"Not all those who wander are lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien
Just last evening, my friend Candy and I decided that we should take ourselves for a little picnic not very far from Mumbai. So, after not much thought or planning, we zeroed in on Mandwa, a little village in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. And, here's how we spent our Sunday morning.
5.40 : We met at Bandra Station and boarded the 5.55 train to Churchgate. Winter's finally moving out of the city, but the mornings are still very pleasant. Good for us!
6.30 : We hail a cab to the famous tourist attraction of our city - the Gateway of India, and we book two tickets to Mandwa.
(Note: the fare includes the ferry service and a bus service from Mandwa Jetty to Alibaug.)
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| The Ferries at the Gateway of India |
6.40 : We board the ferry and rush to the Upper Deck. This is the best place to be in if you really want to enjoy the ride. I take in the sight of the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel that, to me, look absolutely 'wow' in the early morning light.
6.50 : Our ferry moves away from the pier and heads off into the beautiful sunrise. The ride to Mandwa takes close to an hour, but it was an hour spent enjoying the cool sea-breeze and watching the many yachts, fishing boats and cargo ships sail by.
Candy was quite wary of the many seagulls that fly close, following the ferry. It's very common for passengers to toss out little tit-bits (mainly chips) at the seagulls. The birds seem to enjoy potato chips a lot. They're not shy and even swoop down to snatch out a tit-bit from hands held out in eager offering.
8.00 : We arrive at Mandwa Jetty and walk out along the jetty towards the broadwalk. There are many little snack-shops and Souvenir shops on either side, but being quite early (and a Sunday) most of the establishments were still shut, and, save for our fellow passengers, the place was deserted.
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| Mandwa Jetty |
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| Mandwa Beach |
Now, remember, I did mention that this was a totally unplanned trip. We had no idea where we were headed or what we wanted to do now that we were here. We followed the crowd and hopped into a bus to Alibaug, a coastal town and the district headquarters of Raigad.
Again, we had no idea where to alight and what really to do at Alibaug. So there we sat, two silly women with neither map nor plan, out on a Sunday morning, headed into.....what??? Well, we didn't know and, at that moment, we didn't care. We decided to continue until the last stop and take it from there. Until then, we enjoyed the bus ride and the sights of little villages passing by.
8.30 : We alight at a fairly busy junction at Alibaug - the last stop, and look around for a place to grab some breakfast. A little place around the corner was dishing out some yummy 'misal pav' (a spicy, local favorite made of pulses, potato and served with bread). Having done that, we walked around looking for a booking office to check about the timings for the bus & ferry back to Mumbai. We got the information we needed & were informed that tickets for the bus+ferry could be purchased about an hour before the departure time.
9.00 : We decided that a good thing to do would be to hang around at the beach, so we hailed an auto-rickshaw to take us to Alibaug Beach. In less than 10 minutes, winding along quiet streets, we arrived at our destination. The beach was very sparsely populated at this hour.
The only people there were a few local tourists and the chaps offering such activities as parasailing, jet-skiing and boat rides to the nearby Kolaba Fort. We chose to do the latter and set sail for the fort. since it was low tide, some chaps were wading through the water and making their way to the fort. Although, on a day like this, such a feat is possible, it is highly dangerous to do so as the tide is likely to come rushing in unannounced. And then where would that leave you?!! Be smart. Take the boat.
Kolaba Fort is an old military fortification built in the sea around 1-2 kms from the shores of Alibaug. From a distance, it looks almost similar to the Janjira Fort, but it's much smaller. Although most the outer walls are still standing strong, there are many ruined structures within the fort - houses, granaries etc. There are also people who live within its ancient stone walls. They help care for the this little slice of history and maintain the temples that are within the fort. The views from here are quite serene and peaceful. Walking around this fort, we could almost imagine how it must have been in its heydays....with lamps lit beside the temple walls and homes & streets filled with people going about their daily business of life while armored soldiers stood guard at the many lookout points.
We walked along the entire perimeter and stopped to click a few pictures every once in a while. Once we had explored the all that the fort had to offer, we headed back down towards the entrance and took the boat back to Alibagh Beach.
11.15 : Back at Alibaug Beach, we saunter into the well-maintained picnic area to visit the restrooms before heading back to the bus stand. We stopped for a few minutes to purchase lemon flavored ice golas, a treat very similar to the snow cones. Yummy!
11.30 : I must say that the bus service is very well planned in Alibaug. People queued up & boarded the bus in an orderly manner. At exactly 11.45, the bus left for Mandwa Jetty.
12.15 : We were back in the ferry. This time, wanting to avoid the mildly scorching sun, we decided to stay on the lower deck and found ourselves a really good spot to sit. Once again, we were bobbing along on the water, watching ships sail by while seagulls flew all around in the hope of grabbing a tit-bit or two. Although it was quite sunny, we did enjoy ourselves immensely on the way back on account of the cool breeze and, of course, the satisfied feeling of having spent a most enjoyable morning.
13.15 : We were back at the Gateway of India. Under the glare of the afternoon sun, the scene looked much different from what it did at dawn. Also, the place was now teeming with tourists and cabs all around. It made us realize that our little excursion, even though it was an impulsive one, was one that turned our perfect w.r.t timing. We managed to skip the crowds, escape the sun and caught a glorious sunrise. Truly, sometimes the unplanned moments make the best stories.
14.02 : Two tired, but happy girls were back in the local train, headed home after a morning well-spent. We were glad to have made this little excursion possible and even happier that we had managed to fill one morning with so many activities.
An unplanned trip...but these two adventurers....they were happy!
Pics by Misha
