8th April 2007 : Home bound

We got up at 7:00 and went to the beach. The beach looked awesome in the morning sun. We went scouting for our incomplete castle. It was nowhere to be found. Probably it must have got washed away during high tide. Nevertheless we decided to have a great time in the beach.

We had a horse carriage ride for Rs.40 along the shore. The horse named Bunty was not in his elements and started bolting. After a few anxious moments the horse was on track and we had a wonderful ride along the beach.

We had to check out of our rooms by 11:30 a.m and also have our breakfast. We went back to our rooms, freshened up and had breakfast. We then packed our stuff back into the car. And that is when a new drama unfolded. The car did not start! The battery had drained over the past two days and the mechanic was on a holiday as it was a Sunday.

The Resorts’ driver and Man Friday Mr.Koli pushed our car and finally the car started and we were back on our way to Pune.

We reached Pune at 4:00 p.m after an uneventful journey. We had tea at Prashant’s house and reached our home at 6:00 p.m.

After many distastrous holidays earlier this was one holiday we enjoyed and will cherish for a long long time.

The hospitality and food at the Resort was exceptional and I would recommend this place to anyone that asks me.

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7th April 2007 : Castle and Dance

After an hours’ nap, we got up at 5:00 p.m. and proceeded to the beach with all the necessary implements (cybershot, camera stand, small bucket and a hand spade). We reached the beach and threw down all the stuff and rushed towards the welcoming waves. We splashed around in the water for sometime, and started to build our sand castle. We managed to create a structure but the darkening sky did not permit us to stay longer. We again carried some sand back to our rooms in our pockets. After a shower we were ready for dinner at 8:30 p.m.

We had a heavy dinner. Sowmya kept murmuring “calorie, calorie” in my ear! Unable to take it any longer I pulled her to the dance floor. We shook, waved, swayed and did everything but dance. But we were convinced it was dance as we had a good time.

We decided to prolong our enjoyment at Kashid by going to bed by 11:00 p.m so that we could have a great time tomorrow.

Hmmm.. Tomorrow it is back to mundane life. Back to Pune.

7th April 2007 : Conquest of Janjira

We got up at 7:00 am after a good night's sleep and decided to refuel ourselves. It was back to Nisarg to upload some idlis, vada, sambhar, bread and lots more. The owner of the resort had a cat that had multiplied since Sujit's trip to Prakruti Resort a couple of years back. We walked in the resort thinking on the next course of action. We were thinking of going to Murud and Janjira which boasted of two 16th century A.D. forts in the sea (Padmadurg and Janjira). Lots of information on these forts are available on the internet, hence I desist from adding my version of history to it.
We started for Murud, 17 Kms south of Kashid in Prashant's Swift at 10:30 a.m. After 20 minutes drive we spotted a beautiful coastline with a view of the Padmadurg Fort. We mistook the fort to be the Janjira Fort. After the usual photos we decided to return back to the resort. Some passerby told us the Janjira Fort was another 5-6 Kms south of where we were.

We continued on our journey and reached Murud town, but still there was no sight of the Janjira Fort. We saw the sleepy villages with its fishing boats having a fore-noon siesta and the Padmadurg far far away. The vendors on the beach told us that the Janjira Fort was just another 4 Kms away. We started following one of the tourist vehicles till we realised we were off track as we were reminded of Pune by the detoriating roads. We realised that we were taking a very circuitous route to Janjira. After asking about 10 people we could spot the shoreline again, but where was the Fort. We parked the car in a common parking lot. We were lucky to get a spot with less sand. We saw the parking attendents helping some of the tourists' car out of the sand. We paid these folks Rs.20 and started to walk towards the jetty for our ride to Janjira.
As we walked to the jetty I could spot a massive structure through the windows of some of the houses. There she stood alone and unconquered- the Janjira Fort.

We paid Rs.15 per person and sailed to conquer the Janjira Fort. We sailed towards Janjira, that was when Sowmya's tummy was rocked by the waves and the heat of the sun. Sowmya popped a toffee in the mouth from puking. I swallowed my trepidtation praying that I don't get puked on. We reached Janjira and Sowmya conquered her nausea but hunger and lunchtime pulled us back to the shores and towards Prakruti.

After yet another good meal, we slept for an hour and left for Kashids shore at 4:00 p.m

6th April 2007 : Pampering at Prakruti

We had tea together in Prashant's room and Jyotsna was busy munching her bag of potato wafers. We freshened up and proceeded to Nisarg (The resorts restaurant) for lunch. The only complaint I would have with Prakruti Resorts is that the plate was too small for the buffet that awaited us. We followed up the sumptuous meal with an hours' siesta.

We got up at 4:00 p.m and proceeded towards the Arabian Sea. I decided against carrying my cybershot as I wanted to wallow in the waves.

We did not want to leave the sand, but it was getting dark and we were getting muddier. We carried all the sand in out pocket and hair back to our room in the resort.

After an hours' bath we were all set to raid the tables at Nisarg.

After stuffing ourselves we had to face the music ! ;-)

We retired to our rooms at 11:00 a.m. Sowmya recorded the days events in a cassette that she wanted to play to her father.

6th April 2007 : A Good Friday for a Great Weekend

We had lost sleep the preceding nights, as the excitement to travel by our Car on a long journer neared. Sowmya had packed everything, or grabbed half the stuff in the house since we were driving. The Car was being transformed into our home on wheels for the 4 hour journey. My colleague Prashant, his wife Ramya and their 3 year old, Jyotsna were to be joining us in their car from Aundh, Pune. Sowmya had baked a fruit cake for Jyotsna.

We left our home (Vimannagar,Pune) at 5:30 a.m. in the morning drove down to Prashant's house at Aundh. We reached Prashant's house at 6:00 a.m. We would have reached earlier, but were delayed. Thanks to the slow paced flyover construction by the Pune Municipal Corporation.

We left Prashant's place at 6:15 morning and drove down the Pune-Mumbai Expressway to Khopoli (map).

The journey on the Expressway was smooth, pothole free and quite unlike the lunar landscape in Pune. We paid a toll of Rs.89 to go to Penn . Our spirits were rising along with the sun as we proceeded to Khopoli. We took a westward diversion at Khopoli to Penn. We took a break to have our breakfast. Ramya had made some delicious Mysore Dal Idlis.

We joined the NH 17 (Mumbai Goa Highway) at Penn and proceeded southwards towards Wadkal Naka. My cousin had suggested a Wada Paav joint at Wadkal Naka, but we decided against it keeping our delicate tummies in our mind. We proceeded toward Alibaug. A few kilometers from Alibaug we saw a diversion to Revdanda.

As we drove down the road toward Revdanda, we spotted a pond full of our national flower. We decided to take a 15 minute break to enjoy the Lotus pond. We then pushed the pedal and continued our journey. We saw a breached wall and proceeded towards Kashid without realising that we were crossing the wall of the Revdanda Fort. We were about 20 Kms away from Kashid. We reached Kashid at 11:15 a.m.

We were welcomed at Prakruti Resorts by uniformed guards. A welcome drink followed and we were escorted to our rooms.

The beginning : Week preceding 6th April 2006

We decided to invigorate our dying brain cells that were caught in mundane actvities. What other place than the sea shore with roaring waves. Based on a recomendation by my friend Sujit, I had reserved rooms at Prakruti Resort, Kashid through Vitesse Travels, Pune. The tariff - a small fortune!

Will it be worth it?