Tag: Beach

After spending a serene afternoon on the South beach of Harihareshwar on the first day, we planned to watch the sunrise from the North beach the next.
Well, we couldn’t see it because of a cloudy sky, but found enough reasons not to regret it.

The early hour Harihareshwar

I woke at 4:30 am. (Just to give you an idea of the frenzy around the idea.)

The original Harihareshwar temple, said to have been founded in the 16^th century,  was built on top of a hill and had a stone staircase starting down its steps leading all the way down to the sea (more about that later). The modern one is situated on the beach at the foothills, with a similar staircase (yes, originally build all those years ago) leading up into the hills from the temple backyard.

Without thinking much, I scampered across the temple grounds, and started up the stairs (Poor Shubho had no choice but to follow, of course), till I found myself on this deserted leafy trail, leading somewhere.

Sea view from the top of Harihareshwar hills…

But more was waiting for me even before I found out where.

Layers after layers of lush white waves – pure and profound –  lapped the North beach sands down below. I wouldn’t have believed such natural beauty exists outside calendars, if I hadn’t seen it here.

Talk about wayside scenery.

But then I didn’t know what awaited me at the end of my hillside escapade.

The rocky North Shore of Harihareshwar

That moment when you stop in your tracks with your mouth open as a slice of the infinite ocean reveals itself at the bottom of this historical staircase – exactly as you’ve seen in the Maharashtra Tourism promotional materials. The first thing I felt as I stood there was … Freedom. A tiny window cut through the rocks into the blue expanses – as if a window of freedom opening up the cold hard insides of the ancient Sahyadris to the chirpy waves of life.

And then it kinda went to my head.

You see the little black dot over there – trying to blend into the ocean and the sky and the sun and the rocks? That’s me.

Well it was not just my head but also my feet which were craving freedom. Apparently.

I don’t blame them for wanting to soak up all the early morning silky coolness of the white waters.

No. I didn’t believe it either.

The fact that he could capture all that dance of life, that is.  

Life on North Beach

Dawn broke. The curious seaside ecology started awakening from its slumber.

Even the sea itself – as it turned from grey-blue to golden blue.

Beauty on the rocks…

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the rocky shores of the ocean and listening to the unique booming sound of the waves as they hit the undersides of the rocky ledges protruding into the waters. Like this one.

The rock formations around the creeks and the bays were astonishing. 

We soaked it all up, lazing aimlessly on the rocks throughout the afternoon.

With our hearts full of priceless memories and our legs full of bruises, we were homeward bound by 3 pm.

The last bit…          

Did I mention that the last day of the trip happened to be my Brithday, of which the trip was a celebration? :)

Unduly belated apologies to all those who called me on that day but couldn’t reach due to the absence of network in the truly wild, truly pristine unforgettable Harihareshwar.  

 

 

Harihareshwar. A quaint beach village in the Maharashtrian district of Raigad, nestled in the valley of the four surrounding hills Harihareshwar, Bramhadri, Pushpadri and Harshinachal. This village was one of our first discoveries on the less travelled trail through the mountains and beaches around Mumbai. About 200 km away from the city, the beaches and coastal formations of Harihareshwar boast of rare beauty topped off with unique geological features.

We started off on a cool November morning around 6:30 am (oh yes we got late L) for a 2 day 1 night trip to Harihareshwar.

The Road to Harihareshwar

We took NH 17 (Bombay – Goa Road) and reached the hilly town of Roha after taking a right turn from Nagothane. From Roha we took the Roha-Murud Road to the village of Mhasala and then to Harihareshwar.

Now let me tell you the beauty of this trail is fascinating.

Yes. I had to stop and get out of the car to admire it.

But the road quality is really, really painful (for the driver). Keeping that in mind you’d probably better take the Mangaon exit off the NH17 which is the next exit after Nagothane.

MTDC Resort at Harihareshwar

It was 2 in the afternoon when we reached Harihareshwar. A silent sleepy hamlet. Very few people on the road. And a complete absence of mobile networks (I’m not lying), compensated for by a neighbourhood mom and pop store with a PCO housing a BIG land phone. I felt I’d been transported back in time.

Now we all know managing accommodation in any well-known and well-located MTDC resort without prior booking is some sort of a fairy tale.

You wouldn’t believe this – when we reached the one in Harihareshwar just ONE of their tourist cottages was still available – everything else was already occupied – and not just that, a couple arrived just about 10 minutes after us and could not be accommodated.

Harihareshwar has two major beaches – the North beach and the South beach. The MTDC resort is a cluster of cottages spread over a wooded area right on the South beach. Our cottage was just about a few hundred meters away from the sea. They have cottages which are far closer – in fact there’s a beachside MTDC-owned restaurant where the waves literally wet your feet – but unfortunately maintenance work was going on all around the beachside constructions when we visited, so we missed out on the surreal look-at-the-sea-from-your-porch experience.

Lodging at Harihareshwar

The room rent was Rs.2500 per day for us. The room was ok, but not great (true to the comments tourists have made about them all over the internet). But we hadn’t driven 200 km to admire the beauty of the interiors of the room, so we couldn’t care less about that. (As you can see, we have no photos of it.:D) And hey, it did have a big French window opening into a porch overlooking the woods. And none of the windows had any grills. :) :) However I wouldn’t suggest keeping them open at night unless you want to be devoured alive by the mosquitos.

The only irksome part of the MTDC lodging experience was that the authorities were too hung up about us vacating the room strictly within the scheduled check out time – something that’s unusual in most hospitality establishments.

Food at Harihareshwar

Both veg and non-veg food is available at the MTDC restaurant. Each meal cost us about Rs. 600 – 700 (for both of us). The food is quite tasty here (oh and did I mention we had lip smacking freshly fried Pomfrets on one occasion? ;)). But as with almost any Indian restaurant anywhere in the country in any price band – some dishes here can be spicier than you expect. :D

As I mentioned, the original MTDC restaurant was right on the South beach. The makeshift one was right beside the entrance to the MTDC compound, and had open air seating arrangements …

… perhaps annoying the serene woods around… 

… but definitely to the delight of their princesses.

So all in all – as I’m sure you already understand – don’t choose to stay in the MTDC property if you:

1. Would like a 5-star room.
2. Think you would faint at the thought of dry leaves falling into your curry.
3. Are a proud animal-hater.
4. Don’t care much about staying close to the sea.

After a quick lunch we started down the wooded trail in our backyard, wandering lazily until we stopped in our tracks to see this.

The South beach of Harihareshwar

If you really want to know what “pristine” means when used to describe a beach, come to Harihareshwar South. For almost two hours we walked barefoot on the sands and the rocks, with not a single other soul around.

Apart from these souls, of course.

Fauna of Harihareshwar

Yes. A jellyfish-like creature of the ocean that was throbbing (don’t ask me its name or anything)!

We spent around two or more hours soaking up the last rays of the day on the Harihareshwar sands and waters.

We lost track of time as we imbibed all the sparkling blue serenity around …

… sometimes literally.

Flora of Harihareshwar

Apart from the usual Jhau party at some distance from the sea, a vast part of the South beach was covered with those strange white shoots. Do you know what they are? We’d suspected they’re aerial roots or pneumatophores of mangroves but there’s a tiny glitch with that explanation.

Where are the mangroves??

Check out part 2 of this series, Travel Diaries 3: Halcyon Harihareshwar Part 2, where I tell you about our adventures around the breathtakingly craggy North beach.