A Rewarding Ride – My Bike Trip to Dandeli and Tarkarli (7th to 10th Nov 2018)

A Rewarding Ride – My Bike Trip to Dandeli and Tarkarli

7^th to 10^th Nov 2018

It had been long since I wanted to do a long road trip on a bike. And Diwali seemed like the perfect time for it as I had a 5-day long holiday when I didn’t have any special plans for the festive season. This would be my third solo trip in 3 years and a first solo ride this long.

LOVELY RIDE, AIN’T IT???

It is thus that I set out at sharp 5 a.m. on 7^th Nov 2018 on my adventure outing on the magnificent and super comfortable Hyosung Aquila Pro 650. Full tank and full spirits, I covered distances in no time on this sweet riding machine. I took my first halt at Lonavala at 06:25 am After having some tea, I set off again and passed Pune in no time. My next halt was near Khed-Shivapur at 07:40 am. After resuming, a Harley Davidson Iron 883 passed me while I was cruising comfortably at 100-110 kph. I paced up and caught up with him and waved at him like I would at any fellow rider riding a good bike. We kept passing each other and after some time, he asked me if we could take a break together for a coffee. I accepted and we stopped at a restaurant to have breakfast. Over food, I got to know that he’s from Mumbai and is on his ride to Bangalore. It was nice to meet a like-minded rider and to exchange thoughts on bikes and road-trips. We resumed riding after a while and then I picked up a bit more pace. I made it to Kolhapur by 10:30 (5.5 hours) which was pretty quick. I took another tea break, relaxed a bit and ventured on.

Hereafter, I had a more relaxed ride, stopping at any interesting spot, clicking photos and taking in the surroundings, cause that’s what road-trips are all about, aren’t they? After reaching Belgaum at 12:25 pm, I had a sumptuous meal with Surmai fry and Chicken Kandoori Kebabs. They were absolutely yummy! Now onwards, I didn’t have the luxury of superb roads and I realised that soon.

ONE OF THE RIVERS BEFORE BELGAUM

YUMMY FOOD AT BELGAUM RESTAURANT

The road via Khanapur had a lot of bumps although after Khanapur it was a sweet surprise. The road goes through windy, winding sections and through a dedicated forest area. There were signs after every 500m/1 km about driving slow and animals crossing. I couldn’t spot any animals though, unfortunately. Making my way through these wonderful scenic roads and pleasant weather despite it being mid-day, I made it to Dandeli at sharp 03:20 pm. The feeling I had was that of satisfaction and a sense of achievement tickled me.

Satisfaction of having made it!!!

My Cottage

The owner (Suresh Ji) of the ‘Sangam Homestay’ (the place where I’ll be spending the next 2-3 days) was amazed to see me arrive so soon. When I told him I came all the way from Thane, Mumbai solo and left home at 5 am in the morning, he was shocked.  He welcomed me and also introduced me to the Manager (Lawrence). After freshening up and taking a nap for around an hour, I met Lawrence to plan my activities at Dandeli. He briefed me on how I may proceed with my itinerary. He also told me that there’s another family from Panvel, Mumbai which had arrived the same day. I thought of chatting up with them and may be teaming up for the activities. It turned out later, that I would end up visiting all the places together.

I visited Dandeli town for a quick visit to the local market and bought a Black Dog for myself and some snacks. Dandeli is (thankfully) a quaint little village with minimum electrification and a quiet feel. I came back after strolling about for some time and sat down for a drink. Lawrence and Babu (the other employee at Sangam) gave me company, although they didn’t drink (obviously) on duty. It is then that I met Ashvin (from Panvel) who came and greeted me. We exchanged pleasantries and then regrouped at the camp fire. He introduced me to his family – A nice, sweet family consisting of him, his wife Rupali, and his two daughters Shreya (elder) and Shravani (younger). They were a nice company and I got to know that they were originally from Indore. Ashvin has been in the newspaper industry right from the start and loves his job in ad-sales. I being from sales/marketing had a lot of topics to discuss with him and we got along really well. We were told that we would be going for a jungle trek in the morning at 6 am with Babu and so decided to sleep early. I, failing to sleep so early out of habit, went out and met Babu. He had earlier told me that he may take me to a night trek too so I asked him if we could go for it. He agreed and we set out with one of his colleagues. Immediately after entering the woods, we spotted 2 Jungle Civet cubs atop a tree. Their eyes shone like bright stars in the torch light. I was intrigued as to what else held in store. To our disappointment, though, that was all we were to spot that night, except for a sound of spotted deer rustling through the trees. Returning to our resort, I retired to the bed and fell asleep after a long and rewarding day.

Foggy Morning

Despite having set an alarm for 05:30 am, I woke up at around 6:10 am. Realizing that I was late, I quickly freshened up and got ready in no time. When I came out though, I was pleasantly surprised to see Ashvin also coming out at the same time. Happy not to have missed the trek, I joined him towards the reception, only to find that there was no one to be seen. I then walked up to the staff quarters and woke up Babu to take us on the trek. He hurried up and we left at around 06:45 am. We started walking through the same patch we had the earlier night, the road running parallel to the river. It is then that I truly began to understand the pristine beauty of nature at Dandeli.

Pristine Kali River

Foggy morning, dew dripping from the trees and an eerie silence in the pleasant climate refreshed me. We walked along and trekked up the small hillock to take a break. We took pictures and were constantly looking for any birds/animals. It was surprising to hear absolutely no sounds. We then started down, walking through the woods and back to the base. We stopped near the river and took in the beautiful sight. After spending some time by the river and clicking many pictures, we headed back taking a longer route. It is then that we saw 5-6 spotted deer (Chital) up in the woods. We also spotted Giant Squirrel (Shekru, the State Animal of Maharashtra), Malabar pied Hornbill and Peacocks too. Refreshed and hungry both, we returned and had a hearty breakfast with Idli, Sambhar and Chutney. After breakfast and a short break, we decided to do the water activities which were included in the stay and to be done in the nearby river. We headed for boating in a raft which was a refreshing ride where all of us got to row with the oar. We went under a tree and clicked photos. They made us all wear life-jackets mandatorily.

Boating

After returning, we proceeded with Kayaking. I was super excited as it was the 1^st time I was going to do it. Kayaks are very small boats, with a capacity of 1 or 2 people only, and sitting very close to water. The trick is not to do anything hastily or violently otherwise the kayak might topple. So the instructor gave us the basic instructions and the Dos and Don’ts of kayaking and he let us go on our own.

Kayaking

I first got acquainted with the balance and synchronization of the single oar and then headed immediately upstream. Now that’s one difficult activity, let me tell you… out of own experience now! I decided that I would go upstream and around a shrub on a rock in the middle of the river. After some time I noticed that I’ve hardly moved a few feet in the direction. I realized then that the stream is almost canceling my efforts and I started rowing faster. However, it isn’t as simple. The moment you start rowing faster the kayak may topple too. After a bit of a struggle, I got the hang of it. I then used all my energy to make it to around the rock and took a turn downstream. I felt so happy and a felt a sense of achievement in that small thing, too. Then I ambled around in the water, having fun with the fellow travelers. After exploring the nearby waters, they whistled to call us back.

Swimming in the Kali River

Next was swimming in the same river. We still had some time before we could head back, have short lunch and then head to the highlight event – the river rafting!!! We decided to take a dip after the rigorous activity to cool off and were happy enjoying the cold water making us comfortable. After a good swim, we had lunch at the resort and left for the river rafting. All of us were very eager about how the experience would be as none of us had done it before, and had come to Dandeli mainly for this…

We reached the Jungle Camp, where the booking facility was located. There were others waiting for it too. We paid the fees and joined with 2 other couples to book a vehicle that would take us to the starting point, drop us there, and then pick us up from the end point again and drop us at the booking facility. We were told to leave all our valuables and belongings back in our vehicle as there would be water coming across from all sides. We also had to sign a disclosure identifying the risk involved. I was very thrilled and looking eagerly forward to it. After a short time, we all (9 of us) headed towards the starting point which was around 20 kms from there. After some entry checkpoint procedure, we made it to the river. The rafts followed, being carried on a Thar with trailers. One of the guides (Rambo) briefed us about the Dos and Don’ts and also the equipments to be used. We then helped our guide to drag the raft near the water. After getting in one by one, the guide told us in detail about the risks and possible toppling of the raft. He told us on what to do if we’re thrown into the water by the immense force of the rapids. He then made each of us jump into the water to get a feel and be comfortable. It was mainly to remove the surprise element in case we are thrown into the water. We enjoyed and then got back.

Getting Used to Falling

We leant that the trainer (Khim, from Nepal) was a member of Wild River Adventures (WRA) and had been doing river rafting since last 28 years!!! I was happy to know that we’re in safe hands. He also told me that he had been in Kali River (Dandeli) since last 17 years and often goes rafting in Kundalika River (Kolad). He said Dandeli ranks 2^nd best in Rafting Experiences in India after Hrishikesh. We had chosen the long rafting (9 kms) and would typically take around 1.5 hrs. After the training/briefing, we all started off. He was giving instructions continuously to paddle forward or backward, to get down, to hold the rope etc.

Super Excited!!!

We were approaching the 1^st rapid and the excitement was building up. I could see the turbulent water falling off the rocks and imagined the kind of rough topple we would be experiencing there. It was all only for a few seconds as we quickly hit the 1^st rapid and the experience was simply exhilarating!!! I really can’t explain it in words! We toppled and turned and burst forward and we all were super excited and before we could take it all in, we were out of it! We all cheered and shouted and were super happy. For a brief moment after the 1^st rapid, because we took some time to recover and not everyone followed the guide’s instructions to peddle forward, we got stuck before a rock and the force wasn’t letting us come out of it. Khim then got down on that rock and pushed the raft with all his power and jumped in. We started off again. It was then a journey of excitement, fun and pure adrenaline for the next rapids. In the last rapid, he told us that we’d be doing surfing and we’d switch places so that all of us would get to sit in the front, facing the force of the water. It was the best experience I’ve had in a long time as we moved against the current of the rapid, with water splashing violently across our faces rapidly and repeatedly. After surfing for around 5-6 times, we headed calmly to our end point, passing through the anaconda tunnel which is eerily quiet and diametrically opposite to the exhilaration we had experienced a few moments ago. We took it all in and reached our destination. We thanked Khim and took the pictures and videos taken by him on the GoPro as our memories.

Excited yet calm, we all had a quiet feel, the one that comes after you’ve been through such an exciting adventure that you don’t want anything else for some time at least. We all headed back to the booking site where we had kept our vehicles. We traveled back to the resort content, happy to have had the best time of our lives.

Happy and Satisfied!

After reaching the resort, I had a few drinks with Ashvin and then headed for a sumptuous dinner. The food was superb consistently and I would love to thank all the staff, and especially Lawrence and Babu for their earnest hospitality and courteousness. It’s just the respect that they looked for and I gave (or rather always give) it in all sincerity; for all their efforts. Babu was especially very prompt in catering to anything I asked for and went out of the way to give a special service to me. I appreciated it and thanked him from my heart.

The next day could have had me go for a Wildlife Safari or to Syntheri rocks or to Kavala Caves or some other point; but quite frankly I was so content with the experience of rafting that I just wasn’t in the mood at all. I decided to check out the next morning, after breakfast. I slept so calmly that night, happy to have done a wonderful and exciting activity, one of the many more to come!!!

The next morning was lazy and laidback as I wandered about in the resort; washed my bike which was wet with dew from overnight and then had my morning tea. I got packed and after breakfast, checked out, but not before thanking Lawrence and Babu and everyone for the wonderful time I had had there. I visited a small crocodile park in the Dandeli village where I spotted 10-12 crocodiles lying in the river.

Content, I started on my way back home and then I just thought that I still had one more day left as per my original plan. It was just that I had wrapped up everything a day early. I rode my bike as I thought of which all places could I spend that extra day left. I stopped my bike as I thought of something. I called up Ganesh (the owner of a beach resort called Sagar Sparsha) from Tarkarli just to see if he had any room available. I had stayed at his place back in 2014 when I had gone on yet another such biking trip to Malvan-Tarkarli-Devbag. To my sweet surprise, he recognized me and he also had one last room left (which is lucky as it’s a long holiday and every place was full). I then told him that I was coming there and headed on my unplanned detour to Tarkarli. I rode through many unknown roads through Karnataka and then through Goa onwards to Malvan. This took me through another Ghat road (Belgaum-Goa Road) which was a wonderful riding experience through the twists and turns. Once I made it to Banda on NH17, I picked up speed again and touched my highest ever speed on my Aquila at 186 kph!!! It was blinding and heart thumping at the same time!!! After Kudal, I took the road to Malvan and I have to say all the fun in the ride disappeared from there on. The road is in such a pathetic condition that every bone in my body and every part of my bike must have been shaken. After a grueling hour or so, I reached Malvan where I relaxed with a chilled beer and Bhurji Pao. I then headed to the resort where I was heartily welcomed by Ganesh. It was quite homely and he was clearly happy to host a repeat customer and especially in the fashion that I had turned up. He immediately gave me a discount too! I got fresh and immediately headed for the sea, the reason I’d come here for. I enjoyed dipping in the sea while the sun dipped in it too. I then had a long walk on the beach, reflecting and reminiscing in the wonderful experience I’d had in the last few days. I was also very glad to have done this despite being solo, happy to not have missed life’s enriching experiences.

The best part about solo trips is the new people you meet, the newer topics you get to discuss, the time you get with yourself and the scope you get to introspect… I cherish each of these immensely and love doing them if and when I get to…

The next morning had me waking up lazily and checking out and heading for Mumbai at 11 am. I took the Gaganbawda-Kolhapur-Pune route. The bad roads continued and it started to get pretty tiring.  I took more breaks, took time regrouping myself and headed back home with a mind full of mixed emotions – Fun, Excitement, Tiredness, Exhaustion, yes, but most importantly of accomplishment!!! And that my friends, is the one any wanderer lives for!!!

-        Sarang Tilak