India Travel — Green Kokan, Indian western Ghats.
This time when I planned my India Holiday, I decided I was going to visit coastal areas of Maharashtra like Kokan, Goa, and ahead to south Kerala.
Mumbai is always been a warm-hearted place. Energy is always high and vibrant. Back home it always feels calmer. But if you want to travel to more peaceful places to be one with nature then you have to come out of Mumbai. Currently, the Indian government has started a new train called Vande Bharat in western ghats. Reviews of the train were amazing. First book tickets on the IRCTC website for Ratnagiri from Mumbai. Search for a good resort to stay near Beach one — best available price, During monsoon the price range is less.
The train is really well designed and managed, spacious, clean, automatic doors, Big windows, electronic display and flight style breakfast and lunch provided. Surely a treat to all… especially when you go via scenario regions like Sahiyadari
we randomly booked 2 nights in Ratnagiri at the beach-located resort the Westbay Resort and Spa (Abhishek Beach Resort & Spa) near Ganpatipule https://westbayresortandspa.com/ and 3 nights in Candolim, Goa we booked for https://www.theacaciahotels.com/ luckily we enjoyed both places.
Ratnagiri is a small village and a town, rich in nature. Home to mangoes, fish, coconut, and kaiju (dry fruit), there are beautiful forts, palaces, beaches, temples, and a lot of greenery. The rainy season is quiet, not much crowd which was perfect for us. We managed to get a reasonable car tour in Ratnagiri for 2 days. As we head from Ratnagiri station to Thibaw Palace, it was the residence of the exiled king of Burma built by the British specially for him. After that, we visited Ratnadurg Fort very beautiful views specially built to keep an eye on enemies coming from the Arabian Ocean.
We were super tired so decided to go resort as we got up early morning to catch the train. And it was about to be early evening time. We booked Westbay Resort and Spa near Ganapatipule Temple, as the next day we plan to go to the temple. The Resort is amazing in terms of location very close to the beach, good service, and food. They have individual villas, a swimming pool, a spa, and a restaurant with room services.
On the Second day, we visited the Ganpatipule temple which is located near the beach shore of the Arabic ocean. The 400-year-old Ganpati idol at Ganpatipule is said to have sprung up from the soil. The Resort is quite close to the temple about 1 km by walking on the beach. There are a lot of activities on the beach, mostly open throughout the year except monsoon time.
We headed next to home to our leader — Bal Gangadhar Tilak, popularly known as Lokmanya Tilak, His house is retained as a tribute to his freedom struggle. The Archaeological Department of the State of Maharashtra has conserved his birthplace as a memorial. There’s a statue of Lokmanya Tilak in the outside premises. Then we visit the home of Marathi Poet Keshavsut at Malung village surrounded by green lust trees. he is known as the father of Modern Marathi poets. His home and collection of poems library and a memorial built at the back of his home mesmerize the Beauty of Koken.
Next, we had a proper Traditional vegetarian lunch thali at a local restaurant. we then head towards — one more Ganesha Temple built by Jindal groups called Vinayak Temple. Jindal had there steel project nearby so built a Temple in the vicinity. We also visited Rajgad fort which is located near the steel plant. The Temple is surrounded by a beautiful garden where people can relax. You could see a lot of Banayan trees in Kokan, also the soil is red in color. A lot of brick factories are around this region,
There are lots of beaches around you could visit. The local city center area is also well known for food, especially seafood dishes. I wish I had more 2 days so I could visit all the beaches and the rest of the forts properly. Probably definitely need one more trip again…
Still need to write travel about Candolim in Goa…. but Kokan was breathtaking!!
