Day 3: Murud - Srivardhan

Luxurious sleep till 6. Then I went and repaired the puncture I’d discovered in my rear tire, while the rest of the gang bought provisions. The puncture was due to a huge thorn that had gone right through. Today there’s not going to be much cycling, only till Srivardhan. On the road to Rajpuri (5km), we met a local tapori (LT) who tells us to have food at Viju Patil’s back in Murud. The LT returned to tell us that this Patil may also give some "donation" for our trip. Hopes rising, after breakfast Krish & Madhu rode back to Murud to meet this Patil chap.


They were gone a long time. In the meantime, some kids and elders came and terrorized Devajit for plucking a few mangoes from a roadside orchard. They said a fine of Rs 501 and six months of jail if the owner found out. They also said the owner was a murderer. Suddenly the owner of the orchard came by and everyone lied to him, telling him that no mangoes were plucked. This incident has had a deep effect on Devajit...

While waiting for the donation-mongers to return, the LT came by again and told us enough about himself to make us seriously doubt the validity of his donation claim. Finally Krish and Madhu returned - sans any cash but, according to them, lots of fundaes.

We proceeded to Rajpuri. It was already 11am. At Rajpuri we saw a group of runners carrying a torch, swords and the like. They are carrying the Shiv Jyot to Kolhapur for the Shivaji Jayanti celebrations.

We paid Rs60 for a sailboat from Rajpuri to Dighi. The other option was a long and hilly road. The boatmen try to persuade us to have lunch at Borlai, 16km further on instead of the avoidable food at Dighi. But it’s 1:30 and too hot to carry on any further. We disembarked at the Dighi pier, among shrimp- and fish-covered roads, and go down to Dighi. Devajit prepared good Maggi noodles at a local restaurant. None of the cooks or waiters accepted any cash for their help. The owner told us “It is not everyday that I have the joy of catering to boys like you.” I was very touched by his gesture.

In the afternoon, we rested at a really windy and shaded spot under a neem tree near the local mosque (there's a large Muslim population here). People here seem well-off. The sea provides for everyone – man, dog, cat and crow. (All that infinite shrimp we saw sells for Rs50/kilo)

At 4:30 we moved towards Srivardhan. This road passes through a lot of well wooded ghats but the road quality is poor. We could not enjoy the slopes as much as we'd have liked to. At Srivardhan, we rested at the police guard room and had decent dinner at Prasad hotel.

Estimate of distance covered today: 34km