Wishlist-2010

When ever I have some time at hand I like to travel. Some of the places are my favourites and that includes Kashid Beach and Goa (specifically Colva beach). I make it a point to visit these places once a year. And most of the times I plan well before stepping out. The hotel bookings, the travel arrangements, the site seeing if any, everything is planned to last details (Satara was one of the exception and the trip turned out to be great). So a thought came to my mind ... why not create a wish list of the place which I would like to visit! And so here it goes:

Goa (Colva beach): This time around would like to try Vinay beach resort. It is close by to the GTDC resort and the beach as well. Last time I had checked it and found that the rooms are much cleaner and better than the GTDC's. And the charges are almost same. The GTDC service is good, so I hope that GTDC paints and cleans their property. I would like to spend around 4-5 days in Goa and would be visiting Panjim and explore some interior parts of Goa. And yes I want to try my hand at photography too! Bangda fry on plate and watching sunset in the silver sands is definitely a bliss! Goa is the place where one can be enjoy being lazy and not feel guilty about it :-)

Kashid: The start of my winter would be at Kashid, around 3-4 days is good enough. Would be eating at Patil Khanawal (hotel or mess) but would also like to find some other local food joint. Kokani fish recipes are hmmmm... my mouth is already watering. Seen it twice already so this time around I might give a miss to the Janjira fort. On the other hand would explore the Phansad Wild Life Sanctuary. I understand that it is somewhere near-by to Kashid.

Jaipur: Always wanted to see the pink city for myself. Seen this magnificient city on television many times... the pink buildings, the hawa mahal, the palaces, the intricate art work, the kathputlis (puppets), the Rajasthani cuisine. I think it will need 4-5 days to do justice to Jaipur. But I need to do some research to find which season/months are more suitable for this visit. May be you can help me in this. I would like to know your experiences if you have visited Jaipur... or are from Jaipur.

Koyna Backwaters: Saw the pictures on net and they are superb, especially during monsoon season. I certainly would like to spend 2-3 days at Koyna dam. Just want to get wet and roam in rains. The back water would be magnificient with mist and the breeze. Wow, I wish to be at Koyna dam in 2010.

Kaas: How can I miss this one. I have been to Satara and after visiting the near-by Kaas Lake I was so taken a back by the greenery that I decided to re-visit it. Later the locals told that the right time would be September-October. During these times all kinds of flowers bloom near the Lake and the view is mesmerizing. It is said that many of the flowers seen here are not even categorized by the botanist. These flowers are said to be found only in this region.

For smaller duration, am considering some near by resorts. Durshet, Saguna Baug, Panhala, Malshej Ghat, stay at Sinhagad.

Now that my wish list for touurist places for 2010 is almost finalised, I am going to try every bit to make it real. With my fingers crossed I am looking at 2010.

By the way if you have to spend say 5 days at a destination, where would that be? C'mon be sporty now.

Satara - Weekend Getaway

One of my close friend, Manjunath, and I were discussing as to which place to visit during a weekend. We considered various options but were not able to reach a consensus. Then I threw an idea of visiting an offbeat location. It was a spontaneous decision, and we agreed to visit Satara. And of we started our journey in the morning in Manju’s WagonR Duo. About 2 hours and 120 km of drive on the excellent NH4, we reached our destination. On the way we stopped at one of the roadside hotel, Virangula, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of service and the taste of the offerings. This hotel is just about few km before Satara on the left side. I would recommend that you must try the Thalipith at this place if not full meal. Total two and half hours of relaxed road travel and we were in the city of Satara. The first and fore most agenda for us was to find a suitable hotel to stay at. There are lot of hotels on Radhika Road (named after a movie theatre) right in front of the Satara bus stand. After checking various hotels I zeroed in on Hotel Sagar. The rooms are quite spacious and clean. You can also book the rooms on phone – 02162-228331, 228332. In case you prefer western WC then go for AC room, or else non-AC rooms are good enough. Same day evening we went to Sajjangad, the fort where Swami Samartha stayed. I think its 20km drive, though the hotel manager told me that it will not be more than 10 minutes ride..Ha 10 minutes? Puhleease.. It took us good 30 minutes. But then no part of the journey was dull. Every turns a good view. From base of Sajjangad it's approximately 20 minutes to the top. We reached in time for the evening prayers. It was Holi day, the day when Hindus burn their sins in to the sacred fire of Holika dahan. It was a different experience to watch the sacred fire in the dead of the night! Early next day we started for Kas Lake. 34km from the center of Satara, the first 10 or so km is sort of dry rough patch. After that one is surprised by the view, by that time you are on the upper side of the plateau and on a clear day can get very good views of various water bodies around Satara. And then you enter the dense flora, it’s almost like a jungle. The air gets cooler and cleaner the road is covered with shadow from the trees. It is pleasure driving there, it is. After spending some time at Kas Lake, we started for Bamnoli. At Bamnoli there is excellent facility for boating. A boat ride of 45 minutes was cool! The boat is stopped for about 15 minutes before it returns back. Those are peaceful 15 minutes, water everywhere and green mountains at distance. Just relax or click away your camera. And then we returned back to hotel. That was one great weekend getaway! While returning back we picked up many packets of the Satara special Kandi Pedhas, a local specialty. Do try it. And back we started with a resolve to return back in Monsoon to visit the Tapola (near to Kas Lake) also known as mini Kashmir.

Where to stay
Sagar Hotel is good hotel, there is a luxurious hotel also in Satara

What to see
Sajjangad, Kaas Lake, Tapola, Bamnoli

What to eat
Kandi Pedha

When to visit
August to February

What to shop
Hmmm... Kandi Pedha

Minimum stay duration
2 days

Kashid with Friends

There are times when one wants to get away from the daily chorus and there is nothing like going to sea. Sea has this special ability to sooth you and put you to relaxing mode. Probably it is the combined effect of the salty breeze, the sound of waves splashing on the shore, the soft sand underneath the feet and the vastness of the sea. Somehow it puts a spell on me and I am mesmerized by the nature’s bounties. For most part of my life I have stayed at place which is quite far from sea. So when I first saw sea, it was love at first sight for me.

Since then I have been to Goa (I love the Colva beach for it’s not very crowded plus it gives a sense of safety even while walking at mid night) almost every year. However Kashid is near to me and is perfect get away for 3 days. So any extended weekend is ideal for visiting Kashid. This place is quite near from Pune/Mumbai and can be easily reached in about 3 hours. There is one 5 star resort their, Prakruti Resort. It is luxurious but costly. More over it’s quite far from sea. And anyway who wants to go to disco, have continental meals and breakfasts and air conditioning when one can stay at the local resorts which are 10 hops away from beach J

Kashid is a small village with population of about 2000. The exceptional quality of Kashid beach is that it is not crowded like its neighbouring beaches. And the sand at this beach is silvery. You can walk for long stretches enjoying the solitude and the occasional glimpse of the flying fish in the sea. It’s like having a private beach only for your self! If you are going with friends then this is perfect place to bond.

Some residents of Kashid have built accommodations for tourists and most of them are maintained pretty well. Some have gardens with banana and coconut trees and the hammocks to lazy around in the noon. I prefer to stay at Friends resort because it’s clean and has a very good garden. And most importantly it’s quite close to sea. I have found that the uncle who owns it is quite friendly. The cook, a lady, is an expert is Surmai and Bangda (mackerel) fry.

While visiting Kashid, it is a good idea to take a trip to Murud Janjira. It is just about 16 km from Kashid. One can visit the sea fort of Janjira. There are boats (prepaid sailing boats) to go to this fort. There are guides at this fort to provide information about its history. I hired one but found it to be not very useful. You may very well skip hiring a guide. Instead get the material from internet. The view from the top of Janjira is something not to be missed.

Where to stay

Friends Resort, Kashid Sea Face, Surve Huts

What to see

The Kashid beach, the Janjira Fort, Murud beach

What to eat

Home made sea food, fish fries, soul curry (made up of coconut milk)

When to visit

Mid September to mid March

Minimum stay duration

2 days 1 night

How to reach

The nearest rail head and airport is Mumbai and Pune (almost equidistant). From Pune/Mumbai one can go by car.

Distance from Pune: About 180km. The route to follow is:

Pune-Express High way-Lonawala - Khopoli Exit – Pen – Alibag – Nagaon – Revdanda - Kashid

Distance from Mumbai: About 120km

Some useful links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murud-Janjira

http://murudjanjira.blogspot.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashid

Contact info for local resorts:

Friends Resort: Mr A. A. Belose 09270371274

Kashid Sea Face: Mr. Abhishek Kate 02144-278555

Have you been to Murud or Kashid? How was your experience? If you have visited some super cool place in Konkan aread, do share your views. I would like to explore Konkan and your first hand opinion can be useful.