Scuba Diving @ Sindhudurg..

continued from: http://lifeisanopenroad2me.blogspot.in/2012/02/konkan.html

The day began with a drive to the station to meet the gang. The first thing on our agenda was scuba diving. We headed to the Malvan town and struck a deal with the diving- operator. Bargaining hard, we managed to get it to 1000 per head. A pretty decent deal though negotiating too hard with a fellow who’s filling oxygen in a tank for you is not a very bright idea. Mr. Gubbi like many of us water-phobic souls had his apprehensions and was calculating the probability of one of us asphyxiating underwater.

The operator’s boat took us near the island on which Sindhudurg fort is built as the coral is supposed to be majestic here. Diving was a challenging experience. Whether you know swimming or not is irrelevant. Arun & Varun’s command over swimming is as good as their skills with Mandarin & tribal Swahili music, yet they managed a brilliant stint underwater. The toughest part is getting used to breathing through the mouthpiece and familiarizing oneself with the valve. Any attempt to breathe through the nose will give you a feeling of suffocation and you may just panic underwater. Similarly, without a tight hold on the mouthpiece, the water just might sneak in and eventually start filling your lungs.

I took a while getting used to it and went in. The experience is truly out of the world. For here you are, seeing something you would never have experienced or dreamt of before. The life forms are immense in number. With due respect to Discovery, NatGeo etc, I will say this is something you have to experience yourself; TV just can’t recreate it. While I’m no fan of over-hyped expressions of our desi cinema, Hrithik Roshan’s tear-shedding expression in Spain made sense now. The fish were intriguing: zebra striped, small huge, some even bigger than my arm.

Then it happened.. There was water in my mouth… I had the brains to not make an attempt to open my windpipe and flood my lungs, but in desperation I tried my nose. Immediately I suffocated. I signalled my instructor. Within 10 seconds which seemed like forever, I was at the surface. Upon enquiring what had happened, my instructor told me what had gone wrong: There was a slip in my concentration and my mouth had given way to water. Then I remembered: perhaps my lips had curled into a smile upon greeting some weird creature; that slight angle was enough for water to seep in. I promised to not do that again, but now could we continue? I had no clue about the time. Wasn’t it a few moments back that I’d started? He then enlightened me that oblivious to my senses, a good 10 minutes had passed! However, he would be kind enough to take me even deeper..

This time I was at least 20-30 feet deep and the coral got even more interesting. The downside was a couple of scratches and cuts on my hands thanks to these sharp corals.

Varun (and Arun thereafter) had similar experiences and they came out with some lasting memories. In the evening, we headed to Tarkarli beach. Almost a virgin beach, this was one of the cleanest and prettiest beaches I have seen. John & Rajath decided to try out parasailing at the beach and were definitely thrilled. The evening included some great wining & dining. The Konkan curries call for a robust digestive system and a capacity for spices. The fish was great and we ended up having at least double of what we’d initially ordered.

The next day we headed out for Ganpatipule. Again, coastal highway was taken and we were rewarded with many lovely sights. This was an unknown road from Ratnagiri to Ganpatipule which was unmarked in most maps.

In the evening, I had to bid the gang goodbye. I was a bit tense as I knew it’d be dark by the time I get to Mumbai. On the other side, the ride was very enjoyable as the temperature dropped and the highway had moderate traffic. The only problem that night was.. U guessed it: getting to Mumbai. 50-70 kms near the city and you feel like you are in hell. Humidity, smoke and pathetic roads kill the high, even at 11pm

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In all, I was glad I made this trip. And that I’d chosen to ride. I’ve driven some terrific highways but this one was just made for my bike. The other brilliant national highways (NH3, NH4) are a bit too straight and too fast. In short: Boring after a while. The Konkan terrain is something that keeps you on the edge; you yearn for the next turn, bend, the climb, descent and the beautiful sights..

Konkan: valleys, rivers, beaches, forests & more..

It is difficult to describe the beauty of Konkan.  The world is full of different people: some pray for sea-shores & beaches, some for green forests while some like me wish for mountains. It seems that God wished to annihilate that divide so here’s what was done: Mountains, hills, forests with an endless variety of trees, rivers, coasts, ridges were put in a pot, mixed thoroughly and thus was born the Konkan region.

I mean, throughout my ride, I was startled by the sheer richness of the region: ups and downs on the road meant that I could never figure out whether what I see in the horizon is the sky or the sea!! It has stuff that you don’t find on the map, talk or even sight. You have to experience it yourself.

The Mumbai-Goa highway is quite an interesting ride. Nothing spectacular:  a decently tarred surface which is a two lane throughout. The picturesque surroundings more than make up for the couple of rough patches.

The road meanders along beautiful rivers. The numerous ghats challenge your concentration and driving skills. The beauty of the surroundings has the potential to convert the village idiot into a poet.

The Goa highway had given me as much pleasure as it could, now I yearned for the sea. This means that I will have to leave this highway and head towards the Indian ocean and get on the coastal highway. At Ratnagiri, I asked a couple of people and everyone advised me against it. Fed up with the mismatch between the practical and romantic camps, I chose to play the romantic. I took a right on the next obscure road, leaving the highway for a semi-paved road that didn’t declare where it was heading to . With a map, I selected a couple of villages that should get me to the coast and started asking the rare passerbys for directions. The drive was slow, thrilling and philosophically enchanting. Villages and people who live at their own pace, kids considering me a peculiar species on a weird spaceship. They have time to stop, help you and strike a conversation.

Strange: You can feel lonely in a city of 30 million, but in this nowhere-land which is home for perhaps a dozen people; I never felt insecure or uneasy.

Today was a fine ride. I had driven hard on ghats, straights but had slowed down whenever I found the surrounding enchanting. I believe that if you hurry with something you like, it is an indicator that you are no longer interested in it and want to get over with it. That’s the beauty of a bike. In a car, I feel like I am watching television. On the motorcycle, I am actually in nature’s lap. The varying scent of trees, vegetation, the changes in temperature, the sights and sounds are actually remembered forever. Some say I’m crazy to head out alone on a motorcycle this way and am perhaps over-hyping the whole experience. However, this is the only content and true experience I have with my inner self. Rest of the time I’m just feigning sense in that everyday routine just like the rest of the world.

However, having reached Devgad fort at 5:30 pm, this poetic experience had to make way for security and practicality. The sun was going down fast and I was some 50 kms from my destination. I determinedly headed south. However, after a while the sun disappeared and I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no clue of the direction (as I said: my old guide sun was no longer telling me where west is). When I say middle of nowhere, I actually mean middle of nowhere. After driving on a narrow road for around half an hour, I was surprised not to have found a single soul all this while. As I stopped on a hilltop, I could only see absolutely same landscape on all four sides. Moderate vegetation, no sight of the sea and hills as far your sight goes.

In the middle of nowhere...

At moments like these, you get into survival mode and get philosophical about the purpose of your life, or whatever little is left of it. However, A messiah appeared out of nowhere and I flagged down the human. Two seemed to be a minority in this endless forest and after exchanging a few words, the fellow suggested that I follow him. And then we sped up. 40 minutes of gruelling riding and I was in habitation once again. I thanked my guide and started the search of a hotel.

I realized that this town has a pace very different from what we are used to. The home stay owners were greatly inconvenienced due to the fact that some crazy customer was at their door at an obscenely late hour: i.e. 8:00 pm.

I surveyed almost all hotels and finally settled down in Gajanan resort (I don’t think you’ll find better value!)

Trip Log: (To & fro with coastal detours, visit to Kudal & GanpatiPule)

Odo: 1262 Km

Monsoon fury: Bhandardara

Bhandardara is around 180Kms from Mumbai and boasts of one of the most pleasing views and monsoon experience in the state. The bunch of us set off and a hired Chevrolet Tavera & a Pulsar 200 were to serve us today. Wilson dam, Mount Kalsubai (highest peak of Maharashtra), Arthur Lake and Ratangad fort are some of the tourist attractions here. In the rain, we decided to skip the trek to Kalsubai and visited the dam, waterfall and the lake. Besides these ‘touristy’ spots, what we thoroughly enjoyed was the journey to the place. The experience of passing through clouds, chilly winds, innumerous waterfalls, endless greenery and the continuous precipitation is hard to describe in words.

We started around 6:20 am, passed Thane by 7:30 and were speeding on the Nashik highway. Speeds in excess of 100kmph were later brought down thanks to the rain. We had breakfast midway somewhere after Vasind. The first thrill was the Sayhadri ghats. The ghats offer a spectacular view of the valley but today the clouds engulfed us. Driving through the clouds was quite an experience in itself. Though there is a way from Asangaon, we stayed on the NH3 until the small town of Ghoti. Any roads off this highway are usually in a bad shape. The monsoon had definitely taken a toll and it took us more than an hour to cover the last 30Kms. Though there were some really bad patches of tarmac, we never complained as the lush green & wet surroundings were an absolute treat.

One phenomenon that surprises me here are the winds. There were a couple of times when the Chevy passed through a gap in the valley and swayed violently. I freaked out everytime I saw this and braced myself as I went through the gap moments later on the bike. No exaggerations here: ride with extreme caution for the winds will try their best to blow you away; whatever be your ride. I have to admit that I underestimated the power a couple of times. There were times when I bent more than 10 degrees to counter the wind on a straight path. It took me a while to figure out the boundary between thrill and stupidity but a couple of bad judgments and last moment braking have taught lessons that ought to be lifelong. So please, slow down.. We hit the village around 10:30. Upon reaching the waterfall, tea and pakodas were ordered at a small shanty of a place.

The winner amongst my stupidity for the day featured the biggest Rapta of ‘em all. (for the definition of rapta, click here) We had encountered countless raptas on the way thanks to the rain but I’ll call this one at Arthur lake the ‘Big Daddy’ . We parked our vehicles on one end of the road as the driver was against taking the Chevy through it. However, I saw a Splendor come through. Then a Discover came through revving hard and coughing. If these measly machines can, then why not the beast? With this thought I mounted my machine and drove off after instructing Nishant to take pics of the victorious me splashing around. As soon as I reached halfway, the engine started coughing. No sooner had it hauled me to safety and it died. My compatriots who had attempted similar feats were also subjected to the same fate (another Splendor). What had happened was that the level had risen (Yes! In a matter of minutes) by a couple of inches. The groaning of the engine meant that there was plenty of water in both the muffler as well as the spark plugs. We hauled the bike to a small shed (the only sign of habitation/human activity within a couple of Kms) and tried everything. We titled the bike on the rear wheel to flush out the silencer. Opened, Cleaned and dried both the spark plugs. When nothing worked, we decided to wait. Sure enough the engine came back to life after repeated attempts of the above mentioned steps in 40 minutes. This time I decided to cross the rapta off the bike. So Punit and I pushed the bike, fought the fury of the water which threatened to wash away the bike and the two of us and got it back to the other side. Thankfully, the engine roared and we headed to Arthur lake. The ladies were dreaming of boating all this while and were left aghast as soon as we reached the spot. For waves that would put the shores of Arabian sea to shame greeted us. Again, wind was the culprit. Boating had been suspended for the day and we decided to head out for food. Needless to say, every bone was shivering. Even the ones in the car wet after the previous excursions and the chilly winds can make life tough. When we finally reached the MTDC resort at around 2pm, I discovered that my hands and feet could very well be featured in the fairness cream advertisements sans the shrinkage lines that had developed. For white would have shied away from the skin made pale by the non-stop precipitation of the last 5 hours. The highlight of the process of eating was not the food but the fact that we remained in a dry place for about an hour.

We headed back at around 4pm and stopped for coffee at a CCD between the Sayhadri ghats and Vasind. A word of caution: it is very hard to find a decent place to eat here. There are 2-3 resorts which may or may not entertain you for food and hence MTDC is often the only option. It is not a bad idea to stuff as much food from home; especially if you wish to trek to Kalsubai.

Ways to get there:

1. Hire a cab from Mumbai: We struck a decent deal for a 6-seater which turned out to be around Rs. 650 per head

2. Via Igatpuri: Take a train/ bus to Igatpuri. From Igatpuri, you could hire a cab (Rs 500) or take the state transport corporation’s hourly bus. Economical but you lose time.

3. Drive/Ride: A great drive but do ensure that the vehicle has already earned your confidence. The terrain is quite treacherous and there are hardly any support center/workshops here. Figure out the math depending on the kind of fuel guzzler you plan to take.

Places to stay:

• - The MTDC resort is the only economical option but it can be difficult to get confirmed bookings on weekends. You may need to book weeks in advance.
• - There are a couple of budget hotels in the nearby town of Igatpuri (40Kms) as well

Places around:

You can try to cover a few more places in case you want to make a trip of more than 1 day:

- Nashik : The city with many prominent temples

- Shirdi: The Sai temple in Shirdi needs no introduction. The town also offers numerous places to stay depending on your budget.

- Malshejghat: A hill station with a panoramic view of mountains and valleys. Again, it is difficult to get a confirmed booking in the MTDC resort here.