Long weekend approaches with a good friday.And I was still dreaming about the beautiful places of North Karnataka which I visited last to last weekend.Temprature is pretty high in and around Mumbai.So I was in dilemma..'to go or not to go anywhere'.
Did a 2-3 hours of search in Google for the places which can be visited and came out with a plan to visit Vijaydurg,Tarkarli,Gokarna,murudeshwara,uddupi,sur athkal,dharamsthala,chikmanglur and back to Mumbai.
One of my friend Kashif was also planning to visit similar places over these three days,So we agreed to do it toghether.In between another friend Kunal wanted to join the ride.So in all three peoples.Enough company for a ride to make it full of fun.
Friday morning,reached Panvel at 4:20 AM,it was still dark.Waited for 10 mins and then I was about to dial Kunal number,and I saw his message that he will not be able to join the ride as parents not allowing.Damn ! unlucky fella.So I started solo after dropping a message to Kashif as he was coming from Pune.
The common point which we decided to meet was at the right turn after Kharepatan on NH17.I rode at the moderate speed until the darkness faded away. Stopped at some ghat section for the P break.
Reached chiplun and stopped at a tapri for the breakfast. Started again after a good 20 mins rest and updated Kashif with the update. Meanwhile there was no update from Kashif regarding his progress so I thought he didn't made it as when I called him last night he was cooking food for his fellow friends for a party.
I reached rajapur,memory of the first puncture on my R15 got refreshed. Just after Rajapur there is small town on side of the road (Hathkeri..something like that, I don’t recollect the name) there is a shortcut from there to reach vijaydurg.Approximately 30-35 Kms from NH17.Stopped for Cola break, and there I got an update from Kashif that he has reached NH17 and Vijaydurg is approximately 50-55 Kms from there.Oh ! good lord I said, he sent Kashif for some good company
I asked him to directly meet at Vijaydurg.So the State highway is took was SH113,and the state highway which take you to the Vijaydurg after Kharepatan was SH115.If you look into the Google map you will se that SH113 ends at a creek and there is no road ahead. But there is a bridge out there which takes you to Vijaydurg.
SH113 is good in condition, not wide though. But very less traffic on the road so who cares about its wideness. I enjoyed riding on the state highway..Turns,corners,sudden dips on the road and magical scenery around the road. Cant be binded in the words.
Vijaydurg Fort
I reached VIjaydurg at 1 PM,Kashif had already reached couple of mins ago. We greeted each other and sat for a while and had couple of glasses of tasty Kokam sharbat.
Right shop at the right place
Fishing Boats just outside the Fort
We booked one guy for 100 INR to take us and guide around the place. Yes he was a guide :P
Vijaydurg is one of very prominent sea forts which were built in the Maratha period. Victory Fort is one of the great forts of the Konkan. Vijaydurg Fort was strengthened around the 17th century by Shivaji, to whom it owes its finest features - the triple line of walls, the numerous towers and the massive interior buildings.
Some info from the web..
The earlier name of this fort was Girye or Gheriya because it is surrounded by sea from three sides. The fort has an area of six hectares; there are twenty-seven Buruj inside the fort. Some of them have three floors. "Kothi Pirachi Sadar", "Kitta Sadar", Jails, 'Jakhinis' Canon, huge stones used for construction purpose, the platform built in the deep sea for guarding, etc all these things must be seen and are still puzzling to a viewer.
The underwater explorations on the western side of the fort, about 100m seaward revealed a stone structure at a water depth of 8 to 10m. It measures 122m in length, 7m in width and 3m in height. Besides it a tidal dockyard was also located around 3-km from Vijaydurg fort on the left bank of Vaghotan River.
The dockyard is 110m long and width is 75m. It was hollowed out of a rock. The southern and eastern side is cut out of a natural rock and rest is dry masonry. In addition to this a number of grapnel and triangular stone anchors were noticed in the adjoining area of dockyard.
History of the fort
It existed as a dilapidated fortification of the Shilahar period before it was taken over by the Bijapur kings, and then by Shivaji who made it a major naval base. When Shivaji failed to capture Murud-Janjira, he decided to create a similar stronghold and built Vijaydurg Fort, on a rocky projection south of Ratnagiri.
He had a triple line of walls built, as well as numerous towers. In 1698 AD, the Maratha naval commander Angre, who was the terror of all traders, made it his capital. This fort has a hollowed-out entrance to take vessels of 500 tons.
Now lets the pics do the talking.
Canon Balls
Gates which survived the mighty battles.
Weapon storage
A view from the top
Brilliant thinking - Entry gates are not visible from a distance.
Main Sabha hall - Meeting hall
One of the tunnel which takes you to a attack post
Another tunnel -Its an underwater which takes you to a nearby village, mainly used to flee from a attack. But its been blocked now.
Food storage compartment and a big artificial water reservoir at the other end of the fort complex.
A well full of roots instead of water - This well has one interesting story, as told by the guide.
"Once upon a time (Couple years ago) a local from a near village fell into this well.And he managed to come alive with the broken leg with the help of the villagers.Later he got admitted to the nearby hospital.And the Nurse which was treating him developed a crush on him,and they got married and are living happily ever after :D "
You read it right - Helium was discovered here
We roamed at fort for 1.5 hrs.It was time for much needed lunch. Though there are not many options around the place. There was restaurant bang opposite to the entrance of the fort. Had plenty of food, it was 3:00 Pm.Time to move ahead.Tarkarli was another 80-85 Kms from there. And for going to Tarkarli we have to go back to Malwan again and take the Tarkarli route.
We crossed Devgad then Malwan and then finally ended up in Tarkarli at 4:30 - 5.Somewhere on the way to tarkarli
Kashif Bhai
First thing to do was to find a good-decent accommodation and throw ourselves in the beach. We tried at the MTDC resort but it was full and the charge was high too . Started searching again and finally managed to get a very good accommodation in 500 rs,which was bang opposite to the beach. We quickly untied our stuff and threw it in our room and went to the beach. White sand, sweet music created by the waves and sand flowing with wind. It was a WOW site. I couldn’t resist myself to take a dip, while kashif was busy clicking.
Me chilling - Apocalypto pose
Boat parked at the beach
Fish will be in the dinner for tonight
Two sides of the beach. Now you tell me how beautiful it is.
Kashif bhai in some Deeeeep thinking
And waves replacing each other
Later Kashif insisted that lets take our bike to the beach, Initially I said no "Dude we have a long way to go and you don't wanna mess-up with the chain and the sprocket”. But later both of us took our bike and rode 3-4 odd Kms on the beach.
Masterpiece by Kashif
Finally sun setted in the West and we returned to our base. Our room and dhannos parked outside
I was too tired as I haven't slept on the other night, I ordered two beers to the place owner and chicken thali's for the dinner and went to a small sleep break. Later Kashif woke me up for the dinner, had one beer and I was out on the first one.Phew.Quickly finished the yummy dinner and I crashed to bed, while kashif continued his chit chat with the Place owner(fisherman) .
Conversation with a young Fisherman - Which Kashif had
Later in evening I got a chance to talk to Prashant,firsherman’s son. He was in his teenage with lots of stories to share. He told me about how he can swim even 5-10 km inside sea and can return back. About his problems of going with small ship which are bullied by big fishing ships(trailers).He told about his miraculous escape when he gave up the hope of survival but somehow god saved him. many more such stories. So many stories at this little age, thats something to worry about.
In the end I must admit that the hospitality at Tarkali is amazing, whether it be cottage owner, boatmen, or anyone
DAY 2 - TARKARLI TO GOKARNA(OM BEACH) - MURUDESHWARA - UDUPPI
Morning 4 o clock and the alarm broke the silence. We took our time for the daily activities and it was time to say good bye to the very generous host. But what is this, where is he ??..We had to pay Prashant (fisherman - Room owner ) for the food, beer and the room rent. And were not able to figure out where he is sleeping. We knocked every adjacent door, shouted like anything banged doors with the bat. But nobody came.Kashif and me looked at each other and smiled, what the heck is this man. Now what we will do ?? He said we try again. After 30 mins of wondering,wandering,shouting and screaming door opened and a kid came out. Yes I remember him he was the one who was cooking food last night. He went to the owner and woke him up. Finally he woke up and we paid the due, and waved him, with a good bye and thanks a lot.
Road we had to take was MSH4 which goes till Vengurla,and from there we can catch up the NH17.
Stopped at a bridge in the morning
State Highway was in very good shape. Both of us just loved riding in it. We reached Vengurla in no time, but somehow I missed the NH17 turn and continued ahead on the state highway. We came out of the state highway and joined NH17 little bit ahead of Shiroda.We stopped in Goa for a Tea and Breakfast break.
After having a good Parle - G break we started for Karwar.We encountered some bad traffic and traffic jam at Madagaon city. Road after Madagaon is in pretty good condition. Sometimes the road goes to the ghats which offers very good corners to the cornering junkie’s, Sometime it takes you to the back waters all around, sea shores, coconut plantations and what not. Such beautiful things happening and going on and I want to interrupt you guys here with a flat tyre.Yes kashif bhai rear tyre got(went) flat. Interesting thing is this, it is the same place where his tyre got flat in another trip to Karnataka. He seriously need to do some grah shanti aur some other hawan-poojan to get out of it.
Beautiful Kitty
Me relaxing
We reached Karwar and stopped for a photo break.
One side is the city and other side is the sea and we are caught in the middle of it.
Still thinking - First at tarkarli and now at Karwar.
^^Reminds me of the movie Kal ho naa ho..where saif is always thinking when asked question - What is the most you like about naina (Pretty Zinta).
And the beach
Gokarna - OM BEACH
Gokarna was not too far from Karwar.We drove like somebody is behind us to kill, and yeah it was heat.Om beach is 15-16 Kms inside from NH17.There is a ghat section,just after the end of the section there is right turn which takes us to the OM beach.
When we covered those 17-18 Kms we reached to a dead end,oh ! there comes the Om beach.Holy smokes, it was the love at first sight, beautiful blue water virgin beach separated by hills and cliffs.
View from the top
A closer look - Did you see the OM ??
We climbed down the hill, and the place was full of local peoples, students and little bit firangs.I asked Kashif,lets walk down to till the other end. But he seems to be little bit tired so he waved a no and asked me to continue. While Kashif was resting in a beach restaurant I went ahead to explore the other end and take some snaps.
Came back to the Restaurant and had a cold drink, mean while we discussed whether to take a dip or not. But discussion ended with a negative note as we had to cover a lot of distance in this killing heat. We started back, at the top we met some fellow riders. They were from XBHP Banglore.We sat together and had a chat for a while. It was time to leave for Murudeshwara as the clock ticked 3:00 PM.
Murudeshwara was another 80 Kms from the Om beach.We reached Murudeshwara at 5 PM.To reach the temple you have to go 2-3 Kms off from the main highway NH17.As expected the place was overcrowded.As we reached the temple,me and Kashif decided that we will pay the visit one at a time.So that one fella will keep an eye on the luggage and stuff.
Entrance of the temple,There is a lift in this complex which takes you to the top at a nominal charge of 20 Rs.
Sea around the temple
Lord Shiva and Durga idols carved in the Aarti Stambha
And Maa Kali
Took my time and did the Darshan.And returned back to the place where bikes were parked.Kashif decided to stay back and enjoy the ambience in Murudeshwara for the night.But I sticked to my plan to move ahead and run for Udupi.There is park in the back side of the temple,where there is a Huge idol of Lord shiva.
Misc Pics
Beach at the other side
So called Multistory Beach Resto...
In this Heat run we almost forgot to eat anything at lunch time,we went to a nearby hotel named [B]KAMAT HOTEL[/B]
Had garama garam Puri bhaji and it was time for me to move ahead for Udupi.Bidded Adieu to Kashif and started for Udupi which was another 100 Kms from Murudeshwara.Also One of my friend warned me and gave me latest update that route from Murudeshwara to Udupi is in very Bad condition.And yes he was damn right.Managed to cross those sick roads in 2 hours and reached Udupi at 8:00 PM in the night.Hunt begins for a good priced,decent accommodation preferably AC one.:)
Went to couple of good hotels but no luck,all were jam packed because of the long weekend.So I took a room in a lodge for 150 Rs.Cheap isn't it.
Places to be visited in Udupi was the very famous Radha-Krishana temple and Malpe beach.Radha krishana temple is opened till 10 PM in the night.
Took a refreshing bath and headed to the temple which was quite close from my Hotel.
Entrance
Some Musical Program was going on.Music was just too good,magical and trippy sort of.I sat for a while and enjoyed it.
I was in love with the place,Did the darshan and roamed in and around for an hour.
Misc
Ratha in the Backyard
I was feeling little bit hungry,I saw an arrow pointing upwards with a message "PRASAD HALL".I followed the arrow and reached a hall where the Dinner was getting served.Soon I realized what it is,and grabbed my seat.
Waiting Waiting and Waiting - when the food will be served
They served super duper hot Rice and Sambhar in the Banana leaves.It was very tasty.
Beautiful sites,Religious activities,Tasty rice Sambhar,Amazing Music...A spended worth million pounds.
Went back to hotel and dived into the bed.
Day 3 - Uddupi - Dharamsthala - Chickmanglur - Shimoga - Hubli - Mumbai
I continued my legacy of being a lazy person and woke up late in the morning at 8 AM.Moved myself to Malpe beach after packing, unpacking and unloading things.:)
Glimpse of the Malpe beach
Didn't looked much attractive to me, so sat for a while and went towards Dharamsthala.It was another 100 Kms from Uduppi.
Udupi to Karkala..Karkala to Belthangady (via SH37)..Ujre and then finally Dharamsthala.Reached dharamstahala at 11 AM. Roads which I encountered from Udupi to Dharmstahala all were in good conditions.
Raam Kshetra temple on the way to Dharmsthala
Dharmasthala is one of the important temple town in Karnataka in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannad district.Dharmasthala is the home to Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple with golden lingam, a famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Place was too much overcrowded and no bags, no cameras were allowed inside the temple campus. There is a bag counter in the right where you have to keep all the stuff. And to the right of it...is the entry to the waiting row for Darshan.Waiting row was 5 times long as compared to the waiting row in Shirdi.I got pulled out thrice from the row :D.First time because I was wearing shoes, I was carrying the camera with me...so second time, third time. came out by myself after standing for an hour and listening that its going to take another 2-3 hours to reach for the darshan.:o:(
At the start of the line
Somewhere in the middle,after which i was pulled out to keep the camera at the luggage counter
After running for thousands of meters the waiting queue ends here
Gateway of Dharmsthala
Next thing was to reach Chickmanglur,take lunch and enquire about the route to reach NH4.
After reaching Chickmanglur,dropped-in in a Veg restaurant and ordered a Veg-Thali.Over the course of lunch I discussed the route with the owner of the hotel.... which I had to take from chickmanglur to NH4.
On my way from Chickmanglur to Shimoga I encountered some very beautiful ghats,beautiful coffee gardens and superb scenic views.
At this time of season in Maharashtra where all the ghats have taken the brown shade, those ghats were still wearing the lush green shade :D
With each KM I moved a thought repeatedly came into my mind.." If these ghats are so beautiful now, what would be they looking like in the month of Monsoons :D:D"
Some where in the middle
Twisties
Damn I am going to visit this place again for sure, and that too in Monsoon. :)
Enjoyed a lot riding on those green mountains, state highways. Still pictures of those scenes are still imprinted in my back of the head .
Some proof
Some plains and Coconut plantation
Rice fields - Last pic of the trip
Touched NH4 at some HARIHAR bypass by 6PM.Stopped for a sutta break. After 20 mins of good break started back towards Mumbai.
130-140 Km of patch was in quite bad condition. Encountered some bad traffic jam near by a railway crossing. Later came to know that this joint is a famous one, for traffic jam thingy :).
Rode all night with regular breaks and reached Mumbai at 7:30 AM in the morning. Was very tired so immediately crashed into the bed.
Slept for 3 hours and so and went to office at 11 AM.
End of a Wonderful ride.
Cheers
Biru
Its so nice ...u r enjoying ur life .....
ReplyDeleteNice pic.. Yeah for Rohit EVERYTHING ON TWO WHEELS. Safe driving buddy.
ReplyDeleteReally i love this your post so thanks & keep it on.
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