Some bike-prophet said, "If you don't ride in rain, you don't ride at all". It is very true, riding in rain is liberating though it certainly bring it's own set of challenges. But then again, if there are no challenges, life tend to become boring.
So this end of monsoon season, Ashish (@ashish_ranjan_87) and I decided to do Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai run during the long weekend in August, i.e. start on Aug 13th and return back by Aug 16th. The broad plan was to reach Goa by late evening of 13th, enjoy Goa on 14th and 15th and then return back on 16th.
As usual our primary objective was riding, however, I was pushing my luck that if weather Gods favor, we may do Dudhsagar waterfall and/or Yana caves. Old Mumbai-Goa highway has been under construction for God knows how many years. While large part of that has been completed, significant portion remains in bad shape. Hence we decided to stick to usual Mumbai-Pune-Nipani-Amboli Ghat-Goa route.
Weather prediction was heavy to very heavy rainfall, not just in Mumbai but along the way as well as in Goa. Hence we decided to start from our homes by 4:30am and meet-up by 5:00am at JVLR-Eastern Expressway Junction. For a change, the weather prediction turned out to be on spot but then we were fully prepared with rain gear over our riding gears.
Given the well covered route, weather and our intention to reach Goa during the day time none of us took out our Gopro to record onward journey and experiences. We had tea and light breakfast after crossing Lonavala and lunch at Mr. Idli at Satara, which was quite average, but was hot and fresh. The Mumbai-Pune old highway condition was better than we expected, however, after crossing Pune till Satara, there are bad sections but nothing painful. Post Satara till Nipani the roads are in superb condition, which allowed us to maintain decent speed and reach Nipani by 2:30pm.
Post our early lunch, the rain had stopped so we removed our rain jackets, not a good decision in hindsight. It started raining immediately and the rain didn't left us till we reached Goa. After Nipani, the roads are good for another ~20-25km, but after that, till Amboli ghat, roads are in pathetic situation. Google maps showing 4 hours to drive ~115km said it all.
As usual, we hadn't booked our stay, which wasn't very bright of us given that it was long weekend and post COVID people are in 'revenge tourism' mode to make up for being holed up at home for 2 years. Everything was fully booked, and after spending good amount of time browsing, suddenly Ashish found a hotel in Arambol - Grand Vatika Resort which we hurriedly booked. Our original plan was to stay somewhere in south Goa but by the time we were booking our stay, we realized that we are going to get too tied and hence were happy to find a place at Arambol.
As we crossed Amboli ghat, it was simply too crowded, which was expected. But the Amboli Ghat was ethereal - the valley was completely enveloped in fog, while everything that was visible seemed like freshly painted with vibrant green. Infact there was a section where for 100-200 mtrs, visibility was not more than 10mtrs. The drive through Amboli ghat completely freshened us up. We did stopped near the 'Big Waterfall' on Amboli ghat to have tea and omelet but didn't took any photos or videos at the location.
We reached our hotel around 7pm, and we were looking forward to relax after uttering tiring ride. At the check-in we realized our booking goof-up: in our hurry to book our stay for the first night, we booked ourself for night of Aug 15th instead of Aug 13th. Luckily, they had one room which wasn't booked and we got the room for the night. We were too tied after day long ride, so dinner supplemented by drinks sent us to dream world.
The owner's house was just beside the hotel with lawn, which doubled up as our bike parking spot. In Mumbai, mere mortal like us can only dream of such house. He had invested in this property and started operations in Dec 2019, and then for almost two years his entire investment has been sitting in front of him earning nothing. He started operations last year but the maintenance work was still on-going. The resort was quite decent - clean rooms, gorgeous view from the roof with limited food and slow service.
For next day we had booked our stay at Hotel Bloom, near to Baga beach. We reached the hotel early, kept our bags at reception as check-in was at 1pm and proceeded to Fat Fish for brunch. We reached Fat Fish by 11:30am, and had to wait for around 30-45min to get a seat as it opens up at 12noon. This place fills up really fast and usually has a wait time, so plan your visit accordingly. We tried the Goan style fish masala and Lobster 🤤. Totally worth it, though in my view, there was too much masala in fish masala and not much flavor of the fish. Near Fat Fish, there is another attraction for all footfall fans - life size statue of Cristiano Ronaldo. This caused quite a stir when it was unveiled - few people have politicized it given Goa used to be Portuguese colony while few other of view that this will help to promote football and inspire more children to play and love football.
We came back, relaxed for couple of hours and then headed to Baga beach in the evening. To say that the beach was crowded would be an understatement. It seemed like people from all around first gathered in Goa and then decided to raid Baga beach. Luckily, weather Gods took pity on us and we had a clear sky which allowed us to find a spot at the beach in front of Bistro, and so we settled down with Beer and food😝.
So next day, after lazy start we checked out of the hotel. Our first stop was Bajaj Service Centre as it seemed that engine oil was leaking out. Thanks to Google mata we were able to find a service centre on our way. Luckily our concern was misplaced and there was no leak but then we had 600km ride ahead of us and before any ride its better to be careful. Just after exiting Goa we stopped near a road side dhaba for brunch. The location was very picturesque, a minor river stream was flowing just beside the dhaba with greenery all around.
After Amboli ghat we were dreading as we knew the long bad patch of road are ahead of us but after the ghat section, rather than taking left we continued straight. Now initially it felt like a mistake but in hindsight it was perfect mistake 😋, if there is such a thing. The route was equally or even more picture perfect, road conditions were superb and we still exited at Nippani with just addition 10-15km on the odometer. The alternate route is Amboli - Gele (continue on the route towards right) - Chandgarh - Nesari - Gandhilaj - Nipani.
As per plan we comfortably crossed Kolhapur and decided to stay overnight at Satara. We stayed at Amrai resort, which is beside the highway and I must say the property was terrific, but the best part was the food - unbelievable. The only negative point being the manager at reception. Next day was non-eventful ride just the way we like, and ended it with our usual selfie before the Airoli toll.
Despite this short visit, I would agree that Goa has its charm and I certainly plan to go again. This time would be for a longer period so that I can properly explore and enjoy Goa and not just for bike ride - amen!
