Day 4 & 5 - Karwar - Goa - Ratnagiri - Mumbai

approx Dist covered - 370kms
mapmyindia dist - 344kms
time taken - 10 hours..
route - Karwar - NH17 - Ratnagiri

Get up at 6.00am in Karwar to a nice breezy morning.. look out of the window and see a beautiful skyline.. the sun is already at the horizon and is getting ready for the day.. so do i..
a click out of the window..

go around the beach for some snaps.. fill up Rs.200 worth petrol from the bunk in karwar which is a shabby looking pump with just 1 person around.. and am off to Goa..
its just rained on the Highway and am riding in some coool air.. feels nice.. stop at Padi for some clicks of the weird structure besides the Konkan rail.. might be water harvesting structure..

i lose my way in Margao.. instead of taking the turn for a bridge i get into Margao.. have to keep asking locals for directions.. finally after being in there for about half an hour i get out on the NH17... Reach goa at around 10.15am.. start calling Guru (a friend of mine who is in goa for his holidays).. we decide to meet at Miramar beach..
ride thru panaji and reach miramar.. am standing there waiting for Guru.. he arrives some 10mins later.. spend some time there and move on the Calangute.. its damn hot on the sea side.. sit on the beach for sometime and move onto Baga and Anjuna.. its the same shore with different entrances...

its 12.00pm and the heat is getting to me.. i finally see my friend off who accompanies me till the highway and am off to Ratnagiri..
keep riding on the twisties and my bike goes into reserve.. and i see no bunks nearby.. reach Rajapur and see a left turn for Ratnagiri which says 35 kms and Kelshi at 33kms.. ask the locals for a bunk and am directed to a nearby IOC bunk.. i tankup and have some rest there.. ask the bunk person for directions.. he says if u go thru the inner road and if anything goes wrong then there is very less traffic on the road so i might have to wait for sometime before i can get any help.. so i decide to take the road that goes via HathKhamba.. after reaching Hathkhamba and i realise i had taken about 30kms more to reach the destination.. its about 4.00pm when i reach HathKhamba and search for a lodge.. there is one bang on the highway.. he says 800Rs. for a double bed room.. i try to negotiate but he says no bargaining..
so i will have to ride 15kms more to get a lodge in Ratnagiri city.. i ride my way to the city in search of a decent lodge.. try a very good looking hotel but he says 936Rs. incl taxes.. i get out.. ride to a lodge nearby.. no rooms available.. ask him for a lodge and i get a deal at Rs.312.. its 5 pm when i check in the lodge.. all dehydrated i have a litre of water and cold water bath.. dinner at a good decent hotel (Maithili) .. come back.. sleep..


Day 5 - Ratnagiri - Mumbai
approx Dist covered - 360kms
mapmyindia dist - 340kms
time taken - 7 hours..
route - Ratnagiri - NH17 - Mumbai

look out of the window at 6.00am .. its cloudy.. there is a huge cloud on the ocean.. wait for sometime watching the cloud move and then i see that the roads under the hotel are wet.. its a small drizzle that passes away.. just wetting the roads enuf for bikers to skid on..
i start at 6.30am.. the roads wet.. a huge dark cloud infront of me on the horizon.. the sun still hiding.. i want to stop for some snaps.. i break.. fishtail.. but fortunately dont loose balance.. keep riding and get my bike into the gravel area.. stop.. click some snaps.. move on..

keep riding on the NH17.. was missing the MeduVada of Hotel Abhiruchi in Chiplun for sometime now.. so decide that i will have breakfast there.. its 8.00am when i reach chiplun and abhiruchi.. ahh have a nice breakfast.. move on..
no sign of rain as i keep moving closer to mumbai.. keep taking breaks at regular intervals.. get stuck in traffic just before Mahad.. there is an accident that has caused this traffic.. the driver of the tempo is still stuck between the seat and the steering.. is he alive.. i dont know.. i hope he was.. on that day i saw a total of 9 accidents that had happened.. this was the 10th.. anyways move on..
Reach mumbai at around 1.30pm.. check my odo.. it says 1582kms :)

what a memorable ride it was... beautiful roads coupled with some adventures at dandeli.. and the beaches of karwar and goa..