Our day started out with an annoying symphony!! Danish’s alarm!! But we had made a very wise decision of not leaving at 5 in the morning and catching an hour’s more sleep so the symphony wasn’t so bad! ;D
We said our teary farewells to Rohan and the other guys at Baga (teary because Goa is my paradise – I will definitely spend at least one year of my life working in Goa) and headed out at 6 20 a.m.. We had to go to north Goa and head towards Tirakol fort. This was the fifth time I was traveling on this road on this trip! Insane! :P
The way out of Goa is to catch NH 17. Heading towards Tirakol, we took a right turn at a junction where the right would lead us to Mapusa and the left takes you to Anjuna beach. This was all being navigated by the expert navigator – me! Now, keeping my modesty to the minimum, I have a couple of incidents that make me retract the above statements!
On our way to Mapusa, we came to a fork in the road and Danish took the correct turn, but I made us turn around and convinced everyone that we had to take a U-turn and head towards a cliff! Luckily we stopped in time :P
Eicher should be sued!! Will explain why later in this post, but for now, they made me look like a fool! They have their “r” and “n” printed so close to each other, it looks like an “m”. So when I stuck my head out and yelled out to people crossing the road “Where is Pemem??” and they looked at me like I’d spoken Martian, it’s coz the name of the place is PeRNem!!
After Mapusa, we reached NH 17 and passed Pernem as well. But the Goan border on NH 17 doesn’t pass through Pernem as shown in the map, but through Patradevi which we passed at 0700 hrs at 42 km.
At 43 kms, we reached a sign that said “Welcome to Maharashtra” :) Our 3rd state in 3 days!! There was a War Memorial on this no man’s land!
At 47.8 kms, there is another check post where some cars were checked for booze. We sailed through…
At 51 kms, 0715 hrs we hit the Ghats section that slowed us down considerably, but it didn’t last too long. We had chosen to take this route after careful deliberation of the political scenario and kind of road we’d hit. There are numerous alternatives that Danish checked online and on forums.
Now, the part why I think Eicher should be sued :P We have an Eicher map (2008 edition) which told us that Pernem is on the border, which it’s not. Then the road we actually took (through Patradevi – also NH 17) is not shown on the map! This road goes next to Savantvadi and reaches Kudal at 74 km reading (0740 hrs) as opposed to going through Vangurla as shown on the map.
We reached Kankauli at 109.8 kms at 0809 hrs.
At 133.8 kms (0830 hrs) we took a right turn at Talere towards Gaganbadva which is 33 kms after the turn off, this turn is unmarked. At this point we were doing an average of 66kmph which isn’t too great in terms of gaining time. This road took us off NH 17 and onto SH 115. This was the answer to our prayers as this road is really good, shady, empty, not too winding and uninhabited!
One thing you will notice the second you enter Maharashtra is that everything…EVERYTHING…is in Hindi!! The names of places on the milestones, the signboards, the names of shops, the hoardings, even “sale” is in Hindi!! (Picture taken)
There is a railway crossing at Vaibhabvadi at 146 km reading where we lost 5 valuable minutes! It is interesting to note how on a tight schedule the tiniest things became the biggest nuisances!!
At 154.3 kms, we reached a checkpost where the officer there stopped us the minute he saw an “HR” registration!! He flagged us down by yelling “Haryana!”. We stopped and his questions to us were “Where are you coming from, and where are you headed?".Once he got to know we were coming from Goa, all he asked us was "Kitni bottles hai?"!!!Luckily both of being the perfect Indians upholding the ultimate Indian culture, don’t drink, of course. :P And then headed out again!
At 115 kms, there is some serious hilly terrain on SH 115!! Our assumption is that we’re heading up the famous Indian plateau.
At 165 kms we hit a plain region again! Very suddenly! We must have been on top of the plateau as we could make out that we were still pretty high up in altitude!
At 166 kms, at 0915 hrs, we took a right at Gaganbadva towards Kolhapur.
At 190 kms, 28 kms to Kolhapur, the Nehru topis and orange farmer turbans with dhotis have started!! It’s so amazing to see the sudden variations in customs and costumes within a small radius of 10 kms!
At 199 kms, 0950 hrs, we reach a village called Kule. It’s a very busy village and the roads ain’t that great. We drop to 45-50 kmph..
We finally reach Kolhapur at 220.8 kms, 1025 hrs, and god, this town is bustling with chaos! There are no directions in this town and there are too many people! And the auto rickshaws have hard tops!!
At 226.6 kms, at 1040 hrs we took a left from Kolhapur to reach NH 4 which is the Bombay-Bangalore highway or “Banglore-Pune Mahamarg” as written on the signboard!! (Pic taken)
At 1052 hrs, 240 kms, we reached our first toll gate for the day at the Kolhapur – Pune expressway! Rs 23!
256 kms, 1109 hrs – Islampur.
269.9 kms, 1114 hrs, Samat Garden for brunch! Lovely service and the alu parathas merited a re-order! We stopped for 45 mins and headed out by 1200 hrs.
291 kms, 1212 hrs, we reached Karad.
304.9 kms, 1220 hrs, we reached another toll plaza where the toll paid earlier did not stand good! We shelled out another Rs 47.
341.3 kms, 1247 hrs, we reached Satara. The roads are good and we made good time!
1300 hrs, 357 kms, toll gate – Rs 25.
1320 hrs, 387 kms, toll gate – Rs 45.
1350 hrs, 435.3 kms, toll gate – Rs 45.
1410 hrs, 443 kms, reached Pune.
1435 hrs, 467.6 kms, taken left on NH 4 heading towards Hinjewadi.
Took over driving at 1437 hrs, 469.7 kms – On the Pune-Mumbai expressway.
579.4 kms, expressway stops!! This entire road is without a pothole and is a 6 lane smooth drive. The road is made of concrete and there are signs on the side which warn you not to over speed and go beyond 80 kmph as their chances of overheating of your tyres and tyre bursts are high! Hence we stayed under the limit (which is the toughest thing to do on such a phenomenal road) and cruised along! Literally pulled back our seats and played some music and lounged our way out of this expressway into the active city of Mumbai!!!
We took another 25-30 kms after entering Mumbai passing through Chembur-> Sion -> Dadar -> to reach Colaba and find our Nest at 1730 hrs.
We said our teary farewells to Rohan and the other guys at Baga (teary because Goa is my paradise – I will definitely spend at least one year of my life working in Goa) and headed out at 6 20 a.m.. We had to go to north Goa and head towards Tirakol fort. This was the fifth time I was traveling on this road on this trip! Insane! :P
The way out of Goa is to catch NH 17. Heading towards Tirakol, we took a right turn at a junction where the right would lead us to Mapusa and the left takes you to Anjuna beach. This was all being navigated by the expert navigator – me! Now, keeping my modesty to the minimum, I have a couple of incidents that make me retract the above statements!
On our way to Mapusa, we came to a fork in the road and Danish took the correct turn, but I made us turn around and convinced everyone that we had to take a U-turn and head towards a cliff! Luckily we stopped in time :P
Eicher should be sued!! Will explain why later in this post, but for now, they made me look like a fool! They have their “r” and “n” printed so close to each other, it looks like an “m”. So when I stuck my head out and yelled out to people crossing the road “Where is Pemem??” and they looked at me like I’d spoken Martian, it’s coz the name of the place is PeRNem!!
After Mapusa, we reached NH 17 and passed Pernem as well. But the Goan border on NH 17 doesn’t pass through Pernem as shown in the map, but through Patradevi which we passed at 0700 hrs at 42 km.
At 43 kms, we reached a sign that said “Welcome to Maharashtra” :) Our 3rd state in 3 days!! There was a War Memorial on this no man’s land!
At 47.8 kms, there is another check post where some cars were checked for booze. We sailed through…
At 51 kms, 0715 hrs we hit the Ghats section that slowed us down considerably, but it didn’t last too long. We had chosen to take this route after careful deliberation of the political scenario and kind of road we’d hit. There are numerous alternatives that Danish checked online and on forums.
Now, the part why I think Eicher should be sued :P We have an Eicher map (2008 edition) which told us that Pernem is on the border, which it’s not. Then the road we actually took (through Patradevi – also NH 17) is not shown on the map! This road goes next to Savantvadi and reaches Kudal at 74 km reading (0740 hrs) as opposed to going through Vangurla as shown on the map.
We reached Kankauli at 109.8 kms at 0809 hrs.
At 133.8 kms (0830 hrs) we took a right turn at Talere towards Gaganbadva which is 33 kms after the turn off, this turn is unmarked. At this point we were doing an average of 66kmph which isn’t too great in terms of gaining time. This road took us off NH 17 and onto SH 115. This was the answer to our prayers as this road is really good, shady, empty, not too winding and uninhabited!
One thing you will notice the second you enter Maharashtra is that everything…EVERYTHING…is in Hindi!! The names of places on the milestones, the signboards, the names of shops, the hoardings, even “sale” is in Hindi!! (Picture taken)
There is a railway crossing at Vaibhabvadi at 146 km reading where we lost 5 valuable minutes! It is interesting to note how on a tight schedule the tiniest things became the biggest nuisances!!
At 154.3 kms, we reached a checkpost where the officer there stopped us the minute he saw an “HR” registration!! He flagged us down by yelling “Haryana!”. We stopped and his questions to us were “Where are you coming from, and where are you headed?".Once he got to know we were coming from Goa, all he asked us was "Kitni bottles hai?"!!!Luckily both of being the perfect Indians upholding the ultimate Indian culture, don’t drink, of course. :P And then headed out again!
At 115 kms, there is some serious hilly terrain on SH 115!! Our assumption is that we’re heading up the famous Indian plateau.
At 165 kms we hit a plain region again! Very suddenly! We must have been on top of the plateau as we could make out that we were still pretty high up in altitude!
At 166 kms, at 0915 hrs, we took a right at Gaganbadva towards Kolhapur.
At 190 kms, 28 kms to Kolhapur, the Nehru topis and orange farmer turbans with dhotis have started!! It’s so amazing to see the sudden variations in customs and costumes within a small radius of 10 kms!
At 199 kms, 0950 hrs, we reach a village called Kule. It’s a very busy village and the roads ain’t that great. We drop to 45-50 kmph..
We finally reach Kolhapur at 220.8 kms, 1025 hrs, and god, this town is bustling with chaos! There are no directions in this town and there are too many people! And the auto rickshaws have hard tops!!
At 226.6 kms, at 1040 hrs we took a left from Kolhapur to reach NH 4 which is the Bombay-Bangalore highway or “Banglore-Pune Mahamarg” as written on the signboard!! (Pic taken)
At 1052 hrs, 240 kms, we reached our first toll gate for the day at the Kolhapur – Pune expressway! Rs 23!
256 kms, 1109 hrs – Islampur.
269.9 kms, 1114 hrs, Samat Garden for brunch! Lovely service and the alu parathas merited a re-order! We stopped for 45 mins and headed out by 1200 hrs.
291 kms, 1212 hrs, we reached Karad.
304.9 kms, 1220 hrs, we reached another toll plaza where the toll paid earlier did not stand good! We shelled out another Rs 47.
341.3 kms, 1247 hrs, we reached Satara. The roads are good and we made good time!
1300 hrs, 357 kms, toll gate – Rs 25.
1320 hrs, 387 kms, toll gate – Rs 45.
1350 hrs, 435.3 kms, toll gate – Rs 45.
1410 hrs, 443 kms, reached Pune.
1435 hrs, 467.6 kms, taken left on NH 4 heading towards Hinjewadi.
Took over driving at 1437 hrs, 469.7 kms – On the Pune-Mumbai expressway.
579.4 kms, expressway stops!! This entire road is without a pothole and is a 6 lane smooth drive. The road is made of concrete and there are signs on the side which warn you not to over speed and go beyond 80 kmph as their chances of overheating of your tyres and tyre bursts are high! Hence we stayed under the limit (which is the toughest thing to do on such a phenomenal road) and cruised along! Literally pulled back our seats and played some music and lounged our way out of this expressway into the active city of Mumbai!!!
We took another 25-30 kms after entering Mumbai passing through Chembur-> Sion -> Dadar -> to reach Colaba and find our Nest at 1730 hrs.
The Nest is an Army guest house which is very recent and quite unknown to most even on the premises of Navy Nagar where it is situated. We did a whooping 17kms within Navy Nagar searching for this place!! And even braved sarcastic comments from otherwise composed naval sentries - We were already bothered and tired and hot, we drive up to the sentry and ask him, "Excuse me, Nest kahan par hai?". "Nest??", he asks puzzled. "Haan, Nest. N.E.S.T.", I replied a little too impatiently. "Nest toh paed pe hoga, yahaan kya dhoond rahi hain aap??"!!!
I called up a friend to ask her for directions to Hard Rock cafe (HRC) as it is the original one before a string of them came up in Bangalore and other places. HRC turned out to be in Lower Parel but she told us about the Kala Ghoda festival where she was!! It wasn't too far, so we decided to take a look! :) The theme this time was awareness (i think) because everything there was about "say no to plastics" and "the earth is dying" and a "eradicate gender bias" was thrown in! But it was interesting! Turned out that Kalaghoda festival is an art festival and apart from themes and stalls, you have plays and concerts and sales - books, antiques and clothes! :)
I like! :D
We had our dinner at a place called Delhi Darbar on Causeway, Colaba, which was a little too crowded for the kind of food we had! We waited for around 20 min before getting a table. And oif you order a "roll" in this place it is assumed you're asking for "spring rolls" and not what we're used to in Bangalore!! :D
Aiye, Khatam nahi hua.*****
Yeh hai Mumbhai….more later!!!
This is a crazy travel blog.Share some pics for visitors to see.
ReplyDeletewe will :) Once our Vodafone Mobile connect give us enough speed!
ReplyDelete