The Konkan Holiday - Part II

Continued....
http://laxmitodiwan.blogspot.in/2015/01/the-konkan-holiday.html

The reason why I even have parts to my post, this is the first time I am writing a post this long! I feel India that too the interiors, lesser known places, still not a part of commercialised bandwagon, have a lot to offer to the tourists. A travellers delight indeed. Why would one want  to go from one city to another. A rustic holiday or what we better call it as Eco-tourism is a must from time to time especially for the city dwellers. Its a refreshing way to travel and see the world.

Finally, part II of my post on Konkan holiday is here. I am becoming a bit forgetful I guess, I had made a promise that I would write about the other two destinations in Konkan that my family visited after Devrukh. We had plans to to stay 2 days in Devrukh and then go to Kolhapur and be back to Mumbai after staying there for a day. But Devrukh had a great impact on our tourist senses and O'Nest homestay and their warm hospitality made us hang in there a little more in the beautiful Konkan region. It was very difficult to get hotel bookings, being the peak holiday season (Christmas vacation)

I spoke to Abhijit the incharge at O'nest homestay, He was one person who I was in touch with over the phone right from making the booking there, he kept guiding us through our drive from Mumbai till we were there and he was waiting to welcome us. It felt nice that he checked on us when we were not there at the time of arrival. Pleased with our experience at Onest Homestay, told Abhijeet that my family loved it and I wish to visit other places in the region, he told be about 2 more of their own resorts but he said that being the weekend, there were no rooms available. I am not someone who gives up "just like that". so wanted to see what best could be worked out. Abhijeet told me that the owner Mithil Pitre might be able to help. I knew about Mithil and the trip was planned after talking to him. He was at their newest property Nakshatra Resort at Bhadarphule near Ganpati Phule. He said that there were no rooms available there but their second resort Oceanopearl at Ganeshghule had a room available. This is what we wanted to hear we left Devrukh, early in the morning of 28th December 2014.

Thiba Point

The drive from Devrukh to Ganeshghule was about 2 hours. But we stopped on the way at the tourist spots. The drive was fantabulous as any 'youngster' would say! Ratnagiri was beautiful the view was breathtaking ...from the high points looking at the sea below and the winding roads were truly things to behold.

At Ratnagiri, we saw the Thiba Palace, where the last king of Burma (Myanmar) Thibaw, stayed in exile. It was built in 1910–11 we were told and that  the King and the queen stayed there between 1911–16. The palace had tombs of the royal couple. It was functioning as the Government Polytechnic college. The renovation and part reconstruction was on when we reached there so didn't get to see inside the palace. The Palace is magnificent , beautiful brick red in colour and the courtyard and beautiful royal garden in the front lawns. I felt a lot more could have been done to the palace. Also heard that the polytechnic was being shifted back to its original loacation, I am hoping that the palace gets its heritage glory soon. 

Ganeshghule beach

From there we left for the Thiba Point and Thiba garden which was hardly 10 minutes drive away from the palace. The view from this place was mesmerising, the deep valley and the meandering sea, that appeared like a river and  had formed a beautiful delta. The garden had a few rides and park for children.

The coconut garden

We reached our beach homestay Ocenaopearl by lunchtime. Got a room facing the coconut garden and the beach. I was certainly wonderstuck, the place was so beautiful. We just dumped our baggage in the room and headed to the beach. Not just any beach but a virgin beach and it looked like our own personal beach! Can you ask for anything more? We spent a good time at the beach and then headed to the dining room and had an amazing seafood thali. Evening was left free for a few places we wanted to visit around the resort.

If you follow my blog then you must have guessed what would be on our list of places to see, you are right the ancient Kanakaditya temple. Temple of Lord Surya (the Sun God) at kasheli. We were told the temple is more than a 1000 year old. We saw the ancient temple and its premises with many smaller temples and two wells. There was a dharamshala just outside the temple, saw some people staying there. I have very fond memories of the temple and the memory of my beautiful black and grey pashmina stole from Darjeeling, gifted to me by a very dear teacher of mine, that I happen to drop outside the temple while getting out of my car.

Kanakaditya temple

Then we drove to the Kalika temple, another ancient temple of Goddess Kali. It was evening by the time we visited both of these ancient attractions. We reached Oceanopearl around 8 pm. Ordered our dinner and sat in the coconut garden, under the moonlight, have a little party and then the Konkani dinner.... all this was Bliss,... simply put. We wanted to try the third property of the owners, now that we had a feel of the two and an amazing experience so couldn't resist the third one but again getting rooms was an issue. I called Mithil and asked him if he had something for us. He said that they had a cancellation and hence a room had become available for us at the Nakshatra Resort. I was delighted and my family super excited to extend the holiday.

Next morning, 29th December 2014, we headed straight to the beach took a couple of coconuts with us. Had a good time at the beach also had the tender coconut water with warm courtesy of  my husband (he managed to work on the coconut with his Swiss knife) and by 11 am we were back, ready to check out and head to Bhandarphule near Ganpatiphule, our next destination.

Up Next, our stay at Bhandarphule and visit to Ganpatiphule.  

Check Oceanopearl at 

http://www.oceanopearl.com/

The Konkan Holiday - Part I

Its that time of the year when a little vacation is a must. Yes children's school holidays- the winter break! Since my husband sails at this time of the year, I hadn't planned anything for the December holidays, For children the break is only 10 days long. Its certainly not much of an issue to plan some activities for them to keep them engaged. Like all mothers I too understand how an empty mind becomes the devils workshop!

It was December 22nd, 2014, learnt that my sailor hubby would be joining back only in January. Yippe!! it was time to plan a family outing. It being the peak holiday season, was extremely difficult to get any hotels. Club Mahindra couldn't give a decent availability at 'a good' 3-4 months notice... getting something at the last moment was unimaginable. We have never managed to get rooms at the resort of our choice in Club Mahindra, I still regret the fact that I said okay for membership to the timeshare when a Club Mahindra associate was sweet selling it to my husband.

I thought of planning a short trip to a nearby place. Hubby loves to drive and my sons are born travellers. I guess its in their genes. Both their grandfathers coming from the defence, their father a mariner and mother a hotelier was a good enough reason to adapt it.

O'Nest Homestay

The initial plan was to go to Devrukh as suggested by a colleague and stay there for two days then visit Kolhapur, stop there for a day on our way back to Mumbai. Also be at home well before the New Year's eve.
I booked a room, in fact a tree house at the O'Nest homestay at Devrukh. The website looked amazing. this was our first experience at a homestay. Also this was the first time we were travelling to the Konkan region of Maharashtra.
So all preps done. We started on the early morning of 25th December, had left home by 7.30 am. We took the Uran road connecting the Mumbai-Goa highway. The roads were good and the journey was amazing. We stopped at Mahad for lunch it was almost 2 pm. Then headed towards Devrukh, the Konkan belt is one of the best gifts to the state of Maharashtra. Blessed with amazing topography, breathtaking natural beauty- the hills, rivers, waterfalls and the lakes, the never ending greenery and hundreds of flowers and fruit laden trees. The roads were winding but the drive was as smooth as it could be. Being a holiday there were so many vehicles on the road. Very true to the saying that if there was atleast 3 days holiday the whole of Mumbai would end up going to Goa!

Chiplun, Sangameshwar and then finally Devrukh. Its a small, very beautiful town almost sleepy and perfect for a getaway. Nestled in the beautiful Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.
We reached O'nest at 4 pm. The homestay was actually like visiting someone's home, very true to its name!  It was amidst mango trees, the courtyard beautifully covered in the traditional mixture of mud and dung. The brick- tinge and the fine smell of earth was mesmerising. The place had an amazing rustic charm to it, the staff was warm and friendly. We were welcomed by the ladies who helped us with our baggage. I am a true believer of women empowerment, allowing the women to do their best in the the means available to them. I was certainly delighted to see the village ladies working at the home stay. Managing almost everything. Right from bell desk services to housekeeping, food and beverage to the kitchen.
Talking about kitchen, the menu on offer was authentic Konkan cuisine consisting of a good mix of fish, chicken, mutton or prawn dishes. We simply loved the seafood. That was our staple for almost everyday.

Coming back to what we did there in Devrukh. 25th evening, the day we reached there was just relaxing, having a great time in our tree house. It was nice cosy and very well done up. A bit compact for the 4 of us though. We took a stroll around our homestay. The surroundings were pure, in the lap of nature and giving us a very close look at the life there, the locals carrying on their daily chores.... life goes on as usual for them kind of a feeling!

26th after breakfast at O'nest we left for Marleshwar Shiva temple about 20 kms from there. We climbed a flight of steps,  stood in the queue and finally got a glimpse of the deity inside the ancient cave. We came back to our homestay and took rest in our room and in the evening went to the cashew factory and Swami Samarth Math.

27th morning we left for Karneshwar Shiva temple which was 25 kms from O'nest, believed to be over 3000 years old. After pooja there we went to the triveni, the meeting point of the  rivers Varuna and Alaknanda, they in turn join to make river Saraswati. There was also a Shiva temple called the Sangameshwar at the Sangam (meeting point) of these rivers.

From there we left for the hot water springs at a village 12 kms away, the water was indeed HOT, believed to have curative properties. Then we headed for Dangi, 22 kms from Hot water springs, for boating in the river. As our luck had it, the boat was out for some dry docking work. We spent some time at the bank of the river taking in all the beauty of its surrounding. We were back at our abode for the evening tea and snacks.  Luckily we managed to get a larger family room for the second night at O'nest.

Evening we visited the art gallery at Devrukh called the Laxmibai Pitre art gallery, very close to our homestay. It was small fairly new but had a very good collection of paintings and sculptures quite a few of them donated by renowned art colleges and artists. Then we went to the Ved Pathshala, vedic school.

Ved Pathshala

Ved Pathshala is a  residential school for the students studying the Vedas and learning the religious rituals to become pandits or acharyas the Hindu priests. It was a free education given by the trust. The place was so serene. We met a few scholars and their teachers. They took us around the premises.
Next on our list was the Kokum factory. The fruit is used for making Kokum syrup which is an excellent coolant, we also saw other products made there  like a digestive using various concoctions. This came under the cottage industry and had been awarded for excellence so many times, the trophies sitting proudly on the self in their office. We bought a couple of syrups and squashes.

Ved Pathshala

Got back to our homestay and relaxed for the evening, kids playing badminton and interacting with other children. We spent out time on the swings and hammock.
For food we had to inform the care taker atleast two hours in advance so that he could have the things organised and make amazing authentic dishes Konkan style!
We loved this place and thought it would have been a great idea to have other members of the family with us. We'll surely plan one soon.

We learnt that the owners had two more properties in the region, the Oceanopearl at Ganeshghule close to Ratnagiri and the Nakshatra Resort at Bhandarphule near Ganpatiphule. We love travelling and places that have their unique identities attract us. Wanted to try the other property of theirs at Oceanopearl, we were told that it was right on the beach, a virgin beach, we couldn't resist the idea. Checked with the manager at the homestay and called Mithil Pitre, the owner, (who was at that time managing his newest resort), if it was possible to get a room there. When he replied in the positive, we dropped the idea of returning to Mumbai via Kolhapur; instead headed for Oceanopearl on the morning of  28th December.

Up Next on my blog, our drive to Ratnagiri and stay at Ganeshghule and Bhandarphule.

Check O'nest :
http://www.onesthomestay.com/