February 18, 2016
To Lonavala: away from the coast into the Western Ghats
Our leisurely ride up the coast from Goa on backroads ended today. "Take a last look of the ocean" Patrick says, as we start out of town going inland.
The road surface is better today and the first stretch relatively flat until crossing the river at Dolvi. We take a break for a potato vada near a huge steel plant. The next 7 kms was heavy traffic until the turnoff at Pen. Slowly we make our way to and through Khopoli. We stop for water and another break to eat bananas.
Here is where the 600 meter climb begins. We get 250 meters of the climb, the road gradually becomes steeper. Rachel, affected by the heat becomes dizzy and tries just pushing the bike up until finally admits "We need to take a ride". Patrick waves down a truck and we are shuttled up to Lonavala. In retrospect, we probably should have stopped in Khopoli and tackled the hill in the morning.
We check into Lonavala Hotel, a very nice room with a great hot water shower, and then walk around a bit. Lonavala is known for Chikki and Fudge. Chikki is a sweet made with peanuts or other nuts and jaggery sugar. It's like peanut brittle and comes in flat bars or small round balls. We had been eating these all up the coast, but didn't know the name.
Dinner is pizza at Smokie Joe's. Tomorrow we'll be in a smaller town and local food.
Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 12,979 km (8,060 miles)
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