Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Trailer

Bidding adieu to Goa, I took the Querim-Aronda ferry. An hour later I was in Vengurla. I straight away headed to Sagareshwar Beach to see if there were any rooms available at the MTDC resort. There were no signboards. Speaking to the locals I learnt that the resort has closed down! Seriously? Those lovely cottages right on the beach, closed down? There didn't seem to be any other hotels bang on the beach. As suggested by the locals I went to the area around the jetty and checked in into Sagar Hotel Resort. The room had a good view of the sea and the sunset, but 'resort' was a bit of an exaggeration! In hindsight living close to the jetty turned out to be a good decision. The jetty is abuzz with fishermen activity in the evening. The larger boats are anchored in the sea, the smaller ones ferry the catch from these to the shore and at the shore there is a large wholesale market. I spent most of the evening observing the activities there. Good fun! The sunset too was eye-catching.











I got up early the next morning. Whole of Vengurla seemed to be still asleep. I headed to the Sagareshwar Beach. The beach is clean and the sand is soft. Perfect to have a nice long walk









After a leisurely breakfast I left the hotel. The road was good and bad in parts... but picturesque throughout!






First stop for the day was Nivati beach. I went there looking for the beach and the fort, only to be told that they are on opposite sides of a river!


























Some random snaps on the way






















It was around noon. It was very hot. I was around Devbag. I saw a small stall selling eatables and by the beach side. Made myself comfortable with nice kokam sherbet and did some photography around























At a nearby jetty, I got talking with a fisherman. One of his friends caught a jelly fish and got it ashore. He offered me a chance to catch it. I did. Very yucky!!!




















Some snaps around the Devbag-Tarkarli area























The sun was burning away to glory. I wisely decided to skip a visit to the Sindhudurg sea fort. This is a magnificent fort surrounded by the sea on all sides. I had been here in one of my earlier trips. Definitely worth a visit. After a good lunch at Swami in Malvan, I was again on the road. A little ahead, a villager told me about a shortcut to Achra beach. I went for it. After more than 30 minutes I was still on the narrow roads, often without a soul in sight wondering whether this road was actually going to lead me somewhere! Out of the blue I joined a larger road which went past a nice waterbody to Achra Beach
























Achra beach was completely deserted! A nearby store owned told me that tourists rarely come here. No wonder it looked so unspoilt!

Next I visited Devgad fort. Devgad is more famous for its mangoes. The fort is surrounded by water on two sides and land on the other two. The boundary wall and moat are still intact on the inland side.


























It was almost evening by the time I got my first glimpse of Vijaydurg. I checked into the MTDC hotel right next to the fort. After two disappointments with MTDC during this trip, this one got it bang on. Nice location and good staff.




















It had been a nice day. A glimpse of all that Konkan has to offer!


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