 2 hours for vehicle to arrive and we spent that time having some tea and good conversations about today’s ride.

Now it was time when all riders got fresh and got together for a good session over drinks. It was Rajesh’s marriage anniversary and we celebrated it by cutting a cake and singing songs. After few pegs, Rajesh started story of his life and marriage. To introduce you guys to Rajesh, he is a successful businessman and family loving person. He rides a Honda Valkyrie, a Suzuki Intruder and a Pulsar. This time, he chose his Valkyrie to ride with us. He told us how important family and friends are in a person’s life. It was really late now and I was worried about next day’s ride. I decided to go to my room and catch some sleep.

Next morning was critical for Apa. She was feeling acute pain and her leg was swollen. We decided to wait for some time while she gets ready. Fortunately, we had a Doc riding with us, Mateen Patel. He helped Apa with some medication and dressing. She felt good and got ready for riding at 10 am. Everyone was up afresh and rejuvenated. We first went to Ganpatipule temple to seek blessings of Bappa. After darshan and refueling, we started on Rai-Bhatgaon beach route. KMT carefully and meticulously choses route of each ride. This route was especially chosen to provide a different experience to riders. It’s a narrow, coastal route, passing through some dense forests and exciting curves. Everyone enjoyed the ride. We stopped at a point for some photographs and a refreshing tea. Zeehan, who rides Karizma ZMR started showing his stunting skills. He tried to show some stunts including wheelie and stoppie, but could not perform and everyone had good fun watching him trying. We started from here at 1:30 to reach Savarde on NH17.

Road till Savarde is narrow, long stretched and open on both sides. We were riding at full speed and it gave us a completely different experience. We reached hotel Abhishek for lunch. They served us best of Konkoni sea food and everyone enjoyed it. I was happy the way ride was progressing. Though we had some setbacks, I was pretty sure of reaching Mumbai on time. Though, it was good 6-7 hours of ride on NH17 from Chiplun. It was 4 and we were sure that it will be late when we reach Panvel. We decided to cross two major ghats, Parshuram ghat and Kashedi ghat before dark. I instructed everyone accordingly and started leading the pack. It was awesome experience to ride along with Aditya (on his Fazor) andRajesh (on Honda Valkyrie). We crossed ghats before sunset. After this, we chose to take Pali – Khopoli route. We knew it was long weekend and we’ll encounter major traffic if we continue on NH17. We experienced something whacky while riding on this route. It was evening time and all insects were coming out in search of light. We saw something, dust like coming towards us and hit on our helmet visors. Initially, we thought its dust and we started wiping it with hands but, to our surprise those were insects! We all stopped at a point, cleaned out visors and had another cup of tea. We started again on Pali – Khopoli route. Apa and Shiv were riding at tail and they were at marginal distance from us. We decided to wait for them. Rajesh was getting late as he had some family responsibilities and he left from there. Finally, we all got together again and started towards Panvel. We reached Khopoli at 11. From Khopoli, it was pretty straight and we took no time to reach Panvel. At 12, I officially announced end of ride.

About Rider: Pratish Ambekar, is Co-Founder of Konkan Moto Tours. Pratish is voracious rider and loves to ride in tough conditions. He handled whole ride on his own and this article is output of his experiences as told to Tanmay Shanishchara.

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 pleasure 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 would 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 had 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 high 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.

At 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.

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 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.

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.

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 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