Devgad was on our list when we set off from Mumbai. So we
had made inquiries at the Malvan ST Depot regarding a bus to Devgad.
We were informed by one of the staff, a day before our
journey that there is direct bus at 730 hours to Devgad and that it would take
around 3 hours for us to reach there.
We then planned to board the bus at 730 hours to take us to
Devgad.
The next day we were up at 600 hours. We headed to the beach
for a morning walk and then packed our stuff to go to the ST bus stand.
We reached the bus stand at 7:15 hours. Without wasting
anytime we decided to ask the Inquiry counter the pickup point of the bus, to
which the person at the counter replied “Bus gele, ata dusri bus sade nau la
ahai” meaning the 730 hours bus departed and the next bus is at 930 hours.
We checked up on one of the boards with bus timings and it
stated a bus at 830 hours. We told the Inquiry desk about the same, to which he
replied, “Toh zuna timing ahai” meaning it is the old timing.
Two hours of waiting time just to board a bus to Devgad.
What is more annoying is that the boards had the wrong
timing and no one paid any heed to get the timing rectified. And the next bus was in two hours time. I
guess the bus at 730 hours would have been full so they let if off even before
we arrived :(
Rickshaws are a very expensive affair here as they don’t
charge via the meter and it would cost us more cash and time so we decided to
wait for the 930 hours bus. Just hoped that the bus is on time.
Finally at 925 hours the bus arrived at the stop, we
immediately boarded the bus and got a place to sit in it. Luckily the bus was
less crowded.
We got ourselves a ticket at a cost of Rs. 91 each. For a
three hour journey.
The view from the bus was simply amazing.
Plenty of jackfruit and mango farms on the way. Hithakshi
wanted to reach out her hand and pluck mangoes and jackfruits. They were that
close to us.
This year I guess the harvest is going to be real good.
The roads were very narrow and used to go up and down the
terrain in the jungle, giving us different views of the land. Shades of green
all around us. The tree sporting different shades of green leaves and the green
waters of the lake nearby was amazing. The color green was so soothing to our
eyes.
Suddenly the view changed to barren lands as far as my eye
could see. In a distance I could see houses made of mud with tiled roofs which
were around 100 years old but they looked beautiful in a distance.
The view from the bus, on our way to Devgad was beautiful. As
the bus was racing at high speed, I was having a tough time taking photos.
After 3 ½ hours we reached Devgad ST Bus Depot. This was a
fun filled rollercoaster ride for us and now we had to find ourselves a place
for the night.
There are not many stay options in Devgad. It is not as well
developed as Malvan in regards to tourism. But we managed to get a place to
rest for the night behind the bus stand.
Pacific Safari charged us Rs. 500 as rent for a twin sharing
room (Non AC) and Rs.1000 for a twin sharing room (AC). The rooms weren’t that
great, but for travelers who are out exploring the entire day it isn’t going to
be much of an issue.
We then set off the explore Devgad Fort in the afternoon.
