17 July 2021 – Daman to Rathnagiri – 490 km - Day 15 of Spiti Valley Exploration

I woke up well in time to get ready for an early start. As I was warned last night, the taps had run dry and I was indeed thankful to the Manager for having ferried three big buckets of fresh water into the bathroom. I did not mind the cold water for that knocked me fully awake for the drive that lay ahead of me. The stay had been comfortable, though I wished that the staff had been better trained. What I liked best, though, was the concept of government accommodation being thrown open for commercial exploitation. I hope the ‘experiment’ in Daman finds resonance all over the country where government departments and public sector undertakings have poorly used and ill-maintained accommodation at excellent locations. These can be put to better use, reduce government expenditure and, in turn, can fetch the government and PSUs better revenue. I sincerely hope that the Indian Railways pursues this path at the earliest.

The skies were overcast when I decided to cast off from Daman. Even though I had initially thought of leaving well after 7 am I was ready for an early departure. There was some confusion at the checkout regarding the payment to be made. All was amicably sorted out in the end. I collected the packed breakfast that the Manager had promised the previous night and I was on my way. The roads in Daman do require attention. It was still too early in the morning for Gujarat border officials to stop my car to enquire if I was carrying any liquor from the Union Territory, which is illegal.

Hetal Shah, my friend from Surat, had told me that I should try out the Parsi Dairy restaurant near Talasari for breakfast. Even though I was carrying packed breakfast, I could not resist the temptation of trying out their Maska Bun and whatever else. It was not difficult to locate the restaurant as it was picked out prominently by Google Maps. A light drizzle was falling when I turned into the service road of the restaurant. The guard at the gate told me that it would take another half hour for the restaurant to take its first order. I weighed options and thought that I should get back on the road as the weather conditions did not seem too promising.

While it was a smooth drive all the way up to the Fountain Junction near Thane the route after that took me through some of the most congested parts of the city, which reduced me to a crawl. It was NH48 alright but the traffic density was too high and I must have certainly missed a turn because I had to transit Mumbra and Taloja instead of Airoli-Vashi. I joined up the right route at the Kalamboli flyover by which time I had lost time and patience. At Panvel I joined the NH66 and then the misery heightened. 

The NH66 is a 1700 km busy highway that runs from Panvel to Kanyakumari. Surely, the NH66 is the pits in this part of the country because it possibly has the max speed-breakers, warned and un-warned, and is also possibly the worst at the moment right now in India. Road works are going on and some of them have such large craters that one has to be very careful navigating it. Potholes, un-warned deviations, vehicles driving in the wrong direction, rains and narrow gullies led to a frustrating day’s drive. In contrast, I was glad to get on to some state highways such as the scenic drive through Mahad, which has the Raigad Fort of Shivaji Maharaj. The place is made more scenic by the Sahyadri Mountains that surround it. The greenery and the cool environ really energised me. The intensity of the rain had also increased by then.

By the time I turned into Ratnagiri buckets of rain had started dropping. I found it difficult to keep track of the road even. I was booked to stay at the Hotel New Konkan which is a semi-homestay that sits atop a small hillock. It is a pocket friendly, no frills, neat and clean accommodation with excellent views of the Aarey Waarey beach and is on the route to Ganapatipule, a lovely beach and pilgrim centre. The heavy rain spiked whatever desire I had to visit the Aarey Waare beach; it would have been a waste. Instead, I spend time in the room completing my documentation, charging devices and imbibing a couple of pegs. In the meanwhile, the rain stepped up another notch. I had requested for dinner of egg curry and chappati. Jaswant, the caretaker of the facility, explained the semi-homestay and their plans to build cottages in the near future. He invited me for dinner at the appointed time and gave me an umbrella to walk up to the owner’s residence where dinner would be served.

Heavy rainfall had rendered the dining area, which overlooked the beach, absolutely unusable. Hence, I sat in their living room and had delectable spicy egg curry and chappathis. The rain continued its march and I almost got drenched getting back to the room. Right through the night I could hear the relentless downpour.