Bike Trip: Pune to Kashid via Tamhani - Phansad

On a boring Sunday morning when the time was crawling its way towards 10 am, Avani and I decided to do something about it. I had already applied a leave for Monday (with no particular plan in mind).

We thought Harihareshwar can be a good option, I called Hrishi to check if he (along with his better-half) is available, he was not, but he gave me the idea to take this route to Kashid beach.

If you are one of those who believe ‘journey is half the fun’ then this one is for you!

There are still few things google is unaware of, this is one of those! Google maps suggests route Pune – Khopoli – Pen – Alibag – Kashid. But the route we hit the road for, goes via awesome tamhani ghat and phansad wildlife sanctuary.

We crossed chandni chowk and paud gaon in quick time to reach mulshi area. It's always a pleasure to drive alongside the mulshi backwater.

Tamhani ghat is awesome during the monsoon but it isn’t bad either during February, It was all green and yellow.

Crossed Kolad and reached Roha, had food in Roha and left for Phansad. The road to Phansad via Roha is a bit confusing. I always rely on local intelligence but this time they misguided me by saying one can’t go to Kashid from Roha via Phansad. Ignoring it, we continued our journey to Phansad but this made me overcautious.

Problem with reaching Kashid beach is, it is less known (really!) so none of the direction boards on this route will you guide for Kashid until you are close to Kashid.

However, reaching Phansad, a left turn from the highway and we were in jungle!

So we crossed Phansad and Supegoan and entered Nandgoan, This was the first sight of sea for us. Some say Nandgoan beach is also a good time to spend, as there is no crowd there; it is as good as a private beach.

We reached Kashid around 4:45 pm and directly went to beach, atmosphere was nice. This was what I was driving for around last 5 hours!

We spent some time around the beach while Avani had her best tea till the date from one of the thelas near the beach. Then we started our search for accommodation, we checked-in in Nisarga Resort. Owner said the rate was Rs 4000 per day but agreed on Rs 1800 finally. Still, Avani felt I paid more for the place and I agree with her; I am not even a decent bargainer. Good thing about the resort was it was clean and that was enough.

We were back on the beach again!

Sea really makes you feel small…

It was getting better and better as the sun was going down.

With the sun getting weaker, the crowd also got thinner as it was a Sunday evening and most of the people have to go back to work next day.

We managed few good clicks together...

I woke up early in the morning to meet the sea again. I was almost alone one the beach. It feels as better in the morning as it feels in the evening on a beach.

I could not get any good clicks in the morning but I did get an unusual and unexpected friend there. I played around with my friend until I got exhausted!

Some facts about Kashid:
1. They don’t sell sprit there.
2. You can’t do a business there, it is only for locals.
3. Stall near the beaches can’t keep servants at work so whole families are at work there. This also means one can only own one stall there.

We left for Pune around 11 am and choose to take the same route. On the way back, came across this tree with beautiful flowers on it. We could not get time to get in to the Phansad wildlife sanctuary, we left it for our next trip.

For the ones who are interested in taking up this route to Kashid, following is the route to follow.

Warje – chandni chowk – Paud – Mulshi – Tamhani – Kolad – Roha – Chanera - Phansad – Supegaon – Nandgaon – Kashid.

Caution: Not for the people who believe straight and good roads always makes a better trip :)