Apr 07, 2005 01:47 PM
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(Updated Apr 07, 2005 01:47 PM)
A scenic 3 hour drive from Mumbai lies an unexplored beach named Kelva, also known as the fishing village.
The village folk of this place are just like those of any small village. Friendly, helpful and obliging to visitors of their home.
Kelva can be reached either by rail or by driving down. We drove down and the drive surely was a memorable, scenic one. At a fair speed of 90-100kmph we reached ?Kelva Beach Resort? within 2.5hrs.
If you are planning to drive down take the Ahmedabad highway NH8, head to Manor via Dahisar and then on reaching the Manor-Palghar road, take a left bypass Palghar to reach Kelva.
Kelva Beach Resort is a very well layed out resort with huts and cottages made of cane and thatched roofs on the beach overlooking the 7km stretch of clean sea.
After a quick breakfast of omlette and toast we headed out to explore the village with the local resort guide.
Our first destination was ?Shirgaon? fort a 30minute drive from the resort. This 200year old fort which once housed the brave Shivaji and his soldiers now lay in shambles being used as a cricket ground by the local boys.
This fort lies on the Shirgaon beach with the pristine Arabian sea in the backdrop.
Fastening our seat belts, driving over the uneven narrow roads surrounded by thick trees we headed to the next beach ?Satpati?. This beach is not frequently visited and is known more as the beach of fishmongers. Far into the sea we spotted boats and fishing nets.
Personally we were not impressed with this beach which has the fish market adjacent to it. But ofcourse, if you are a fish fan, come early and pack some fresh fish before it gets all transported to Mumbai.Besides the fishing hub, Satpati is also known for its Ram temple. Don?t forget to pay respect before you drive out.
Our next destination was the very famous Kelva dam. Now be prepared?the road to this is torturous for a small car?however if you are traveling via the local tuktuk (the shared big size rickshaw) then yes, you will be lucky enough to see the dam. This is also a good trekking route, if you are an enthused trekker.
Unfortunately our car refused to tread over the rocky road leading to the dam.
So finally we stopped at a local restaurant for chai bhajjiya and jalebi which seems to be quite a delight among the locales.
Tired and sweaty from the day?s escapades, we drove back to Kelva Beach Resort a drive of 10kms. We were very keen to spend some time on the clean Kelva beach Before sunset and that is exactly what we did. Another cup of adrak chai set us rolling to explore the untouched beach and the Kelva fort.
Now? to clarify, there is one fort on the beach used more like a social hangout for bikers and family. The other is the fort in the middle of the sea which is possible to visit only in low tide and not in high tide. However there is a mystery attached to this sea fort which none of the villagers are willing to talk about it!
So leaving the sea fort where it lies, we took off on a long sunset walk into the sea with the sand massaging our feet. I call this a heavenly walk in the sea. Quite an experience han! Anyways?.by now it was close to dinner time and we headed back for a barbeque at the resort.
Next day before heading back to Mumbai, we stopped off at the very famous Sitladevi temple a 5 minute walk from the resort. This temple is visited by devotees from all parts of Maharashtra, especially on Tuesdays and over the weekend.
Again this temple is over 300 years old and holds other mini temples in it. Shivji temple which has the sand shivling created by natural forces. Mind you this dates itself to the days of Lord Ram treading back to Lanka to fetch sita.
The other mini temples are:
Durga mata mandir, Ganesha and Hanuman temples.
Finally on our way back to Mumbai, being the weekend of holi, our car was hawked by the village boys who not only colored our car, smashed balloons but also demanded some donation on the occasion of this festival.
Successfully overtaking all the hurdles, we hit the open highway to drive back home Mumbai.
