Dahanu Fort in Dahanu near Bordi in Maharashtra

Monday, February 20, 2017

Dahanu Fort is located in Dahanu, it can be reached both by rail and road transport. One has to alight at Dahanu Railway station and from there board a shared rickshaw to reach the fort, or you travel by a private mode of transport. 

Entrance to Dahanu Fort 

Dahanu Fort is very small in size and can be done in 10 minutes time.The big bastion with a banyan tree growing on it was beautiful. There are two ways of entering the fort premises. 

We traveled to Dahanu Fort from Aswali Dam. 

Currently the fort houses government offices, but one can freely roam the fort premises. Thanks to the government offices, they have made us of the houses in the fort premises. It was another busy day for the government officials there. 

Banyan tree on the bastion of Dahanu Fort

I was informed by one of the ladies on the fort, that CID has got their office there. ACP Pradyuman from the famous tele-series, CID flashed in my mind. BTW if you wish to see it, it features on Sony TV. It is a hilarious series, I should say. 

The other entrance ot Dahanu Fort

There is a Maruti temple in the fort premises. Orange..

Handprint on the fort walls of Dahanu Fort

Maruti temple in Dahanu Fort premises

Across the fort I saw, hand prints in orange. Not sure what they meant or resemble. 

Hansel and Me at Dahanu Fort 

Beautiful waterbody

After exploring the fort, we headed via the Jawahar Dahanu Road to reach the Mumbai Ahmedabad highway. 

Banyan Tree

En route we stopped near Ashgad, there is a temple and dargah here. Saw a couple of boys somersaulting near the river bed. Took pics of this extraordinary tree and banyan tree. We then headed to Hotel Mini's to have lunch.

That me near the tree

Lunch at Hotel Mini's

Traveled by the Jawahar Dahanu Road, till we reached Mumbai Ahmedabad highway, then we raced on the highway. There was no traffic so we managed to reach Andheri by 5 PM. I was happy that we were not stuck in traffic near Hotel Fountain, like we did on the Gujarat Trip. 

Boys somersaulting in the waters

Bike journeys have always been tiring for me, luckily my back was not in pain. Not sure if my body is getting used to it or was the travel time on the bike which was lesser than the other bike trips.
Keeping the bike travel aside, I did have a good time on the trip. As this place is not very far from Mumbai, it can be done in a day's time. You should try...

Coastal bike trip from Gholvad to Dahanu (Maharashtra Gujarat Border) India

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

After exploring Aswali Dam, we travelled on the Bordi Aswali Road, to reach Bordi. We travelled on the narrow roads, again the road was very picturesque. Banyan trees, Tody trees, on either side of the roads, we even saw chickoo plantations. I knew we were near Gholvad, as the chickoo plantations are there. We noticed a Ganpati painted on the bark of a tree, it looked nice an it was very innovative. 

En route to Gholvad

Finally we reached Bordi. Not sure if it was the Bordi market, or a Saturday market. Shops on either side of the road. Shops selling all kinds of things, ranging from clothes, under garments, fruits and vegetables, toys and many more.  The streets had turned colorful. The roads were filled with people. 

We then visited the Bordi beach stretch located a few minutes away from the market place. 

Rail crossing

The tide was low and hence the water had receded. The school children had taken full advantage of the situation and decided to play cricket at the beach. Have you played cricket at the beach, do let me know. 

It was a black sand beach. In a distance I could see the mangroves, they looked beautiful, but if we walk it out, it wold take us around an hour's time to reach. So we skipped it.

Ganpati painted on a Banyan Tree

We then decided to travel all the way to Dahanu, the road though narrow and winding was in good condition, to ride on and close to the beach. Even at 12 noon, we were not able to feel the heat thanks to the cool breeze from the sea. 

Bordi Beach

We braked a couple of times and watched the silent water in a distance. The tide was low but not a soul on the beach. How will there be anyone, as there is no one staying close by. The beach stretch was clean. 

Hansel and Me

As we approached Dahanu Beach, we saw a couple of fishing boats anchored in the waters. At last civilization, I said to myself. The water was clear here and no sign of dirt on the beach. I was sure that the closer we get to the beach, the dirtier the beach would be. We gave it a skip.

En route to Gholvad

We met up with Gautam, near Narpad. He was a local, who stays in Dahanu and works in Andheri in Mumbai city.  I felt so jealous, as he is having the best of both worlds. though commuting , cost him around 5 hours a day, but he still lives a good life here. 

That's Me

Coastal road to Dahani

I think I should buy a vacation home here, but who has got the time to travel so far. Gautam told us about a couple of good eating joints around Dahanu as hunger had striked our stomachs. Out of all I remember Hotel Mini's near a bridge on a river. 

Dahanu Beach

Hansel and Me with Gautam

En route, we noticed a signboard that read Dahanu Fort. Fort that rang bells in my head, though I have been to Dahanu Fort a long time ago, I still decided to pay it a visit to refresh my memory. Hansel to had a new fort to explore on the bike trip.