[mvp]

Originally Posted by bhavtol

Hi ,

Just wanted to mention one thing or a resturant you can say.
====
Atleast i liked it. Serves nice piping tea with Smile.

I remember that there is a Kamat restaurant at Sawantwadi town.

[Avid trekker]

Thanks @Trojan, abirnale, paragsachania for your inputs.

Start location will be Pune.

[us.dash]

Thanks abirnale!

To take Kankavali route, I would need to pass through Kolhapur. I remeber seeing an old post recommending the 'OPAL Restaurant'. Does it still hold true today?

Any ideas on how much time it would take from Kolhapur to Tarkarli?

Appreciate all the help.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by us.dash

Thanks abirnale!

To take Kankavali route, I would need to pass through Kolhapur. I remeber seeing an old post recommending the 'OPAL Restaurant'. Does it still hold true today?

Any ideas on how much time it would take from Kolhapur to Tarkarli?

Appreciate all the help.

Excellent place to have Kolhapuri food. Rooms are old, but rates are low.
Kolhapur-Tarkarli route: I would go via Nippani, Ajar, Amboli, Sawantwadi in 3-4 hours. Via Radhanagari also it wold take approximately the same time

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by us.dash

I remember seeing an old post recommending the 'OPAL Restaurant'. Does it still hold true today?

Yes definitely. Haven't been to my home town (happens to be near kolhapur) for past year or so :(

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Excellent place to have Kolhapuri food. Rooms are old, but rates are low.
Kolhapur-Tarkarli route: I would go via Nippani, Ajar, Amboli, Sawantwadi in 3-4 hours. Via Radhanagari also it wold take approximately the same time

+1 HVK Sir. The only caution I would exercise is, drive carefully through Ajara until you descend Amboli. There are multiple stretches that has moon craters Nothing alarming but with loaded cabin and boot, don't expect to cruise through this stretch beyond an average of 30 Kmph! With recent summer rains, there should be some greenery as well hopefully for you to enjoy the drive!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Yes definitely. Haven't been to my home town (happens to be near kolhapur) for past year or so :(



+1 HVK Sir. The only caution I would exercise is, drive carefully through Ajara until you descend Amboli. There are multiple stretches that has moon craters Nothing alarming but with loaded cabin and boot, don't expect to cruise through this stretch beyond an average of 30 Kmph! With recent summer rains, there should be some greenery as well hopefully for you to enjoy the drive!

Now the Nippani-Ajra-Amboli stretch is repaired, but some widening work is going on in the Ambli ghat down to Sawantwadi.

[nec2152]

Hey there folks!

I'm leaving for Goa from Pune tomorrow morning. I'm going to South Goa first (near Palolem). After going through the thread and recent posts, I've finalized most of the route as follows:
Pune Belgaum Piranwadi Jamboti Chorla Sanquelim

Not sure what route to take from Sanquelim to Palolem.. Should I take the:

1. Sanquelim to Ponda to Borim to Margao to Palolem, or
2. Sanquelim to Panjim to Margao to Palolem?

I once got stuck in a very very long line of trucks on the way to Palolem after crossing into Goa, I don't clearly remember what location that was at. If I remember correctly, those were all the mining trucks and I followed the truck queue was for more than 5 kms after which I cancelled plans for Palolem and turned back towards Panaji to go to North Goa. Don't want to get stuck there again, but I have to reach Palolem this time, pre-booked the accomodation there already

Thanks!

[maverick78]

Originally Posted by nec2152

Hey there folks!

I'm leaving for Goa from Pune tomorrow morning. I'm going to South Goa first (near Palolem). After going through the thread and recent posts, I've finalized most of the route as follows:
Pune Belgaum Piranwadi Jamboti Chorla Sanquelim

Not sure what route to take from Sanquelim to Palolem.. Should I take the:

1. Sanquelim to Ponda to Borim to Margao to Palolem, or
2. Sanquelim to Panjim to Margao to Palolem?

I once got stuck in a very very long line of trucks on the way to Palolem after crossing into Goa, I don't clearly remember what location that was at. If I remember correctly, those were all the mining trucks and I followed the truck queue was for more than 5 kms after which I cancelled plans for Palolem and turned back towards Panaji to go to North Goa. Don't want to get stuck there again, but I have to reach Palolem this time, pre-booked the accomodation there already

Thanks!

Personally I would take the Borim route to Margao and then go further down to Palolem. You don't need to go all the way to Panaji from Sanquelim.You can take a diversion via Amona/Mandur and join NH17 towards Margao at Pilar. You would have to go through some internal roads for this though.

[bhavtol]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Now the Nippani-Ajra-Amboli stretch is repaired, but some widening work is going on in the Ambli ghat down to Sawantwadi.

Status on Feb 19th 2014.
Only at the start of the Amboli Ghat till the point where there is a Waterfall, is the road damaged (the landslide zone) . It was being repaired throughout the ghat. Apart from that i think its a breeze.

I have a few pictures taken of the section which i shall post soon

[us.dash]

TRIP REPORT: Tarkarli - Land of a million coconut trees

Thanks to HVKumar and Abirnale for their assistance in planning this trip.

Three day weekends are keenly awaited events for every Mumbaikar. We are no exception. Ever since the holiday calendar was announced in early November, we had planned that March 2014 would finally see us in Tarkarli. We had earlier travelled to G'Phule and Tarkarli has been on the agenda for years.

The initial plan was to take the train and spend all three days in Tarkarli/Malvan. But after booking the tickets, we developed cold feet. We were not sure how our 1 year old son, Neo, would take to train travel. So like all wise people, we decided to take the tried and tested route - Drive.

As planned, at 5:15AM, we set off from Mumbai to Tarkarli. Route taken was Freeway, Vashi naka, Palm Beach and then expressway. All without any change from the normal. The wife had made sandwiches for all of us and we did not need to stop for breakfast.

The first break was after crossing the Katraj tunnel on the Pune Satara highway. Pune Satara is still the same, decent roads interspersed with bad patches. After Satara, the sugarcane traffic created a lot of issues. The slow tractor trailers moves on the left, which forces the heavy trucks to drive on the right. Cars have to keep overtaking on the left, which is a hassle. Still reached Kolhapur by 11:50AM.

Quick darshan at Mahalaxmi temple followed by lunch at Hotel Opal. This place serves very good mutton, with the specialty mutton pickle a must try. The hotel is being redeveloped so there is a big construction site out front, but there is no noise heard in the dining room.

After lunch, in spite of good advice, I decided to take the Radhanagari route to reach NH-17. This route is in very bad state. The first 45 kms are really bad, expect average speed of 40 kms. The ghat sections are decently good. Post Radhanagari, the Phonda ghat is in very good shape, having been recently relaid.

From Phonda ghat, we drove to the NH-17, passed Kankavali and took a turn towards Malvan at Kasal. From Kasal, Malvan is 35 km and Tarkarli a further 5 KM.

On the second day, we hired a boat for the morning for Dolphin spotting and Tsunami island. The boatman charged me Rs. 1,200/- for the entire trip which lasted 2 hrs.

We also saw the Shindudurg fort. It was very hot by the time we reached there. My suggestion would be to go to Shindudurg early in the morning.

On the return leg, we followed NH-17 till Tarele and from there we turned right towards Gaganbavda. The roads from Tarele till Vaibhavwadi are really good and from there on till the ghat equally bad. The ghat road is pretty decent. From Gaganbavda to Kolhapur through Salwan, the road is in very bad shape. There are numerous two wheelers who believe it is their God given right to drive in the middle of the road at 20kmph. With the moonscaped road, this drive though 55km was 1.5hrs long.

It being Holi today, we were stopped twice by local village youth for money. We just sat in our cars and honked till they let us go. Holi as a festival is acquiring a nuisance value unparalleled by any other festival, anywhere in India.

Post Kolhapur, we had an easy drive back to Mumbai.

If asked to choose between Radhanagari and Gaganbavda, I would prefer Gaganbavda. The road is in decent shape for half its length, and it is 30 km shorter.

If there are any queries, I would be very happy to reply. My ride is a Swift Dzire Vdi and average mileage was 16+ with 100% AC.

[maverick78]

Originally Posted by us.dash

TRIP REPORT: Tarkarli - Land of a million coconut trees

Thanks to HVKumar and Abirnale for their assistance in planning this trip....If there are any queries, I would be very happy to reply. My ride is a Swift Dzire Vdi and average mileage was 16+ with 100% AC.

Hi us dash,thanks for your insights on the trip. Planning to go to Tarkali myself during the long weekend in April (easter weekend). Had a couple of queries of you would be kind enough to answer

1) could you let me know of any decent hotels where we could put up for the night? It's just me and my wife who would be travelling
2) is the ghat section at Gaganbavda in bad shape? I don't mind plain roads being bad as long as the ghats are in good shape.

Note from Support: Please avoid quoting entire large posts. It inconveniences our small-screen and mobile users.

[us.dash]

Originally Posted by maverick78

Hi us dash,thanks for your insights on the trip. Planning to go to Tarkali myself during the long weekend in April (easter weekend). Had a couple of queries of you would be kind enough to answer

1) could you let me know of any decent hotels where we could put up for the night? It's just me and my wife who would be travelling
2) is the ghat section at Gaganbavda in bad shape? I don't mind plain roads being bad as long as the ghats are in good shape.

Hey!
I stayed at the MTDC Resort which was a strictly OK place. There is a Hotel Majestic which looks good from the outside. Another option would be the Mithbavkar's Homestay. This is also the best place for seafood that I could locate in Tarkarli. Place seems popular as a number of people we had seen on the boatride to Sindhudurg, ended up here for lunch.

The Ghat section at Gaganbavda is in great shape. Its only the approach road from Kolhapur to Gaganbavda which is bad. Once you reach Gaganbavda, Tarkarli is only two hours away.

Have a good trip!

Cheers

[Avid trekker]

Hi,
One more confusion about the route to Goa from Belgaum.

1. What is the condition of the route via 4A? Any areas of bad patches?
2. How does 4A route compare with the Chorla route?

thanks,

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Avid trekker

1. What is the condition of the route via 4A? Any areas of bad patches?
2. How does 4A route compare with the Chorla route?

Its just fine. Not too great, but not bad either. Just because its cousin brother (The Chorla Ghat Road) started getting all the adulation, this option has been left in the lurch.
Earlier when the Chorla was in tatters, this was the default option.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Avid trekker

Hi,
One more confusion about the route to Goa from Belgaum.

1. What is the condition of the route via 4A? Any areas of bad patches?
2. How does 4A route compare with the Chorla route?

thanks,

While going to Goa, I took NH4A from Khanapur and I returned via Chorla.

The road soon after Khanapur for around 4 kms is in good shape but then deteriorates all the way till Goa Border. There are huge to very huge potholes but I honestly did not get irritated with this knowing that the roads will be better after crossing into Goa.

I could see many private vehicles coming from Goa side and I gestured at one of the cars (Amaze) which stopped and I asked him about the road rather than taking a U-Turn.

Summary: If you can digest bits and pieces of bad roads from Khanapur till the border, the roads after entering Goa on NH4A are more than fantastic to drive.

EDIT: Its more faster to reach Ponda (and then Old Goa) via NH4A than Chorla is what I could experience!

Let the pictures do the talking about NH4A: