The Konkan Coast

The last weekend, being a rather long-ish one, we decided to pack our bags and take a break from the non-stop action that is Mumbai. Our destination? The famed Ratnagiri coastline.

After about 9 hours, a couple of breaks and many motion sickness tablets later, we arrived at our Resort - well, more of a homestay, actually, the Oceano Pearl.

This is situated a bit further along the coast, at Ganeshgule, the lesser known cousin of Ganpatipule.

our lovely weekend pad

I wish I could tell you that we stayed at this marvellous treehouse at the property. Sadly, its not for families with young children

Oceano Pearl has many things going for it - its rustic ambience, the fantastic location, just minutes from the beach, nestled in farmland and greenery throughout; but primarily, its biggest USP, by far would be the absolute lack of cellphone signals this far out into the coast.

The little sit -out in the front for those who want to keep an eye on the comings and goings

This means I spotted far more people willing to make eye contact and wanting to hold a conversation, Child 1 and Baa-lamb included.

Plenty of green and no towers in sight

Both kids were thoroughly chuffed that the stretch of beach adjoining the property was deserted. The evening was thus spent watching the sunset, releasing tiny starfish back into the sea and spotting scuttling sandcrabs.

Deserted. Except for my 3 and an odd cow.

sandcrabs were being chased...

starfish were being admired...

sunset was being enjoyed.

What? We really love sunsets.

Dinner, at the resort (there isn't anything around for miles, so, unless you want to traipse into town for a meal, this is your best bet) was a homely affair. If you are planning to order here, though, I suggest you order at least an hour in advance as the food is freshly prepared and made to order.
The following morning, we set off after breakfast to Ganpatipule.

This flautist, outside the temple playing the tune from 'Hero'. Blast from the Past!

The temple exit, facing the sea

The Ganpatipule temple by the sea, had one of the most picturesque locations as far as temples go. Situated on the shores of the beach, the sea was quite some distance away, but we were told that once a year, the waves wash right upto the sanctum sanctorum.

There's also a rather large Mooshika guarding the entrance. Legend has it that anything whispered into the ear of said Mooshika comes true.

Child 2, whispering secrets into a willing ear

For child 2, what was also truly legendary were the laddoos that were being sold at the temple. They were consumed in copious amounts, thus energising us for our next stop - the Ratnadurg fort and the Bhagwati temple situated within.

The Bhagwati Temple

The husband casually informed me that the fort was supposed to be haunted. But in the bright light of day with the sun mercilessly beating down on us, the place looked quite benign.

Views from the fort

I do wish when restoring or maintaining a fort, people wouldn't casually slap paint on the stones in an effort to spruce it up, but that apart, the fort itself was pretty impressive. placed atop the cliff with spectacular views of the sea as well as the surrounding land.

Painted walls. Really, now. 

The Marathas clearly knew their stuff.

For my Mumbai friends. I know you're repeating this in your heads :)

We'd taken the scenic route to and from the fort, along the coast and could see the Aarey as well as the Vaarey beach (I promise you I am not making these names up). The waters were crystal clear and there wasn't a soul to be spotted on the white sand below.

clear blue seas

Serious urges to run across those white sands

Look! Not a soul in sight!

The only thing stopping us from racing down to the beach was the lack of shade and rising mercury levels. Beaches in India especially in the summer months are best enjoyed before 10 am or after 4pm.

a sea of Fishing nets being folded away for the day

We stopped in Ratnagiri for lunch and decided to drop into Thiba palace.

Thiba Palace

The palace was built by the British for the erstwhile king of Burma in exile, and is currently being restored by the ASI.

restoration under way

The central courtyard

I can't wait to see the palace restored to its former glory complete with a Burma teak staircases and the 100 year old stone structures. It also houses several sculptures from the 10th and 12th Century, which were rather worn, but still beautiful. I really enjoyed the eclectic collection of statues and works from the region.

a terra cotta capital from the region housed at the palace

Our evening was spent once more playing at our 'private beach' and making 'sun-hearts'.

Mum, dad and sunhearts

The sun dawned bright and early the next morning on sundry birds, flowers and holi celebrations.

A Bird on a wire...

A Solitary heron...

an early sandpiper...

...and other colourful, unidentified species.

Yes, this being the Holi weekend, the kids were looking rather furlorn at the prospect of missing out on the celebrations at our apartment, and so, colours and giggles were the order of the day.
The evening saw us visiting another fort nearby - Purnagad.

its almost like a gateway to another world

This one isn't under the purview of the ASI and not particularly well kept, but still, so brilliant to look at, you can see why the Marathas were such a formidable force. A short ride later we were back at the beach at Bhandardara. Not our cup of tea- more commercial, and a bit more crowded. The kids, however, did spot a flying monkey :)
We had to leave early the next day to make it back at a decent time to Mumbai, but Umesh, our intrepid driver and guide during this trip suggested we visit Marleshwar on our drive back.

the Sahyadris

This temple is situated in a cave high up in the hills of the Sahyadris, and although there's a short climb to get to it, the view makes it worthwhile.

tucked away within the mountain range

Yup, the temple is through that tine doorway. And yes, we were warned that we might be visited by the odd snake.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, except for another couple of pitstops (Zunka Bhakars included)

this cheeky lady and her baby who we all fell in love with...

and a few more anti- vomiting pills later, we made it back home, tired, yet thoroughly refreshed, and a bit more in love with India.

A view of the village celebrations through our windscreen

Of when I went to one of THOSE shops...

I'm usually pretty blaze about the inane comments my kids make, but recently when my younger one innocently came up to me and asked if I was around when dinosaurs were hatching, I thought it was time for preventive measures. You see, it wasn't just the comment that shook me, but the fact that the daddy of the above child was sitting right there, next to me, and it hadn't occurred to the the child to ask him, blast it!

Image courtesy: Google

So, off I marched into the mall (this was when we were back home, in India) and into a shop that I normally stroll right past, as I make a beeline for the electronics store. It was the kind of shop that had beautiful women staring at you from shop windows and a name in a fancy font that was code for 'I'm-going-to-be-far-more-expensive-than-you-suspect'.
As I entered the shop, the lady in charge have me a quick once over, decided that I couldn't afford her services and quietly passed me on to her assistant. The assistant, in turn looked like she wished she had an assistant I could be passed on to. I could almost see her steel herself while silently cursing her 'Paapi pet' for making her stoop to my levels. But, being the professional that she was (I'm assuming she was, if she was working in fancy-fonts shop), she plastered on a smile and asked how she could help me.
'Anti- wrinkle?' I whisper, by now thoroughly intimidated although they pair hadn't collectively spoken more than a sentence between them. If I was hoping for a reaction of disbelief wondering why this lady with flawless skin was in need of anti-ageing products, I was bitterly disappointed. Instead, she scrutinised my face and promptly plonked a minuscule vial with some snazzy packaging to mask it's diminutive proportions. Plastered all across this packaging prominently were the words '40+'.  40+!! I sputtered in my head (I was too scared to sputter out loud in case she decided to move on to the 50+ section) I wasn't going to be hitting 40 until... until... well, not for a few years, at least. But apparently, my face hadn't received that memo. It had, in fact, rushed headlong into a new decade and was safely ensconced somewhere in the middle. Just as I was getting to grips with this betrayal, the lady also kindly pointed out that that this cream would also help me with my age spots. My what? My screeching was reaching banshee proportions in my head. Age spots is something my mother needed to worry about. In a couple of years. And here was this silly chit of a girl barely out of adolescence (with unbelievably shiny skin) talking to me about age spots! Looking at my face, and mistaking my disbelief and horror as confusion, this baby-skinned girl helpfully pointed to another bottle - also from the 40+ section - a night cream she said, which also promised to 'whiten' my skin.
'But I don't want it whitened' I said, finally finding my voice,
'But you are tanned' she said
'I know.' I said
'But you'll be fairer.' she said.
'But I don't want to be' I said.
At this point I could see that I'd stumped her. The poor thing could not understand anyone who refused to be whitened. But this was an Assistant on a mission. She was determined to Earn her Commission.
'SPF!' she blurted out in relief. Surely even the crazy ones couldn't refuse SPF.
'This has SPF 50!' she claimed triumphantly.
'But this is night cream!' I said, equally desperate now. 'We don't live in Finland!'
The mention of Geography in the mix threw her completely. 'No, no!' she insisted. ' This is specially designed for Indian skin. For the Indian sun'
I was now at my wits' end and had had enough of baby-skin and fancy-fonts shop. I was going to take myself and my business elsewhere. With no talk of night creams with SPF.
Four shops and 3 hours later, I crawl back to baby-skin in defeat. She was the sanest of the lot I had encountered. 'Gimme it' I cried hoarsely.
'With the whiteneing?' she asked hopefully.
'Sure, why not.' I said, broken and defeated.
As she packed the offending package into an bigger package so I wouldn't feel guilty about spending an obscene amount of money on such a minuscule thing, she scrutinised me once more. And then she ask me, 'You'll be wanting hairdye for those grey hairs?' 

Jaipur Jaunts

Our arrival into Jaipur was in the evening, so, on our short journey to the hotel, there wasn't much to see. The hotel on the other hand was beautiful. Nahargarh Haveli, like many hotels in Rajasthan is a refurbished haveli, which meant lovely paintings and beautiful furniture. Even Pickwick our resident sceptic was won over. He thought the ornate mirrors were something else and the staff were lovely and courteous.
Our hunt for dinner took us to a Restaurant called the Copper Khurchan. Lovely parathas, and sides. But what really had me smiling was this sign at the bar:

Lovely patrons they were expecting, eh?

We hired a guide with a taxi the next day to take us to various places in and around Jaipur. first off, Amer fort. Our Guide wanted to know if we'd like to go up the fort by elephant (yes, that's right, elephant), but we politely declined his offer. So up we went, by taxi. En route were some pretty interesting buildings and people.

Some, falling apart from years of neglect.

Some, as bright as a new penny!
But all of them very interesting.
As we entered the fort, we were greeted by the sight of disembarking tourists off the string of elephants.

Having gawked sufficiently at the gentle giants lumbering away with their load, we turned our focus on the fort. And boy were we impressed.

Amer fort atop the Aravalli hills

The reservoir, The planned saffron gardens in the middle and the pathway for the elephants to get it to the overhead reservoirs. Yes, they had a system for running water (hot and cold) even back then in the 18th century

 You can also see the fortification walls which run all the way upto Jaigarh fort and beyond.

Ganesh Pol - the gates to the first courtyard. The colours are made of completely natural dyes.

There are several details that are completely unique in this fort.

Sheesh Mahal. Used as a royal resting day of yore, where a few candles would provide sufficient light and heat on cold nights

Murals made of natural pigments and gold

design details of the bath houses

Lock design on the main gate

We couldn't go back to Jaipur without visiting Jaigarh fort and and Nahargarh Fort, along the same range. In fact, the Jaigarh fort is supposed to be connected to Amer fort via a secret underground passage. It also, supposedly had the world's largest cannon. Once Pickwick heard that, there was no way we could leave without visiting this fort. So off we set.
And I must say, after Amer, we were slightly disappointed. Granted, we saw 'Jaivana' - the world's largest cannon, and some spectacular views of Jaipur, but that was it. The Architecture did not impress. But I don't suppose it was ever built as a residence. It seemed to be more of a military garrison. Also, apparently, this place was a canon foundry in the ancient days due to the abundance of iron ore found in the surrounding region.

Right, Nahargarh now which was a bit further up the hill. It was also the most recent of the three forts. This was originally built as a summer retreat for the royal family. It boasts of some fabulous roof terraces. This place showed a distinct European influence in Architecture.

The windows were a lovely mix of European design and the more traditional jharokhas

The kids of course, loved waving at me out of the myriad of windows

You can see the entire city of Jaipur on a good day. 

I love this whole windows-within-window-within door thing happening throughout this palace. 

The roofscape. Unmistakably Rajasthani. 

Just completing these places took us well into the afternoon and we broke for a quick lunch - at a roadside restaurant for samosa chaat and tea. What fun!
Then it was on to the City palace and Hawa Mahal.
The City Palace is, of course far more commercial and more touristy as compared to the forts, but I'd still give it a gander. Besides, Pickwick who is currently fascinated with all things biggest-and-largest-and-remotely-warrior-like wanted to see all the weapons that they had on display.
Imagine the fascination of the kids when they spotted this snake charmer just outside the palace door. Ohh, the squealing and delighted whoops! enough the melt the hardest of hearts, and I decided to save my lectures on endangered species and animal rights for another day.

Yes, that's a cobra eyeing you. 

One thing I loved in this place - they had the most amazing doors and entryways!

I'm going to get one such door one day. One day.

And here's Pickwick's fun fact of the day: This is the largest single- piece silver artefact in the world. I do not envy the polishers.

Here's where the current Prince lives. The baby promptly wanted to go say hello. had to distract her really quickly before she carried out that threat.

yeah, probably a pretty good example of the local architecture - and you can see why its called the pink city, but for me, the most beautiful of the structures was Hawa Mahal.

Beautiful, right? Of course, meant to be for the women of the royal families to watch the festivities unseen, and that's a bit sad, but shouldn't distract from the red sandstone beauty.
Now I know this post has far too many photos, but really, would it be fair to deprive you of the architecture the beautiful Hawa Mahal? I think not. So here goes:

The now-familiar roof scape

I know. Window-and-door obsession. But still, has character, no?

The internal courtyard with the fountains. can just about spot Jantar Mantar in the distance

Apologies for the slightly skewed internal façade. I apparently lean to the right ;)

Pretty stain glass

All in all, we really loved Jaipur. It seems to have that perfect mix of old world charm and modern amenities (like running hot water), and happy, cheerful people. What a lovely start to our Rajasthan journey. Well rested, and I can't thank the wonderful people at Nahargarh Haveli for that, we were all set to head on to our next stop- Udaipur*

*That might take a little time coming - I went slightly berserk with the pictures and have to wade through it all to pick out a select few for the blog.