Bappa, Bikes and Blessings. Serenity of Ratnagiri 2 – Ganpatipule

After completing Mahabaleshwar tour in December, I was happy that I finally found a group that I was searching for since last few months.  A group, which would allow non-bullet bikes in to long rides. As we rode for 609kms within two days during last ride, I became confident that I could ride for almost 300-350 km in one day. After Tranquility of Tapola, Konkan Moto Tours announced Serenity of Ratnagiri 2 – a trip to Ganpatipule, covering 700 km in two days. Ride was scheduled on 28-29^th Jan 2012. I was pretty sure that I will be joining this ride and I confirmed my seat 8 days prior to ride date. I made a payment of Rs.3020 and they confirmed my seat. As I had serviced my vehicle 1000 kms ago, I thought I can easily ride for next 700 kms without servicing. This was actually a mistake, which I realized later. I started packing up my bags with clothes, googles, medicine and all other necessary things. As we had to report at shree data vada pav at 6 am; I refueled my tank the previous day. I filled 11 liters. I set up alarm clock at 4 am on both the mobile and table clock to avoid any delay. Got up at 4.20 am, rushed to washroom and got ready. Meanwhile my dad had prepared a quick breakfast for me. I had that very quickly and started on my route to Panvel. I Reached Panvel at 6.10 am and reached Datta Vadapav at 6.24 am. I greeted my fellow riders, few known faces from Mahabaleshar tour and some new faces. At 7.30 am we left for Balaji hotel for breakfast. We reached Balaji hotel at around 10 am and we had our breakfast and refreshments. Meanwhile KMT also distributed tee shirts with ‘Scenerity of Ratnagari 2- Ganapatiphule’ written on it. We changed our tee shirt and meanwhile I told mechanic to check the chain setting as it was making some noise while I was riding at high speed. He applied grease to the chain and tightened the chain and the problem was solved. In few minutes, all riders were ready. This time group included a Honda Valkyrie, which had 1800cc engine. We all left from hotel Balaji for Dabhol. We rode non-stop till Dabhol. It took almost 2 hrs for us to reach Dhopve from Dabhol as we had to divide in to two groups while travelling through ferry, which took almost 1 hour in each trip. So some of us from second round got a good relaxing time, as there was some shade at jetty.

Team KMT was carrying packed lunch for us and we decided to have it there only. They decided to take packed food because local food was not that good and organizers wanted to maintain hygine. We had a tasty non-veg lunch with chicken pcs and biryani. In both the trips I have observed that these people do not compromise on food. I liked their approach and quality consciousness. We finished our lunch and ferry also arrived at 1.30 pm. We were ready to get our bikes on ferryboat. Valkyrie is a huge machine and we faced some difficulties getting it on ferryboat. Finally, with help of all riders, we managed to get it on boat safely. We also helped him to take the bike out of the ferry. Everyone gathered at Dhopve and started riding towards Malgund, which is 50-55 kms form Dhopve. We decided to visit Ganapatiphule temple on the next day. We reached Malgund in evening and ended our first day’s ride. We had a tea for refreshment and then everybody was allotted room at the hotel. We got into the rooms, refreshed quickly and in some time, everyone was down at lobby for dinner. Dinner was at 5 minutes distance from hotel. We rode there and had superb dinner. Meanwhile, everyone was asked to introduce himself or herself. After whole day’s riding together, this became a very interesting activity and kind of networking opportunity.

We came back to our hotel at around 12:00 am and concluded the day. I got up when Sagar from Team KMT buzzed doorbell early in morning. Within an hour, I was ready for today’s ride. We got gathered at breakfast table, had some tea and refreshing breakfast while Pratish briefed us for today’s ride. After breakfast, everyone put on their gears and started day 2 ride.  First, we went to Ganpatipule temple to earn blessings of bappa. Distance from Malgund hotel to temple is very short and we quickly reached there. We parked our bikes outside temple. As it was Sunday, there was huge rush for bappa’s darshan. We were thinking whether to go inside temple or take glimpse of bappa from outside. Security guy at temple told us it won’t take more than 30 minutes and we joined the queue. I had been to this temple a long back, so I was happy to take blessing of Ganapati bappa, the lord we worship with our integral soul. We had darshan within 30 minutes, took Prasad, donated monetary gifts and clicked some pics on beach. After that we started on our route towards NH 17. We were instructed to ride together as it was an internal road with few vehicles on road. Everybody was told that you should have at least one rider behind you whom you should see in your mirror. This will helped us to ride together. Pratish was leading us. The road was not that good and after a bumpy ride we reached Savarde. We all gathered there and started towards Chiplun which is at 30 kms distance. I was a little bit ahead and I went to another hotel. Everyone was at hotel Abhishek in Chiplun. I called Pratish and came back to hotel Abhishek where everyone was waiting for lunch. I knew this place is providing excellent food and  I ordered chicken thali and it was really very tasty. After such a heavy and good lunch, we started our journey towards Panvel on NH 17. We got confused on the route towards Panvel and firstly entered a wrong route and had to take U turn to catch right path. Normally, it takes almost 5-6 hours to reach Panvel from Chiplun. We started riding at 80-90 km/hour as road was pretty smooth and clear. I stopped in between for fuel and after that another stop for relaxation. My friends went ahead and I was riding at a distance behind them. They stopped at Pali, which I did not notice and I went ahead of everyone. As I could not see anyone from my group, I decided to directly stop at Shree Datta vadapav  at Panvel. I rode continuously from there and reached Panvel at 10 PM. I rested there, had a cup of tea. My all friends reached at 11 pm. Pratish concluded the tour and we all greeted each other and I then I was on my way back to thane. Finally I reached home at 12.30 am, had food and went to sleep.

This was end of another epic ride, Ganpatipule covering total 777 kms in two days.

About Rider: Vinayak Mankar, is passionate rider. He rides Apache 150 and enjoys sharing his riding experiences with world. This article was initially written by Vinayak, which got published here after some alterations by 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’.

Ratnagiri – Konkan’s most diverse tourist destination

Ratnagiri is city located on the western coast of the Indian State of Maharashtra. Ratnagiri is district of forests, beaches and forts. Ratnagiri has perhaps most diverse tourist locations in whole Konkan. Famous Sahyadri Hills on east and Serene Arabian Sea on its west contributes to its breathtaking beauty. With lots of scenic sea shores, rivers, backwaters, hot water springs, forests and waterfalls, Ratnagiri offers one of most extra ordinary experience to visitors.

Jaigad fort, is one of most important place worth visiting. Its situated on the top of a mountain in Ratnagiri. Fort is just 35 kms from famous Ganpatipule beach. The fort is nestled on a cliff from where the whole bay can be seen. The bay is situated where the Shastri River merges with the Arabian Sea. The Jaigad lighthouse and a jetty port are located near the fort.

Some of the historical attractions near Ratnagiri town are Jaigad Fort, Jaigad Light House, Thibaw Palace, etc.

Apart from fort, tourists can spend their time at various creeks, seashore, rivers, hot water springs, hills and waterfalls. Ratnagiri beach is one of most beautiful location worth visiting. Tourists generally visit fort area, Ganpatipule and nearby naturally beautiful locations to spend quality time.

Ali Museum in Ratnagiri is an ancestral house of Lokmanya Tilak. The house contains lots of pictures of the great freedom fighter. Shri Devi Bhagwati Mandir is one of the ancient temples of the place and is known for its architecture. The temple is filled with devotees during the Navratri festival.

Apart from Ganpatipule beach, there are many other beaches worth looking at. Bhatye Beach and Mandavi beach are virgin beaches, away from commercialization and offers complete experience to visitors. There are facilities of Adventure sports like paragliding and watersports on few of these beaches.
Some of the religious destinations in the vicinity of Ratnagiri are Swayambhu Ganpati Temple, Swami Swaroopanad Ashram of Pawas, Parashuram temple, etc.

To Compile, Here is list of places to visit in Ratnagiri:

• Places of worship : Ganapatipule, Velneshwar, Marleshwar, Hedvi, Hatis, Parshuram [Chiplun], Rajapur
• Caves: Panhalekazi, Sangameshwar
• Palace: Thibaw Palace [Ratnagiri]
• Sea Shores: Kelshi, Murud, Guhaghar, Palshet, Ganpatipule, Velneshwar
• Beaches: Mandovi [Gateway of Ratnagiri], Bhatye, Guhagar, Anjarla, Ganapatipule
• Birth Places of eminent personalities: Ratnagiri, Malgund, Dapoli, Palgad
• Forts: Bankot, Mandangad, Ambolgad, Jaigad, Ratnadurg, Mahipatgad
• Sea Forts: Ratnadurg, Harne, Purnagad, Jaigad
• Bird Sanctuaries: Vanadi valley, Anaskura Ghat
• Exotic forests: Pat Panhale, Bavnadi valley
• Timeless Landscapes: Goval, Hatlot Ghat, Tivare Ghat, Amba
• Hill and Hill Ranges: Sahyadrian Ranges
• Rivers: Jagbudi, Vashisti, Kasavi
• Irrigation Projects: Natuwadi, Nandivali, Kolkewadi
• Water Falls: Parshuram, Prachitgad, Marleshwar
• Hot water Spring : Unhavare, Aravali, Tural, Rajapur

 

Janjira – The majestic island fortress

Janjira fort is one the sea fort in district of Raigad in Konkan region. The majestic island fortress of Janjira was the 16th century capital of the Siddis of Janjira, descendants of sailor traders from the horn of Africa. It is one of Maharashtra’s most commanding sea forts. The forts high walls made it impregnable to everyone, even the marathas. Shivaji tried many times to conquer this fort and failed every time. His son even tried to tunnel through it.

The fort is approached by sailboats from Rajapuri jetty. The main gate of the fort faces Rajapuri on the shore and can be seen only when one is quite close to it.  It has a small postern gate towards the open sea for escape.

The word Janjira is not native to India, and may have originated after the Arabic word Jazeera, which means an island. Murud was once known in Marathi as Habsan. Some of the people also split the name as “Jal Jeera” meaning fort in the water. The name of the fort is a concatenation of the Konkani and Arabic words for Island, “morod” and “jazeera”. The word “morod” is peculiar to Konkani and is absent in Marathi.

Specialty of fort is that it is situated deep is the sea 3kms from Murud. The Arabian Sea crashes relentlessly all around the fort battered all the sides by sea waves. Janjira fort is spread over 22 acres. There are two water tanks inside fort and deep well with cold and sweet water. A wonder of nature in middlest of the saline sea provides pure water to thirsty visitors. There are 19 towers and number of turrets in in the fort. Evey tower has huge cannon on it, specially three huge cannons by the names Kalal bangdi, Chavri and Landa Kasam is worth a mention. It is said that these guns could fire at a distance of two Kms. from the fort making it impossible for enemy ships to come near. From the fort you can see the sea fort of Kasa or Padmadurg which was built by Shivaji Maharaj to counter the might of Siddhi.

The fort is an excellent example of fort building architecture and its outer walls are still in a good condition. Now in ruins, the fort in its heyday had all necessary facilities, e.g., palaces, quarters for officers, mosque, a big fresh water tank, etc.  On the outer wall flanking the main gate, there is a sculpture depicting a tiger-like beast clasping elephants in its claws.  This sculpture, its meaning difficult to interpret, appears on many fort-gates of Maharashtra.

We are sure you will be awed looking at the fort by thinking how the hell people would have built a fort in the middle of the sea? You have to take a boat ride to go to the fort, and there is a lot to see on the fort.

About location

• District: Raigad
• From Mumbai: Approx 150km – 2 hours 45minute
  • Mumbai – Murud via Alibaug, Kashid
  • Mumbai – Murud via Nagothane, Roha
  • From Pune: approx. 175km – 3 hours 30minute
    • Pune – NH4 – Paud – Tamhini ghat – SH97 – SH60 – Kolad – NH17 – Roha – Janjira