Tarkarli, Malvan [21-24 Dec 2009]

A post after long time!

Well, my company has policy in which we have to take mandatory time off around Christmas. We have 5 working days off + two weekends which amounts to TOTAL 9 days off. Whole company is locked away for whopping 9 days! Can you imagine? :D

Last year I had been to Kolhapur along with family but this time I could not plan early enough to have hotel bookings. So I was on my own, so - :( and :)

Luckily Vikram and Mrigank had not planned for their vacation as well; so planning started 4 days before we left. Since beginning, Vikram insisted he wanted to roam Konkan on bike which was energetically put down by me and Mrigank as we didn't have stamina and experience. Initially he wanted to roam all forts in Konkan on bike. But he remained firm on having Konkan darshan, particularly Sindhudurg fort. [Sindhudurg is a sea fort which is built by Shivaji Maharaj on an island called Kurate Bet [कुरटे बेट] near Malvan.] Then we found that Tarkarli is also very near to Sindhudurg in Malvan. And the plan started taking shape.

First we prepared ourselves to the fact that since we have not done any bookings and if we don't get any room we will have to sleep at some temple or so. And there was no problem as due to trekking we are already familiar with this.

Meanwhile we got one more [new] member, Guruprasad, from our company. He was desperate to go somewhere outside and joined us immediately. We were looking for more members but managed to get only one.

Since Tarkarli is far away from Pune + what will happen if car breaks down in between, I ruled out going by my car. Hiring the car or going by state transport bus were two options. I am paranoid about travelling by hired car as these drivers drive recklessly by putting their and in turn our life into danger. I ruled out that option. And as we did not know the S.T. timings + problem of local roaming was still there, we zeroed on getting my car :D Got full circle here.

As usual, we prepared the list of items to get, putting stress on bedding since booking was not done.

One day before, I prepared my car ready for the travel by topping up the tank, fixing tires, checking oil levels etc. The time to leave was decided to be 5:30AM sharp.

That night Guruprasad stayed at my home. We were looking for the route to take. We had some options:

0. Pune -> Tamhini -> Ratnagiri -> Malvan

1. Pune -> Kolhapur -> Radhanagari -> Malvan

2. Pune -> Kolhapur -> Gaganbawada -> Malvan

3. Pune -> Kolhapur -> Fonda -> Malvan

4. Pune -> Bhor -> Mahad -> Ratnagiri -> Malvan

I was not so sure about road from Kolhapur to Malvan. Guruprasad being a Kolhapuri, called his brother about the condition of the road and got to know that Fonda route is not so good. We could not find information about other roads from Kolhapur. About Bhor route, there is a deadly ghat called Varandh [वरंध] Ghat which has hair pin turns that too steep. I remember when I was in sixth my school had arranged a picnic to Shivtharghal. It is a place where Samarth Ramdas Swami had written 'Dasbodh'- his famous manuscript. One has to pass through Varandh ghat to get to Shivtharghal [शिवथर घळ] and our bus was stuck at a hair pin turn. That was horrifying moment for me and I still remember it. So I was a bit reluctant to go by that route. I am definitely going to try it sometime. We have to choose the first option which is also a longest route to reach Malvan but most scenic!

So after deciding this, we went to sleep. But I could not sleep till 2 AM! Don't know why but I just could not. At 5 AM, I called up Mrigank and Vikram to tell the problem and let us leave by 6:45 AM. So we left at 7 AM after shouting "Har Har Mahadev, Ganapati Bappa Moraya" in car, picked up Vikram from Chandani Chauk and finally set off for a very refreshing picnic to Tarkarli!! Ye!

Trip meter reading at start: 5 KM

Time: 7:11 AM

Atmosphere was great with light breeze flowing and a bit of cold. Random discussions immediately started flowing from company to politics and we were at Mulshi dam wall in an hour. And since we haven't taken any food in the morning everybody started looking for a hotel which would feed us. But my favorite one [Lake Residency] also was just opening up and they told us it would take 20 minutes to prepare something which we did not have. There was no option other than to continue and lookout for any open tapri. Incidently Guruprasad had taken some biscuits with him which came to rescue. We pounced on it when we took first break in Tamhini ghat. Here is the first picture:

[A closed valley in Tamhini Ghat. It looks very beautiful during sunset]

Few kilometers after descending Tamhini ghat, we hit Vile Phata. Straight road goes to Vile village and then to Roha. Left goes to Mangao [25 KM]. But before we hit the Vile Phata, we came across a bypass to the left and that was a four lane road with no potholes. We were so amazed by its existence particularly after driving through bad Tamhini Ghat! Car immediately reached 100 KMPH. Though this road is not more than 5 KM, it provided a good refreshment. Soon we touched Mangao and found one decent hotel to fill our tummies. If I remember correctly, its name is "Sidhharth Family Restaurant". It is just to the left once you touch NH17 at Mangao, near Bus stand.

Mangao: 114 KM

Time: 11:00 AM

[Typical scene in our car]
[From left: Tejas Mulay(myself), Guruprasad Tahsildar, Mrigank Mittal  Vikram Bhimbar]

[We set out for our long journey on NH17. The road quality of NH17 is fantastic. No pot holes, very less traffic and scenery as icing on cake]

Car was cruising at 80 KMPH continuously. May be we were lucky. There were _no_ breaks we took till Ratnagiri which is 200 KM away from Mangao. We went through Chiplun in between at 1:00 AM with trip meter showing 235 KM. And as soon as "Hatkhamba Phata" board was seen, the car was pulled over in a hotel on the highway. Ratnagiri is 13 KM away from this phata. Public was dead hungry here.

Ratnagiri: 313 KM

Time: 2:35 PM

[Lunch at Hotel Alankar at Hatkhamba Phata]

The food at this hotel was very good. We left immediately for Malvan after having lunch. The road was again smooth as ever with less traffic. The next break was taken at Kankavali.

Kankavali: 427 KM

Time: 6:00 PM

My eyes were bulging out due to prolonged driving. We did some inquiry at the the tea shop and got to know that Malvan is still 60 KM away and Tarkarli 12 KM more. Man this is a long route!! So we set off again confirming it with another man with same result. We had been told to take right turn at Kasal [कसाल] which is 12 KM away. Accordingly while going we got to see one board "Malvan 36 KM". Gotcha! Taking the right turn, car started moving steadily at 30 KMPH. The road was sooo small to accommodate two vehicles. I was wondering how so many people come over here + there was _no_ vehicle coming from another direction. But since we had read the official sign, we continued. The road was lonely like crazy and it was getting dark. After two hours somehow we reached into Malvan, and how! In a fraction of second the lonely scene was converted into total hustle and bustle of city :) As our destination was Tarkarli, we had to keep on inquiring at every 100 meters. Turn left, turn right, go straight etc etc... Here we taught Guruprasad to say "Dhannyawaad" instead of "Thank You", our default word in office. He he.

Tarkarli: 487 KM

Time: 8:15 PM

Looking at the remoteness of the city we thought that we can even get booking in MTDC! Confidence level was increasing minute by minute as we were passing through narrow roads of Malvan. At last we reached Tarkarli!!! Yippee! Without loosing a second we found and raided MTDC resort but to our dismay there was no room available in MTDC. That was a shock man. Now it was time to backtrack and find any available room in any home stay. Which we found in 5 minutes of time we left MTDC. It is a home named "Matoshree" footnoted in Malvani language: तारकर्लीत यवा, मातोश्रीत ह्रवा आणि स्वामी समर्थात जेवा" [Come in Tarkarli, stay at Matoshree and eat at Swami Samarth]. I pulled to car to side and Vikram and Guruprasad did the inquiry about availability and tariff which came out to be 500 Rs per day per room + 50 Rs per extra bed. Without much bargain the car was into their parking space and room was confirmed. It was a clean room with a double bed. We unloaded the car and filled the room with it. We had come with the preparation to stay in temple if we wouldn't have got the room. That would have been a fascinating experience but that was not to happen. The room owner robbed us from having that experience.


Now this was going to be our home for next two complete days loaded with FUN!!


We immediately had to place an order for dinner somewhere nearby and it was Swami Samarth. Two Surmai plate and two veg plate, we ordered and then returned to room to get fresh.

[Waiting desperately for foooood]

After dinner we had one small round to the beach which was two minutes away from the room. Public wanted to stay there for a while but I was about to topple anywhere. So toppled on the bed after return and went to sleep in no time. Not sure about others.

It was a very pleasant morning in Malvan. We got up at around 7 AM. Got ready and set for Mithbawkar [one more home stay which also offers food]. It is famous in Malvan for sea food thali.

[Breakfast at Mithbawkar]

After the breakfast it was time for bath in the sea! Our room was just 2 minutes away from the beach. Tarkarli beach is of white sand and crystal clear water. No sand. Even if you are standing neck deep into the water, you can still see the bottom. You feel like you are on foreign beach. Hope it stays like it is now.

[The beach is full of shells like these. As soon as I picked it up, the resident came out of the shell to see me]

In the morning, we told the lady in Swami Samarth to cook local rice [Ukdicha Bhaat, brother of Brown rice] and Paplet [Pomphret] fish for us.

[Water stunts]

[Crystal clear beach]

[Water sports]

[Swami Samarth was diagonally opposite to our stay]

[Place where we used to have food]

Our special order for lunch could not make it in time to the kitchen. We had to satisfy ourselves with Surmai and white rice.

In the evening we went to see Devbaug, one more beach near Tarkarli. After resting in the afternoon, we set off to the beach. Apart from being a beach, river Tarkarli also meets the sea at Devbaug. All were quite excited to see the Sangam of a river and the sea. Devbaug is 7 KM away from Tarkarli. The road in Tarkarli is soo small that if one more 4 wheeler comes in the front you just have to stop the vehicles and then cross each other in very slow speed. While going to Devbaug there were beautiful and simple Malvani houses through out the road. The road actually goes between Tarkarli river and sea. Its amazing site to watch. At one such point Vikram got down to take snap and noticed rear left tyre was flat. Great! While we replaced the spare he snapped few photos.

[Men at work]

[The other side of the road: Tarkarli river]

THE BEACH OF DEVBAUG IS MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACH I HAVE EVER SEEN.

It is surrounded by water by three sides. Tarkarli river form left, Sangam in the middle and sea from right. Once you reach the beach, there is an island few meters away with 2/3 feet deep clear sea water in the middle. One can go on the island by walk. This was a great first time experience for us! This island gets submerged in water during high tide.

[Guruprasad and me crossing the sea water to reach the island behind us]

[You come out on the beach from the path in between those two huts]

Local boys were playing cricket, here on the beach, cheering each other in Malvani language. I have really started liking this language. Its so sweet.

Lovely Seagulls were having there good time on the island. They could not be captured in photo as they used to fly away if we try to go near.

Now the main task was to fix the deflated tyre. The tyre shop was far way in the Malvan city. The man in the shop did not believe in putting the tyre in water tank to verify punctures. He just filled the air and verified it by rolling the hand over tyre!! Awesome :D

Yes, for the dinner we had brown rice, Paplet and rice Bhakari. Here Guruprasad started his non-veg carrier by having few pieces of Paplet and he seemed to be ok with the taste. It was a mind blowing dinner.

There was a plan to go for boat riding and Dolphin seeing next early morning - 6 AM. We woke up at 5:30 AM and after getting fresh headed towards the boat center in the dark! It was pleasure to walk on the pin drop silence road with only Rooster crowing! Ten minutes after we reached the center, boatmen started arriving. We shared our boat with one family. There were three versions of the ride: 1. Tsunami Island 2. Dolphine ride 3. Niwati Island. Niwati Island one was most expensive: 1700/- per ride. 6 people per ride.

The noise level of boat engine was a bit more. We could hardly listen each other. After initial discomfort, it was a very good feeling in the boat.

On the way, we could see House boats parked at the river side. They cost 17K per day! The house boat have everything you see in your own house. A/C, fridge, TV etc. Then why come here? :) Never mind.

Guruprasad was a bit scared as he cannot swim. Once we reached the Sangam, he immediately put on the life jacket. We were laughing at him, but one must take of his own life, isn't it? After all if you don't know how to swim, this is bound to happen.

The boat started rocking a bit once it entered the Sangam and that was the main reason why Guruprasad put on the life jacket. It was completely different feeling at that point of time, as I have never been to place like this.

Now we started looking our for Dolphins. But there was no trace of a single one. Everybody in the boat started biting the head of captain of our boat! Boss where are Dolphins!! He was saying, Dolphins generally surface in the morning and they should have been here now. That was the main reason why we got up so early in the morning. Vikram must have abused me to make him get up this early AT A PICNIC!!!

After entering the sea considerably, the boat started moving parallel to the shore to Niwati Island. Niwati is the name of fort built by Shivaji Maharaj. Now there is just one "Buruj" of this fort and everything else is in ruins. This was built for keeping watch on the enemy in the sea.

[Niwati Fort]

After ten minutes of travel the boat took left and entered a private sea shore like place, called as Niwati Island. It was a beautiful place. Take a look below.

[Isn't it beautiful?. See next photo taken from top of the hill to the left]

[Niwati Fort in the background]

We did some TP for 20 minutes and captain of the boat gave a call for return. On our return journey too, we could not spot Dolphins. We could see the tail of one or two that too far away. That was a great disappointment :(

Due to the continuous sound of the boat engine and sun shine, my head started spinning and then we had a break on Tsunami Island. I am not sure why it is called that way. Locals were saying it was created during a tsunami. There was a food stall on the island and it had local food for the breakfast: घावन, उकडीचे मोदक etc.

[Breakfast stall on Tsunami Island]

Our tummies were almost full after having that healthy breakfast. It was around 10:30 when we reached room and after taking rest for sometime, we headed out to see Sindhudurg fort. This fort has been built using the stone available on that island itself. The stone is purplish brown in colour. We have to park the vehicle near jetty, from where the boats ply between the fort and the jetty. The sport of snorkeling can be done here near the fort. Lot of local folks arrange snorkeling for tourists. Rate is 250 Rs/head. Initially we tuned down some offers as we wanted to do it throught MTDC. But learnt later that MTDC does not have that. So we had to go for locals only as we definitely wanted to do snorkeling. One guy approached us at the place where we board the boat. We fixed him for snorkeling. There was his masters cold drinks shop in the fort. Paid him in the full and Mrigank expressed his concern that why I paid in full. I should have not but it did not occur to me at that time. Own said we can roam around the fort and in the end we will do snorkeling. Ok no problem we said and headed out to see the fort.

[In these two temple like structures, you will see Shivaji Maharaj's hand and foot stamp]

[Well built wall]

The special thing I noticed about the sea in Malvan and Tarkarli that the water is very very clear. You can literally see through the water. The bottom is very much visible. I have never seen it before at any of the Kokan beaches I visited.

The fort has temple of Shivaji Maharaj built by his son, Rajaram Maharaj in 1693. This is the only temple of Shivaji Maharaj.

Now it was time for snorkeling!! Just after we popped out of the temple area, that cold drink house owner came after searching us. We immediately headed out of the fort and then his men took us to the side of fort in the boat. The water was very much calm but it was a bit cold. We got ready for snorkeling.

Snorkeling can be done by those people too who cannot swim. They provide an apparatus which has a goggle attached to a 1.5 ft long pipe. You have to hold one end of the pipe in your mouth, cover the lips over it. Your nose is blocked completely. You are not supposed to breath by your nose but by mouth. It is easy for those who know swimming but a bit tricky for rest. You are supposed to put just your face in the water and not entire head. Once the face is put inside, it feels SILENT in the water.

Mrigank and Vikram got into water first and told me to take their snap. We had to float using the ring provided to each of us. There was the guide too who was trying to explain how to put the ring on us and Mrigank was doing everything except what he was trying to say. He got pissed off after few seconds :D and then Mrigank did it immediately.

[Vikram looks on while guide tries to explain Mrigank]

There was lot variety of fish in water. We don't remember the names told by the guide. Corals were there too. Some were brown with white lining. It was awesome. Guide was feeding the bread so that fish can come near and we can see them! There were really beautiful types of fish. Some were blue with some stripes, some were brown etc. I felt the water should have been clearer. At this point of time I was having quite a bit of headache. During this whole day we were travelling in the sea in sun shine + that nasty noise of boat engine. I some how could pull that off. We changed the cloths on the boat itself while it was travelling towards jetty. I was feeling like vomiting too after some time. We had lunch at a good hotel near jetty. Off course it was a fish plate.

While returning to the room we took the same road and noticed that every one is coming from the front and on one is going along with us. IT WAS A ONE WAY! But seriously I did not notice any sign board which would tell me that. There were only "no right turn", "no left turn" signboards. The road was very very small. Everybody was giving a good look at us, even a bicycle rider :) But I could not help. I had come long way when we came to know we were in no entry. On the way, I was just waiting eagerly for the room and bed to lie on.....

We took good rest in the evening. It was almost 5 when we reached room. Guruprasad wanted to take dip into sea, so we went to beach again. I was still not feeling very well due to over dose during the day. We had a good time at the sea where Vikram and Mrigank went for a long walk, Guruprasad in water and I on the sand sitting silently.

Actually we had planned to do Vijaydurg [75 KM from Malvan], then make a halt in Ratnagiri next night. But due to today's stunt, I was kind of nauseated. We should have spread these two activities on two days. But could we know? We virtually did nothing on first day. Just spent morning time on the beach and evening at Devbaug. So we decided to make a move to Pune next day early morning [start the engine at 6 AM] since the journey is long on NH17.

And since we had to depart early morning next day, shopping has had to be done right now in the evening. Reached the market, parked the car at a point and took a stroll on the main road. Before that we had stopped at Kaju Karkhana [Cashew Nut processing factory]. It was also selling Kokan Mewa. But we did not find it too good in terms of price.In the market, public found Cashew Nut bar at a shop and liked it very much that they purchased many there. And finished many in the shop itself. We moved on and I noticed one cold drink house advertising "Basundi" [A delicious dessert of thickened milk]. Got to know from owner that they have kept it in cold storage and it will take an hour to come to room temperature. We told him to take out four packs and we will return by then. Last day when we did snorkeling, the guide had provided shorts to us which Mrigank liked very much as it dried up too fast for him. So he was looking out to purchase exactly same type, which we could not find anywhere. I told him that you shouldn't have taken it out ;) While roaming, saw one Chinese hotel and decided to give it a try to eat Malvani Chinese. We were eating Malvani food for 3 days now and were looking for some change. The food was not bad at all. After that we went to cold drinks house and the Basundi was just good! Guruprasad and Vikram ordered two calorie bombs there.While returning, Vikram and Guruprasad shopped at the same factory as we did not find good deal in the market.

After returning, I went to sleep and rest of the public were playing cards. I had paid the bill to Bhai Madye [owner] after we had dinner and told him that we are leaving by 6 AM tomorrow. The reason to leave so early was, while returning we thought we can go by Varandh Ghat and since it is a lonely place we should have crossed it by 4 PM. But then after waking up in the morning at 5:30, I gave a second thought: why not try route via Kolhapur. Got to know from Bhai Madye himself that route via Gaganbawada -> Kolhapur is good and this will cut total driving time also. But Kolhapur-Pune route is utterly boaring where every vehicle is running at 100+ KMPH and tries to overtake every vehicle in the way + some idiots coming from wrong direction. NH17 is best in its comparison with only con being it is longer. I went to sleep again. At 7:30 AM Vikram got up as if he got a shock of 10000Volts. I said never mind, we are taking different route and can leave at our ease.

We had breakfast is Mithbawkar and left the room after farewell to Bhai Madye and family

[Vikram, Guruprasad, Tejas, Bhai Madye, Car*, Mrigank and Bhai's cousin (care taker)]

Vikram already had expressed his wish to buy dry sea food from local market. I also wanted to but my wife would have allowed me to enter the home. She does not like smell of it. We went to the market and entered the building and every Mavshi [women selling the fish/dry fish] started calling us. Man when I go to fish market, I feel like I am in heaven! Vikram purchased some dry Bangada.

We took correct path this time while leaving Malvan. Malvan -> Kasal and then take left on NH17. We had to take right at Talere [तळेरे] then follow Vaibhav Wadi, Gaganbawada, Kolhapur route...

[Break after taking right on Talere phata. The route is quite scenic till Kolhapur]

There was a check post just before the Gaganbawada Ghat began. It is also called as Karul [करूळ] Ghat Armed policemen were guarding the post. We were allowed to go after few questions and the car boot was checked. Rest of the road was ok till Kolhapur. On outskirts of the city we crossed one jaggery making plant and paused for a while to take a look at it.

In Kolhapur, we had lunch at Hotel Parakh [famous for Mutton Thali]. This hotel is near Kawala [कावळा नाका] Naka. Guruprasad got down at Kolhapur for his home and we proceeded to Pune...

Travel till Pune was ok on NH4 as mentioned earlier.

So this ends our four day fantastic tour to Tarkarli in year end break awarded to us by our company. Not "awarded" actually, since they cut those many [5] leaves :D

We could have covered a bit more in this trip. Will cover it in the next.

Takeaways from this trip? Well,

drive on beautiful NH17...
500 KM in one day...
that too on curvy roads of NH17...
best beaches of Tarkarli and Devbaug...
Sindhudurg...
Snorkeling...


Farewell....
Click here for more photos.


* Please forgive for the joke :D