Devbag Beach via Tarkarli

Sunday, March 16, 2014

The next morning we boarded the green color mini bus to Devbag Beach via Tarkarli.

This bus is full of locals and it travels along the border so we can view the seashore as we travel.

Boat ride t see  the confluence of the sea and river Kurli

 Many people have setup hotels to gain tourist attention, though there are houses of fishermen too on the beach.

In around 30 minutes time we were at Devbag Beach Mobor. This doesn’t have a good stretch of the beach. From here we took a boat ride at a cost of Rs.300 to see Bhogave Beach, the confluence of the sea and river Kurli.

The rising waves, is the place where the conmfluence happens

Bhogave beach is beautiful. Not a soul on the beach, it reminded me of Tom Hanks in movie. I forgot the name of the movie, let me recollect. Ha, Outcast

The confluence was also nice, the waves rose so high that I almost got wet in the boat.

We then headed back to the bus top to board the same bus on its way back to Malvan ST bus depot. The conductor alighted us at Tarkarli Beach near the MTDC resorts.

Beautiful hillside on the other side of River Kurli 

This beach is clean, clean white sands with green waters lashing on the shore, not many people here. We decided to walk on the shore, meaning I walked on the sand and Hithakshi walked in the waters.

Frankly speaking all the beaches look the same; it’s just us people who have given it different names.

Tarkarli Beach

We saw a few malnourished camels on the beach. If an obese person would happen to sit on them they would collapse.

Devbag beach and Tarkarli Beach are  a must for all travelers.

We then headed off to Malvan again.

Rameshwar Temple at Achara

Friday, March 14, 2014

After having done with Devgad Fort, Devgad Port, Devgad Beach, KunkeshwarTemple and Vijaydurg we headed back to Malvan.

As there was no direct bus to Malvan in the morning we decided to do a stopover trip, we boarded a bus to Achara. Btw the bus was going to Achara only.

We alighted at Achara after a three hour journey in the interiors of this place. It cost us Rs. 58 for this journey. 

Premises of Rameshwar Temple in Achara

We asked the locals around and they told us to visit Rameshwar Temple at Achara which is located at a walking distance from there. They told us that it would take us around 30 minutes to reach this place.

We walked on the road as we were directed and reached the entrance of the temple. This temple is beautiful. The pillars of the temple and the colors it was painted in, pushes one back in time.

There are a few old diya stands in the fort premises called as stumbhs in Marathi, they were constructed in the 17^th century.

Old Diya stands in the Temple premises

Chhatrapati Shambu Raje of Kolhapur had given this Iman (Iman means land given by Kings and Emperors to people for the achievements) to Shri Dev Rameshwar (i.e. Lord Shiva) this temple is dedicated to Shiva.

We decided to have our lunch at the temple premises. The lunch consisted of rice, dal curry, kidney beans and a sweet dish. The women in the temple premises prepare food for all the devotees who come here and serve it to them. The food is free of cost. The women serve food as they believe that they are blessed when they serve unknown people.

Free food served in the Temple premises

After Hithakshi got her blessings and our stomachs full to the core we decided to head back to Malvan.

Though the journey from Malvan to Devgad consumed just 3 hours of our time this return journey consumed around 8 hours of our time.

As we sat in a bus that took us on a darshan to the interiors of Achara and Devgad. Never the less travelling around in rustic Maharashtra was fun, the rollercoaster ride in the jungle the small and squeaky houses around both on low lying and high lying  areas was amazing.

I was imagining what a difficult life it is for these people to commute as they stay so deep in the heart of nature.

Finally at 1630 hours we reached Malvan ST Bus depot. We were on a mission now as we had to lookout for a place to stay for the night, that too a budgeted one.

Rameshwar Temple interiors

We finally got ourselves a room on rent at Rs. 700 per night at Hotel Sahil Palace. Thanks to the chemist we inquired at. The owner of the chemist turned out to be the brother of the local MLA who owned the Hotel. 

He gave us at a discounted rate but a spacious room for the two of us. 

Had thali dinner in a local restaurant and called it a night as we had to do Devbag beach, Tarkarli beach the next day.

Journey Malvan to Devgad

Friday, February 28, 2014

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.