Kunkeshwar Beach: Two Wheels, Two Nomads, One Thrilling Adventure

Day 6: Day 27, 2007

The ride just got better. Today we rode from Pawas to Kunkeshwar Beach covering Purnagad, Yashwantgad, Vijaydurg, and Devgad.

Pawas

It was pretty cold and at the dawn, it was misty outside. We were woken up early by the chill and the gadbad and badbad of the people around who were getting ready for the morning darshan and aarti. We too got ready and were all set for another day full of excitement and vigor!

Purnagad – This was our first destination. Purnagad is a wee settlement on the banks of a creek and on the small hillock overlooking the sea is the fort Purnagad. The small pathway leading up the fort is an interesting walk. It starts from behind a beautiful temple which is also worth a visit. The deepstambh in front of the temple is bound to catch one’s attention. We had darshan and headed toward the fort. Akshay as usual was trying his photography stunts on the way!

Purnagad is a pretty small fort with very strong fortifications but not much to see inside. It houses a temple of the monkey god Hanuman at the entrance of the fort. The door of the fort is still in very good condition and has a lotus symbol carved on the top. Opposite this entrance, there is another door that faces the sea. It commands an excellent view of the surrounding panorama.

Amazed by the landscape we walked back to our bike, this time from beside the beach. With fresh air filled in our lungs, we headed for Adivare.

Adivare

It again is a very small settlement but very famous for its Mahakali temple. It is a small well maintained temple that is a home for 3 goddesses viz. Mahalakshmi, Mahakali and Durga. After being blessed by all three, our attention was caught by the well on the premises. A well is well, but the unusual thing about the well was the way the water was drawn out of it. It had a different arrangement altogether. To a bark of a tree was tied a horizontal bamboo bar like a pulley and at the other end of this was another vertical bamboo with a vessel at the other end, lengthy enough to reach the water table. It was fun watching the women here drawing the water and admiring the unique concept.

Besides the temple was a small eatery and we decided to have something for breakfast. Though not very tasty we relished the Misal pav, Batatawada, and Dink Laddu. We then asked for directions and set off to Ambolgad.

Yashwantgad

En route to Ambolgad we were struck by the signboard which indicated Kille Yashwantgad was on the left. The fort walls of Yashwantgad were very prominently seen. So we halted to check it out. The fort was but in a very sorry state. Inside the fort, there was thick vegetation of thorny plants thus we couldn’t explore the fort much. All we could see was the fortification outside and we had to be satisfied by that alone L

Ambolgad

It was a pretty long ride from Yashwantgad to Ambolgad and we had least expected it. But the ride was amazing as we were traversing the scenic landscape. Finally, when we reached the Ambolgad village we were really unable to find the fort. I knew it was right in the heart of the settlement with not many remains, but all our efforts to locate it were in vain. Finally, a villager pointed out to us that this was Ambolgad, and we were surprised!

We had passed it twice but we couldn’t make out – well how could we, there were no signs which showed it was a fort.

Very little or no fortification remains, a huge tree, a dry water cistern, and a broken canon – all encased in a very small area, which was called a fort. We had a quick look at all these and headed back.

Nevre

People told us that we could ferry across to Jaitapur from the Nevre jetty and hence we asked for directions for the same. We then descended to the jetty – it was a tough ask as the road to the jetty was very narrow with zero margins for errors. I got off the bike and let Akshay take it on the narrow path. He managed it well but when we reached the jetty we were told that there were no motor boats there and hence the bike could not be ferried across. We would have to go to the Dhaulwalli jetty to do so. Pretty unwillingly we set off in the direction pointed out.

Dhaulwalli

As we reached Dhaulwalli jetty we didn’t have to wait for long. But it ferried us across to Jaitapur. I was under the impression it would take us to Vijaydurg as I had seen a jetty there and mistakenly gathered from the locals that we would head straight to Vijaydurg. But I was wrong.

Jaitapur – As we were getting off at Jaitapur jetty, we enquired about the route to Vijaydurg and we got 10 different routes with 10 different confusing names of villages from 10 different people we asked. We wanted the shortest route without touching the NH17 is what we said and finally, we were told some more confusing names of the villages (which I fail to remember at this point) and we decided to take that.

The odometer was now showing a dropping arrow and I thought it was wise to have the petrol filled. But it was a small town with no petrol pumps. We were lucky enough though to get it from the local vendors for 55 bucks a liter. We filled in 2 liters and set off repeating the names of the villages so that we don’t forget. J We were to reach a place called Dongartitta & then turn right to reach someplace.

We remembered the names for quite some time but we completely forgot when were about to reach the place. Finally, we enquired about the jetty to ferry us across to Vijaydurg, and people directed us to a village called Sagwe.

Sagwe

At Sagwe there was a very small jetty and we met a person who claimed to have been waiting for more than an hour for the boat to arrive. We thought we might end up spending some time here but to our surprise, the old boatman saw us from opposite the bank and came over immediately. We loaded the bike in the boat and sailed across.

Vijaydurg was still far off from this place, guess around 45-odd km. Crossing the district border to enter Sindhudurg district wasn’t so easy J

We started off and hit the highway to take us to Vijaydurg. We filled in petrol at the gas station and set off. The entertainment on this highway were the various sign boards put up to warn people to avoid speeding. They were rather funny and one of them read “Control Yaar” – sweetly captured by Akshay in one of his pics.

Vijaydurg

We finally were at Vijaydurg tired and weary. It was noon and pretty sunny. We had started feeling hungry but preferred to see the fort first and then do the pet puja. So we went over exploring the fort and since I had been here earlier I took pride in showing the various parts of the fort and the private secluded beach which would not have been easily noticed by others.

We were really hungry now and it was essential to have our lunch before we proceeded further. We caught hold of the eatery nearby and relished on fish thali with the generous helpings of Solkadhi. The fish preparation was typical household and out of the world. With our stomachs full and hearts satisfied we were mentally prepared to move on.

Rameshwar

Probably a km ride and we halted at the unique Rameshwar temple. It was unique because it was much below the ground level and it was only one of its kind. Almost half a km of descent took us to the entrance and we were greeted by huge deepmalas. The temple resembled a typical Konkani hamlet and on its walls were old paintings depicting the scenes from the legendary epics of Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Devgad

We took off from Rameshwar to hit the Devgad fort and it took us about 45 min to be there. Devgad is a small fort on a small hillock by the sea. It has a decent fortification and houses a Ganpati temple and a lighthouse. The fortification offers a good view of the sea. We had a glance and went over to the beach.

Devgad is blessed with a lovely virgin beach which is enclosed within two small hillocks. On one of the hillocks are windmills galore which look so pretty. The beach also has a verdant suru corridor and the sand is very fine and soft. Not many people visit this beautiful place and we knew it because we were the first ones to leave our footprints in the sand.

After spending some time trying our hand at photography, we headed towards our destination for the day – the Kunkeshwar Beach.

Kunkeshwar Beach

Kunkeshwar beach houses a quaint little town name after the prime deity of the village – Lord Kunkeshwara (Shiva). Temple is adorned with carvings and nestled right beside the Kunkeshwar beach. There is a family who lives right next to the temple who let out their home for the visitors. We checked into the only homestay available here and headed straight to Kunkeshwar Beach for a dip and the lovely views of the sunset.

Later we had a hearty home-cooked meal and spent some time at the temple chitchatting at the temple. A titillating breeze blew as we sat overlooking the Kunkeshwar beach. It was a mesmerizing experience. We wished we could continue sitting there through the night. But as much as we loved being on Kunkeshwar beach, we wanted to explore the others beaches we had planned to go to. So, unwillingly we went to bed.

Continued… Day 7