May 31, 2009 11:25 PM
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After reading all the reviews onGanapatipule on Mouthshut we finally decided to go on a trip there. Wepurposely avoided the weekend to make use of a quiet weekday. The Mumbai Goahighway has a lot less traffic during the day when the buses are not running amoktrying to overtake each other and it therefore makes sense to drive during daylighthours.
We left Mumbai at 10 am on a Tuesday as we had some work leftover from the previous day. As soon as youleave Panvel, you can feel the the sun bakingdown. There is however a lot of local traffic on the highway like the chicken vans, somake sure you are concentrating hard on the driving. We had a fast lunch atMahad and were then back on the road. Avoid the Kamat’s hotel at Mahad if youwant to reduce your waiting time during this drive. The road is a good one andsome stretches winds up and down beautifully especially before and afterChiplun with a river/backwater running just alongside. Just before Ratnagiri isthe turn toward the sea at a place called Nivdi.Be on the lookout for this junctionas it is easy to blink and miss this turn. All the signboards are for hotels inGanapaitpule which you will reach about 40 minutes later.
We had booked throughmakemytrip.com just that morning and though they called several times duringthe drive to inform that no rooms were available, we landed up at Lanmarkresort and found the hotel barely full. We did not even bother about the MTDCresort as all indications were against finding any empty rooms here withoutprior booking. In hindsight it turned out to be a good decision. The MTDCresort is close to the beach and the temple but the superb location has nowbeen reduced to being in the middle of a bazaar which is not what we werelooking for. In that respect the location of Landmark resort is really good ontop of a hill and there is a stairway to the sea beach directly from across theroad. The rooms and bathrooms are clean and neat; nothing fancy. We found thefood really good though we had read some reviews on the food beingterrible.What’s more they have a manager who tries to ensure that guests aremade to feel comfortable. The resort has a swimming pool but it appeared thatnot too many guest are keen on using the pool at a beach resort.
About the beach-it is really goodone, infact better than quite a few of the beaches in Goa and north Konkan coastand the waves come hard and fast especially during high tide. There are hardlyany warning signs against bathing during the low tide though we noticed that noone was really venturing deep into the sea. The beach was full of tourists butdid not give the impression of being crowded. That is because it is a long continuousstretch of sand with the Ganapati temple bang in the middle of this stretch.The temple premises is clean and neat and though it had its fair share ofpilgrims on that Tuesday, waspractically deserted the next day. But tourists come thick and fast which canbe seen by the number of vehicles which goes up and down the approach road. Andmost tourist prefer to take a dip in the sea before or after visiting the temple.The tender green coconuts sold on the beach are full of water and Malai andwith the evening breeze blowing, there is nothing better than sipping on such delicacies.Other than the beach and the temple there is one another place which you mustvisit during your trip here –Prachin Konkan which is a privately runmuseum/gallery which displays the Konkan society as it existed in the ancient times.The displays are good and moreover they are well explained by the guides that areallocated to the tourists. From day two you will wonder what’s next becausethere is nothing else that Ganapatipule offers but somehow sitting in the resort balcony with the soundof the waves splashing continuously gives one a very serene feeling. We hadread somewhere about water sports being organized at the confluence of theSangameshwar river with the sea but didsee the signs of this anywhere. We had also planned on visiting the Jaigadhfort which is about 30 kms away but decided to give it a miss as we wanted toreach Mumbai by daylight hours.
On the road back home do notforget to pick up a few happus cartons which are sold by sundry vendors on thehighway itself. Bargain hard as they tend to quote their rates on the touristwho is coming in to haggle. And if you are a phanas lover you will get them too.We had read somewhere of tanking up the car lest you run out of petrol at a forlornplace on the way to Ganapatipule. Well times have changed and petrol pumps area dime a dozen on the highway and even thereafter on the state highway toGanapatipule.
In a nutshell, if you want aquiet quick getaway, this is an ideal setting. However be warned, this place ispacked during weekends and it may make better sense to book in advance.Please avoid any of the internet sites as they do nothave the offline backup to confirm the booking and you will be left dangling. Thebest bet is to call up the hotel directly and book a room and this seems to bepreferred method by the hotel itself.
