Ganpatipule

“I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide 
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; 
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, 
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.”
--John Edward Macefield


You can only appreciate a sea or ocean when you are watching its waves sitting on its wet sandy beaches. So we planned to visit Ganpatipule Last weekend. Me and few of my friends planned everything for this new adventure. 
This was a 356 km journey by road and would take around 6 hrs by Car. So we decided to take train instead because this was easy and comfortable although the time taken was equal.
There are a lot of train to Ratnagiri which is the nearest Railway station to Ganpatipule.
So we took  Konkan Kanya (train) on Friday night from Thane. This train is good and reached Ratnagiri on time. The konkan raiway route is beautiful but we missed it because it was night and hoped there was better things waiting.

The station was neat and clean and has few visitors to visit Ganpatipule in Monsoon. The best time to visit Ganpatipule should be post monsoon or in winters. But watching the rough ocean in monsoon has its other charms.
There are two option to reach Ganpatipule beach
1. Bus
2. Auto or Taxi

Somebody told us that the route followed by the state bus is not that visually intriguing so we planned to take auto but beware of the autos near the railway station, who will charge u a hell so walk a little farther and  have a reasonable rate to travel though an auto.
The road was awesome .

It was raining and the dark clouds created a mystic environment.

The road was steep and at certain points i couldn't even believe that an auto can drive us up slope.

The soil here is  red may be because of high ferric content. The road was devoid of shops but i could spot one on the side.

We crossed  a local river and spotted few fishing boat and  may be a fishing village on the river bank.

We were nearing our destination which was MTDC hotel but spotted another resort on our way. It was beautiful.

This was the full view of the beach,we were heading.

Slowly and safely we reached MTDC Hotel which is build just on the beach side. Beautiful location . You can watch the beach sitting on a chair and having a cup of hot tea in a cold rainy day like us.

We went to the reception and people are very cooperative. we got the room after 9 A.M as MTDC rule book says but the room was neat and clean with new towels and soaps. But it is advised to take your own toiletries.
We unpacked and ran towards the beach and remain there for at least 3 - 4 hours.

Sorry that i don't have much photograph as we were so excited to see the beach that no body was ready to shoot this and every body wanted to challenge the waves. We played beach volley as we took a volley ball with us and then we tried forming different human patterns to minimize the effect of the waves dragging us and hitting us.

Enjoying the waves along with rain was a new experience and we relished it a lot. After a tired some sea bath we went back to our rooms to have a fresh hot bath. We were hungry and about to go to the MTDC restaurant inside the campus but some one among the group suggested to have our lunch in the nearby Konkani house (Its part of MTDC hotels).

But were unlucky , the lunch facility in Konkani house was  not there so we came back to square one.

Later that day we didn't do much , only played cards and had a great dinner in the restaurant.

Next Morning we went to the temple nearby. Swayambhu Ganpati temple.
This temple has a long history which i feel will interest you so i am giving you the link.
http://www.ganpatipule.net/legends_of_shreeganesh.htm

The temple prepares Bhog and you can have Bhog /Prasad there if you want . When you go to the temple there are few shops to provide you the necessary things.

while coming back from the Temple i saw Camels on the beach. Available for ride.

On our way to Temple we saw small houses just on the beach side. May be they will be future hotels.

We had our breakfast in MTDC and we rented a car for Rs 2000 and went out for site seeing. So we went to Karhateswar Mandir (Shiv Mandir). This is right on the edge of the mainland. You can go down through the stairs .

When we went down we found a man fishing  in the rough sea.

After this we headed to a nearby light house and took a few snaps on the go.

The Light house had an entry fee of Rs 10 but nobody asked for it so we got saved but it may not happen for you.

Then we went to Jaigad Fort- Built by King of Vijapur but latter controlled by the Naval army chief of Shivaji Maharaj.There is a story to its name . When  the fort was build ,the arch over the main gate used to collapse so to give a permanent shape a human sacrifice was needed . Jaiba Mahar agreed to give his sacrifice on a condition that the fort be named after him so its now called as Jaigad Fort

This fort is situated on the bank of river shastri.

Then we went to visit the Kavi Keshavsut Memorial (His house) but we dint have much time so we went ahead to visit "Prachin Konkan". This is a life size museum in Ganpatipule depicting earlier life of konkani village people, You may like it but to me it was a kind of so so.

 So it was time to come back so we drove fast

We reached station before time and was hungry again so went to railway canteen.

We took Jan satabdhi (train) to Come back to mumbai . It was a great Journey and i will remember it for quiet a long time. But before i end a few snapshot

We spotted a Peacock on the way to Karhateshwar Temple

 This Snail was in my Balcony ...gave me a welcome smile on the day i arrived.

I observed strange design on the sea Beach

When observed closely ,this was created by a crab

Excreta arranging technique.

 Some one opened an industry to pollute nature .

My Tour-mates.......7 chipmunks