January 24, 2011
Up to Marud
though Diveager & via the ferry at Dingi to Janjira
It feels good to be back riding; the bike is more comfortable after a few days' rest and the Brooks doesn't have that hard, brutal contact with my posterior.
After a visit to Shrivardhan's Cyber Space internet cafe, it's 11:30 and time to ride along the small coastal route not the 'main road' that someone on the street directed me to at first.
It seems to be Highway 4 still - extremely nice, with no real traffic to talk about.
Monday... the only blues are those in the sky and again the sun is on my back as I head north, which is a million times better than a grumpy boss on my back.
Frank from Holland - who I met a few days ago - must be cursing that Hero he bought in Mumbai, as it's much hillier in the south of this elongated state than it is here in the north.
The gradients and the length of the climbs are far less and he'll probably ditch that bike when he gets to Goa. The romance will be long gone no doubt.
I climb for a while and reach a mini zenith and get amply rewarded with a super sight of the coast stretching way out before me. After it is a fast, bendy descent with pine trees along one edge of the straight road, which is narrow and flat for one K or so.
This is followed by another climb, but again it's nothing very taxing - admittedly I have 27 more options to choose from than Frank with his weighty, all-steel, single-speed Hero.
There's a exceedingly nice, almost bird's eye view below the road and I pause to take a snap.
Some people around seem impressed with the photo and subsequently ask me with gestures to snap their portraits, which I do and they are all smiles.
Then some of the fishermen walk up the steep path looking soaked to the skin and they say they don't want their picture taken for whatever reason. That's how it goes.
An ice cream palour in Diveager grabs my attention and I sit and have a fresh pineapple with blackcurrant, then order a chocolate and sugar-apple flavour mix. That's a new one.
I love sugar-apples -they're cheap in Taiwan during winter months.
Close by is a small golden statue in a simple-looking temple, but photography isn't allowed so I a bit feel cheated, even though entry is free. A man outside introduces himself and says he's from Kazakhstan and I'm very tempted to ask if his name is Borat, but think better of it.
I stop again not long after when I see an Amul logo advert and have a small tub of vanilla and feel acutely conscious that my diet while cycling along is poor and buy two apples and a pair of pears and eat one of each once I reach the edge of the village, which I guess is Borlai - or Borlee. The orange isn't very juicy.
It's almost 5:00 when I make it into Dhingi after around 40 km of cycling (yes, I take my time) where a launch as they call ferries here chugs across a wide estuary. As I make my way to the jetty a man who looks a bit bedraggled makes eye contact and to my mind appears homeless or close to it and when I stop he walks back and is obviously looking for a handout, so I dig out the coins nestling in the side-pocket of my bar-bag and hand them to him (about 15 rupees probably), then get my camera and fit the 50mm lens and take his portrait and show it top him. He breaks into a big smile then laughs, so I take another.
Half a dozen motorbikes are lined up on the gently sloping concrete jetty and they get lifted on board by the crew before my bike and I pay a total of 16 rupees fare, which seems okay to me as it's a pleasant 15-minute trip.
It's only half a dozen K max' to Marud from where we all disembark.
After photographing the impressive off-shore fort and an ancient mosque complexㄝ I cut through the ramshackle fishing village of J-something and pedal up a hill and along another wonderfully scenic coastal path as the sun dips low on the horizon.
There's no real rush, but cycling in the dark doesn't appeal and the sun gets very low and will disappear quite soon.
Murud seems like Jan-something at first, with its appearance being one of casual neglect, but then I find the long beach after asking for a lodge. The first place wants Rs1,200 and won't drop below a grand and the second starts at 1,500, but soon comes down to 800.
That's more like it, thanks very much. It's right by the sea, facing west.
There are places to dine lining the seafront and that's my next destination... not totally sure about Tuesday's yet.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 3,560 km (2,211 miles)
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