Day 0 ended with us semi-sleeping in the general compartment of the 22629 Dadar-Tirunelveli Superfast Express. The plan for today was to somehow reach Sawantwadi, collect the bike and then move on to Vengurla. There was no plan for what to do after reaching Vengurla.
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Day1: Saturday, 25th April, 2015
0300 hrs:
The train reaches Ratnagiri. It is delayed by half an hour - acceptable on Konkan Railway. Half the compartment alights here. Its time to stretch a bit.
0400 hrs:
The train hasn't yet left Ratnagiri. I wonder what's the holdup. A Ratnagiri-Madgaon passenger train, scheduled to leave Ratnagiri at 0315 hrs is also parked next to our train. I've pinned my hopes on this train taking us to Sawantwadi after we alight at Kankawali from the Dadar-Tirunelveli Superfast.
0415 hrs:
The train finally departs from Ratnagiri. They were apparently waiting for a goods train to show up. There's at least an hour and a half to go for Kankawali. Time to stretch again.
0530 hrs:
We alight at Kankawali an hour behind schedule. The Ratnagiri-Madgaon passenger was actually supposed to arrive at this time. We enquire at the booking counter. They say that the passenger is not expected anytime before 0645 hrs. And they will not be giving the tickets. Nice ...
0605 hrs:
We decide to try for a bus to Sawantwadi. The highway is just 10 minutes walk from the Kankawali station. We would try our luck for a bus plying on that route. Else, return to the station by 0640 hrs.
0630 hrs:
We get a sleeper bus for Goa that would drop us at Sawantwadi bypass. Rs. 60 for a 55km ride and an hour of proper sleep. Seemed reasonable.
We check online for the position of the passenger train. It has just left Ratnagiri. This decision pays off.
0740 hrs:
We alight at the Sawantwadi Bypass. The ride was simply maska. The rickshaw at the junction asks for Rs 150 to drop us at the Sawantwadi bus stand.
We call up Mahesh. He dosen't pick up. Probably still asleep. We decide to freshen up at a hotel nearby and call up again after some time.
0755 hrs:
Ussal pav arrives, followed by omlette pav. There's not much ussal in the ussal pav much to our dismay. We follow it up with another omlette pav.
Our phone batteries are low. We use this time to charge them up a bit.
0830 hrs:
No word from Mahesh yet. We've tried calling him a few times now. We freshen up at this place. We will leave in 10 minutes if he dosen't respond.
0845 hrs:
No word from Mahesh yet. We leave the hotel - Viva Konkan - to head to Sawantwadi. The rickshaw guy has changed now, but the fare is the same. Rs 150 - just too much for a 10 minute ride. An ST bus passes us. Dosent stop. We decide to walk to the nearest bus stop, some 5 minutes away according to the rickshaw guy. A tumtum (6-seater) stops for us. Rs. 20 per seat to Sawantwadi. We hop in.
Meanwhile Saurabh Walkar - he'd joined us for the Tadoba Safari in March - offers to find a bike for us.
0900 hrs:
We alight near the ST depot. Saurabh has managed to arrange a bike for us. His contact is presently at Banda (near Maharashtra Goa border) and will return in about twenty minutes. After a quick visit to the ATM, we proceed to Salaywada area - the location of my ancestral house. Apparently, Dr. Lele, the tenant, is more famous than the Salaywada area itself. We easily locate the house.
0910 hrs:
We have darshan of the Mulpurush at the home. That's the only remaining strand of connect I have to this house. This is just my third visit here - I managed to get my wrist dislocated the first time I came here, and the second visit was barely two months ago.
We enquire locally for bike rentals. They are easily available here on prior booking. Today, however, all bikes were hired off. The rate is Rs. 200 per day without fuel for any bike.
0940 hrs:
We get our bike - an ageing Splendor+. We will have to make do with whatever we get. No other option. Tejal is a bit uncomfortable with the kick-start though.
We purchase Rs 5 worth of jaam (wax-apple?) and Rs 200 worth of petrol (2.8l) and set off for Vengurla.
We dont bother with Mahesh. He has not yet called back.
1020 hrs:
Tejal is uncomfortable with the neutral gear. She misses it a few times. We take a halt midway so that she can get a hang of things. We have a bottle of Sagar - local version of Limca - and are off.
© Kapil Pilankar
We check online for the position of the passenger train. It has just left Ratnagiri. This decision pays off.
0740 hrs:
We alight at the Sawantwadi Bypass. The ride was simply maska. The rickshaw at the junction asks for Rs 150 to drop us at the Sawantwadi bus stand.
We call up Mahesh. He dosen't pick up. Probably still asleep. We decide to freshen up at a hotel nearby and call up again after some time.
0755 hrs:
Ussal pav arrives, followed by omlette pav. There's not much ussal in the ussal pav much to our dismay. We follow it up with another omlette pav.
Our phone batteries are low. We use this time to charge them up a bit.
The omlette and the pav
0830 hrs:
No word from Mahesh yet. We've tried calling him a few times now. We freshen up at this place. We will leave in 10 minutes if he dosen't respond.
0845 hrs:
No word from Mahesh yet. We leave the hotel - Viva Konkan - to head to Sawantwadi. The rickshaw guy has changed now, but the fare is the same. Rs 150 - just too much for a 10 minute ride. An ST bus passes us. Dosent stop. We decide to walk to the nearest bus stop, some 5 minutes away according to the rickshaw guy. A tumtum (6-seater) stops for us. Rs. 20 per seat to Sawantwadi. We hop in.
Meanwhile Saurabh Walkar - he'd joined us for the Tadoba Safari in March - offers to find a bike for us.
Hotel Viva Konkan @ Sawantwadi Bypass
0900 hrs:
We alight near the ST depot. Saurabh has managed to arrange a bike for us. His contact is presently at Banda (near Maharashtra Goa border) and will return in about twenty minutes. After a quick visit to the ATM, we proceed to Salaywada area - the location of my ancestral house. Apparently, Dr. Lele, the tenant, is more famous than the Salaywada area itself. We easily locate the house.
0910 hrs:
We have darshan of the Mulpurush at the home. That's the only remaining strand of connect I have to this house. This is just my third visit here - I managed to get my wrist dislocated the first time I came here, and the second visit was barely two months ago.
We enquire locally for bike rentals. They are easily available here on prior booking. Today, however, all bikes were hired off. The rate is Rs. 200 per day without fuel for any bike.
The Mulpurush and Temple
My ancestors had AC too
0940 hrs:
We get our bike - an ageing Splendor+. We will have to make do with whatever we get. No other option. Tejal is a bit uncomfortable with the kick-start though.
We purchase Rs 5 worth of jaam (wax-apple?) and Rs 200 worth of petrol (2.8l) and set off for Vengurla.
We dont bother with Mahesh. He has not yet called back.
1020 hrs:
Tejal is uncomfortable with the neutral gear. She misses it a few times. We take a halt midway so that she can get a hang of things. We have a bottle of Sagar - local version of Limca - and are off.
© Kapil Pilankar
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