Road Tripping To Ratnagiri

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I have been forever wanting to road trip to Ratnagiri, but not use the regular NH66/Goa Highway. So when the chance came to go visiting a friend in their village home, I jumped on the chance and drew up an alternate route, which passed through rural landscapes, along the Arabian Sea, having to  cross creeks with your car in a ferry, and then more rural and sea-side roads.

We stayed at a friend’s village home, ate village food, walked in the farms and went to visit the Ratnagiri Fort.  We climbed down the fort at the sea side, and lazed for hours on the rocks watching crabs and dolphins. This trip is incomplete. I am going back…

The tomb of Sidi Surul Khan, who was chief of Janjira State from 1707 to 1734

One of the two smaller tombs is that of Sidi Kasim, commonly known as Yakut Khan, who was in command of Janjira (1670–1677), and again in (1696–1707). The other small tomb is of his brother Khairiyat Khan, who was in command of Danda–Rajpuri (1670–1677) and of Janjira (1677–1696).

One of the four times we had to ferry the car and us across the creek in this route. This is the ferry from Agardanda to Dighi.

Somewhere in this creek, while waiting for the car, I was spotting the many waders.

Countryside roads like these make my day…

Keeping the cars ready to exit…

Ah… there she arrives, the ferry that shall take us across.

Gorgeous ghats and rivers throughout this route.

Closer to Malgund…

This is the village of Malgund where we stayed. Wake up early in the morning to experience how life wakes up in the villages.

A drive towards Ganapatiphule across yet another creek.

We took a morning off to visit the Ratnagiri Fort

Beautiful arched door leads you inside…

What remains of the fort..

The once great fort of Ratnagiri against an ugly industrial backdrop.

The Arabian Sea as seen from Ratnagiri Fort

Over a period of time the roof seems to have caved in and disappeared. But you can see how magnificent the Ratnagiri Fort must have been.

We climbed down the other side to sit and do nothing at this part of Ratnagiri Fort, watching the sea lazily and the many crabs and waders here.

In that sea in front we watched dolphins happily swimming and playing…

The drive to Ganapatiphuley has these magnificent views…

The drive back through the grasslands on the plateau. Wish I could camp here overnight…

Absolutely love that landscape…

Somewhere in the ghats near the Chandoli National Park area…

This state highway skims the edges of cliffs along the way…

Deserves a good Panorama shot…

What’s great about road trips is you get to see much more than just your destination. Like stopping to admire these lovely wildflowers…

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