A Matte Black Dominar 2019 Comes Home

I had been contributing to various automobile forums in India, somewhat infrequently over the last few years. Recently, had a very bitter experience with team-bhp and one of its very arrogant admin, who goes by the handle gto. With posts getting deleted selectively, changing the narrative, and after receiving arrogant communication like "do not question the admin", I started wondering why the heck should I tolerate this nonsense, especially when I am generating content for their forum for free - by writing posts there. Gave it back in appropriate words, and decided not to contribute there anymore. 

Found xBHP to be much better, and lenient community in comparison. I still post there. But by and large, decided to try using my own blog going forward, as much as possible, to note down my long term ownership experience of the Dominar. So here goes.  

THE AVENGER 

Since returning from Spiti, last September, I had this overwhelming feeling that I had grown out of the Avenger. With all the mods I had done on the bike (the handle positioning, comfortable seat, hadlebar rod to hold mobile, charger for the mobile etc), the bike was supremely comfortable for both rider and pillion, and the bike effortlessly carried all the luggage we threw at it on long rides. 

In the ghat sections, the bike's power was more than adequate, and despite having a very long front fork, cornering on the bike, with all the luggage in place, wasn't exactly scary. It behaved very well around those corners. New tires were helping as well.  

Yet, when driving it on the plains, after getting down the loooong ghat from Manali, into Chandigarh, the 220cc, ~20bhp engine started feeling inadequate. The bike would do 80-90 without much trouble, but anything beyond that would strain the engine, resulting into vibes all over the handlebar. Irritating. 

Besides, having used to cruising at 130+kmph in the car, 80-90kmph started feeling very boring and mundane. 

NEW BIKE

So, since coming back, I started saving for a new bike - which one? That was yet to be decided. The KTM 390 Adventure that was rumoured to be released during 2018 EICMA, never did. And then what started with a Dominar as an alternative, quickly degenerated into a salivating pursuit of a "sports tourer" - from RR 310 to the world of parallel twins - Ninja 300, Ninja 400, R3 and even Ninja 650. I had even finalized R3 after taking a test-ride and figuring out the economical running maintenance costs of the bike. I knew at the back of my mind all the time that the aggressive posture these bikes demand (ofcourse vis-a-vis an avenger), would make them more of a "sports" bike and less of a "tourer". Yet, childhood memories of doing oohs and aahs oggling at a fully faired sports-bike, kept pushing me towards it. 

Thankfully, around the same time, the 2019 Dominar started making an appearance in prototype reviews. And my biggest concern - that of vibes in the 'touring' RPM range of 4000-6000 - owing to an SOHC engine setup - was taken care of by introducing a DOHC engine. There was still this fly in the ointment that the compression ratio was increased to 12+ - on the lines of the Duke - meaning possible addition to vibes and excessive heat generation. I would have preferred it being decreased, and addition of more torque low down instead. But that wasn't to be. 

Anyway, the reviews that were coming in were very encouraging. I let the better sense prevail, and dropped the idea of booking an R3, that would cost almost 4.3L on road in Bangalore, and instead decided to book an equally powerful, though single cylinder, Dominar 2019. I went to Khivraj Bajaj on Kasturba road in Bangalore, and put down a booking deposit couple days after pre-orders officially opened. The prices were declared almost a month later, in April. 

The folks at Khivraj Bajaj were quite professional in their handling of a customer. While they didn't allow me to take insurance from outside, they allowed me to choose a bike out of 4-5 bikes after a detailed inspection, and gave me delivery on the day I wanted - 7th May 2019 - on the occasion of AkshayTrutiya - अक्षय्य तृतीया - one of the very auspicious days (muhurta) as per Hindu calendar. 

Just out of delivery bay. 7-May-2019

The Dominar 2019 - Finally comes home, after a long 6 months of wait.

Kalavantin (कलावंतीण)

This particular trek was on my mind for quite some time now. The Kalavantin Dug (कलावंतीण दुर्ग) or Kalavantinicha Buruj (कलावंतीणीचा बुरुज) was described as tough and dangerous by quite a few. But then, even Torna rockpatches were mentioned as tough by many. So I was skeptical, yet, I had seen the pics of the Buruj, supposedly taken from the top of Prabalgad, and it did appear as a challeging climb. I wanted to see and experience it in person.

With a long leave approaching, I decided Feb end is near about the end of trekking season as well, owing to the hot weather that prevails this part of the world, post February. So an impromptu plan was drafted for Junnar area, and a one-off trek to Kalavantin. All were planned on working days, to avoid any crowd. Mountains are always peaceful on a working day.

So on Monday, 25-Feb, I took off on my bike, with camera gear, binocular and miscelleneous stuff on the back.


How To Get There

From pune the route is along NH4:

Pune - Dehu Road bifurcation - Kamshet - Lonavala - Khandala - Khopoli Exit on the expressway section - Khopoli - Shedung === diversion ===> Belavali - Thakurwadi

Distance: ~120kms from Chandani Chowk, Pune

At Shedung bifurcation (शेडुंग फाटा), there are 4 roads, one that joins the expressway, one that comes from expressway, one that comes from Khopoli, and the fourth one - a small one - is the one that goes to Belavali. Better to ask at the junction if confused.

Thakurwadi is about 5km from Shedung bifurcation. The road to Belavali and on to Thakurwadi is good and smooth overall, with an occasional rough patch. Prabalgad and Kalvantin are visible almost throughout the ride to Thakurwadi, though, in the morning, sun rises behind the mountain, and all you can see is a silhouette of the two, rather than any details.

Thakurwadi is the base village for Prabalgad (प्रबळगड) and Kalavantin. Lonely, eerie and haunted. Near Thakurwadi, where one finds 4 roads going in different direction, there stands a Banyan tree, and the road that's in front of the Banyan tree, going directly towards the mountain, is the road to Prabal Machee (प्रबळ माची).

The road is motorable to a certain extent, and I decided to take my bike till the point I can. And it saved me almost a couple kms of walking. The road was broken in the middle, over what seemed like a water pipeline. I parked the bike there on the roadside, and started walking onwards.


Prabal Machee (प्रबळ माची)

It's plain walk for about an hour and half till Prabal machee. The road goes winding around the mountain, and Kalavantin stays hidden behind the imposing wall of Prabal Machee, for most part of the walk.

Plain Prinia (?)

Common Cuckoo

Dead silence with bird chirpings is the sole pleasure of this trail. I sighted a Common Cuckoo along the way. It was a little fidgety and would let me come close. So all I could manage was a record shot. It was a lifer for me. Hadn't seen a cuckoo before.

The Machee is typical of a lot of forts in the region. Large densely wooded plain lifted off the mainland to a great height, and then he pinnacles and forts rise above this machee. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that not only are there people inhabiting this remote place, but there is even a well-built school(!!) up there. Kudos!


Kalavantin

Route to the top of Kalavantin, is from the V-shaped col (खिंड) between Kalavantin and Prabalgad. At Prabal Machee, I asked for direction towards the col and was told to just keep going up in the direction. As usual I lost the way somewhere, and then had to do a hanging traverse to get into the col. The rock traverse was pleasant, though I had this anxiety that it might end up on a super exposed rock face rather than getting into the col, and then I would have to traverse back again clinging to the same rock. Fortunately, I ended up dropping on the proper route to the col, and eventually got to the point where Kalavantin route, in its full glory, starts.

I was told the route starts from the col, but looking around I could hardly see any stairs that lead up. Looking closely I realised, the first few feet are, as if, blasted off, and the real stairs start after that. You have to make do with whatever holds you can manage in those first 5-10 feet.

The stairs are couple feet high and nearly vertical. The climb indeed has it's own flavour of fear factor. The exposure is pretty high, and some patches are made of all gravel. Rock is easy to hold onto and negotiate, but gravel is where I always get nervous. I just dont trust it.

The route goes winding up, through patches of stairs and gravel. It's not difficult, but it's definitely not for begginers. The menacing vertical-drop rock-face (कातळकडा) of Prabalgad is visible all the time while you go up. It's massive and majestic.


Eventually I reached within the final 20-25ft of the summit. This rockpatch of last 20 odd feet of Kalavantin, is a proper (easy grade) rock climb. In my opinion, it should be tried only if one has done some basic rock climbing, and is aware of holds, balances, is flexible enough, and most importantly has enough pulling power in the arms and biceps. If the technique and climbing experience is there, it's quite an easy climb, and then it's all about managing the fear factor. There is almost a 500-600ft exposure on the left, climbing, side; and you should, in advance, think about how you are going to get down without ropes. Free climbing without ropes is comparatively easy and manageable. Getting down is altogether a different story.


I dropped my sack at the base of the rockpatch, and started climbing. There is a very helpful crack on the left, and then some pinch holds on the right. The rock is pretty sturdy, and some of the very good I have seen in Sahyadri so far. So those holds are quite trustable. I was on top in about a couple mins. It was exhilerating to be on top, and at the same time, the precarious looking edge, from where I climbed, kept making me anxious about eventual climb-down.

The view from top are great. I could identity Karnala fort due to it's unique pinnacle, even though it was quite a long distance from there. Peb and Irsalgad are also said to be visible from there, but I  couldn't identify which is which; though I did notice two peaks with strange rockfaces on top.

Getting down from there comes with a lot of anxiety. You lose your balance for one instance, and you are hurtling down the rockface in the next. So all moves have to come with absolute conviction. Slow, steady and perfectly balanced all the time, is the key.

Once I was down at the base of the rockface, there was the next set of challenge - the gravel and vertical steps of Kalavantin. Going up was easier. Getting down, looking straight down the vertical slope, was a little nerve-wrecking. Especially due to the reality that no one would even know if I fell.

It took me almost an hour to make it down to the col. I was dead slow in the gravel part. The rocky stairs were comparatively manageable since there are a few jug holds created in the rock, apart from some natural pinch holds. It's easier to get down either backwards or sideways since that way your centre-of-gravity remains very close to the rock and you can use your hands to hang on to the rock.

Once I got back into the col, it was all about walkin to the machee, and then onwards towards my bike on the semi motorable road. The route from col to the machee, is still a little steep, but not at all dangerous. It's probably a water-stream route going by it's characteristics, but it takes one directly to the habitation on the machee.


Way Back Home

By the time I made it back to the bike, it was late afternoon and everything I touched, burned my hands. Including my bike.

Eventually I made it to Shedung and NH4, had my lunch at a dhaba, and reached Pune in next couple of hours, by 6:30pm. The only section where I really enjoyed racing was the Khopoli ghat section which joins with the expressway. It's a super twisty-turvy ghat, with absolutely plain heavenly roads, scarce traffic, and brilliant banking with lot of scope for adrenaline inducing cornering. Racing up these slopes is to a biker what a superbly well made Puranpoli (पुरणपोळी) is to a foodie.


Some Tips For Those Attempting Kalavantin

Based on my experience, here are some tips which, I felt, might come handy to those planning or attempting Kalavantin -

1. If you haven't done a lot of trekking and a basic amount of climbing before, don't attempt this on your own. Get someone experienced along. This is not for begginers.

1.1 Don't do this alone unless you are sure of your feet and hands and navigation, and have prior trekking/climbing experience.

2. Carry a lot of water. After Prabal Machee, there are no sources of water anywhere. At least I couldnt find any. And you will need a lot of it.

3. Try to make it to the col as early in the morning as possible. If you get late, you will get your hands burnt while coming down. The rock heats up like it's on fire, and you dont have an option but to catch hold of it while coming down.

4. Stay close to the rock while on stairs.

5. Make sure you are not stepping on loose gravel. Be very careful on the gravel patches.

6. If you don't have prior climbing experience, I would advise against free-climbing the last rockface without ropes. It's not tough, but it does need some delicate movements and balancing. And it's exposed.

7. While climbing down the stairs, grab hold of the rock any which way, and climb down backwards or sideways. Dont sit down for finding the next step below. One - you might lose your balance looking down, and two - your backpack might hit the step above and spoil your balance. It's too exposed out there to take these kinds of risks. Be safe.

8. It ain't over till it ain't over. Don't lose your guard until you are safely back into the col.


Approximate Timings:

Thakurwadi to Prabal Machee: 1-1.5hrs
Prabal Machee to the col: 0.5hrs
Kalavantin climb up: 30-45mins
Climb down to the col: 1-1.5hrs 

CKRT Day 08 - The Long Drive Back From Vengurla To Pune

Continued from: CKRT Day 07 - Malvan to Vengurla

WARNING: This is going to be an extra-long post about the >500km drive I had from Vengurla to Pune in a single day. This is one of the longest, most tiring and hence probably most daring bike ride I have undertaken till date. But natural, that I am going to make it sound like I have been to moon and returned unharmed. So read at your own peril. You have been warned. ;)

The Last Day Blues

The last day of our road-trip. Today, we were going to split - destined for our individual destinations. I had planned to stay in Chiplun, enroute Pune, while Pravya was to leave for Kolhapur from Vengurla via public transport. 

We were in denial. It was hard to digest that it was indeed the last day. It kept feeling like the road-trip had started merely couple days back, and a lot more was yet to come. We hadn't got enough of it, and wanted it to last a lot longer. But that wasn't to be. It's in moment like these, that you end up envying lives of such free birds as Jim Corbett, Milind Gunaji, Kalyan Varma, for the way they get paid for living a life like this. 

The Light-house

That day we got up quite early and went to checkout the light-house, which, we had learned, was somewhere on the hill behind the Sagar bungalow. 

Once on the hill, we tried quite a few routes that looked like leading up the hill towards the light-house, but met with dead-ends like dense bushes and steep, slippery gravel mounds. Finally, after sometime, we found a manageable route up the hill that ended in bushes around the light-house compound. Getting through those bushes was an ordeal due to thorns. But eventually we entered the light-house in a true James Bond style - from the sea, up the hill, over a slippery path "where no human being is expected to venture into" (oh yeah!), through the dense scrubs, over the compound and into the campus! Anxious that someone will take us to task for entering a government building in an illegal way, we moved around avoiding eye-contacts with any moving thing. And thankfully, no one questioned us. 

We moved around there, took in the views and eventually found the right way out that had proper stairs and ended a tad few meters before the spot from where we had started looking for a way up the hill!

Breakfast 

Breakfast was next on mind, but even after moving around here and there in the town, we cound;t find a single open restarurant. Seemed like Vengurla doesn't believe in having their breakfast anywhere but in their own home. Finally found a very humble joint near a petrol pump, had our breakfast, did a tankfull for further journey and set out for the room. 

A beautiful, calm and peaceful temple in Vengurla - Sign of a laidback town

The Journey Back

We got ready to leave in about an hour, and by 11am, we were on our way. I dropped Pravya at Vengurla bus stand, confirmed there was bus to Kolhapur in about half and hour, tied my bag on the back seat with couple of 6mm ropes that I was carrying (afterall, the knots that I had learnt as part of climbing ropework was coming immensely handy) and by 11:30am, after having couple of glasses of suger-cane juice, I was on my way to Chiplun. 

Enroute Chiplun

Enroute, I realised the rope had developed slack, and the bag was all wobbly. Spent almost half an hour trying different combinaions and switched to using Tarbuck knots on both ends, instead of having figure-of-eight on one end, and Tarbuck on the other. The USP of Tarbuck knot is it allows adjustment and tightening even after it's tied - a characteristic that I found way too handy while tying the bag that day. Having an adjustable knot on both ends makes it easier to tighten as needed. And sure enough, the bag never came loose again. 

It was a long journey. Chiplun itself was more than 250kms from Vengurla. But even after lunch, when I realised that I was maintaining 70kmph over the distance, I decided to make a dash for Pune, based on my previous experience of driving my car from Malvan to Pune. 

That time, we had left Malvan at around 2pm, were at Ratnagiri when light had almost diminished, in Mangaon at 11:45pm and then in Pune by 2am in the morning. 

Compared to that, I had an advantage of around 2.5hrs of daylight. Besides, when we had travelled in car, it was December - the time of an year when days are shortest. This was, on the other hand, May - exactly opposite - with longest days in an year. So I had about an hour of extra daylight - making it and advantage of almost 4-hours! So if I would rush, I should be able to make it somewhere between Mahad and Mangaon before nightfall and I won't have to tolerate the infamous upper-beam torture on one of the deadliest highways in Maharashtra. 

And with that calculation in mind, I dashed off towards Pune in full blast. Such long drives on highways tend to get monotonous and boring quickly. Twisty turvy ghats and friendly races on such a terrain, are about the only antidotes to the boredome of a driver on such drives. 

I entertained myself with such races amidst boards like - "तुम्ही प्रवासी आहात, स्पर्धक नव्हे", "आवरा वेगाला, सावरा जीवाला", "चूक असते छोटीशी, खेळ होई जीवाशी" etc. I must say the boards are quite effective since many a times I found myself not wanting to cross 100kmph. 

Yet, I counted the vehicles that managed to comprehensively overtake me and keep me on the tail. One was a Chevy Captiva, one Palio ELX, and a guy with the impressive Yamaha R16. the bike definitely has a racing DNA. Besides, the guy had a very impressive cornering technique, confidence and excellent control. Without these it's impossible to manage these ghats at high speeds. 

Racing the the Palio ELX was fun. I knew that a Palio has tall gearing, and and ELX being an old version meant it was probably a 1.2 litre engine. A 1.2 litre engine, with tall gearing makes for a lousy pickup from inertia. So I used to target those time-bands when the palio guy had to pickup speed after braking. I almost always overtook him in those bands. But then, once a palio picks up, it's the same tall gearing that makes it a formidable competitor. It would always overtake me eventually, no matter if I was doing 120kmph or 130kmph, and would vanish from my sight .... till it would brake next, that is. 


Shaken, not Stirred

While enroute Chiplun, probably in Kastye ghat, I was tailing a Swift Desire LDI. The diesel engine had gone berserk and was spewing black-and-blue smoke. I just cant tolerate the air I breath being polluted by such amount of smoke. So I resolved to overtake that car. And after a couple attempts I realized the driver was blocking my way and wasn't letting me pass, for reasons unknown. 

It was not long, before I lost my patience and decided to make a dash at the next turn. I had noticed there were no incoming vehicles and deemed it safe to use the full width of the road at the turn, to overtake that car. 

I caught up with him at the turn alright, but while overtaking it dawned on me that the U-turn was way too sharp that what I had expected. That Desire itself was struggling to stay on the road and avoid skidding. In a fraction, it came straight in front of me, in 90 degrees. To avoind bumping into the car, I straightened up, let go of the turn, and aimed for the roadside. Fortunately, the car passed, but my bike went into roadside gravel at quite high speed. I couldn't do anything but to take a nasty fall with a full roll off the bike. I had a helmet on, and the roll, though dramatic, had probably prevented any serious injury due to impact. Couple of bikers, going in both directions stopped to come pick me up. They seemed surprised that I was alright enough to stand and pick my bike up after that dramatic fall. I was shaken, but (thankfully) not stirred (physically). 

I took a 5-10mins break before resuming. And after that, I made it a point to keep my speed and agressive driving in check, more due to the emotional impact of the fall, than due to the bruises on hand and legs that had started making their presence felt.

Rest of the drive quite un-eventful. Going at about 80-90kmph, taking in the views, which thankfully were abundant due to number of ghat sections along the route. It kept my mind off the fall, and off from speeding and racing again. NH17, if we ignore its 'deadly' tag, is a delightful highway with brilliant views and, for most of the way, good surface. I kept rolling along.


The Unbelievable Kashedi Ghat

A delight of NH17, is the Kashedi ghat that ends just before Poladpur while going towards Mumbai. Smooth well-laid tar surface, challenging twists and turns, well banked u-turns along most of the route, and very wide. It's a biker's, neigh a driver's, paradise. A road for which you would leave everything else behind apart from your vehicle, and just do a fast pacy cornering while leaving the bike to the winds. It's a heaven for those with quality high power and high performance bikes (obnoxious bullet riders, this is not for you, please go elsewhere with your appallingly loud, all-pomp-no-substance bullets). Probably the best I have seen so far. Also the longest. 


Tamhini Ghat

By the time I crossed Mahad, the sun had set and it was getting dark. It was a bull's eye as far as my calculation and execution of the plan was concerned. I was indeed between Mahad and Mangaon by the time of sun-set and though I had to endure the upper-beam torture of NH17, it was for merely half an hour. I somehow kept my patience through that half an hour. 

By 7:30pm, after couple of glasses of sugar-cane juice at Mangaon, I had started towards Pune via Nizampur and Tamhini ghat. 

It was seemingly a full moon night, yet due to the kind of dense jungle through which Tamhini ghat passes, it was quite dark. Tamhini being a very less frequented ghat, there was scarcely any vehicle that passed me in either direction. It's quite ennervating to drive a bike alone through such passages in the night. And then to top it all, I lost my way! Fortunately there was an Arhatic Yoga Ashram on the way where I could confirm that I had indeed lost my way, turned back and got on the correct route. 

I was exhausted, my body was paining like anything and Pune was just not coming nearby. Worse, the bad road was testing my patience. Even on a fresh morning, Tamhini roads are barely bearable. On a lonely night, after around 400kms of drive already, next 120kms of such a surface is nothing short of slow poison. 


Home Sweet Home

Eventually, by 10:30pm, it was home sweet home. That sweet, cosy place after 520kms, 11hrs of driving. My whole body was talking, and I would have sold my bike for the rest of one night. 520kms in a day is my record drive till date. And I will never ever will have enough motivation to break it anytime in future. 

The CKRT saga had officially ended, and the sweet feeling of a cosy home after a long drive had easily overpowered the bitterness due to end of CKRT. A warm bath later, I was in the bed, dozing like I was having a sleep of my life. 


Stats 

At Vengurla Bus Stand: 
Time: 11:30am
Odometer Reading: 25926km

At Home in Pune - 
Time: 10:30pm
Odometer Reading: 26447km

CKRT Day 07 - Malvan to Vengurla

Continued from CKRT Day 06 - Devgad to Malvan (Tarkarli)

Route: Malvan -> Vengurla -> Terekhol -> Aaronda -> Vengurla

Day-7 was going to be our penultimate day, and the blues were already showing. This was a life that people long to live. And this very pleasure of travelling, seeing places, moving around, meeting different people, was going to end within a day. This feeling was something that we hadn't planned for, nor had we thought about before. 

We somehow shrugged off the blues and decided to enjoy the day while it lasts. The plan was to go check out Tsunami Island (which, in reality, turned out to be another marketting gimmick), and then move on to Vengurla. 


Tsunami Island

Boats for Tsunami Island leave from Tarkarli boating club facilities. There are multiple groups which arrange these rides. 

We had to wait for people to join, since the charges for the ride are a steep 1000/- rupees onwards. Eventually, we got onto the same boat, with, as luck would have it, the group of those nice young retirees that we had met in Kanakavli. 

The Devbaug Tarkarli part of Sindhu-Durga is seperated from the mainland by a massive creek. The ride to Tsunami Island goes through this creek. The views from both sides of the creek are very beautiful. Sometimes there are mangroves, sometimes deserted jungles. On the right coast it's Devbaug, while on the left, it's Bhogave. The width of the creek is quite large, so the boat ride is quite easy and comfortable. You can spot an occassional eagle, kingfisher or a seagull flying around and fishing in the creek. I saw one Small Blue Oriental Kingfisher diving into the water, catching some fish, and then perching on a coconut tree stem, which was bent over the waters, near Devbaug temple. Unfortunately, I had a wide-angle lens on my DSLR and the boat would have been long way from the bird till I would switch to a telephoto. 

The very beautiful shore of Devbaug creek

The Tsunami Island, as they call it, is a small island formed out of bulk of sand broken off from mainland during the tsunami tides. It's more of a marketting gimmick than something really interesting. When we go to the isand, water sports were being carried out off it. The boats are purposefully halted there for half an hour if someone wants to participate in those sports. None of us got down. We had already tried our hands at it, and were not keen on getting drenched with camera and other electronics on us. 

The place where the creek of Devbaug meets the sea, is an interesting place due to two opposite forces acting against each other, resulting into multi-directional strange tides. 

After halting at Tsunami Island for about 15-20mins, the boat started back towards the boating club. The island was completely submerged in water due to high tide, and seeing those huts and peeople floating on water was probably the only interesting part about it. 


The Corals in the Seas and in the Men of Konkan

From boating club, we came back to the jetty and arranged for snorkelling since we had some time in hand. The boat took is to the left of Sindhudurga fort (left as seen from the jetty), called King's Garden. Pravya went in alone, since I had already done it an year back. Unfortunately, it was a high tide time and that too of a full-moon, so the water level was way too high than usual and though he was impressed with the variety of colourul fishes he saw, he probably couldn't see those corals in their full glory. 

When I was in Malvan, an year and half ago, I had forgotten my costly wristwatch here. I couldn't get it delivered back to me by any means in the meantime. So now that I was in Malvan once again, I decided to call the host where I had stayed that time, and see if he still has it. To my biggest surprise, he still had it and asked me to collect it from him! With springs in my leg (it was a costly watch damn it), I wend to his place and collected it. It was as it was. Unused, and wrapped in a slight layer of dust! This would't have happend anywhere else. But I was in Konkan. 


Vengurla

In next half an hour, we had checked out from our room, and were on our way to Vengurla. The road to Vengurla, was again partly through barren lands, and partly through dense jungled ghats. You dont feel any heat in the atmosphere here. In fact, it felt quite cooler that anywhere else. 

In about an hour and half, when getting down the final ghat of Vengurla, we got a glimpse of real paradise, that is Vengurla. The sun was right over head, and the Vengurla beach, with those many white frothing tides, the Sagar Bunglow on a small hillock on the right with a few coconut trees adorning it, a hill and a group of coconut trees seperating Vengurla beach from an adjoining beach (probably Mochemad beach), quite a few fishing trawlers docked in the vengurla dockyard, and a few beautiful small houses  peeping through a dense tree cover in the mainland that was Vengurla. I instantly fell in love with the town. It was so picturesque!!

Vengurla - First Impression

We slowly trickled down into the town, found a room, threw in our luggage, had a lunch and decided to keep Vengurla for the next morning, and move on towards Terekhol instead, for the rest of the day. 


Terekhol

Terekhol is about 20kms from Vengurla. The route is picturesque and beautiful. It's very nice drive except for the mining area around the Tata Metalics plant, which is dusty and irritating as hell. 

Enroute Terekhol, we also came across some temples, and the historical salt-beds of Shiroda. The Terekhol Fort itself, is a very small Portugese fort. It's very very well maintained by Goa Tourism, despite it being such a small structure. It's more or less converted into a hotel with a sea-view restaurant on the top. 

The build of the fort is quite different from that of Marathi forts, and it screames of its European genes. 

The views from the top of the fort are plain amazing. The Terekhol creek - a vast expanse of it - is visible from the top and its natural beauty and cleanliness of the beach in front, are striking. 

	The Superb views from the top of Terekhol Fort

Aaronda and Kiranpani

We had heard about the Aaronda and Kiranpani villages in the nearby area and went to check them out after leaving Terekhol. The route and the village of Aaronda is quite small, green town with naturally a laid-back lifestyle. For going to Kiranpani, there are ferries being operated between the two shores of the creek. But when we got there, a new bridge between the two shores, was being constrcuted and was nearing completion. It looked like it would get commissioned within a month or two. 




Back to Vengurla

Idling there for sometime, we retuend back to the Vengurla dockyard. Sunset was nearing, and since there was a hill between us and the setting sun, we moved to the top of the hill from where we had seen Vengurla for the first time in the afternoon. But from that spot too, unfortunately, the hill was blocking the view. It appered that due to उत्तरायण, the sun was more towards hilly north side of the town during evening. Probably, during दक्षिणायन (months of Nov/Dec maybe?) the sun would set over the dockyard of Vengurla, and that would make one heck of a sight. 

After spending some time there, on top of the ghat, we returned back to the town when it started getting dark. It was our last dinner of the trip and we had an expensive one, in one of the quality restaurants of the town. 

And then thinking about all the awesome time that we had spent over the last week or so, I went to sleep with a little morose feeling owing to the end of those happy days.


Next: CKRT Day 08 - The Long Drive Back from Vengurla to Pune

CKRT Day 06 - Devgad to Malvan (Tarkarli)

Continued from CKRT Day 05 - Ganapatipule to Vijaydurga

Route: Devgad -> Kunakeshwar -> Mithbav -> Tambaldeg beach -> Malvan -> Sindhudurga Fort -> Tarkarli

देवगड किल्ला (Devgad Fort)

The room in Devgad was fantastic and leaving it early was ruled out since we had some free time to go. 

We woke up early in the morning and went to Devgad fort. In most area of the fort, there seemed to be permanent dwellings. Modern ones. It's in absolute ruins. There is nothing to be seen there. Except for may be the light house. We call it a fort just because there are some standing remains of fortifications. That's about it. It's in a very sad state. 

The views from the backside of the fort, though, are quality. It's a rocky coast with sea view, when you sit on the fortifications on the rear. Occassionally a sea eagle or even a falcon can be spotted on the rocks or flying very low. 

In about half an hour, we returned from the fort, had our breakfast along the route and got back to the room. 

At about 11am-12pm, we left for Malvan. The route to Malvan from Devgad for the most part, goes through a vast expanse of barren land. You can see, and strongly smell, the nauseating odour of drying salted fish. Loads of herons, kites, eagles, falcons can be spotted around such dry beds. 


कुणकेश्वर (Kunakeshwar Temple)

The first halt was at Kunakeshwar. It was an attractive temple with a beautiful white-sand beach and sea at its rear. We picked our spot to do some photography from. The temple with a backdrop of beach and sea looks very beautiful from a hill nearby. We did ample shooting, took in the views and came down. 

It was high noon and we were hungry. We found out a decent eatery there and had our lunch. A group of mentally-young retirees was also visiting Kunakeshwar after celebrating another retirement in their group. They were sitting in the same eatery opposite our table, and seeing all our gear and everything, conversation flowed. They were also heading to Malvan and Tarkarli. I suggested them a few spots from what I knew, around there. They were destined back to Pune via Amboli and Kolhapur. A very jolly group of people enjoying their post-retirement life. It's always very heartening to meet such people.

A Superb vista en route Malvan

From this part southwards in Konkan, Sol-curry is part of every thali. Wherever you eat. This was not the case in Ratnagiri and Raigad. There you have to ask for it seperately. Another speciality of Sindhudurga downwards, is the Konkani accent. तुका, माका, काकानु kind of words, that sound very sweet and welcoming, are heard in this part of Konkan. All people here also speak and understand Marathi. But in their day-to-day life, Konkani is used predominantly. The language sounds very similar to Marathi and can be understood roughly as to what people are talking about, if one pays attention. It's basically Marathi, with some sweet and cute special effects, in my opinion. 


मिठबाव आणि तांबळडेग किनारा (Mithbav and Tambaldeg Beach)

After lunch, taking leave of the young-retirees' group, we took off for Malvan. Along the route, Mithbav was another detour that we took. There is a Tambaldeg beach 4-5kms inside from the main road, also called as Mithbav beach. It's another of those clean and unfrequented beached of Konkan. After shooting views and checking out the temple there, we got back on the main route to Malvan.


मालवण आणि सिंधुदूर्ग किल्ला(Malvan)

When, in about an hour we reached Malvan, it was late afternoon, and first thing we did was to find a room and to check into it. In half an hour after throwing in our luggage, and getting fresh, we left for Fort Sindhudurga.
Boats for Fort Sindhudurga can be booked from malvan jetty. Both private as well as common boats can be hired. In common boats, ticket for the adult costs Rs.35/- and you have to wait till the boatsman collects enough people for the ride. We waited for around half an hour before out boatman thought he had collected enough.

The sea was little rough, and our bot didn't have the heavy woorden extension that lots of boats use to steady themselves in rough sea. The attached wooden extension, it seems like, shifts the centre of gravity of the boat outside, and spreads the weight over a larger area, stabilizing the boat in rough tides. Since our boat didn't have it, and since I was sitting on the edge, it was quite natural that by the time we got off at Sindhudurga, I was soaking wet due to the wobbly boat and crashing tides. Not that I was complaining, since this roller-coaster ride was one of the pleasant-most boat-rides so far. 

The guide we hired at Sindhudurga, was no different from the crowd. Not much knowledgible, a little disinterested and hurrying kind. The one we met at Vijaydurga was definitely one of his kind.

Roaming around Sindhudurga, we saw the hand and foot prints of Shivaji Maharaj , the आगारखाना, importance of गोमुखी प्रवेशद्वार (entrace shaped like the mouth of a cow) - elephants can't charge in and have a go at the heavily armoured door at high inertia, various ways of defense, details about how the fort was built, the only one of its kind - temple of Shivaji maharaj, temple of goddess Bhavani, टेहळणी बुरुज (observatory), etc. The vast expanse of Tarkarli beach is visible from this observation point. It's one massive massive beach. I felt it was wayyy longer than even the Guhagar beach.

It was quite late by the time we returned back to the jetty. Around 15-20 mins till Sunset, and we had planned to see the sunset from Tarkarli beach. I hadn't been to Tarkarli beach before, even through I had been to Malvan, and was eager to see what this much talked about beach was like. 


वेळ आली नव्हती

Roads in Malvan are small and one can get stuck behind a car if its driver is not decent enough to give way. 

I was in a hurry trying to make it to the beach before sunset, and this Maruti Ritz, in front of me, was tailing behind a small goods carrier, seemingly in two minds whether to overtake or not. I followed it for sometime, giving him ample time to makeup his mind. But he kept hesitating, and blocking others behind him. I lost my patience and then sounding horn and giving him passing light, I quickly moved into whatever small space that was remaining on his right. And just then, ignoring the horn and passing light, that guy got his car's nose out to overtake!! 

There is this adage I always follow - never ever spook a lady driver on the road, never. Not only will she go down herself, but she will also take you with her! Over the time, I have come to confer this same status to Maruti drivers as well. More or less I have observed they are the ones who have least regard to road etiquette and sense. 

So there I was, caught in a limbo at high speed, between the Maruti on the left and some trees and bushes on the edge of the road on the right. It was one of very few incidences when I had ever come closest to a very serious mishap. 

Probably the auto-pilot in me took over, and in a split second I lowered two gears and fed in all the throttle to see if I could force my way through that opening and clear the car before that car's nose kisses me. 

I did clear the car. But the ordeal was not over yet. Due to the speed, and the gravel on the edge of road, my bike started skidding, and we were about to hit the road, literally, at high speed, when in a last ditch effort to avoid a fall, I applied all power I had in my left hand, to pull that skidding bike back up again, and arrest the skidding. A pain spike shot up in the left hand and shoulder, but I managed to arrest the skidding and eventual fall as well. 

Both of us, me and Pravya, kept marvelling how come we were still riding and not scattered all over the road. There were two speeding vehicles behind us, and if the fall had to happen, we were sure we wouldn't have seen daylights again. It was a mighty close shave. Having gone through lots of speed thrills so far, my heartbeats stay regular these days irrespective of the type of thrill. But after that incident, I could feel my heart beating like it would burst in a moment. 

As they say, काळ आला होता, पण वेळ आली नव्हती. Indeed.


तारकर्ली किनारा (Tarkarli Beach)

By the time we got to Tarkarli beach, the sun had already set. The beach, contrary to my expectations, was as featureless as Diveagar beach, not to mention dirty. It's hyped, just like Malvan itself. It might also be that either I don't know what to see in a beach, or I have seen too many of beaches too many times to like the regular ones. 

The MTDC huts and Bamboo boat house on Tarkarli's सुरु बन, just behind the beach, looked exquisite though. All MTDC facilities, we had seen so far during our roadtrip, were impeccable, at least from their appearance. 


Back to Pavellion

Leaving Tarkarli beach, we roamed around Malvan, finding a place to eat and spend some leisure time at. Finally after having our dinner at a clean, good looking restaurant, and having a mastani (the ice-creamy milk-shake, I mean) at a cold-drink joint near the Malvan jetty, we came back to our room. 

It was late in the night, and I went to bed, with a sore left shoulder, and still wondering about that incident, in the back of my mind. 


Next: CKRT Day 07 - Malvan to Vengurla