The Road Ahead

There are not too many roads down there in Konkan; the few there are, lead through the jungle. Most of them are mere walkways hewn over rocks and shrubs by passing tribals and animals.

We walked through those. Thankfully we didn't encounter any wild animals though we did examine a tiger's cave at length. The last tiger to inhabit the cave had been shot by our friend's grandfather. We didn't even get to see any old bones.

We swam a lot. At least we thrashed about in water for sure. In rivers, in streams and in the Arabian Sea. On a virgin, unspoilt beach with water so clear that you could easily see objects that were at least a metre deep. That included small fish and even crabs in some places.

But none of these took a toll on us. Even the rugged terrain with 90 degree climbs and descents, strenuous upward treks over miles and miles of rocks at midnight - all this, while carrying 20 kilos on our back... at least it ensured that we slept like logs, even though we slept under the stars with the cool earth for a bed and a pair of jeans for a pillow. The thrill of moving inch by inch over the walls of the broken down Gopalgadh fort, where a misstep meant certain death either by drowning in the sea or merely by impact on the rocks, easily offset the perils.

What DID get to me was the rough ride back home in a clattering, ear shattering 'Asiad' the pride of Maharashtra's State Transport service.

That was something I could have done without.

The pics will be up soon.

For posterity, the route was as follows

March 5
0745 - Thane
1250 - Chiplun
1500 - Hedvi
We visited the local temple and the beach.

March 6
1100 - Gopalgadh
1330 - Guhagar Beach
1520 - Velneshwar Temple & Beach
1630 - Navalaee temple
1700 - Musalondi, for a bath in the river
2345 - Someshwar temple

March 7
1130 - Narvan temple
1400 - Musalondi

March 8
0945 - Dodavali
1800 - Vashi
1900 - Thane

Hectic, but absolutely refreshing. The silence in these places is amazing. A silence broken only by the sound of crickets and the breeze through bamboo thickets. Vast unbroken stretches of skies littered with millions and millions of stars. All this in a place where electricity appeared barely 5 years ago (thanks to the Enron brouhaha - Yes, we saw the deserted ENPC project too) and where the mobile phone is no better than an alarm clock.

I managed to catch up on a lot of meditation and contemplation as well. Right there, in the middle of nowhere.

Next stop - Dwarka.